In those situations when we are the victim rather than the perpetrator, our response may be “Go right ahead!” or “Be my guest!” when actually we are not giving permission at all; but rather giving the allusion that we grant permission knowing that our response in itself is a threat that carries its own consequences.

Consider a man who experienced the ultimate betrayal and yet released permission to his betrayer that was true permission; a release that not only fully gave the betrayer permission to do the deed, but in its giving released the one betrayed from the power of offense.

Allow me to explain.  Many years ago a man became quite well known in his community as one who could perform miracles in the name of God but was not a part of the religious system.  There were a few people who wanted to be close to him, joined his group and were mentored closely by him for years.

It may be difficult for us to fathom the sincerity with which this man poured himself into his little band of followers; putting up with their inability to grasp many of the concepts he taught them, and their seeming need for position and self promotion.  If you have never been involved in a mentoring relationship the idea of being closely discipled by a peer may seem a foreign concept and the painful experience of being “sharpened” by another may be hard to imagine.  But this man continued to give himself and tried with everything in him to help his followers see the truth of what he taught them and translate that truth into how they lived.  

Then on a day that seemed just like all the rest, the group gathered for a celebration and a meal. Eating together was a regular practice and intimate conversation at the table or around a fire was normal if not expected. But on this day, just after finishing the main course of the dinner, this man handed a piece of bread that he had just dipped in oil  to one of his followers with this parting message: “What you are going to do, do it even more quickly than you have intended. Go now, act swiftly.”

What I find most unusual about this incident is not so much the instruction to go ahead and do what was planned, but what happened once this receiver of the bread left the room.  I am sure if you have been alive for more than twelve years you have experienced a friend or family member turning on you and behaving in a way toward you that has disappointed you or broken your heart. But how many times after having been the victim of misuse or abuse have you not mentioned it again to anyone.

In the instance of this man who not only gave permission to his follower whom the man knew was going to betray him; but once the act was sealed in the follower’s heart and this follower left the room on his way to betray his teacher, this man did not then turn and inform his “true” friends still sitting with him of what just happened.  He did not begin to tearfully explain how this so called friend was really a scum bag who at that very moment was betraying him to people who would ultimately take his life.

No this man was different from you and me.  He covered his friend and his friend’s selfish act and loveless behavior completely.  When he said, “Go and do what you have planned,” he meant it and when he gave permission it wasn’t flowery language that was intended to make him look good to those in the room.  It was spoken earnestly, quietly, to the intended hearer with complete purity and heart, void of ulterior motive.  He truly gave permission to this betrayer, with love and forgiveness attached.

I’ve read the Ancient Writings of the Scriptures many times while on this spiritual journey and the reality of the saying that the Word is alive has never been more true to me than in this story.  Never having seen this in this light before I can honestly say that I was shaken to my core when the reality of the weight of this act was revealed to me.

You see, when this man sincerely released his betrayer from a pure heart he rendered powerless the effect of the coming betrayal. Consider the words that followed: “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him;” Not later, now.  Not after some other hoop jumping or behavior modification, but now.

Oh, that we could come to terms with giving permission, with grasping the concept that the enemy is simply a tool in the hands of the Living God. There is nothing that can happen to us, or in us that is not ultimately for our good.  And when we can look over our lives and recognize that no matter who hurt us, betrayed us, or used us, or abused us, if we just release permission with a heart open to God to receive the full benefit of the experience (which is His intent in allowing anything) we render totally powerless the plan of the enemy and glorify God in a way that only responding like our Saviour and King can.

There is no time limitation in the spiritual kingdom.  If there is a place in your own life that needs to be healed, ask He Who Loves You Most to take you there, and upon arrival while facing your source of pain, simply respond with PERMISSION GRANTED and be free!

I drove the car to take Mom (my daughter) and Dad to the hospital.  We prayed while riding and covered the coming experience with His Presence and gave thanks for the perfect timing of God’s releasing Major into the earth.  Upon arrival and settling in, it seemed that all was going to proceed without a hitch. And that was the case for the better part of the day.  Water had broken at 4:30am and it was now 11:00am and some progress had been made. But four hours later after increasingly difficult contractions there was no further progress.  Exhaustion and discouragement were taking its toll and hospital staff were pressing to administer petocin. It was decided that this birth would progress as natural as possible long before nearing delivery so that was refused.  Another four hours of suffering and again no progress.

