VOICES CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS

BOOK REVIEWS AND COMMENTS

(@ April 15, 2017)

 

Please Note: When I first completed and published Voices Crying in the wilderness I had no idea what I was to do with the book. I wrote it because my Heavenly Father instructed me to do so. When it was finished I asked Him. “Now what? Where do you want me to send this book?” His immediate response was a vision in which he showed me a map. The map included Great Britain, Europe, Africa and Australia. Shortly after He sent a woman from Ghana (excerpts from her letters follow the comments below) who had received a copy and was greatly inspired that the book was an answer to a prophetic word they had received that God was sending a woman with a book that would bring great blessing to them. The woman from Ghana came to meet with me. An agreement was drawn and the printing rights were given over to her and her ministry to distribute the book wherever it would bless their works.

Holy Spirit has only just recently released this book in North America. I am hearing amazing testimonies from young servants of God of how this book is impacting their lives and how they are suddenly experiencing prophetic downloads from God for this hour and season on the earth. I am in awe as I listen to their testimonies. Praise God! He has done what He said he would do with this book! Amen!

The following Amazon reviews were received during the initial publication process even though I did not pursue distribution. He is now speaking it is time to release this book to the western countries.

(Cut and paste reviews would not allow me to include the Amazon ratings. I have thus simply inserted the ratings by text as they appeared on Amazon.)

Amazon Reviews

FIVE STAR RATING: Follow Your Destiny, June 11, 2008       FIVE STAR RATING By Shirley Priscilla Johnson “Author/Reviewer -… (USA) – I am always interested in reading a book written from the heart of a Christian as they have walked the walk to their destiny. In this work, we find, Alison Teed opening her heart and soul to the reader as she tells us her life story and her struggle to understand and accept her destiny. Ms. Teed talks of the struggles she had within herself as she sought to follow the Savior. Often these were painful and confusing. She also shares ups and downs within the church and the learning experiences it brought to her. I have to say that many of the things she wrote about I either could personally relate to or knew others that had experienced some of the same. However, she always gave the Lord glory and definitely let the reader know that no matter what occurred, forgiveness and love must always be forefront. Certainly something we all should know and practice. I also liked the way she used Scriptures throughout her book. It helped to bring Spiritual meaning and understanding. This book is truly from a servant’s heart, reaching out to others who are perhaps struggling to find their own destiny and walk where the Lord has called them to walk. A book that will encourage many along the path, as they open their heart to her testimony, her defeats and her victories. Recommended. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?

 

FIVE STAR RATING:    An account of thirty years of prophetic obedience, May 7, 2008   By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) – James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief “Write in a book all you have seen and heard…” “Voices Crying in the Wilderness: A Call to Prophesy” is author and published writer Alison Teed’s answer to that call, a year of waiting on God, and calls “Voices Crying in the Wilderness: A Call to Prophesy” an account of thirty years of prophetic obedience. It is a semi-autobiographical account of growing up a prophet and a nudge that all of God’s people should come and answer his call without fear. Highly recommended for Christian studies shelves and for Christian readers in general. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?

 

FOUR STAR RATING:    A definite testament of someone following their calling, April 30, 2008 By Stephanie Manley (Eau Claire, MI) – I have got to say that this book really struck a chord with me, as it is a book about the spiritual life of someone. It is the life of someone who definitely feels a strong calling in their life, and has followed their faith in God. I really like that Alison Teed did not always lead a perfect, sinless life, but rather she is completely candid about her life before becoming a Christian. I liked her attitude was that we all sin, but God still loves us, and his grace is always there, and he still wants the best for us throughout life. Every chapter of her book is filled with the forgiving nature of God. Her life stories about her life, her families, and even her parents being saved are amazing, and a fantastic testimate to people leading lives with their faith as the center of the life. Her use of scriptures throughout her book was well done, and always made the importance of the subject clear and concise. For me the most important issue of the book was that God really wants the best for you, for your life, and understands our human natures, and that he loves us anyway. It is refreshing to read about the Christian walks of others, and hear about their life experiences. Alison Teed definitely provides compelling testimony of living a Christian centered life. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?

