Faith

Faith - complete trust or confidence in someone or something.  Strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. 

Unbelief - lack of religious belief; an absence of faith. Incredulity or skepticism.

 God needs our faith.  He cannot bless a whiney, difficult child who complains about everything that comes our way.  In our praise and thanksgiving He can and will bless abundantly.  We need to have faith in what He has told us, promised us.  Faith that He is true to His word.  No matter how dark the day, keep the faith. Yesterday I opened my Every Day In His Presence to... Obey God.  As of late it has really been impressed upon my heart how crucial it is to listen and to obey Him.  I have sensed a real urgency in responding obediently to what He places upon our hearts.  For Him to direct us and then for us to expediently obey.  An excerpt from Every Day In His Presence... "Friend, you simply cannot go wrong when you obey God.  So trust Him even if it is difficult.  And be assured that He will certainly bless your faithfulness."

This morning as I asked God what He had for me today, I sensed Him to say "Faith, your next post."  I truly believe that with what is fast approaching "Faith" is what will get us through.  Holding fast to faith.

"All is well My child.  All is going according to My Plan.  Do not fret or worry, all is well.  I know your circumstances, I see all.  I know your struggles it will be well worth it in the end.  Listen, I tell you secrets. Hear Me deep in your heart.  I tell you truth.  Great destruction is coming.  Calamity.  Fear will be rampant, but you My dear will be fearless.  You will accomplish what I have sent you to do.  I already know this.  Whatever you need I will supply. Have hope!  Stay steadfast!  Keep the faith!  All that I have told you is truth.  Do not fear. (Feb. 11, 2016).

"Lord, I will obey You. Show me what to do and give me the courage and wisdom to carry out Your will.  Amen."

Keep the Faith!

Romans 5:2 "...through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice of the hope of the glory of God."

Pray Without Ceasing

The most important thing we could be doing right now is praying.  Especially right now, that is one of our most important duties.  

"Oh my daughter, I know you are pulled in every direction, but the most important thing to do right now is pray.  I need prayers.  The condition of this world is in mighty need of prayer.  Prayer changes things.  Pray in faith.  You must pray with faith that I hear your prayers and will answer you.  I mostly certainly hear prayers that are prayed in faith from My Beloved children."

Let us earnestly pray, asking that our prayers rise to God as incense reaching His throne.

"Then another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to offer upon the golden altar before the throne.  And the perfume of the incense mixed with prayers ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out." Revelation 8: 3-5

We need to dedicate, offer up our entire days as a continual prayer.  

Pray without ceasing.

It is the most important thing we could be doing right now.

Jesus Weeps

Oh Divine and Eternal Father I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all the Masses, rosaries, prayers, and sacrifices that were ever offered from the beginning to the end of time, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, all the lost souls on earth, all the souls in the universal church, all the souls in my own home and in my own family. Amen.

God The Father weeps.

And so does Blessed Mother. All of Heaven weeps.  All of humanity weeps...

Pray.

Confirmation

I received a confirmation last night on my previous post "A New Name".  I asked, "Did I hear correctly my New Name?  Was it "Laurel", or "Lauren", or...?  Then I opened my Holy Spirit book and it did not coincide at all.  I heard..."Did I ask you to open your Holy Spirit book?"  Hmm, well no.  "Exactly, now try opening your new blue book."   So I did and this is how it read...

According to my earnest expectation and my hope.  (Phil. 1:20.)

..."Look at the soldier in the field, resolved to distinguish himself, or so that his admired commander may win another victory with his aid.

The believer may seek honour, the honour which cometh ultimately from God only, the praise of the Glory of His grace, with the pure desire that fresh laurels may be added to the wreath of his victorious Lord.  If so, he is called to be ambitious."

Make me Thy labourer,

Let me not dream of ever looking back,

Let not my knees be feeble, hands be slack,

Oh make me strong to labour, strong to bear,

From the rising of the morning till the stars appear.

