My Testimony about the Power of Twelve from January 20, 2019

I’ve always thought that someone who gets up with a testimony before the congregation should give a brief bio so that you all don’t think the person is just some back row pew sitter that all of a sudden has something to say, but in many cases that is just what happens.  My thought is that more than half of you see me in that light since most of the time I do not have anything to say at the front of the church these days.  There was a time when I was on the worship team or leading worship when I did more in front of the church congregation.  That was before many of you were a part of this fellowship but there are many that do know my history with this church.  First I will give you a little bio of my life and walk with the Lord for the past 4 plus decades.

I have been in church all of my life because of my beautiful little mother’s faithfulness. I was baptized in the Methodist Church, then baptized in the Catholic Church and then baptized in the river.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior in 1975 in a bible study and then went about living my worldly life only turning to him when life fell apart time after time.

I was filled with the Holy Spirit in 1980 but have been far from walking in the Spirit many, many times since then.

Jerry and I met and married in 1983 and have been committed to this church since the beginning in 1985 when several families started meeting in Alan and Tonchita’s basement.  We raised 4 out of 6 children in this church. His 2 were our on their own when we married.  We raised my 2 children from my first marriage and his deceased sister’s 2 children.

In the mid-2000’s I began what I will call “My Walk in the Desert” period which started when:

1) in 2004 and 2005 the adult children along with the grandchildren moved a long way from this area to other parts of the state leaving no family members nearby, 

2) my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2006 and passed away a couple of years ago in 2016 from Alzheimer complications.  Her last 3 years she was in a memory care facility under total care not knowing any one or any thing.

3) my dad died unexpectedly in 2009, 

4) Jerry was involved in a head-on collision in 2007 which caused an early retirement for him,

5) I quit the insurance company I had worked at for over 20 years to find a job with medical insurance since I lost that with Jerry's retirement,

6) I began a new job with the City.  

These were a lot of new paths for me and I was very unsure where or what the Lord wanted from me.  I was not sure of anything in my middle-age life.

In 2015 I started having severe stomach trouble and doctors could not find the cause and there were numerous tests showing nothing wrong.

Then on Thursday, July 26, 2018, I awoke to a spinning room and intense nausea, was taken to the hospital (by ambulance) and a later MRI showed a mass on the left side of my brain behind my ear.  I was immediately take to OHSU (by ambulance) where a wonderful neurosurgeon removed it on July 29th. Miraculously the stomach problems were gone when the tumor was gone.  

Medically wise, prior to then, 1980 was the last time I had been in the hospital and that was to give birth to my son. My new medical chart says I am "a 64 year old female with an unremarkable medical history,” which means there is really nothing to speak of, medically. I love to say I am unremarkable because I truly am!

But then during the days recovering in the hospital and the week after, I began to hear the Holy Spirit whispering in my ear about a new women’s ministry which became the Power of Twelve women’s group.  My family thought I was nuts or at least still having issues with the steroids.  

The plans came together quickly as the Lord showed me what he wanted me to do and it all came to fruition with my daughter Dena helping me layout how the women would be gathered, how the gatherings would take place, how the words would be chosen and many other details.  The initial group of women invited to participate came from my 64 years of history with many local women.  Many of the women are those who the Lord had me planting seeds in at different times during those years through family connections, work connections, school connections, friends, and church.

He made it as easy as possible for this ministry to come together and the plan can be used by any group of women, any church, anywhere.

Power of Twelve is a women’s encouragement group for 12 women of all ages (20 to 100) committed to meet once a month, for one hour, for one year.  

The main reason the Lord called this group of women together is for reaching across the generations to “save the children, the grandchildren and the great grandchildren”.  Those are his words, not mine.

The group leader should try to find four women seeking the Lord, four women who know the Lord but earnestly desire a closer walk and four women firmly planted in Him.

So far, this first group of the Power of Twelve women have met 5 times since last September.  At the first meeting each woman brought a single word, with a single scripture using that word on a piece of paper and put them all in a jar.  Each month we pull out a new word to focus on.  We talk about the word and scripture and then go out for the month and use that word in our everyday lives to encourage our families and others. Our words have been LIGHT, COMFORT, THANKSGIVING, FORGIVENESS and HOPE. There are 7 more words in the jar waiting to be picked out one by one for the rest of the months. More than half of the women in this group do not attend any regular church but are seeking a greater knowledge of God and a closer relationship to him.  

