Hope amidst grief for Newtown Connecticut

Jesus Wept.  John 11:35

Newtown, your pain is not unnoticed. It is not passed over lightly.  Angels have been dispatched.  Your children, your precious children... they are safe in His arms.  He did not snatch them from you, nor did He want to. But lovingly, LIFE HIMSELF received those precious lives, so rudely and violently torn from earth.

Others too, have suffered like you... School buses full of children, blown up in Israel. Children in war areas, used as shields by their own governments, to hide their weapons of destruction... Children under age two killed by the sword as Herod sought to kill the Prince of Peace, born in Bethlehem. And weeping was heard throughout Ramah, for the children that "were not."

But take heart, for your children are!  They are just in a different place.  A place you too may go to, someday.  That does not take away your pain right now, but as the reality of Heaven grows, you will find that though they are gone from your arms here, they await you there, with much love and gratefulness for your undying love for them.

That Prince born a baby, is now grown and sits at the right hand of the Father.  That Prince of Peace, Jesus, desires to do what no human can do... bring peace and comfort into your broken hearts.  Let Him. Feel His arms reaching, His hands cradling, His heart breaking also as He weeps with you.  He will give you strength to go on.  He will watch over you, even as He keeps your children safe in His Presence and awaiting your reunion. Give him now your heart; broken, bruised and sore.  Give Him also your anger, your hatred, your frustration, your confusion and doubts.  He can handle those too. Let the Great God of Heaven, The Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus, and the Precious Holy Spirit, be your comfort, your haven, your rest, your salvation.Hear as HE speaks kindly to your hearts and let His Love wash away the pain, until just the sweet memories remain.  You will never forget your children, and HE will never forget about you. 

Love is being sent your way from many places, but especially from Heaven!  Your children are there, loving you and praying for you to be healed and whole, because they are not lost, they are safe and waiting for you and they want you to know.

God Bless You Newtown, CT.

Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Rachel DaVino, 29
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Dawn Hochsprung, 47
Madeleine F. Hsu, 6
Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Lauren Russeau, 30
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N. Wyatt, 6

First, I am a Christian by Annetta Pyritta Lee

Guest Post:
First, I am a Christian

by Annetta Pyritta Lee

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” Mark 12:29-30 (NKJV)

Although Miss Josie may not have been the most influential person in my life, for years I acknowledged her as being my favorite teacher. Due to her encouragement to be true to who I am, she remains one whom I remember with great affection.  With great effort I have indeed attempted to be true to who I am. This beckons the question, who am I?

I am an African American woman. I am a seeker of truth. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a scribe and novelist. I am a daughter, aunt, sister, and friend to many. But first, I am a Christian. I have a God-given purpose and choose to see from His perspective every issue that affect my life and those to whom I am called. I do not necessarily share the limited views and opinions of those who cannot see past, present and future in one brief glance.

I’ve been a loner all my life; so much so that I’ve often been characterized as unfriendly. This unwelcome view impelled me to, as much as I could manage, become more involved with society. The effort was healthy and created opportunities to contribute in positive ways. It also however created opportunity to be strongly and negatively influenced by the convictions of others. I have often pulled myself back to reflect on questions Miss Josie would ask:

Do you really believe that? Is that who you are? Why?

As a child I watched my small world; my grandparents and parents with noble concepts fight for a place of dignity and expression that I enjoy today. I watched as foundational beliefs became idolatrous leaves floating down a stream of someone else’s agenda. Out of tradition and excuses for bitter justification they embraced a position that, for me, is no longer pertinent.

Never do I want to express a thing for the primary purpose of appeasing man, friend, family or acquaintance. I know who and whose I am, and I know I must answer to HIM only for my choices. I am wearied by the stale and disarming façade which suddenly appears from unexpected places. I am in dismay and disappointment at the enemy’s rancid tactics of keeping mankind in a cloud of unrealistic and confusing rhetoric.