OTHER REVIEWS AND COMMENTS

 

Pastor James Bergen, North Fresno Church, CA 2008

I first got to know Alison (Lois) Teed in a church I pastored in Vancouver, BC. We grew close and remain friends to this day (2017) though we both live in different locations in North America. I am thrilled that Lois’ writing is coming to print and look forward to how God will use her prophetic voice to speak to his people in this time and this place. I know Lois to be a person of deep character and a heart after the Lord’s. Her continual desire and concern is to walk faithfully with God and see the church do the same. She is committed to Scripture and in particular God’s prophetic words to his people. Some of those words can be difficult, but even in some of those tough places and tough words I know her to be committed to people, a person also on a journey. I look forward to how God will use Alison in this season of her life, and how his voice will come through to us and how we will respond.

Mary, Phoenix, AZ

What a wonderful book. I enjoyed following you through your life and how you overcame fear. You mentioned that this book is for those who are pondering their call, but uncertain how to proceed. I have always desired the prophetic the gift. I am now asking the Lord the purpose of you giving me an opportunity to read your book….

Africa

Kennedy Nsubuga, Uganda, Africa

I pray that this finds you and you family fine….I and my family members were so blessed by your book Voices Crying in the Wilderness. My life has been changed through the message that you wrote in your book.  May the Lord bless you and give you the ability to write more books. May the Lord bless the works of your hands….

Lillian Nampebwa, Uganda, Africa

I really love your book (Voices Crying in the Wilderness), it’s so educative, inspirational and influential….

 

Voices crying in the Wilderness‏

From:	Vernon Newbill
Sent:	March 11, 2010 11:04:02 PM
To:

Mrs. Alison Teed,

Dear Sister,
I feel compelled dear sister, to send you just a simple, but genuinely heartfelt thank you, for your fruitful obedience to the Lord.
I am currently reading “Voices crying in the wilderness”.
Again and again, I have been (internally) aware of Holy Spirit poignantly rising up within me in response to the words you vulnerably and graciously share in this book.
He is moving in the depths of my inner man through your writing, with His unmistakable presence of deep joy and poignant weeping….even as I feel now in writing you.
You have greatly ministered to me dear sister….
With a grateful heart to the Lord,
and to you,
May the Lord richly bless you,
your brother in Him,
Vernon Newbill

HEALING IS THE CHILDREN’S BREAD PART I

The wonder of the manifestation of Jesus’ miracles is not reserved just for “those out there” somewhere. His compassion, mercy and grace are immediate for all who call upon His Name, believing. Here is one person’s account of how Jesus became more real and His caring love undeniable in the face of body malfunctions and illnesses…more than 25 physical healings.

We tend to take our bodies for granted hoping that they will sustain us into old age without too much repair or maintenance. However, we are quite sophisticated walking, living machines. Like any machine, things need tuning up and servicing in order to keep things running smoothly. God has graciously provided us with physicians (The Lord bless them all!) who do everything they know how to help us keep our “engines” in good working order. BUT when a physician is occasionally confronted with some sort of malfunction of our equipment that they just can’t heal on their own, Jesus will step in and take care of whatever the physician cannot take care of. After all HE DESIGNED AND CREATED OUR BODIES. HE KNOWS EVERY DETAIL AND FUNCTION. HE IS OUR GREAT PHYSICIAN! AMEN!

My first encounter with Jesus and His offer to heal me happened before I even entered a church. It was not long after I invited Him into my life. I was watching a well-known, but much ridiculed, TV healing minister, Earnest Angley. Brother Angley turns 96 this August (2017). I watched him on TV in my early days and actually attended one of his crusades in Vancouver, BC. During his preaching, he suddenly stopped and pointed directly to me and informed me that Jesus wanted to heal my spine. I didn’t know I had anything wrong with my spine. He kept commanding me to stand up and receive my healing. I was a very new Christian and I was a little embarrassed at his rebuke and wouldn’t stand. He turned and continued on with his message.

I discovered several years later that I did indeed have a problem with my spine. I had suffered for 5 years after delivering my 10 ½ pound baby boy with sciatica. Now…I am a simple country girl and I heard lots about rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago and all that sort of thing and from the old tales from home thought it was like having a cold in my hip. The pain eventually became so severe I could not walk. My husband had had enough of my groanings and put me in the car and drove me to a well-known sports chiropractor he knew personally. There, I was x-rayed and it was discovered that I had scoliosis, a deformed vertebrate and an extra vertebrate, not to mention misalignment, leading back to my pregnancy and delivery of my big baby boy. I remembered brother Angley’s words to me and was amazed that he knew all this. I still did not connect all this to Jesus wanting to heal me at the crusade. It was more about brother Angley and how he knew that I had a badbback condition. But as I grew and understood more and studied more of His Word, I realized I had missed out on a wonderful miracle. His mercies are new every morning and great is his faithfulness, for the sports chiropractor was very skilled and within weeks I had completely recovered from the persistent pain of more than 5 years. The scoliosis remained and over the following years I could see a definite lean to the left. Let’s leave that for now.