The tag line the Lord gave me was “Twelve Women – Twelve Words – Twelve Months, which has now been copyrighted.  

There are actually 13 women total as the leader opens her home or gathering place and facilitates the meetings.  

Also, since this all started I have been writing and documenting many different things that the Lord has impressed upon me to share in writing.  So far he has not revealed just what I am to do with all of the writings. 

The business end of Power of Twelve has also been taken care of as it is a registered non-profit organization with the state and federal government.  The bylaws are written and have been submitted to the required governmental agencies. 

The mission statement is:

Twelve Women. Twelve Words. Twelve Months.

The mission statement for the Power of Twelve is to bring a connection to the generations of women across this Christian Nation, the United States of America, to save the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren by speaking the word of God into their lives and the lives of those around them. The good word, by one word can change hearts and lives of those around us. Choose. Your. Words. Wisely. 

The USA Constitution is filled with God.

The USA motto is "In God We Trust"

The National Anthem is "God Bless America"

The Pledge of Allegiance is filled with God

America is the Land of the Free. Home of the Brave.

The Declaration of Independence is filled with God.

The scriptures for the Power of Twelve group are: 

 Joshua 24:15 -  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

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

https://www.facebook.com/Power-of-Twelve-2041904122520379

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

This morning I was on Worthy Christian Forums and there was a discussion about being the temple of the Holy Spirit.  While I was preparing my thoughts regarding this topic they closed the thread for some reason.  I wanted to retain my thoughts so I am posting them here.  The following is what I would have posted:

I have tried to read through this thread this morning as best I can (there was a ton of scripture!).  I know the topic is about the Holy Spirit living in us, the temple of God, but there is no way to not talk about sin when we talk about us, human beings, who are sinners from the get-go.

My take on being a temple for the Holy Spirit to reside in is this; he knows I am a sinner, that I have accepted Jesus as my savior, and that I am cleansed by the blood of the cross.  He has watched me from the time I began on the milk of the word and continued to watch as I was weaned off the milk and turned to the meat portion.  He knows my heart.  He hears my prayers asking for forgiveness for any sin I commit in a day.  He lives in me and with me on a daily basis.  He has been with me for a long time and still loves and comforts me.  Has he ever been displeased with me?  Of course he has.  I'm an imperfect human being and he knows all about my past, my present and my future.  But again, I repeat, he knows my heart, he knows my soul, he knows my spirit, he knows ALL things about me.  I praise God for the patience, mercy and grace that is afforded to me, this pile of dirt, that I am.

Each one of us that give our hearts and lives to the Lord, give our bodies also.  We should see an improvement in the way we do things spiritually and bodily as we continue our walk with him and our learning of his ways.  We should be boldly confessing Jesus whenever and wherever we can without judgement and condemnation from the worldly eye that is continually watching our every action.  Didn't the Lord say he would use a rock if he needed too, if we did not declare him to the world? 

Luke 19:37-40 - When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,”he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

If a person professes Christ as their savior, they should be different than they were prior to salvation.  Those difference should be noticeable to ourselves and to the outside world.  As a temple that holds the power and light of the Holy Spirit, we should be a "shining light to a dark world" and if we are not then we need to go back to the milk and find out what the issue is.  In my walk, I have had to go back to the milk several times due to sin.  But I am a far better and cleaner temple than I was at the beginning of my journey! Praise God!! 

Thank you for letting me share my heart. 

The Power of God

 2 Timothy 1:7 - For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Christians have discussed and studied the power of God for thousand of years.  We know that our Father in Heaven is all powerful.  We know that as a Father, when we pray to Him, He hears His child.  He responds in many different ways which is sometimes silence.  Sometimes the answers is obvious within a matter of seconds.  Sometimes He sends someone else to us with the answer.  

The power of His love for His child we can barely fathom when we look at ourselves through our human eyes.  We can barely believe the God of the Universe wants us at all when we know the depths of our depravity.  We admit we are sinners.  We know we have things in our lives that are not Godly.  We may be better than we were now that we are walking a Christian life but there is still the ugliness of humanity in each of us.  