Life has many layers and hidden agendas clothed in good causes that tickle the ears. As an African American I have found it necessary to weigh and measure whether I’m more black than Christian. As Miss Josie’s former student, I have many times stepped aside to consider who I am and remain to be. I know I do not fight against a specific individual, but spiritual hosts of wickedness in an evil day. I believe that in every issue and situation, we must all question why we believe the way we do, if for no other reason than to satisfy the lingering questions of our soul.

Am I an individual with purpose, or the shadow-puppet of another’s agenda?

Like many others who tread the path I call righteousness, I experience issues I’m hesitant to discuss. I continue to endure conjecture from onlookers, misunderstanding from acquaintances, ridicule from family, exploitation & pity from purported Christians, and humiliation from strong-willed associates. Nevertheless, I continue in the excellence of the power to choose what is right, which is of God and not of me.

Yes, I am delighted to be an African American and, without doubt, honored to be a child of the Most High God who believes that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. I must resolve with absolute uncompromised reality to think, speak, and walk in light of this truth.

Yes. I am many things, but first, I am a Christian!

Annetta P. Lee (Author)

A Bitter Rose\Fragment in the Sand\Path of Thorns\ Scent of Rain\ Secret Thunder\ Small Whispers\ Haven for Mirage\Light Encounters

http://www.annettaplee.com/

Heresy? No! Hallelujah!

I attended a prayer breakfast today. (Tuesday June 19^th) The guest speaker was Pastor Gary Whetstone.  He spoke dynamically about “what is God doing NOW? What is HE speaking NOW?”  He spoke on our purpose is to have Christ revealed through us.  And then we prayed.  The 15 minutes spent in prayer, were spent in a vision for me.

Things that God has been speaking to me for the past year and a half and some beyond that, suddenly all seemed to come together and click- like interlocking pieces of a puzzle but this was knowledge and understanding.

God’s speaking to me today, began in the car on the way there. I was listening to a very old Integrity Hosanna Praise and Worship tape called “Glory , Honor and Praises,” by Kent Henry.  One of the songs talks about the Secret Place; he who dwells under the shadow of His wings. it is there we will find everything that we need…

So, as we began to pray, I asked the Lord if He would come speak to me.  Immediately, HE was standing in front of me and speaking, to me but not just to me, but to all who would listen; “Come draw near to me, in the secret place, it is there you will hear, it is there you will see…”

And then, as if to demonstrate this very concept,  I was now seeing two different scenes at once: Jesus standing in front of me and enfolding me into himself until I had melted and disappeared under “his wings” HE was in human form and yet somehow reminded me of a huge bird inviting me to come nestle under His wings and snuggle against His breast. As I came close, it appeared as though he had wings and as he embraced me, I was covered by his wings and disappeared under that embrace…enclosed in these huge white wings.. (remember visions are sometimes symbolic- and this spoke to me of  “abiding under the shadow of His wings.” (Ps. 91: 1,4)

Behind Him, I could see Jesus and the Father.  Father God was huge and mammoth, sitting on The Throne, and enveloped in bright white light. I could barely make out His form. I could not see His face just this blinding white light. Jesus was standing with arms outstretched side to side and He and Father God melted together into one huge light and then Jesus would step away and emerge and be glowing, totally encased with this light that looked like electricity or lightening. Then He would step closer again and “mesh or melt” back into the light emanating from Father God. As I watched this taking place, He spoke to me and said, “as you draw nearer and draw close to me, you draw from Me what you have need of.  Just as I and my Father are one, so too, you and I will be one and you will receive what I have and what I receive from Him.”  I saw this tube then form between the two scenes and connect from Father and Jesus  to me and Jesus. (It was like a pipeline feeding downstream if you will.) Then scriptures began bursting into my mind and with them new understanding.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so IS he.” (Proverbs 23:7. Matthew 12: 34-5, Matthew 15:18)  “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4)  Then He said, “You have asked ME into your heart. If as the man thinks in his heart-he is…then you ARE identical with and to ME, (Christ.) because I AM in your heart. Realization: We ARE Christ in the earth…  “as he is, so are we in this world.”  (1John 4:17)

Let me put it another way: I was born in America, so I am an American.  But I can just as easily say, “I am America.”