I suggested to Dad that in his position of spiritual authority he could command her cervix to open and tell Major to come forth! I even left the room so he would not be uncomfortable doing such a thing with someone else watching.  When I left the room I sat and prayed and sent out a distress text asking for prayer from my closest friends and family.  Faithful they are; and the battle began.  Within an hour and a half everything happened.  Dilation suddenly took place, and Major was born!  With only 3 pushes he was out and looking around and screaming his head off! But….

Then the placenta presented and behind that the fire hose of hemorrhagic blood.  Our doctor, who is a believer, gave instruction for the nurse to get two medications and she ran out of the room.  He instructed Dad to grab the baby and get over in the corner. He turned and locked eyes with me and I knew from the fear on his face and the cry of his eyes that he was saying, “Pray!” And pray I did.  I walked around to the head of the bed and put my hands on my daughter’s head and began to pray in the Spirit. She had laid her head back and shut her eyes. She looked up at me briefly and weakly said, “Pray Mama, I don’t want to leave them.”

She was worked on for about 25 minutes and finally the flood was abated. Glory be to God who is always faithful.

As usual, when things are happening I become very focused and do what needs to be done and essentially shut down emotionally so that I am not distracted by feelings. It is later that I fall apart, once everything is okay.

The next morning upon awaking the first thought in my mind was of a conversation with Major’s older brother, Zion, who is very spiritually perceptive.  At the dinner table a couple of weeks prior he had asked me, “Nana, when my Mom’s gone who will be my mother?” I, of course being clueless answered, “What do you mean honey, your Mom’s not going anywhere.”  He said, “When she’s in heaven, who will be my mother?” I assured him that nothing was going to happen to his Mom and even if something did ever happen that I would take care of him.  I told him that I would always be Nana but I would take care of him and never let anyone take him away.  He seemed satisfied with that answer and never said anything else about it.

I even asked his Mom if they had talked about anything that he may have overheard but she was sure they had not. After the hospital experience I realized that he was sensing in the Spirit what the enemy had planned. And though he shared it, I missed it, because I didn’t understand what was being said.  God is always faithful to watch over us and alot of times gives us the information we need to overcome the enemy.  I have determined in my heart to be more attentive to His Voice no matter how it presents.

Major is not only a beautiful gift but is also a wonderful lesson in walking through the sufferings of life while being attentive to the Spirit and alert to the wiles of the enemy who is always skulking around trying to find a way to have expression. May he never find an opening!

I have been wanting to get my granddaughter a little kitchen set for Christmas but they are very expensive and in my opinion many of them  are tacky looking. My ideal would be to make something out of wood for her but that requires more skill than any of us have and to buy a nice wood one is hundreds of dollars.

I found one online yesterday afternoon through a Walmart email that was very small but only $15. As I was checking out a message popped up that they were sorry but this item just went out of stock.  I thought, “Oh well, I already got her a cute little set of pots and pots and that will just have to do.”

When I got ready to leave work I decided that since I wanted to stop by the grocery store and get a couple of things I would just go by the Rescue Mission store on the way home (which is a little out of my way) and go to the grocery store that is near there and then go home.

I walked in the Rescue Mission store and said, ‘OK Lord, why am I here?’.  I grabbed a cart and began to make an outer perimeter sweep of the store looking over stuff on the shelves. As I rounded a clothing rack toward the back of the store there sat my kitchen set.  It is perfect. It has a little sink, a stove, a drawer with two shelves in it, a microwave on top and on the opposite side of that is a little half table with two little placemats made into the top. It is made of plastic but it is in very nice shape and not tacky looking and it was $4.99.

I laughed out loud and said, “I should have known!  Thank you Lord, you are so good, you’re just amazing!”

Then as I was walking along I noticed several packages of adult diapers that had never been opened. I called my daughter who helps to care for an elderly gentleman and she said definitely to get them.  They use them all the time. The family pays for everything out of pocket and normally those are $12 a package. These were $3.99.   What a blessing!

