Strong Enough

Matthew West Strong Enough



2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Philippians 4:13 NIV

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

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Please, Please Read This One

Phoebe

There has been a specific prayer request for Phoebe. The quote below is taken from Phoebe's CaringBridge site.

We are a Christian family who believes in the power of prayer and I believe we need to raise an army of dedicated prayer warriors who will commit to praying faithfully for Phoebe EVERY DAY for the next year. My goal is to recruit an army of thousands of prayer warriors and I believe the Lord has given me a simple formula to make this a reality.  If this formula is executed it will produce a prayer army of over 30,000 people!

If you are interested in being dedicated for daily prayer, committed for 1 year and are willing to take on some responsibility, please contact me through email or leave a comment with your email address and I will send out some more information.

Please take this to the Lord and ask for His guidance. Thank you!

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2 Timothy 3:12-17 NIV
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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Purify Your Heart

James 4:8 NIV

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded

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God doesn't walk away from us, it is us who walk away from God. 

If we come close to God by reading His word, doing His will, rebuking our sins asking for forgiveness and set our hearts on God, He will come close to us. 

The first part of this verse I love! It is so comforting knowing God will come close to us if we come close to Him. The second part stings! Not the sinners or purify part but the double minded. I don't want to be this way yet I know when I exalt something higher than God I am being double minded. Pride, anger, even righteous anger if I carry on in it too long then that becomes my God. Forgive me Father for serving the flesh instead of You.

I'm linking up with Barbie, My Freshly Brewed Life for Fresh Brewed Sunday. 

Blessings,

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Trust

Matthew 18:2-5 NIV

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He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

Childlike innocence, frankness, etc.; befitting a child: childlike trust. 

We need childlike faith in order to believe the Bible. The older you get the harder it is to believe. One can become so stuck in their ways with so many walls put up around their heart that not even the Holy Spirit will penetrate, not because He can't but because He wants us to make the first step.

When you take the leap of faith and choose to believe God, He will be there to meet you. I remember being 4 years old and my estranged sister came home. As soon as I saw her I leaped from the top of the stairs, numbering 8 steps, into her very full and unaware arms. My childishness didn't think of the fact that she might not catch me. My eyes were on her and the happiness at the sight of her overwhelmed me. Of course she dropped everything and caught me with a welcoming, heart felt squeeze and whispering I love you in my ear.

Mark 10:13-16 NIV

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Jesus tells us we must become like children in order to be in His Kingdom. Will you trust in Him? Does anyone have a story they would like to share about childlike faith? I would love to hear it.

Blessings,
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Video of Bree

These girls are so cute! This is Bree and her sister Zayla. Please watch this video of Bree and pray over her asking God to provide a miracle of 100% healing.




You can visit Bree's CarringBridge here. Leave them a word of encouragement and if you feel inclined there is a spot for donations here. More than anything they value and covet your prayers, please pray.

Lord God, You alone are Healer. Your plans are beyond our understanding. In our minds we cannot understand why Bree needs to suffer so. Why the scans done came back unclear. Father You alone have Bree in Your hand. You are molding and shaping her and her family. Father God, let Your presence be known to Bree's family. Let them feel You. Please guide the doctors and show them how to best treat Bree. Father please touch Bree and remove this cancer from her, sustain in her 100% health. Thank you for what You are going to do. We trust in You Lord and we ask for health and Your will be done. Through the grace and blood of Jesus Christ we approach Your throne and ask these things amen.

Psalm 127:3 NIV

 Children are a heritage from the LORD, 

   offspring a reward from him.

Praying and praying,
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Pray in the Spirit

Ephesians 6:18 NIV

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And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

The Holy Spirit given to believers when they accepted Christ as their Saviour, gives direct access to God and we can pray what is on our heart and mind and know that God hears our prayers.