Streams in the Desert (Volume 2)

I accept this confirmation!

Respect

Receive Jesus on the tongue.  It's a matter of respect.

Yesterday at Mass, during communion Brooke and I received Jesus on our tongues like we always do.  Upon returning to our pew, Brooke whispered... "Mom, that was Denny."  My daughter's Father In law just happened to be the Eucharistic Minister.  He seemed a little confused with Brooke and I receiving on the tongue, trying to place Jesus in our hands.  That's fine, we seem to confuse many Ministers as receiving on the tongue is not very common anymore.  

I thought to myself,  Denny's probably wondering...why on the tongue?

Interesting enough, at the end of the Mass, Father addresses the congregation...

"It is appropriate to receive Communion on the tongue.  I notice some of you juggling a squirmy child and still trying to receive in the hand.  It would be better to receive on the tongue. Go ahead and stick your tongue out at me.   It is appropriate to do that."

I smiled.

Oh Lord, that every parishioner would receive Your Most Sacred 

Body and Blood on the tongue!

We love You Lord.

We honour You.

We worship You.

We adore You.

Amen.

 It's a matter of respect!

A New Name

Today at Mass, Father Tony had a wonderful sermon. During the sermon he mentioned how God gave a new name to his prophets once they were enlightened.  Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Simon to Peter,
Saul to Paul.

That got me thinking...
"Lord, do I have a new name?  If I do, what is my new name?  Can I have a new name?"  I heard...

 "Laurel, your new name is Laurel."

A few moments later I felt nudged to open the Spirit Song book randomly and I opened to "Give Me a New Name".  I've never heard of this song before!  This is the lyrics...

Seaside, looking for the ones

who would immortalize his life

and carry on the message of Jesus Christ.

Willing to hear His word

and never be the same again.

Nearby, there's a man that's willing

to stand and reply, a sign.

Given a new name, a new heart and mind,

willing to hear His word

and never be the same again.

Refrain:

Lord, give me a new name

and tell me Your story, yeah!

I'll never be the same

when I see Your Glory, Yeah!

Lord, give me a new name.

Give me a new name, new name.

Solid ground, building a kingdom

that could never fall down, profound.

Simon transformed to "the Rock"

and now he's willing to hear Your word

and never be the same again.

Lord, can you change my ways?

Lord, can you change my name? Yeah!

Lord, give me a new name.

I'll never be the same.

You just can't make this stuff up!  Or, at least I can't!  

I showed the song to Brooke a couple times and she looked at me quizically.  I just wanted her to see it too.  If she only knew!  

Wow Lord, I am crying.  Crying tears of joy!

You see back on October 12, 2014, I made a journal entry and here it is...

Oct. 12, 2014 - I asked Jesus if this week He could send me some surprises or puzzles.  Well, He answered right away.  While listening to a man of God, Neville, he spoke of how important the meaning of names is.  So, I looked up my name and was amazed.  My name meant:  Victory, but the name Lori comes from the latin name "Laurel", meaning "the laurel tree".

Also, in  Ancient Greece and Rome, laurel leaves were made into crowns for victorious athletes and soldiers.  Also, James in the Bible eludes to a "laurel crown" for those who perservere.  Is it a coincidence that I was told to "Run the race and be crowned?"

Also, that message of running the race and a crowning was confirmed on "The Warning" by a man who was also told about "Endurance" and run the race as if being in the Olympics and winning a crown!  Here is his exact message...

Message to Timothy Snodgrass - Endurance

"Regardless of how tired you are of running the race, only those who continue in this end-time Olympic event will receive their crown in the end.  It is time to catch your breath and re-enter the race!  Do not give your crown to another, for great joy lies ahead if you will continue pushing forward in faith and perseverance - you are about to receive new energy from Heaven! 

Then, for some reason I was drawn to a picture I have of a "Lone Tree".  I've always been drawn to those lone trees, even at a very young age.  You know, the ones that are perfectly plopped into a middle of a field.  The tree looks so lonely and yet peaceful. 