This was not the last of brother Angley! In my book Voices Crying in the Wilderness, A call to prophecy, I give my testimony in detail. Here I will simply say at this point I had found a church and was attending church and group meetings at least 3 times a week. My husband and I came into relationship with Jesus at the end of the 70s revival…of course we had no idea we were part of a revival at the time. One day I decided not to attend church (We likely had attended other meetings during the week and needed a rest.) My husband attended church and I stayed home. I watched brother Angley on TV. He spoke a Word that Jesus was healing someone of a “widow’s hump”.

Here again I noticed that I was developing a definite protrusion on my back at the top of my spine, just at the base of the neck. I commented to my husband that I hoped I was not going to develop what I, by then, understood to be a generational infirmity. My maternal grandfather had a very noticeable hump on his back and complained frequently of a pain in his neck.  About ten years ago I also met up with a cousin I hadn’t seen for many years and noticed his condition was so severe he could barely lift his head. My mother too had a slight protrusion at the top of her spine. Mine was not looking good and I would deliberately try to stand as straight as I could, but I could see this family condition was more and more noticeable.

BUT THIS TIME I HEARD BROTHER ANGLEY AND IMMEDIATELY RECEIVED JESUS BLESSING OF HEALING. Brother Angley commanded that whoever this Word was for must stand up and begin to praise and thank Jesus. This is did without hesitation! I jumped up from the sofa and began to praise Him with hands lifted in the air and thanked Him with such joy. I knew I had been healed. When I checked in the mirror my spine was completely straight at the top. This was very exciting to see and I couldn’t wait to show my husband when he returned from church! Wow! This might not mean anything to someone who has not experienced such a deformity, but even now it is such a wonderful blessing to remember what He did for me!

The last couple of years I have felt a strong sense that I was to share my testimonies of Jesus’ healings. For whatever reason the Lord has held me back until now. I know His timing is always perfect and what I share here, He will use to inspire and strengthen others’ faith and trust in Him. To Jesus be all the praise and glory! Amen!

Ok…back to the scoliosis…I do not have a record of when I was healed of scoliosis, but that too is long gone. I do know it all happened around the same era. Sometimes I received a healing and didn’t even know for a time and then realized that whatever was ailing me was completely gone. So if you are counting, you will have to fill in the blanks as I may not get to all 25 plus healings in this testimony. Another thing…if I die of something tomorrow that would in no way diminish my testimony of the years and years of His wonderful healing and maintained blessings in my body. We all go at some time. I would love to be translated and not taste death, but not sure that is my lot in life.

So at this point, the Lord helped and provided one of the best chiropractors available to bring healing to a (1) severe sciatic condition, (2) Jesus then healed me of the generational “widow’s hump” (3) and He healed the scoliosis.

Another healing about the same time (era) came one Sunday morning in our worship service. Our church was well known as the “Worshiping Church” and it was not unusual for members of the congregation to receive healing or deliverance. (I will talk about deliverance later.) A little girl born to friends of ours (Her parents became pastors later and at one time were our group leaders.) had a birth defect where her foot was quite twisted and she had difficulty walking. During one of our evening worship services everyone gathered around the little girl (I think she was about 4 years old at the time.), laid hands on her and prayed for her healing and with astonishment everyone watched the little girl’s foot twist back around and straighten…perfectly straight! He parents continue today to pastor a very successful church in the lower-mainland of BC. PRAISE YOU, JESUS!

