Making the Lord our Habitation

To God be the glory for all that He has done.  It is Friday and almost the end of another week.  I hope you had a productive week and were able to accomplish your “to-do” list.  Don’t feel badly if you did not it will be waiting for you until you get to it.  I am having a fantastic time praying for children in the various States, today is day 30 and we have only 20 more States to go.  If you did not start at the beginning of November, how about starting tomorrow December 1^st as we pray for children in New Mexico, and by the way you still have time to pray today for our children in New Jersey- It is powerful.

I would like to leave these verses of scripture with you as your prayer point for your children this week.  Psalm 91:10-12: There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  They shall bear thee up in [their] hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.  

If you get some time try to read the entire psalm 91 and you will realize the number of promises that this psalm alone talks about.  However there is a key element that we should not miss, these are promises to those that have made the Lord their habitation or dwelling place.  So first and foremost let us pray that our children will make the Lord their dwelling place.  A dwelling place is a place where you spend a significant amount of time, a place with which we are familiar, where we can get comfortable and relax.  So if we translate this to the Lord as that dwelling place, we want our children to be spending a significant amount of time with Him, we want them to become familiar with His ways, and to feel comfortable in his presence to the point that they can relax and not become anxious.  Evil cannot get to them when He is their habitation, plagues must stay away.  They have angels who are solely in charge of their every move, including holding them in their hands so they would not hit their foot against a stone.  Two words that I will use to sum this all up are Safety and protection.

I don’t know about you, but just writing this overwhelms me of how Awesome God is.  

Have a great weekend.

In His Service,

Vilma

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A Test or a Bless?

I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and at the moment coming up with creative ways to use up all those left overs.  So go ahead knock your socks off and enjoy!  Thank God my family and I made it through and all was well. I know that it was not by our strength, but that a number of you were praying for us and we thank you so very much.
I actually spent my Thanksgiving in Long Island New York and was out to do some shopping as well with my daughter…not the early morning rush, more like a mid-morning saunter.  One of the stores I went into was Macy’s and I got some pretty reasonable deals.  My total bill looked somewhat less than I anticipated but because there was a long line I took my receipt and walked out of the store. I stopped just outside the door and went back over my purchases and realized that one of the items, the second most expensive one was not rung up on the bill.  According to this Christian comedian I thought is this a “test or a bless”? Well I concluded it was a test and I walked back into the store and brought it to the attention of the cashier, and paid for the sweater. The cashier while thanking me kept looking at me with her mouth opened in disbelief. I said to her I really would not enjoy wearing this knowing it was not paid for. Why am I telling you this? In addition that this was the right thing to do as a Christian; I also was setting an example for my daughter although a grown individual. It is not only what you say, but what you do that matters. If I was overcharged I would be back to get my credit, so why not when I am undercharged?

How would this be a blessing? It would have been a blessing if someone chose to pay for the item for me, it would be a blessing if I had a coupon that gave me this item free, and it would have been a blessing if I was chosen from a group to get an item free. However, the clerk’s mistake in not checking the item was definitely not the blessing for me to enjoy.

Many times we mistake our Tests for blessings especially when it is to our advantage. However, how does God feel when we fail? So the next time you may be faced with such a situation ask yourself is this a “test or a bless?”

Have you been keeping up with the challenge of praying for our children “50 States in 50 days?”  We are almost half-way there, keep PUSHING you can do it.  

In His Service,

Vilma

We Can all Give Thanks

Today is day 16 of us praying for our children “50 states in 50 days”. There is still time to join us if you have not yet done so. These children and parents may have no idea that we are praying for them, but God is aware and is attentive to every detail of our prayer and that is what is most important.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching for those of us in the United States and by now most people are busy shopping and getting ready for that great thanksgiving feast. Then there is “black Friday” when some will be up at the crack of dawn, hunting down those bargains trying to get a jump start on Christmas shopping. The tradition in my family, and I am sure many other families is to say what each of us were thankful for before we started to eat that mouth watering meal. It is just amazing to see the many things that we would come up with of what we were grateful for.

A couple weeks ago I began thinking about thanksgiving, but this time it was very different. Instead of anticipation of being with family members I started to dread the thought of being with them. I thought about the stares and the whispers, the thoughts, the pity and I just wanted a way of escape. I thought about getting away to a hotel and just watch TV with room service or perhaps just lock myself in my bedroom and sleep. If anytime I was allowed a pity party I thought this would be a well deserved one. After all so much had changed in my life over this past year.