 I wondered if the tree in my picture were perhaps a Laurel Tree.  So, I googled, Laurel trees and many trees appeared.  I picked one randomly and upon clicking on it next to the tree it read..."Do you know the meaning of your name?"

I find all this to be very interesting to say the least.  If it turns out my new name really is "Laurel", I will be so happy because I love it!

Hope

Today I heard... "Your next post will be, There's a Reason."  Immediately, I'm wondering if I ever wrote it down in my journal.  Then I heard...

"No, it's not written down.  But, you do have it written... 

written upon your heart. 

Entitle this post, Hope.  

Now, write your story".  There's a Reason...

For every pain that we must bear,
For every burden, every care,
There's a reason.

For every grief that bows the head,
For every teardrop that is shed,
There's a reason.

For every hurt, every plight,
For every lonely,
pain-racked night,
There's a reason.

If we love and trust God as we
should, all must work out for our good,
Because He has a reason!
(Romans 8:28)

On November 13, 2000, the day before I gave birth to my eighth child, my mother came over and handed me this poem.  She didn't know why, but she knew she needed to.  At the time, I thought, nice poem and threw it on top of my microwave.  

On November 14, 2000, I realized the significance of that poem.  On that day I gave birth to my eighth child, a sweet little girl with something extra.  She had an extra chromosome... she had Down Syndrome.  We had no idea.

I have to say, I did have some idea.  My spirit knew... because during this pregnancy I was drawn to children with Down Syndrome.  I even went as far as to look into certain vitamins and nutrition for these special gifts from God.  

But, as we many times do... I ignored the obvious. 

The moment she was born, Nick commented, "She looks like she has Down Syndrome."  The doctors and nurses were quiet.  Then the adventure began.  There were tears, uncertainty, we were scared, concerned.  Almost every emotion you can imagine, we went through it.  While at the hospital I even asked to speak to a priest.  I asked him... "Is God punishing us?"  "No, he replied.  He's blessing you.  God gives special gifts to special people." 

 Shortly after birth, Jackie struggled to breathe.  She was in the hospital for ten days. While there she had many doctors.  When she was a couple days old, the nurse told us the heart doctor needed to have a meeting with us.  We paced in the waiting room, letting all sorts of imaginings overtake us.  I was wringing my hands and Nick, with his head in his hands commented, "I can handle a child with a disability.  I just can't handle a dead child."  How ironic I thought, how in this day and age many people claim just the opposite! The rate of abortion of these special God-given gifts is astounding!

Jackie is now fifteen years old.  We've had our "ups" and our "downs", what an adventure it has been. Many times God leads us down a path in life that on our own we would not have picked.  But, many a blessings are in disguise.  We have found that our dear daughter, Jaclyn, is beautiful, sweet, entertaining, stubborn and at times down right defiant.   

One of  her many doctors while examining her beautiful and slightly different looking eyes said quietly, "You show 'em Jackie, you show 'em."

 At the time, in my heart I just knew what he spoke would one day come true.  You see, we've been on an adventure that at the beginning we would not have picked. But now, in our journey, we praise God that He allowed this very path, this very curve in the road, this very adventure that we've been so fortunate to not have missed. 

 Dear God, our hope is in You.  You're the one that truly makes all our dreams come true.  You have told me, it is forever in my heart... that there is a reason for everything right from the very start.

Our Hope is in You!

 There is a Reason.

Amazing Grace

Jabez

On August 12, 2014, I was at a garage sale and found myself drawn to a picture called... The Prayer of Jabez.  I felt so drawn to this picture, so I bought it.  It now hangs on my kitchen wall.

On August 16, 2014, while listening to a man of the Lord on an internet video, he starts quoting the Jabez prayer.

On October 16, 2014, I received in the mail a Jabez Prayer book I ordered.  At around 6:00 p.m. that same day, while talking to my mom on the phone, she expressed her concern for my brother, Ron and his family.  They live far from us.  So, we prayed together the Jabez Prayer.

