Tag Archive | Lord

Blooming In The Hard Place By JoBeth Kested

Apr23

jbBloomThis is a picture of my first pansies to bloom this spring. I was so surprised to see them blooming in the minuscule cracks of a hard place instead of the soft prepared soil of my garden. I felt like the Lord was speaking to me through these pansies when I first noticed them this week.

Have you ever felt like you are between a rock and a hard place? We’re facing some hard changes in our circumstances and the very real possibility of some hard decisions ahead. Lately, I often feel rather delicate, small and fragile just like these little pansies. I was so intrigued to see them bloom and thrive in the crevice of some old cement. They are obviously so much stronger than they look and by the grace of God, so am I! It seems like such a great illustration of the hope we have in the Lord’s promises of His provision, protection, and blessings for us no matter how hard our current situation seems to be.

These blooming little fragile pansies may be a small thing, but it encourages me to know that if God can provide for some delicate pansies to thrive and display such beauty in a difficult place, how much more is His desire to take good care of us. In Philippians 4:19 we have the promise that “My God will supply all your need according to His riches in Glory in Jesus”.

Lord, help us to trust You for the protection and miraculous provision for us in the hard places we often find ourselves in. Thank You for the promises in Your Word that are light unto out path and a life preserver to cling to. Thank You for Your peace that passes understanding, Your strength in our weakness and for the hope of Your sufficient amazing grace for each day. And thank You for helping us to bloom in the hard places to display your glory. In Jesus name. Amen.

 

 

Encouraging Scriptures

 

“…For I know the plans I have for you,”declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future…”Jeremiah 29:11

 

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

 

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

 

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness . Isaiah 41:1

 

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

 

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Psalms 138:8

 

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Isaiah 40:29

 

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. I Corinthians 2:9-10

 

My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

 

He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:9

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

 ©JoBeth Kested 2014

The Breaker Anointing By JoBeth Kested

Mar25

Breakerphoto

Some years ago, within a couple of weeks, at three different times, I had people that didn’t know me personally share that I prayed with a “Breaker Anointing”. I had attended some prayer gatherings and conferences where there was the opportunity to be prayed over to receive encouraging prophetic Words from the Lord. While praying for me, one person said they saw a picture of a charging rhino with no fear that couldn’t be stopped. Another person declared seeing a picture of a huge bulldozer able to move massive boulders out of the way. And a third time, someone shared they saw prayers like cannon balls that could break through and break down thick and high walls. All three used the term “Breaker Anointing” when they prayed for me.

At that time I was fairly new to learning about strategic and spiritual warfare type prayer and had never heard anyone refer to a Breaker Anointing. Along with several other praying friends, we asked the Lord to give us understanding and to give us insight from His Word. The Lord led us to the following scripture verses showing us that He is the God of the breakthrough and He is “The Breaker Anointing”.

“The breaker goes up before them; they break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, and the Lord at their head.”Micah 2:13 (NASV)

“The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he (David) named that place Baal Perazim (Hebrew meaning the Lord “bursts” or breaks through). 2 Samuel 5:20b (NASV)

For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the Valley of Vision— breaking down the walls… Isaiah 22:5 (KJV)

There are several things to understand that the Lord reveals about Himself in these scriptures. 1) He goes before us. He leads. He stands between us and our enemies. 2) He is like a dam that bursts forth with rushing water that cannot be stopped and washes away everything in its path. 3) In times of trouble, heaviness and confusion He can break down any walls that hold us captive. 4) He is the Lord of the hosts of heavenly armies and there is no enemy army standing against us that can stop His breakthrough on our behalf.

Then I inquired of the Lord for greater understanding on how I had learned to pray with His Breaker Anointing. Let me add that my understanding of breakthrough was mostly how a runner finishes the race and breaks through across the finish line. Yes, that is a good picture of breaking through, but The Breaker Anointing is much more than that. It requires an intimate relationship with the Lord that goes way beyond our own strength and talent.

The Lord first revealed a picture of me learning to dance with Him; allowing Him to hold me close to His heart, following His footsteps and yielding to His lead. In learning His ways and how to trust in Him completely, I could follow Him with His slightest touch. Every so often He would send me twirling away to joyfully watch me dance more boldly and powerfully. Each time, I would then quickly return to His loving embrace; yielding more and more closely to His lead. This showed me that we become stronger, bolder and more powerful in prayer the more we cling the Lord, understanding His ways, yielding to His slightest touch, following His every footstep. Even through the battles and weariness of prevailing prayer and intercession, we need to lean closely into His loving embrace in order to clearly hear His voice, to delight in the joy of knowing His heart and praying His will in extending the purposes of His Kingdom.

Then I was reminded of how my husband and I used to love watching the winter breaking waves when we lived for a couple of years on the Big Island of Hawaii. On the Kona side, there is a beach referred to by the locals as Children’s Beach. In the summer months it is an enjoyable, safe and shallow beach, wonderful for snorkeling and surrounded by shady palm trees. But, in the winter all the beautiful white sand is washed away when great and powerful waves swell up to break upon the lava reef rocks over and over again. As each big wave breaks, the water rushes to the shore, then is swept back out into the deep to build another breaker wave. Over time the lava rocks have been made smooth by the force of the winter breaker waves. In prayer, there are seasons to enjoy being His child and to give thanks, delighting in all the beauty He has created around us. But, then there are times when we must yield to the flow and direction of His Holy Spirit to pray warring breaker prayers that are essential in His Kingdom purposes to breakthrough our enemies attacks that would destroy us and others in our spheres of influence.