Well, back to my own experience. I tended to suffer regular bouts of bronchitis. One Sunday morning I was dripping bronchitis, coughing and hacking and all sickly. I decided to go to church anyway. I knew there was healing in the “house” and Jesus might touch me and heal me. The worship was wonderful; I was lost in the presence of God and my heart soared with His. We finished our worship and listened intently to the message preached, making notes as usual. I didn’t think much more about sickness until we left the service and I realized I was completely healed. Just in case this seems ho, hum to you, which I do understand. Just think AT 10 AM I WAS DRIPPING SICK AND AT 12 PM I WAS COMPLETELY NORMAL!  Bronchitis does not just vanish in 2 hours! But healing now had become normal for me. Well, almost normal. It would be a few years yet before I completely handed my life or death over to Jesus, trusting Him completely and allowing Him to take charge of my health and healing, or death if that was to be.

I will pause here for a breather. This finishes a particular era and beginning of a growing understanding and trust in the power, compassion and love of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. ARE YOU ENCOURAGED! I surely hope so. This is just the beginning. The Lord bless all who read this message with renewed faith and blessing in their physical, mental and spiritual being. Amen!

n reply to classic brands 10.5 inch cool gel self-ventilating memory foam mattress.

Thank you for your interest. I am wondering why readers seemingly only have access to this one entry. Are you not able to access my more recent articles?

I think you are asking for more on the subject of recovery. My experience over the past 5 years while working with families in varying stages of recovery is that recovery seems to be an ongoing, never-ending process for some. For others, who have truly received a powerful encounter with Jesus and His amazing healing power, freedom indeed is experienced and they move forward into a completely new life with almost unlimited options for what they might do from here on. leaving behind the stigma of once a loser, always a loser. I hate stigmas. It is like stepping in some horrible sticky stuff that you can’t wash off your shoes and follows you everywhere like a dark nasty gunk.

The most challenging aspect of drug and alcohol dependency that I have seen is the lack of education which stunts and limits hopes and dreams for an abundant future. If I could draw a bottom line for this unfortunate category of life it would be: If you haven’t encountered Christ’s power of deliverance in your body and mind then go into long term rehab…my recommendation is one of the Dream Centers (men’s in Calgary, AB and women’s in Edmonton, AB) spend the year (or 2) getting your life clean and sorted out; AND THEN IMMEDIATELY register for some sort of advanced education program. Of course grade 12 equivalent is the first place (I discovered that those I was working with actually did not test above Gr 3. If someone tests at grade 3 then start there. As a former tutor that’s how I handled working with children with reading challenges…always start at THEIR beginning and move forward from there.)

Once the basic education is achieved then move forward into something that truly interests you: whether academics at a higher level, such as college or university or trade school. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing a trade. One thing I still would like to do is sign up for cooking school…always wanted to open a restaurant. For some reason we are conditioned to think that we must have a university education…and this is fine if you are wanting a complete universal education, but if you are wanting to specialize in a trade then there should be no further concern that one must have a university education to enjoy their life or provide for their family. EDUCATION IS ALL GOOD! The Bible says so much about the importance of knowledge in Proverbs. I agree. If I was 20 years younger I would continue to pursue greater knowledge of more of my interests. I have a niece that has just entered her doctorate program in statistics. How I envy her. Go sister, go!

I referred to several different categories of dependency recovery: some ongoing and unresolved, some provided complete freedom after encountering the power of Jesus. But there are many also who have “seen-the-light”, so to speak, and simply made the decision to turn around and head in another direction, leaving the drugs, alcohol and other sticky stuff behind. My absolute congratulations to all who have moved forward. This brings to mind a scripture:

Phil 3:13-14 Phil 3:13-14
13 Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward — to Jesus. 14 I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Amen!

A LIGHT Response to ROGUE I

I seem to be feeling quite prolific in my writing this Christmas.  I hope some readers received encouragement from my last post. I hope again that this post brings some light to any readers who are followers of the Star Wars series.

Definition of rogue (Miriam Webster Dictionary)

1. 1:vagrant, tramp
2. 2: a dishonest or worthless person :  scoundrel
3. 3: a mischievous person :  scamp
4. 4: a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave
5. 5: an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation

roguish play\ˈrō-gish\ adjective; roguishly adverb; roguishness noun

rogue origin

mid 16th century (denoting an idle vagrant): probably from Latin rogare ‘beg, ask,’ and related to obsolete slang roger ‘vagrant beggar’ (many such cant terms were introduced toward the middle of the 1700s

Definition of REBELLION (Miriam Webster Dictionary)

re·bel·lion rəˈbelyən/ noun

1. an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler.