We are to be one with Him even as He is one with the Father…  We are His body, it is US, His body that is to fill and overflow in the earth with the fullness of HIM. (Eph. 1:23)  Not that we ARE God, but we ARE CHRIST- His likeness, His Fullness, His Representation upon this earth. His goodness…  “In HIM we live, In HIM we move and IN HIM we have our being.” (Acts 17:28)  We are ONE. We live out of that oneness, our very life and essence is found ONLY in Him! We are immersed in, surrounded by, and merged with Christ. Tie-dyed. Inseparable.  (A dear brother stood up afterwards and said just that Scripture!)  

I have actually EXPERIENCED that scripture, over 18 months ago in a hospital room, warring against death, and standing for life for a loved one. (Along with others) God spoke to me that Scripture and made some things very real to me about our life and being, being IN Him. (I also saw that loved one, who could not see very well, light up like a Christmas tree and smile at someone who came into the room. Someone I could not see, but she could see, very well! Ten days later, she went “home” peacefully.)  

The reason it is so crucial to come into the Secret Place is it is there that our minds get transformed and renewed as we behold Him.   It is there, that we become transformed more and more into His likeness and image, the very one that He sees us already as.  It is there that revelation explodes into our being and the Word takes on life and shape, apart from and off of the written page as it becomes living revelation inside of us!  (2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.)

We carry the Life and essence of God with in us.  “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”  (2Corinthians 4:7)

Sweet people, HE bids us come!  He stands ready to receive each of us and to give us what we have need of to not just make it in this life, but to excel, to over come, to be victorious and victors! He paid the price, he made the way, The Throne Room is open to us,  indeed He invites us to sit down with Him in it! 

Every delightful thing He has made you to be, just walk it out as you draw from Him.  Likewise, every ugly and nasty thing- these are contrary to who and what He is, and what He has made you to be. So, repent and then let your consciousness be filled with His Presence and with Knowledge of Him and those things will have to GO!  There is so much more than what we have, what we know, what we have experienced.  There are things waiting for us, things He has reserved in Heaven, not for the sweet by and by not for when we get up there. But for us to pull out of Heaven now and bring them to earth to be experienced and to be a part of life down here.  He has treasures, both old and new for me and you!  Be apprehended, so you can apprehend…(Philippians 3:12)

Selah! Meditate on that!

No Other Name

No other Name but the Name of Jesus...

No other Name but the Name of the Lord...

No other name but the name of Jesus...

is Worthy of Glory, and Worthy of Honor
And Worthy of Power and all Praise!

There are many names out there. And they are all screaming and demanding our attention.  Let's see we have,  Old age, social insecurity, islamic terrorists who hate us and the Jewish people, simply because we exist!  We have economic melt down, war, famine, earthquakes, nuclear threat, aids, alzheimer's disease, stroke, cancer, bird flu, swine flu, murder, rape, violence, civil unrest... the list goes on and on.  (And I purposely did not capitalize them.) All these things have a name.  Their name can invoke varying degrees of anxiety, fear or downright terror into people. And it is meant to!  Fear, manipulation, domination, control and isolation and shame are main tactics the enemy uses, and he uses people to work through

 to implement them.

Revelation 12:11 tells of of saints of old, who are now part of that "great cloud of witnesses." It says specifically; "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

The Blood of the Lamb!  Who is that Lamb? What is His Name?  It is JESUS!  The word of their testimony... "what you say is what you get"  more oft than not...So are your words agreeing with THE WORD?  The Word of the Lamb who gave His Life for you?  Who declared, "IT IS FINISHED." The battle and victory were already won, already paid for, already secured... we have skirmishes down here... but the next ALL OUT BATTLE is yet to be fought.  But take courage, read the back of the book- "WE WIN!"  And the last part of that sentence says, "...and they loved not their life unto the death."  What does that mean?  The Amplified Bible reads this way: ..." for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]."

Paul said it this way, " To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord."  For the believer, death is the final enemy and we are promised that it has no hold on us, no sting, the grave has no victory.  Billy Graham said it is the business of  dying, that he does not look forward to, but death itself? It is nothing to us, for We are HIS and HE is ours and Heaven is our home!