I am still learning to follow His voice when I feel that kind of prompting and hope to never loose the marvel at how He wants to bless us!

In this volume, Mr. Ankarlo takes a comprehensive look at this phenomenon from angles both expected and unexpected.  From actual interviews and research inside Mexico and the U.S. we are shown the flesh and blood reality of what is happening, who is being affected and even an in depth view of how we got to this point in history.

Well documented and for the most part well written, we are given viewpoints both pro and con of what this situation means and where it could end.  Taking the risks to get the real story, Mr. Ankarlo lets you hear the firsthand accounts of not only those who are taking the chance to reach for the American dream, but those who make a very good living for themselves by assisting them to break to our laws.  While as always, each reader must decide for themselves what to do; there is ample referral site listings for those individuals who wish to dig even deeper and/or continue to stay informed.

I would urge everyone to read this book and come away much more informed about the complexity and size of this problem.  It will not go away until we face reality and act.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

That is, there is no condemnation coming from Jesus; but from those who are part of His Body… well, that is an entirely different story.

Wuv, twu wuv, seems to be the motto of the day. I hear it everywhere.

Have you learned to love? Yeah, at least I think so.

But have you really learned to love?   What do you mean?

Well, heck yeah! Of course I have learned to love. I love everybody, the poor, the downtrodden, the pitiful, the drug addict, the prostitute, the inmate, all those no good people that no one else wants anything to do with, well, I love them! I don’t even have to hold my nose to be around them. I love because He first loved me.  And besides, those people are in such a mess that I have no expectations of them. When they screw up I can let it go because I expect that of them. Oh, wait, did I say I expect that when I have no expectations…..???

But what about your brothers and sisters who are part of your own Body? Yes, I said part of your body.  Too often we think of each other as part of His Body which makes them seem some how removed from us. Have you learned to love them? What are your expectations, or lack thereof of them?

Well, for Pete’s sake, I expect them to get it together. They should know what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to live. They should act right; speak right; dress right; and most importantly, treat me right.

Do you act right? Do you speak right? Do you dress right? Who is it that you, most importantly, treat right? (Hint: the right answer here is not Jesus)

Want to talk about it?

Yes, I know the drill.  Did I say drill? There I go again with another work related tool. Exercise is not only good for me, it is essential for me to have a healthy, sustainable life that enables me to be productive. But productive at what?

That is the million dollar question.  What are you working at, or toward, or for? And the ten million dollar question: What are you allowing to work in you?

You already have everything you need to have life and live it in godliness. Yes, you do. It may sit underutilized next to the weight machine and the treadmill, but you already have it.  Yes, you really do.

It was given to you the moment you released yourself into the gift the Savior presented you. Now all that is left for us to do is to make an effort to simply BE WHO WE ALREADY ARE.

Out Live Your Life is the first work of Max Lucado’s that I have read but I am certain it will not be the last.  This has been one of the most inspiring Christian books I have yet to experience. The writing style makes the book an easy read, but the depth of the message makes it feel at times like trying to take a sip from a fire hose.

If you have ever wondered how you can make a difference in this life, or even if it is worth trying to, then you must read this book. Maybe you have had the desire to do something but didn’t know what to do, or how to even look at your own life as something to be shared. In either case, you will benefit from the thoughtful, provoking teaching and ideas shared in this book.

I love the Scriptures and the gentle handling of the message of compassion presented there, and I especially love the way those same messages are combined with present day examples that drive home not only the truth of the message, but the current relevance as well.

Are you a betting person? Read this book and I am willing to bet that you will never be the same again.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The message is very simple and straightforward.  With whatever little bit we have we can be helpful to others.  God even provided us with the necessary tools which are conveniently attached to our arms.  Who would have thought that giving a hug would be considered helping?  I found this story clever in its presentation and the singsong cadence of the words makes it a fun read, though I did have a little trouble getting into the right rhythm.

I recommend this book be read to young children, who will enjoy being reminded that washing up after mud pies is actually helping.  It also reminds us that even while playing we can find ways to be kind and lovingly help others.  You may rightly think this will enthral the young ones but don’t be surprised if those a little older aren’t drawn into the conversation.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”