This verse in 2 Timothy tells us that the Spirit that God has put into each of us when we came to Him with our hearts, our lives, our souls, gives us the power God wants us to have in order to speak to a lost and dying world.  He does not want us to be timid in our words and actions to others.  By the power of the Holy Spirit we have the power to speak into the lives of those around us.  If we are speaking out in the name of Jesus, sharing the gospel and the salvation He offers to those who follow Him, then we are speaking under the power given to us by God.  

As humans we have no real power.  There are those who do not believe in God or the powerfulness of God.  They believe they have the power to control others and life.  Yes, they can control and influence others through their actions but they have no understanding of the actual power of God.  He can stop them dead in their tracks if He needs to.  He can change the outcome of any human plan that is not of His design. 

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” — Matthew 19:26 

Absolutely NOTHING is out of the reach of the Father.  

Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. — Jeremiah 32:17

The power of God works inwardly and outwardly as we grow in love for Him, ourselves, and for others.  As we learn to love unconditionally, love when it's hard to love,  love when it is painful, love when there is nothing but turmoil all around us, and love ourselves despite our inadequacies, we experience the power.  We all know the saying, "I am my own worst enemy."  We have a Father who loves us and accepts us even when we don't deserve that love and acceptance.  Jesus came so we could be reconciled to the Father through the power of the blood of Jesus.  The power of the blood shed on the cross has the power to transform us into the child of God we have been called to be while we walk this earth.  We can be assured of His love and His power without being timid or fearing what others will think or say when we speak of His gift of salvation and all that He offers His followers.  We become bold when the power of God is within us!

Many times throughout scripture we learn of all the ordinary people the Father used to do His work here on earth.  Over and over He used those willing but not necessarily equipped with the best abilities.  Abraham, Moses, David, several apostles, and others were not self-disciplined and were selfish.  Poor Abraham let Sarah talk him into having a child with another woman to hush her nagging about not having her own child.  In comes Ishmael to the picture, and thousands of years later we still suffer the hostility of his descendants just as God said.

Genesis 16:11-12, KJV: The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” 

Genesis 25:17-18, NIV: "Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.

We have Moses who argued with God about not being the man for the job of bringing the Hebrew nation out of Egypt and leading them to the a land that God promised to His chosen people.  He also disobeyed the instructions given to Him by God.  I certainly understand his frustration with a million people whining, complaining, sinning, worshipping idols, and everything else selfish human beings do. 

Exodus 4:10-13 ISV: Then Moses told the Lord, “Please, Lord, I’m not eloquent. I never was in the past nor am I now since you spoke to your servant. In fact, I talk too slowly and I have a speech impediment.” Then God asked him, “Who gives a person a mouth? Who makes him unable to speak, or deaf, or able to see, or blind, or lame? Is it not I, the Lord? Now, go! I myself will help you with your speech, and I’ll teach you what you are to say.” Moses said, “Please, Lord, send somebody else.”

And of course we have King David who committed adultery and then had the husband of Bathsheba murdered.  

2 Samuel 11:14-15 ISV:  The next morning, David sent a message to Joab that Uriah took with him in his hand.  In the message, he wrote: “Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and killed.” 

These are just a few examples of the historic and faulty people God used throughout time to get His message of love and acceptance to his people.  God wants us to be self-disciplined and obedient but He is a God who also understands our humanity.  When God the Son, Jesus, walked on the earth, He experienced all of humanism from the human perspective.  

Hebrews 4:15-16 ISV: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Instead, we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet he never sinned. So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The power of God is experienced in many different ways but I believe the most important part is the power of love.  When Jesus came to tell us how to live a life pleasing to the Father, He told us to love one another.  To forgive others.  To reconcile with others.  To serve one another,  When we do our best to love others on a daily basis, we are walking by the power given to us by God.  It is a strength that comes from Him when we try to love someone who is unlovable.  It is a strength that comes from Him when we are trying to make it through a day filled with trials and tribulations.  It is a strength that comes from Him when we are angry, tired, fed up, emotionally and physically depleted.  

Every breathe we breathe and every thought we think are in the hands of God and He has told us not to worry, to be strong and courageous, and to keep seeking Him and His power for every single day we are given.  When we wake up each day, our Father has given us the gift of life.  He has given us the power to look at the day and use our love and wisdom for others during each day. He is not asking us to do anything beyond our capabilities.  He always lets each of us determine our response of YES or NO to the physical and/or spiritual tasks placed before us for the day.  He is still a God of free will.  

Every day it is our choice on how far we want to allow the power of God to move in us and through us.