It is our God’s desire for us to know Him as The Lord of the breakthrough. He wants to break down walls of captivity, to make the crooked places straight and to make the rough places smooth as we learn to pray with The Breaker Anointing against powers, principalities and wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12) declaring “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Lord Jesus, help us learn to cling to You, follow Your footsteps, yielding to Your every tender touch that we might know You as The Lord of the Breakthrough in our lives. And, how to hear Your voice in prayer with “The Breaker Anointing”. Amen.

© JoBeth Kested 2014

 

 

Photo by Eli Snyder www.freenaturephotos.com

 

The Blessing of Purim By Beth Auman

Mar13

fp052006-22May the Lord Bless you during the Celebration of Purim

 If you stay silent during this time, deliverance for the Jews will come from somewhere, but you, my child, and all of your father’s family will die. And who knows? Perhaps you have been made queen for such a time as this.”Esther 4:14 (The Voice)

Purim is the Jewish celebration of the deliverance of the Jewish people in the story of Esther. Esther asked the King for all of her people’s lives and she could have been killed under the law of the time if it were not for the King’s grace and mercy and love for her. She would have been killed for asking.

 As Christians, Purim is a truly important Celebration we also need to understand the importance of asking for the salvation of those that are lost. Deliverance for all has been provided through Jesus. If we stay silent during this time.. However, in Matthew 7 Jesus told us to ask.

Just ask and it will be given to you; seek after it and you will find. Continue to knock and the door will be opened for you. All who ask receive. Those who seek, find what they seek. And he who knocks, will have the door opened. Matthew 7:7-8 The Voice (VOICE)

 Jesus speaks of doors opening if we knock. Esther did all of these things and she is an example for us. Has the thought ever crossed your mind that many people don’t know Jesus Christ? They do not know who He is or what He did for them and there may not be anyone else that has ever asked God for that persons salvation.

  If you meet someone or are exposed to someone who is not saved you are supposed to ask for their salvation; not judge them in their sin – they are sinners – that’s what they do. Seek the Lord for them, (stand in the gap for them) and knock on the door and Jesus will answer and open the door of Salvation for that person. It is a promise in the Word of God.

  Begin asking. Unless prompted by the Holy Spirit, you do not have to go up to that person and speak to them. You do not have to tell them all of the scripture that you know. Simply ASK the Father in Jesus name for their Salvation and allow Him to send the labors in to His harvest. Jesus instructs us how to pray in Matthew 6.

  When you pray, go into a private room, close the door, and pray unseen to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not go on and on, excessively and strangely like the outsiders; they think their verbosity will let them be heard by their deities. 8 Do not be like them. Your prayers need not be labored or lengthy or grandiose—for your Father knows what you need before you ever ask Him. Matthew 6:6-8The Voice (VOICE)

  Esther was chosen by God to deliver and preserve her heritage. We are here for such a time as this. Are you going to be silent or are you going to ask the King to deliver your people, the people of the human race that Jesus Christ gave His life for?  Many do not know that there is a free gift waiting for them. The gift of Salvation.

  Salvation is a Free gift. if you have received your free gift don’ t you want others to receive theirs? The Lord Jesus Christ said to ask and it will be given. Ask for people to be saved and delivered today. You may be a key used by God to unlock the door in someone’s life.. simply by asking.

 Oh, Father. I come before You, in Jesus name, and I ask today for the Salvation of all unsaved that You bring onto my path. I speak blessing and revelation over each of all those who have received Salvation to go further and rise up for such a time as this. We all need You, Lord. And may we learn to ask, seek and knock on the behalf of all those who are unsaved and may our relationship with You grow and grow. We have eyes to see and ears to hear You and we are watching and listening. Please show us and speak to us. In Jesus name. Amen.

 This year, Purim begins at sunset on Saturday, March 15, and ends on Sunday evening, March 16. This is a Great time to start asking for the Salvation for those that God brings along your path.

 

 

 

Faith or Fear, Which Will You Choose? By JoBeth Kested

Feb3

Mountains01Have you ever realized that whether you live in faith or fear is a choice? You might say, “I always fear the worst about everything and I can’t help it; that’s just the way I am”. Let’s take a look at the Bible definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (NKJV). What if we replace the word faith with the word fear? “Now fear is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Isn’t that exactly what fear is when we allow our minds to run away imagining every possibility of all the bad things that might happen? Those imaginations can run around and around in our heads over and over, like a hamster on a wheel, until we are paralyzed with fear and hopelessness expecting only the worst. Do we have a choice? According to 2 Corinthians 10:5, we can choose to “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” (NKJV).

We need to realize that the choice between fear or faith is like coming to a fork in the road. We can choose to go down the path of fear, mulling over all the worst possibilities that can happen, or we can choose the path of faith; taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and putting our trust in God’s limitless power to intervene in our circumstances. The choice is ours, we are either going to put our trust in the worst possibilities of hopelessness or put our trust in God’s supernatural power to perform miracles on our behalf. Because, we KNOW His plans for us are good and not evil, to give us a future and a hope! (Jeremiah 29:11) So, fear or faith, which path will you choose?

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that You will help us to choose the path of faith and to take every thought captive, pulling down every stronghold of fear that comes against our obedience to walk in the path of goodness and hope you have for us in Jesus. In Jesus name, AMEN.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6(NKJV)

©JoBeth Kested 2014