The Power of Words

Why do we give so much power to words?

Words give life or death as the scripture say:

Proverbs 18:21 (NLT)
²¹ The tongue can bring death or life;
    those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

Well, not only life or death but I’ll take it one step farther and say words cause battle wounds that can last a life time!

Words cut deep when thrown just right.  Old battle wounds sometimes seem to never heal because the scar gets bumped, bruised, or even reopened sometimes.

What happens to a person is that they’re doing fine until one day they’re having an everyday normal conversation and a word is said very innocently and it struck something deep inside of them.  Meaning it pierced straight into their soul where they thought things were healed.

Some people think oh, how can that bother them- that happened twenty years ago don’t you think they would have let it go by now?  It’s not always the case.   And then there are people that say,” man they need ‘tougher skin’ or they’re ‘too sensitive’ ”.  For me, being a person where words have dug some deep battle wounds it is hard to understand that way of thinking.

Words hit deep, sometimes deeper than we want to admit.  So why do we give so much power to words, well, I think it has to come back to will they breathe life into someone or breathe death into them?

I am still a work in progress and do words still hurt yes they do!  It would be a lie if I said otherwise but, for me, knowing that Jesus loves me regardless of what was said over or about me years ago is my saving grace when words cut deep but HIS WORD HEALS, AMEN!!!

So even if or when people speak words that are not life or encouragement into my life now it does not matter because Jesus is with me always and HE WILL NEVER LEAVE ME NOR FORSAKE ME, AMEN!!!  Does it mean it doesn’t hurt no, but what it means is that I lay it at HIS feet immediately and not pick them up to be replayed over and over in my head by the enemy!!!

So when I find certain words that trigger memories I have to remember that I can’t expect people to change the way they talk around me it just means I have to change the way I think.  Take every thought captive and replace it with truth! His Truth, Amen!

Romans 12:2 (NLT)
² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

I have to remember to keep my relationship with Jesus first and foremost above ALL else!  AMEN!!!

So the take home message, no matter how hard the hit is when words come at you remember Jesus is YOUR shield!!!

And always let YOUR words speak LIFE not DEATH into someone’s life, AMEN!!!

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In the Storm

Even when my heart seems like it is breaking in two I will praise His name!

I am grateful my God is BIGGER than my circumstance, Amen!!!

My worship leader gave a devotion the other night that spoke to my heart and God knew that’s exactly what I needed to hear.  I am grateful for my brothers and sisters in Christ that no matter what is going on in my life spoken or unspoken they lift me up in prayer and isn’t that what we are supposed to do.  My worship team is my small group and they are my Aaron and Hur!  I pray that everyone has an Aaron and a Hur in their life because we really need them, Amen!

Exodus 17:12
Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.

You know we cannot let things of this world creep in and take control or should I say take our focus off of Jesus?  The evil one is on the warpath and he’s not stopping until he gets what he wants.  He’ll first creep in on the little things and sometimes its the not so little things, right? It could be tangible things or the intangible , for instance, our thoughts say  you’re thinking about a loved one who is traveling down a road of destruction and boy, it is not easy to watch it breaks your heart.

And then God says, ” you are putting too much energy into to this, leave it at My feet and turn your eyes back to Me!”

Because sometimes when you are putting too much energy in thinking about the circumstance could that become a form of an idol in a sense?  Maybe?

Deuteronomy 4: 23-25
²³ So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this. ²⁴ The Lord your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God. ²⁵ “In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind…

I’m not saying all of our battles become idols but what I am saying is that it can become very easy to make them an idol because the circumstance can consume you.  The enemy knows this and that is why he fights dirty. He uses your loved ones, your mind, and many other underhanded tricks to get your thoughts off of Jesus.  So,  we need to take  every thought captive, immediately!

Romans 12:2
² 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.

No matter the circumstance we need to PRAISE JESUS!  We need to remember that He never leaves us nor forsakes us!  Praising Him in and through the circumstance doesn’t change your circumstance but it sure does get your eyes off of it and onto to JESUS right where they belong, Amen!

So don’t start your day naked!

PUT ON YOUR ARMOR!

Otherwise, God would not have told us about the armor if He didn’t mean for us to put it on.  So don’t forget to don your armor every day.  Sometimes you may have to don it several times in the day especially if you in the thick of battle!