Am I advocating we just rollover?  Not at all! Go down swinging! ( If you have to go down.) Keeping fighting the enemy who constantly bombards us, bombards our flesh, bombards our minds, bombards our emotions.  It IS a war we are engaged in.  Once you get past being a baby Christian, you will be expected to learn to fight with the weapons of our warfare.  They are NOT fists, knives or guns.  They are powerful and varied. After all the word says weapons, plural.  One of our weapons is our words and not just any words, but the word of our testimony.  What is our testimony?  It is what we beleive at the very core of our being.  Do we really believe that God is "for us" as stated in Romans 8:31. Do we really believe His Word is true?  Not only true, but that it has power to save?   “Preaching about the cross sounds foolish to those who are dying in sin. But it is the power of God to those of us who are being saved from the punishment of sin.”   1Cor 1:18 NLT

Whose words, will we believe? Who will we listen to ? And what will we speak?   Our own negative talk, the voice of the world system, as it further decays?  The voice of earthly, sensual and devilish wisdom, or the Wisdom that is from above?  Which is peaceable, gentle, easily entreated?

Sin drives, but LOVE leads.  Yes the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert, but that was not the same kind of “drive.”.  That was compelling Him, making it irresistible, to lead, urge, draw out, to cause a thing to move straight on its intended goal…”  Jesus had intimate fellowship with the Father and the Spirit.  He would go spend the wee hours in the mountains being alone with them.  Remember, in Heaven He and the Father were intertwined and had never been separated.  So, the wilderness experience that Jesus faced, was not God deserting Him! It was a time to put into practice, to voice the Word that HE had hidden in His heart. So when satan came at him, He could counter each time with “It is written.”  He could do it, because it was part of Him. He BELIEVED IT and staked His life on it, because He knew His Father, intimately, deeply, personally.  The same way we are invited to know Him!

As we become so intimately acquainted with our Father who art in Heaven, and with our Lovely Jesus our Bridegroom, and with the incomparable Holy Spirit, we will not fall for satan’s tricks and masquerades. He always tries to cause us to doubt God’s character, God’s word.  But when we have waited on God and become tie dyed or entwined with Him then we will KNOW that nothing can separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  And that Love is a driving force! It drives out fear, sickness, doubt, pain, loneliness, guilt, shame.  Let the Love that is found in the wonderful name and Person of Jesus, wash over you today.  Come to the Lover of your soul. Come let HIM make you whole!

For there is NO OTHER NAME!  Acts 4:10b, 12  J.B. Phillips New Testament  …”it is high time that all of you and the whole people of Israel knew that it was done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! In no one else can salvation be found. For in all the world no other name has been given to men but this, and it is by this name that we must be saved!”

Word for 2012

This is what I have perceived thus far for 2012. I can only share what I have seen and heard.  I believe that 2012 will hold many choices for us to stay on the right path, or be diverted off by circumstances and appearances.  

I urge you to Hear From Heaven FOR YOURSELF and do not blindly swallow everything that comes you way, even if it looks good!  It is time to discern the TRUE from the profane and false. 

With that being said, below is my offering presented before the Lord to you to judge for your own edification and uplifting.  May you have a blessed and prosperous New Year in the Lord!

Heard:  2012 The Year to Hear From Heaven

Tom said while praying together:  2012 is the Gateway to the Future

Seen:   A stone fence with a white wrought iron garden gate with a beautiful path leading somewhere into the distance and the gate stood ajar and about half way open, inviting you to walk through it. In the middle over the top of this picture I saw a long golden trumpet pointed down from the sky, like a megaphone if you will.  The vision was all in beautiful pastels and light and bright but the trumpet was a darker golden color, like it was very old, (Not new shiny gold).  The path was smooth, well worn and light in color, like white sand.  There were wide expanses of green field on each side of the path and flowers around the front of the fence and gate, with a big old full tree near the inside of the gate to my left, (as if it were guarding the entrance.)  I could see that there were rolling hills in the distance.  It reminded me of a Thomas Kincaid painting!