 Later that evening, I asked Brooke to bring me my new Jabez Prayer book.  She asked, "What's Jabez?  At CCD tonight the teacher normally has us pray the Our Father, but tonight she said,  "We're going to pray something different tonight...the Jabez Prayer."

On Eagle's Wings

Employment

I'm working for you Lord!
Thank You so much for letting me work for You!

"By taking care of My sheep, you are working for Me.
You see, in My Kingdom, no one is unemployed."

"Remember child, the harvest is large, the laborers are few."

(October 13, 2014)

Dear Lord, please send more laborers to the Fields.

I handed out to each of my family members this card and informed them,

 "You have been enlisted."

2 Timothy 2:3-5  "Labour as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No man, being a soldier to God, entangles himself with civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.  For he also that striveth for the mastery, is not crowned, except he strive lawfully."

Insight

After writing my last post "Seed", I heard... "Another part of your book."  I replied,  "O Lord, you most certainly are the author of that one.  I sensed Him to say... "Oh no, co-author, remember?"

Then I asked... "Is it a long book?"  I sensed His reply to be...

"No, not too long.  In too long of a book, they lose interest, place it back upon the shelf... where it gathers dust.  

Name this post..."Insight".  Look up the definition."

Definition of Insight:  The capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive of a person or a thing.  Intuition, discernment, perception, awareness, understanding, comprehension, apprehension, appreciation, penetration, acuity, vision, wisdom.

After reading this definition of Insight, I realized the words understanding, perceiving (perception) and vision (seeing) are in the Prophecy of Isaiah written about in my previous post "Seed".

O Lord I pray, please keep this blog and future book... In Your Sight.

Seed

As I awoke today, I asked the Lord, what revelation do you have for me today?  And I heard... "seed".  You see about a week ago I received inspiration for a blog post... I heard, "seed".  So I started a post naming it Seed, but it really didn't get anywhere.  I didn't know what I was supposed to do with this information.  So, it stayed as a draft, until today...  

The Parable of the Sower 

That same day Jesus went out and sat by the lake.  Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.  Then He told them many things in parables, saying:  "A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But, when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root.   Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  Whoever has ears, let them hear."  

The disciples came to Him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

He replied, "Because the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them.  Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  This is why I speak to them in parables:

"Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand..  In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

"You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people's heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them."

But, blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear,
but did not hear it."

God is The Farmer, and God's garden is within us.  He plants His seeds there, but what condition is the soil of our hearts? The Lord's testimony in the earth begins from our hearts.  Is our soil ready?  Ready for God's seed?  Change comes from within.

God is taking us back... back to the Garden of  Eden.

He goes after the inner soul of man.  

If we do not deal with the offense and brokenness in our hearts, that is what we will reveal to others.  

We must prepare for the cycle of the seed, spring, summer, fall and winter.  We must prepare the soil.  We must have clean hearts, not perfect hearts for we are not perfect, but clean, prepared for the seed.

God's seed He is planting there.  We must not let the thorns and weeds choke out the good that God is planting.  Otherwise, that seed dies and will bear no fruit.

God is The Farmer, and in His image we too are farmers.  If we take good care of our crops, we will reap a large harvest.

Jesus... He is God's seed that was planted, nourished and grew.

He would be that single grain of wheat, to die on the cross and be resurrected.  This would lead to a great harvest of souls.

God is asking us, His Lil' Farmers, to let His seed grow, to nourish it, to die to self, and in loving others as He loves us, bring in a great harvest of souls.

It starts... in the heart.

In our family, a beautiful girl named Debbie, died at the young age of 21.  Every time, 

 I would think of Debbie, I would hear in my spirit "seed". 

Debbie was a Godly seed, planted, nourished, she grew, was "planted" into our family and then yet in her youth... she died.  Her heart stopped on the operating table. 