“the authorities put down a rebellion by landless colonials”

synonyms:

uprising, revolt, insurrection, mutiny, revolution, insurgence, insurgency; More

• the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention.

“an act of teenage rebellion”

defiance, disobedience, rebelliousness, insubordination, subversion, subversiveness, resistance “an act of rebellion”

OK…if you read my last blog you will know that I am pretty careful what I load my mind with, so it is unusual that I would consider loading up my memory bank with this sort of production. We were invited to join another couple to watch the movie together. There was no hesitation to do that. I attended, knowing my armour was firmly intact and my earplugs were tumbling about my hand in my pocket. This brings to mind the old adage: hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. There is certainly no way to completely block out the bombardment of data thrown at your brain if you do attend one of these events, but earplugs will dilute the invasion. My husband and I have always enjoyed a movie night out and have thoroughly enjoyed many productions; we are also not shy at all to walk out of a movie if it proves unsavory. With this one I really wanted to know what it was that entertained and attracted so many followers. So, earplugs in place…Let the show begin. Wow! Wow! Wow! That is my bottom line response. Here is my observation of what we have evolved into. Darkness, darkness and more darkness. The darkness was so complete and dense and overwhelming I actually had to leave the theatre about 10 minutes before the movie finished. I literally craved the light!  The depth of darkness was beyond anything I could imagine.

Occasionally, I opened my eyes to see who-was-who and what all the ardent discussions, arguments and fighting was about. I honestly couldn’t tell who the good guys were and who the bad guys were.  They all seemed the same! Darkness fighting darkness for supremacy of an empire.  I think that was what it was all about. I think the good guys named themselves “rebellion”.  Hmmmm….something wasn’t making any sense to me as I continued to try to determine who was good and who was bad.  I think maybe I missed the point and realize now that there were no good guys or bad guys, just situations and striving for dominance and supremacy.  I don’t know if anyone actually achieved that target at the end.  I am sure there must be a Rogue II in the making. Perhaps it would read Rogue II The Continuing Battle for Supremacy.

I hope you are still with me in this as I had a most extraordinary experience the following morning as I was reading one of my favorite books.  I saw something amazing as I read…the movie producers might have added what I read as one of their additional characters and planets in this war for supremacy. Back to the movie. It was like connecting the dots. The Rebels travelled from planet to planet in the empire, gathering their rogue forces together to fight the final battle to take control and rule supreme. So…as I read my story I could see that the characters in my story fit beautifully in the Star Wars theme.  Here is what I was reading; I hope you see the correlation.

The leader of the rebel group headed out to their meeting and training center in order to instruct the group further on how to come together as a force. While their leader taught and counseled, another group of opposers entered the meeting place and confronted the leader with a member of his group of rebels who had broken one of their laws and insisted the offender be punished. There continued a debate back and forth as to what should be done to the rebel for punishment. The rebel leader looked at the opposers and suggested they punish the offender themselves if they saw fit; he didn’t find any fault in the rebel. The opposers feared to punish the law-breaker surrounded by the rebels and left the offender standing in the midst of the group. The leader turned and summoned the offender to join the group and to be careful to keep the laws of their opposers, also he reminded his followers that this law was sent by The Great Leader for their good. and then cautioned the rebel not to break it again. He continued with the briefing. Intimidated by the rebel leader the opposers remained in the back of the meeting room, hoping to find an offense to accuse him….a much bigger prize than one of the rogue followers.

The rebel leader directed his briefing to the group of opposers at the back of the meeting and reminded them: “I am the light of this world: those that follow me will not live in your darkness, but they will have freedom to live in my light.”

The opposers answered back. “You think you are some great power against us, but you are nothing.”

The leader responded. “Maybe I do think I am some great power, but what I say is true. You don’t know where I have come from in the universe, but I do. You can’t stop me as I come and go, nor can you stop my rebel followers. You can’t see that I am great and I am sent by one even greater than I. You have to join together with each other to say if one or the other is true, but I know who I am because the One who sent me is my witness and he is greater than any of you.”

“Who is this One that you say is so great? “

“You don’t know him or me. But you will.”

His opposers spoke amongst themselves and turned and left the meeting room, not knowing how to retaliate against or refute what the leader spoke.

The leader called out to the backs of the opposers as they retreated. “I go my way in freedom, but you shall all die in your feebleness. Where I go you can’t touch me. You are powerless.”