Romans 8:26 NIV
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

This verse, Romans 8:26, brings me much joy. I have a hard time trying to express the message that lies inside of me, expressive words do not come easy. When I pray, sometimes I just don't know what to say and my prayers can jump all over the place. But I have the reassurance that the Holy Spirit will take my deepest emotions and the yearning that lies inside and will bring it to the Father with groans that words cannot express.


Ephesians 3:11 NIV
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Through Jesus Christ we have the freedom to come into the presence of God our Father and ask for direction, guidance and lift our brothers and sister who are in need up to God. The Holy Spirit will intercede for us and make our prayers line up with the mind of God.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 NIV

The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgements, for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord 

   so as to instruct him?”

 But we have the mind of Christ.

Believers who are submitted to Jesus Christ and follow in His footsteps have the mind of Christ because the Spirit intercedes for us and sets us on the right path.

Pray and ask for the things of God, God will answer. Not in our way but in His perfect, wholly complete way.

Praise God!
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Rejoice

1 Thessalonians 5:16 NIV

Rejoice always

:) Rejoice always means just that, 24/7 of being happy. Feel like joining me? :)

I'm linking up with Barbie, My Freshly Brewed Life for Fresh Brewed Sunday.

Fresh Brewed Sunday

Blessings,

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Bree needs our prayers

Bree

Beth, Karing for Keegan, had a notice on her Facebook page asking for prayer for her friend's daughter Bree. Bree suffers from the very same disease that Keegan had, medulloblastoma.

Bree just had an MRI and the results came back devastating to her family. They need to do a re-do of the scans in 3-4 weeks because the diagnosis is not clear yet. Please pray for Bree that this cancer has not spread in the form of leptomeningeal, spreading over the brain and down the spinal column. 


Please pray that God will intervene and stop this cancer in it's track and reverse it. Pray for health and 100% cancer free.


Matthew 16:19 NIV

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

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With this verse, Matthew 16:19, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ that the cancer in Bree is bound up and cast out and I free in her health. Thank you Father, You are the best!

James 5:15 NIV
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

Please intercede with me for 100% health for Bree and everyone else on this prayer list.





Jesus, He is Healer,
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Is God Moving You?

Acts 7:9-10 NIV

“Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him  and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

Sometimes we suffer because God is moving us from where we are to where He wants us to be. Instead of being negative and depressed over a seemingly 'bad' situation, choose to follow God. God enabled Joseph with the good will of Pharaoh and gave him wisdom where he needed.

Are you in a situation where you are suffering? Maybe God is moving you into the place where He wants to use you. Give glory to God, praise and worship Him. Ask Him what He is requiring of you and then wait patiently, He will reveal it to you in His perfect timing.

Habakkuk 2:3 NIV

     For the revelation awaits an appointed time; 

   it speaks of the end 

   and will not prove false. 

Though it linger, wait for it; 

   it will certainly come 

   and will not delay.

Keep yourself open to the new opportunities that God has in store for you. Only good things will come when God is involved.

Blessings,
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Samuel & Celiac Disease

Finding Joy

Rachel, Finding Joy, is celebrating one year of health for her youngest son Samuel. Last year at this time he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. After much persistence on her part, the doctors finally listened to her and did some tests which led to this diagnosis.

Rachel has since been working at awareness for this disease. This post is to assist Rachel on this endeavour. If you are interested in helping get awareness out there, please visit Rachel's post and Tweet it or share to Facebook, or take it a step further and make a post and share with your readers.

Here are two sites that Rachel has listed for information on Celiac, celiac.com and ROCK Both these sites are very informative.

God has given us a very powerful tool in prayer. This seemingly weak tool is very powerful when combined with faith. Many people were praying and praying for Samuel, lifting him and Rachel up to God. God is good, always.

Matthew 17:20-21 NIV
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Health and wholeness are found only in Jesus Christ.

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Where You Go I Go

Kim Walker, Jesus Culture, Where You Go I Go.