1 Thessalonians 5:8
⁸ But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.

When we put on armor we can then guard against the fiery attacks of the enemy or at least prevent from deep penetration.  I am a work in progress and so therefore, I sometimes have to reapply my armor when a fiery dart penetrates the armor and so I urge you to find scripture to stand before battle begins!

Here are some of mine I stand on!

Psalm 145:18
The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.

Psalm 146:6
He mad heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.  He keeps every promise forever.

So, what are some of your scriptures you stand on in the thick of battle?

 

 

Sometimes I Cry

Sometimes I Cry
By Deb Maciorowski©2016 

Sometimes I Cry 

Nobody knows….
I’m the one with the smile.
I’m the worshipper!

Sometimes I Cry

Still broken…
I’m the prayer warrior.
I’m the one who encourages!

Sometimes I Cry

Old battle wounds…
I’m the teacher, the leader, the friend, the sister.
I’m the listener!

Sometimes I Cry

On my knees…
Comforted by HIS love
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine!

Sometimes I Cry

Strength and endurance…
Held up by His arms.
I’m standing on His promises!

 

Worship Wednesdays 3-30-16

I am joining Lillie-Put in worship Wednesdays today! After you finish here jump on over to  Lillie-Put and see how he has created a culture of worship all week long every week!

Enjoy!

Jesus Uncapped

Disclaimer: I, Deb Maciorowski, am the President to the Special Touch R.E.A.C.H. New England Chapter and the postings on this site are my own and don’t represent Special Touch Ministry’s positions, strategies or opinions in any way.

During our twenty-one days of fasting this year our pastor had our congregation focus on believing for greater and bigger things this year.  I knew this year was going to bring greater things for me spiritually and personally in the ministries that I participate in.  I am the president to the Special Touch REACH NE chapter and we just had our third annual bowl-a-thon on March 12, 2016.  Normally, I would tell God something like if we could just reach this amount I would be happy.  Did you get that?  I mean did you really get what I just said?

I mean the “I” thing!!!

I just put Jesus in a box and Jesus does not want to nor should He be put in a box.

This year I did not do that!  Hallelujah!

I told God straight out, “God, You got this! This bowl-a-thon is not mine it is ALL Yours! I am believing for GREATER and BIGGER things this year!!!”

At my last chapter meeting in February I preached on Loving Out Loud and I talked about loving people enough to invite them to the bowl-a-thon.

To be completely honest I only had one team signed up one month before the bowl-a-thon but I knew my God had this! By the end of the February meeting I had four more teams signed up, PRAISE GOD!

You know what, I still wasn’t worried because my God, the GREAT I AM, had this all the way!  And the best part about not putting a cap on Jesus is I got to enjoy the peace of God and watch Him do His thing! Amen!

Well, the big day finally came, March 12th, the day of the bowl-a-thon and we had eight teams signed up.  I have to say in past years we have had twelve teams and for one little second I admit the enemy might have stolen a second of my joy but he only got that one millisecond of my joy.  Because man, oh man, was it the best day ever!!!!

We had the least amount of teams signed up and we raised the most amount of money this year!   Wait, it gets better!  I had a team back out at the last-minute due to unfortunate circumstances but God covered us because I had four walk-ins that covered that team.

PRAISE GOD!!!

Wait, it gets even better than that!  I had another walk-in bowler who I didn’t even know was coming and he was our top male fundraiser! How about that?! ONLY GOD!!!

We raised over $4,000.00 so far and the money is still coming in.   We were nowhere near that amount last year or the year before that.  HALLELUJAH!!!

Not only was God faithful in answering our prayers for greater and bigger things in regards to monetary but He also amazed me with a personal experience.

Many of you know that my son Tom is autistic. God has called me to a ministry to encourage others with disabilities through Special Touch Ministry, Inc. and through the Special Touch REACH NE chapter thank you, Jesus!

Tom is extremely auditory sensitive and has to wear headphones due to the sensory overload he experiences.  Normally, he will not get out of the car unless he is wearing his headphones.   This year something was different although I didn’t know it at the time.  I dropped Tom off at his dad’s house like I usual did so I could go set up for the bowl-a-thon.  I started driving away and I noticed I forgot his headphones.

I, immediately, called back and asked his dad to ask Tom if he needed his headphones right now, before I left town?

I couldn’t believe his answer, I heard him tell his dad to tell me, “No, but bring them just in case.”

My thoughts were screaming inside my head, ‘Say, what?!!!!  This has never happened before! This is AWESOME!!!’