The opposers mumbled between themselves hoping that this man would kill himself and get off their planet. The leader of the rebels overheard their snide cursings and shouted out after them. “I am from a greater place than this planet. I am not from here and you cannot follow where I go! You could join me and then you would see, but you are lost here without help or power!”

The opposers turned back on him. “Who do you think you are coming here and challenging us? You are treading on thin ice, rebel.”

“I have told you who I am, join me or get out of the way. The Great One that sent me will make a judgement against you and you shall die in your foolishness of defiance against him. I am here to gather together the rebels that will hear the truth of The Great One of the universe. I tell them only those things I have heard from him and they are true. This planet will fall and there will be no help for those who oppose The Great One.” 

The opposers had heard of this Great One. They understood what the rebel leader said to them.

The rebel leader finished with this. “You might succeed in taking me out as you see it, but I live forever and you cannot destroy me. But I have the power and authority of my Leader to take you out forever. I will rise up again, but you will taste death forever. I do only what my Leader shows me, you do only what your leader shows you. I am the light of the universe, I shall live and rule the universe forever; you shall die and live in a place of dark torment forever.”

Then some of the opposers believed the rebel leader and joined with his followers. The leader turned to them and said, “If you continue to learn what I teach you and do what I tell you I will consider you followers and take you where I go and show you The Great Leader. You will understand that I tell you the truth and you will live in my light and be free.”

Those who turned to follow the rebels began to contest with the leader. “We have had a great leader and have always had freedom. Why do you say that we need to be free again?”

“Ah, yes. You have known a great leader and freedom, but you turned away from him and now you do not have the freedom The Great Leader offers you.  You now have a new leader for your freedom and do as your new leader tells you and his freedom changes and shifts. But The Great Leader never changes and his freedom is always the same. Your great leader leads you to darkness to find freedom. The Great Leader leads you to light where you can see and live and revel in his freedom that never changes or shifts. Your great leader must fight for supremacy and rule. The Great Leader does not strive for supremacy…He is supremacy. He is the light and there is no darkness in him. He rules and reigns forever and I rule with him forever. You will die in your darkness, but I will live forever in His light. I have made you free today from the darkness of eternal death. You now have the freedom to live in my Great Leader’s light forever.”

Then the rebel leader concluded. “I know that you come from a great leader that knows who I am and who knows The Great Leader, yet some of you want me dead, hoping to regain supremacy of this planet and don’t follow your great leader as I know him, but have made laws and rules of your own that force followers to submit to your own leadership and you have turned from the instruction of your great leader to the leader of the darkness of this planet. We rebel not against The Great Leader, but against the darkness of the leader of this planet. We bring the light that overcomes his darkness. If you followed the great leader whom you say you follow, you would love me as he loves me. But you follow the ruler and leader of the darkness of this planet and you cannot hear my words and you shall all die in darkness and eternal torment. The leader of the darkness of your planet that you follow is a murderer and his purpose is to lead you to war and death, killing and mutilating and deceiving in order to gain power and supremacy. But he will not succeed against the light.”

He turned again summoning anyone who would step forward. “Is there one of you who can convict me of darkness or lawlessness? I obey all your laws since I came to this planet. I only speak of the light and seek followers who understand The Great One and his ways.” 

Contention arose again as the opposers moved back into the meeting room. “You accuse us of following a murderer. You are possessed with the forces of the universe.

“I am not possessed with any force of the universe, but as I conduct myself I show you The Great Leader of the universe and you do not believe me. I tell you if you turn from the darkness that you follow on this planet and follow me and The Great Leader that sent me, you will never see death.”

“You are out of your mind and for certain you are possessed with the forces of the universe. How can you say you know our great leader and he was dead long before you were even on this planet?”

“Before your great leader was I existed and ruled with The Great Leader. Now you say you know him, but your ways do not tell me that you know him. But I know him. You are liars when you say you know him. I know him because I keep his laws and do his will.”

The oppressors moved in violently to take the rebel leader to kill him, but he moved freely between them and left the meeting room with his rebel followers.

The Bible: John Ch 8 (as paraphrased: by Alison Teed)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Do you hate the feeling of discouragement?  Well, so do I! I can’t stand the invasion of any negative presence in my mind.