Before, whenever I thought of  Debbie, I would hear "seed".  But now, while  pondering the word "seed" and Debbie together, I hear... 

Love.

Debbie's heart did not stop that day.

It began beating within us.

It starts...with the heart.   

Trust...

My mom was over today, and what has been happening as of late especially has us in a whirlwind, a little confused, wanting answers.  Then I opened my Holy Spirit devotional to this...

Trust Means Not Having All The Answers

"Trusting Me means not having all the answers.  I know you like to have everything figured out ahead of time, but it's not always necessary or even profitable for you to have all the answers up front.  Having all the answers doesn't require trust.

Many things are going on behind the scenes that you don't see.  Seeing those things would only distract your heart.  I will lead you forth by peace.  You will recognize My peace because it is spiritual, not soulish, and it is perfect."

Psalm 13:15; Isaiah 26:3-4; Psalm 33:21

*Prayer*

I like to have all the answers.  I like to see the whole picture.  But I choose to trust You, the One who has all the answers and sees the whole picture.  Help me overcome my worries, my doubts, and my fears and trust You
with all that I am.

Just Love Me

On April, 15, 2015, I went to wake up Jackie and Brooke for school. Brooke had the blanket over her head and said, "No, wait!  I want to finish this dream first!"  So, I waited a few moments and commented, "Wow!  That must have been some dream!"

Then, sleepily, while still rubbing her eyes, Brooke said, "It was Jesus and He said...

"I will turn this world upside down!  I'm going to make it right again!  Don't change.  Love.  Love Me.  I need some people who still love Me!
Just love.  

You still have hope.  Have hope!"

Brooke said He had beautiful green eyes!  It was foggy around Him, but His eyes really showed up.  He had long hair, a beard, a long white robe with no belt, but it had a purple stripe on both sleeves that ran all the way down the sleeves.  

He had on sandals.

After the message, He turned and walked away.

Wow!  How awesome.

The next morning I went on a website I visit and lo and behold there was a picture of Jesus, the one painted by the little girl, Akiana.  I felt the pull to look up that picture the night before because of what Brooke said about His eyes being so beautifully green.  The title of the message was "Keep Your Eyes on Jesus" and immediately afterwards I randomly opened up my "Holy Spirit" devotional to "Keep Your Eyes on Jesus" - August 7

What a confirmation!

Come Full Circle

I sensed the Lord say,

 "Soon everything will come full circle."

Thank You Mother

Blessed Mother, Jackie has had "Great Days" for five days now, a record.  We haven't had that all school year!  How can I thank you, Mother?

I heard in my spirit..
"Pray for Poor Souls and Lost Souls."

"Oh Divine and Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all the masses, rosaries, prayers and sacrifices that were ever offered from the beginning to the end of time, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, all the lost souls on earth, all the souls in the universal church, all the souls in my own home and in my own family, Amen.

The Vending Machine

Last night as I laid my head down to sleep, I had just finished the previous post "Feed My Sheep".  I asked Jesus if I was pleasing Him.  Then, I drifted off to sleep.

First thing this morning, I awoke at the alarm and asked Nick, "How are you today?", and he replied... "Hungry! I'm really hungry!"  Interesting...

 Then I saw Dana and she said, "Mom, I had a dream last night.  You and I were working with a vending machine.  A lady came up to you holding only a dollar in her hand.  She said... "The vending machine cheated me and took all my money, and all I have left is a dollar and I'm really hungry. Then mom,  you looked into your hands, you were holding $49.00. It was all the money you had.   You handed the money to the lady and said... "Here, take this and try again."  End of dream. 

Funny how a bit later my stomach was growling.  Normally I'm not that hungry right away in the morning. I knew Nick had said he was really hungry, so I asked him if his stomach was growling and he replied, "Yes, and that is really odd for me this early".  You see, neither one had any idea of my previous post.

My interpretation of this is...

"Yes, Feed My Sheep".

Like I had mentioned previously, the communion song at mass today was "Feed My Sheep".