Ruth 1:16-17 NIV

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

This verse was part of my devotions this morning. I posted it to Twitter and a friend of mine posted this song. How fitting. Thanks brother!

God bless and happy Monday. :)

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Drummer Boy

The little drummer boy, Tripp Roth, has gone to be with Jesus. He left peacefully while rocking in his mommy's arms. Please pray for Courtney and her family right now. Pray for an overwhelming peace to come in and comfort her very broken heart.

Please visit her blog and leave her some love. "EB"ing a Mommy

Psalm 27:4-5 NIV

One thing I ask from the LORD, 

   this only do I seek: 

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD 

   all the days of my life, 

to gaze on the beauty of the LORD 

   and to seek him in his temple. 

For in the day of trouble 

   he will keep me safe in his dwelling; 

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent 

   and set me high upon a rock.

Tripp is at home with Jesus, out of pain and suffering but he left a family that loves him dearly and the pain of this loss is searing and deep.

Praying and praying for Courtney, his heart broken mom.

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Grieve

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Ephesians 4:30 NIV
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Grief, defined by dictionary.com

1. keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret.
2. a cause or occasion of keen distress or sorrow.

The Holy Spirit is our helper and when we follow the flesh we cause the Holy Spirit mental suffering. This thought breaks my heart in two.

My Freshly Brewed Life

I'm linking up with Barbie for Fresh Brewed Sunday.

God Bless,
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Phoebe Needs Prayer

Phoebe

Phoebe is almost 2 1/2 years old and had a massive brain tumor. The doctors originally thought Phoebe had parasites but after treatment failed to work and Phoebe persisted to complain and her mom persisted with the doctors, an MRI was given and a huge mushroom shaped tumor was found.

Please lift Phoebe and her family up to our Lord asking Him to touch this sweet little girl and heal her. She had the tumor removed and it was diagnosed as AT/RT which is very rare with a 50% survival rate and an 18 mth chemo regimen. Right now Phoebe is struggling with sodium levels that when dropped, she goes into a seizure. Please pray against this.

Please visit Phoebe's CaringBridge site and let the family know you are praying.

1 John 5:14-15 NIV
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Thank you for lifting Phoebe up!!

Praying and praying,
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Tripp Needs Our Prayers

Tripp

Please lift Tripp up to the Lord. He is very ill right now and Courtney has asked for prayer because Tripp has made a turn for the worse. 

Please visit her blog "EB"ing a Mommy and leave her some encouragement and love.  Courtney has asked specifically to pray for PEACE. That Tripp will have peace from everything causing him discomfort.


Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
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.

Praying and praying,
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Relationship Not Rules

Colossians 1:28-29 NIV

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

This may surprise you  but God's plan isn't for you to be good but to be whole, to see us healed from the inside out. God is into relationships not rules and regulations and the end result is goodness from a healed heart not from following rigid rules.

Does this give us the freedom to sin? No, not at all.
Romans 6:1-2 NIV
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

So how do we grow towards wholeness and maturity?

James 5:16 NIV
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Romans 12:2 NIV
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

How desperately do you want to be whole? The more you want wholeness the more you will work at it. It does take work and lots of conscious effort to renew our mind; changing our thinking pattern. To the degree that our mindset changes is to the degree that our wholeness will be. The more you want to be like Jesus, the more you will work to be like Him one thought at a time.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
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.










God Bless,
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Are You Worthy?

Matthew 10:37 NIV

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Before I had children this verse was no problem for me, easy to do. I could give up anything for Jesus and make Him number one in my life. Even after having children it still was not very hard to do because the kids would just come with me.  Then came the day my daughter, at a Heidi Baker conference, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, crawled her way on to the stage and dedicated her life to Jesus in missions over seas.

I lost it. 

"No God, no please not that."

Serving our Lord costs us everything we have. I give my all to Him, even my children, if this is His will. I know, if my children do serve God overseas, He will come in and fill me up in ways I cannot imagine. Maybe He will even let me go with them.