1. Discouragement can affect our judgment in so many ways: actions, words, decisions to mention just a few. I make it a policy now that if I have been overtaken by discouragement (which happens to us all from time to time) it is not a time to make any sort of decisions until I encourage myself again…or someone comes along that encourages me. Then I can see clearly and think clearly to make a decision that is sound and profitable. I have counselled others numerous times to not make emotional decisions: whether it is at a moment of an extreme joyful state or, at a time of a general state of discouragement…or anger…or confusion…frustration. I think one of the worst emotional decisions that we make as a people is separation from our loved ones. I would say after many years as a lay-counselor that 90% of divorces happen during a state of emotional turmoil. I recall our friend, pastor and counselor (psychologist) (Dr.) Paddy Ducklow many years ago encouraging us with these words, “I know that it feels like everything has been tossed in the air and it will never come down again….but it will. You might FEEL like you can’t take any more, but you can.”  His words were true and have sustained us through many trials and testings over the years. Thanks, Paddy!

If you are discouraged today, please know that there is ALWAYS hope for a future. My husband says, “It’s not over ‘til it’s over.” And this is also a powerful truth and encouragement. There have been moments in my life where suddenly all hope seemed to vanish and I was left with a sense of hopelessness. I felt that I would never recover and my life was over as I knew it.  BUT…GOD IS BIGGER THAN ANY DISCOURAGEMENT WE FACE. HE IS A GOD OF RECOVERY, GRACE, LOVE, LONG SUFFERING, COMPASSION, MERCY AND ON AND ON….

God always speaks to me to be “strong and courageous” when I feel knocked down. Believe me, I don’t feel like being strong or courageous when I am sitting in the pit of glum. In fact, I would just as well like to give up and quit. BUT! I know from experience to….

Ps 27:14

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. KJV

Ps 37:7-9

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. KJV

And my favorite reminder from my God….

Isa 40:30-31

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. KJV

Now…if you are beginning to feel some encouragement and that yukky sense of hopelessness is fading and your mind is clearing and your shoulders are straightening, here are a few tidbits to keep you going and help you completely shed the heaviness of hopelessness…or just get free from the yuks of life:

I have found that each and every time I become discouraged over something God steps in very quickly and speaks encouragement from His Word. Why His encouragement doesn’t just yank me out of me gloomy state, I don’t understand. Somehow it takes His Word PLUS the compassion and mercy of my fellow sojourners to lift me out and send me on my way.  I hope that this post is that additional boost to lift you up and send you merrily on your way.  SPEAKING OF “MERRILY”!    This came to my attention this morning as I was watching 100 Huntly Street.  There was a segment on sharing the original definition of the Christmas greeting “Merry” Christmas. It was a wonderful boost and I pass it on to you.

One Hundered Huntley:

(Paraphrased)

The Christmas greeting Merry Christmas originated about 500 years ago with the first Christmas carol. The definition of “merry” is not referring to happy or even joyful, but its usage was to depict “great (ness), might (iness) and strength”. I love this!  Amen, brother! I can’t wait to wish the next person I see a merry Christmas! A GREAT Christmas…a Christmas full of might and strength!  Amen to all! Even the song “God rest you merry gentlemen” makes more sense. This is a wish for these men to be great, full of might and strength. Awesome!

I decided to take this another step:

Prov 15:13

13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. KJV

Strong’s Concordance: Merry (vs 13 and 15) here is to be joyful, have wealth, welfare, be loving and be well favoured.  But what caught my attention was the word spirit in vs 13:

Strong’s Concordance 7303: a broken spirit = courage (is broken), mind (is broken), breath (is broken)

Wow! That just about says it all.  When we feel discouraged our courage is broken, our mind is broken and even our breath is broken (Have you ever noticed when your breathing becomes shallow?). Give this a little thought and you will get the picture.

Prov 15:15

15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. KJV

Well, all of us receive a few lemons and some of us a lot of crap. It’s what we do with those lemons and all the crap that defines us. You know to turn lemons in to lemonade, but have you ever used the crap as a rich fertilizer and grow the best darned crop of lusciousness you ever saw!  Ha, ha, ha on the devil.  Remember…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, brother, sister, father, mother, our children, friends, spouse or neighbor, but against the forces of darkness in this world. GOD IS GREATER AND SO ARE WE!  Ephesians 6:12-19

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! (from The Willows Freedom House)