However, In the midst of it all the Holy Spirit reminded me of Psalm 42: 5- Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. I quickly got my thoughts together and started to recount how much I still had to give God thanks for.

Like I did you may have lost a child this year, or some of you may have lost a husband, a parent, your job, or you may gotten a divorce. Perhaps your house may have gone in foreclosure, your child may have being incarcerated, dropped out of college, became pregnant and not married. You may not have all the bells and whistle for thanksgiving as things may have gotten a bit tight for you, but guess what you can still give thanks. The fact that you are reading this e-mail is one reason to be thankful. Need I say more? Be safe over the holidays, especially if you have to travel.

In His Service,

Vilma

"Let your light Shine"

Let me thank those of you who rose to the challenge of praying for our children “50 states in 50 days”. If you have not yet started, do not get discouraged, it is not too late to pick up the baton and run with it, we are only at day 9-Florida with 41 more states to go. I hope no one was seriously affected by the hurricane or the recent nor’easter, if you were please let me know, how we may be able to help.
Beginning on Wednesday November 14^th MPUSH will launch its weekly call in prayer line from 8-9pm. If you would like someone to pray with you for any reason, please call in at phone #: 1-218-862-6420 CC 7099800.

For this weekend I would like to encourage you to “let your light shine” So many times we complain about what is wrong with our young people, with others, with our country, with our jobs, but never make the effort to do something about it. Sometimes we take the position that just by ourselves there is not much we can do. However, doing nothing can be a more dangerous decision. Remember if there is no opposition to wrong, then what is wrong will multiply. I don’t know about you, but I try to avoid some people who every time I see or call to speak with them they have a long list of the same complaints over and over again.  The interesting thing is they refuse to do anything about it.

What would happen if God just sat in heaven and complained about all that has gone wrong with mankind?  He probably would not have sent Jesus to die on the cross for us. He did something then and He continues to do something still. God uses people ordinary and extra-ordinary like you and I to do the things that He needs done. I guess this is why Mt. 5:12 tells us to Let our light shine. If you think about it, it’s His light shining through us into the world. Our light can shine in our discipline of our children, in speaking a word of hope to someone, in not compromising what is right. It is helping those who need help it is speaking up and speaking out when we see injustice and work for justice where we can, it is even a simple think as praying for our children, our spouses or significant others, our co-workers and our neighbors. It is refusing to gossip when everyone else is doing so.  Making a difference can start with you.

Father, I thank you that I can make a difference in my home, my community, at my job and in my church. So the next time I start to complain remind me to do something about it.

In His service,

Vilma

More than Conquerors

Breaking news- children in Alabama felt a special anointing and presence of the Holy Spirit yesterday and the children in Alaska are beginning to feel the same way, and the overflow is already making its way to Arizona.  The devil is trembling as he is beginning to get a headache from all the brick walls he has encountered in Alabama and Alaska.  However, God is pleased as he hears the cry of over 200 mothers interceding and standing in the gap for these children and He remembers His word in Isaiah 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
It is only day 2, and so mothers if you have not yet started your commitment “50 states in 50 days” get going!!!  You will be surprised of the personal benefits you will receive.
Let us also pray for families that were affected by Hurricane Sandy- especially in New York and New Jersey.  Let us also pray for the safety and wisdom of those first responders .

For this week, let me remind you that each of you is more than a conqueror.  Romans 8:37 tells us- Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Do you really believe this?  I know that there are times when we allow fear to creep in and stop us from pursuing the things God has called us to do, from going after our dreams, starting that business, returning to school or even to discipline our children.  Sometimes because we fear that we may offend someone, we refuse to say a simple no to some things. My question is where did this fear come from?

 II Tim 1:7: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  So if God did not give it to us where did we find it?  Go put it back where you found it.  Just know that In order to be a conqueror we must be courageous and determined that regardless of what obstacles come our way, we keep pushing forward.  The spirit of fear will always try to sneak around and try to intimidate us, but speak to it as you would speak to a real person and command it to go.  After all you have the power to get it done.

Let us pray that both we and our children will be courageous and stand, knowing that the fight is fixed- we are more than conquerors.

In His Service,

Vilma