Matthew 10:38 NIV

"Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

I'm linking up with Barbie at My Freshly Brewed Life for Fresh Brewed Sundays.

My Freshly Brewed Life

Joy is Found in Suffering

Matthew 5:3-12 NIV

He said: 

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.  

 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

God allows bad things to happen so lessons can be learned or so people will come to know Him. I have been really spending time praying for Tripp and Quinn. "EB"ing a Mommy Tripp's blog and Quinn's CaringBridge site, (which in order to read you need to set up an account which is free), tell the story of two very brave, strong and very young souls who have known nothing but pain and suffering their whole lives. I would encourage you to head over and read their blogs to see the joy in the Lord that these parents have found while caring for their very sick young children. I cannot imagine the pain Tripp and Quinn go through every single minute of their lives, yet through it all God is there and people are coming to know Him through witnessing these children suffer and reading about the faith in God these parents have. These testimonies are strong, they are filled with God's presence.

Parents are cherishing their healthy children and people are being thankful for their lot in life when they read stories like these. Many people are lifting Tripp and Quinn, and other children like these, up to our Lord for relief and comfort. I believe these children are resting in the arms of Jesus Christ and He is ministering to them in ways that we cannot see or understand. 

Please pray for Quinn and Tripp as right now Quinn is not doing well after her stem cell transplant and Tripp is in such a mess that Courtney just can't believe Tripp is still fighting to stay alive. 

Quinn

Courtney & Tripp

God bless and thank you!
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The Spirit of God Hovers

Genesis 1:1-2 NIV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 

The thought of God hovering gives me the shivers in a very good way. Our God, Creator of all is always around us, hovering, watching out for us and evaluating His work in us, declaring it good or bad.

In the chaos of our lives, we have available to us at any given time, the power of the Spirit of God to come into and straighten out our mayhem and bring the Lord's creative order into our lives. If only we would reach out more often, calling on His Name. God is around us watching, hovering and all we have to do is speak to Him and give Him permission to order our lives into His perfect solution.

2 Chronicals 16:9 NIV

For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.

Isn't that a cool promise? God will strongly support those whose heart is completely His!

Strongly defined by Dictionary.com

1. having, showing, or able to exert great bodily or muscular power; physically vigorous or robust: a strong boy.

2. accompanied or delivered by great physical, mechanical, etc., power or force: a strong handshake; With one strong blow the machine stamped out a fender.

3. mentally powerful or vigorous: He may be old, but his mind is still strong.

4. especially able, competent, or powerful in a specific field or respect: She's very strong in mathematics. He's weak at bat, but he's a strong fielder.

5. of great moral power, firmness, or courage: strong under temptation.

 

God is capable to handle all of our messes and make them right, we just need to trust Him, think of Him and call on Him to come in and intervene. 

 

 

Call on Him to intervene, He will. 

 

God bless,

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It's About You!

Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. 

Through the month of January, I have committed to pray for my husband with a group doing the 31 Days to Pray for your Spouse. You can read about it here and here. The Lord has pressed it upon me to take this a step further and include along with the specific prayers for my hubby, all the people here on this blog. 

Revelation 22:17 NIV

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Resting in His perfect love,
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Come!

Revelation 22:17 NIV

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. 

The Spirit and the bride are calling Jesus to come. Come Lord Jesus we are eagerly awaiting Your arrival.

Come, what a powerful, inviting word this is. Come into the presence of the living God and take the free gift of the water of life. Come Lord Jesus and make this world into the place You created it to be. Come!

I am linking up with Barbie from My Freshly Brewed Life.

After doing this post, the Lord put it into my heart that my 'word' for 2012 is 'Come!' I am to pray Come LORD Jesus, come! Come people, come into the presence of the Living God and receive life! And with that the Spirit has revealed that this is my verse for the year, Revelation 22:17.

God Bless,
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