I have been pondering what all this means.

Stone fence = Foundations. Boundaries. Line of Demarcation.  End of one thing, Start of something New. To set apart, distinguish.

Gate = place of authority, place where business is transacted. Also a place of judgment.

A wide expanse= prosperity, peace and quietness

A path= journey, walking with God, Way of Life

A Trumpet= Prophetic Proclamation, Revelation, Flow of the Spirit, Messages, Communication, Judgment

Hills or small Mountains= Strength, Stability, Refuge, Majesty

This is the Year to hear from Heaven, for you will hear many voices and many “prophecies” in the coming days.  Listen for my Voice and discern good from evil.  The voice of fear will be speaking loudly. Pay it no mind.  You have come to the place of no return. Will you step through boldly into the New Year?  Or will you allow your faith to be frozen by doubt and fear? 

Wisdom is yours for the asking. Come sit under it’s boughs and commune with Me. Shrug off the past and cast your gaze upward to the things of the Spirit, upward to the place that is your eternal home.  You have struggled in the past to hear Me clearly.  Know this; I am speaking, and it is specific to your part and your place.  HEAR what I AM saying to YOU. When I met with Paul on the road to Damascus, did not all hear a noise?  But only Paul heard the WORDS that were meant for his ears.  So it is with you. There is much noise in these latter days and many words.  Not even all of my words are for you, for I give direction to many all at once, but My Spirit, makes the words plain and quickens those that are meant for your ears.  Train yourself to breathe deep of Me and trust yourself in My hands as I teach you how to hear ME even more clearly. 

I have drawn a line, and I have mapped out the way.  

I will lead you step by step and day by day. The line separates you from things that have to go. It forbids passage of the old, for I make all things new. I am the God of new beginnings, the God of second chances, the God of Impossiblities being made Possible!  Only Believe, and Keep your eyes on Me. 

I am calling you into a new place.  A new place of freedom and openness. A new level of confidence. I desire you to be my Confidant, one in whom I can entrust My Heart with things that are dear to ME.  I AM calling you to a new realm of My Glory, to walk with surefootedness and stability.  I AM calling you to execute righteousness and judgment. Righteousness in your living and doing, and judgment against the works of darkness and the evil one. I aAM placing My Words in your heart, as My Voice you will hear, so listen carefully with your spiritual ear.

You have walked through many trials and fire. You have seen what seemed to be the death of dreams and desires.  Now look around at the Bright New Day. I am not saying there won’t be trials along the way.  But step into my Glory and there I want you to stay! 

It is time to dream again, so begin today. Be of Good Cheer, for I AM right here!  I will lead you on a plain path for the sake of your enemies. I will guide you with My eye, so look at everything with the eyes of your spirit and not your fleshly eye. You WILL hear my voice and if you obey, on the pathway of Life you will find new Pleasures day by day. 

When the storm clouds come, and even shakings too, do not fear, for I AM and will be with you.  I AM your refuge, your only safe place to be. So come into My Secret Place and there tabernacle with ME.

There in My Presence I will show you what will be, for 2012 holds many things in store, and not all of them from ME.  However, remember, I hold all things in My Hand.  By My Will this earth continues to stand! I AM the Master Planner, and I hold the keys. Although the heathens rage all the more, they shall all be silenced when the Lion of Judah roars! 

So, My Beloved, speak the Word back to Me, give My angels flight to do My bidding for Me.  I’ve told you it is My Pleasure and the Kingdom Keys I’ve given to thee.  So now unlock the doors and set many free!  Open your mouth my Beloved, and let ME roar through thee!

Psalm 18:19(MSG)  He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved--surprised to be loved!

Psalm 118:5 (JPS)  Out of my straits I called upon the LORD; He answered me with great enlargement.

Psalm 16:11 (YLT)  Thou causest me to know the path of life; Fulness of joys is with Thy presence, Pleasant things by Thy right hand for ever! 

Psalm 1:3 (AMP)  And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

Psalm 92:12 (AMP)  The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].

Revelation 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.