I mean you have no idea how awesome this is because this is the first year he did not even give them a second thought.   Tom had the best time ever and he was in a bowling alley full of people!  And we all know how noisy a bowling alley can be, don’t we?  Not once did he ask for his headphones, that in itself is amazing!  Normally, he would not even enter the building without them on his head but this year was different like I said. My God, the GREAT  I  AM, had already gone before him and prepared the way for my son to walk in and feel comfortable enough to be himself.  (I write this through tears of joy right now!)   Now that is believing Him, the GREAT  I  AM, for GREATER and BIGGER things!!!  Amen!!!

God is oh, soooooo GOOD!!!

Is your  JESUS  in a box?

If so, what would happen if you UNCAPPED  your  JESUS ?

Don’t stop there, for there is  NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING  too big,
or  IMPOSSIBLE  for the  GREAT  I  AM, so what GREATER and BIGGER things are you believing for in 2016?

 

Peekaboo

Are you playing peekaboo with your Christianity?

Is it accessible 24/7?

Or is it playing peekaboo like this sign?

Is your Christianity only accessible when all things seem to be going smoothly?

Or does it go into hiding when the road starts getting bumpy?

 

Jesus promised us trouble in this world.

John 16:33 (NLT)
³³ I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” 

We are all walking through trials that are not easy and in many cases they are down right nasty but as Christians God calls us to keep our focus on Him! He wants us to show others what the God of the universe has done in our lives.  Did you notice I said, show, not tell  because God wants us to put our Christianity into action!

Let’s face it, people are watching us walk out our Christianity whether we know it or not. People really want to know, do they walk the walk or do they just talk the talk.   You know, it’s not only about walking the walk, it’s also about walking it out in love.  God doesn’t want us grumbling about our walk, either. Oh, we all have bad days here and there and believe you me I’ve had my fair share but we serve a God of love and people should know that about us.  Jesus said they will know you by your love.

John 13:34-35 (NLT)
³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

As a Christian, a child of God, I am to walk out my Christian walk a certain way. God expects me to guard my tongue at all times and let’s be real it is hard some days to do that.  I’ll be the first to admit it, after all, we are all human but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!  In His, strength your tongue can really be tamed.  I can’t do it in my own flesh but with Him I can, Amen!

Philippians 4:13 (NLT)¹³ For I can do everything through Christ,^[d] who gives me strength. 

We need to show people that our Christianity is accessible 24/7 even in the most dire of circumstance because He is our strength and our ROCK in which we stand in times of ALL trouble!  To ensure accessibility for ourselves we need to abide in Him and when we abide in Him He will abide in us!  

John 15:4 (NLT)
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

Folks, as Christians we can’t play peekaboo anymore we have to stand our ground and be accessible 24/7!  If we remain in Him and Him in us the source of our Christianity will automatically be accessible.  Our source, our  strength, JESUS CHRIST, will be accessible 24/7 to all who approach us because His light will be so bright people will be drawn to us! 

A good friend of mine, Betty Knowlton, gave a devotion at our C.cada meeting last month and you can read it over at Lillie-Put by clicking here.  Her quote below fits right in with walking your Christianity out His way not ours,

“Joy is NOT the absence of trouble, but the presence of God”, Amen!

But it is through our trials His light actually shines brighter just as it should be. In essence, people are then able to have that accessibility we so desire them to have with Him through us. Which in turn gives us hope as Christians that we may reach their souls for eternity one day! Amen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gratefully Broken

I consider my worship team my small group. We pray together, worship together, cry together, celebrate together, we create together, and most of all we love and care for each other. One of our worship leaders whom I respect immensely often speaks a word of prophecy in our church gave a word to the church a couple of Sundays ago and it was about the need to forgive ourselves because God has already! The scripture below he gave in his devotion the week that followed was confirmation for me. I just love how God works!

Psalm 51:5-17 NLT

⁵ For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. ⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,^[b]  teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins,^[c] and I will be clean;  wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;  you have broken me— now let me rejoice. ⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.  Remove the stain of my guilt. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.   Renew a loyal spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,   and don’t take your Holy Spirit^[d] from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. ¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,  and they will return to you. ¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;  then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. ¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,  that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.  You do not want a burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.  You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

These verses speak so loudly to me because we are all sinners and yes we all need forgiveness. And just as my worship leader prophesied we need to forgive ourselves that which God has forgiven.

Jesus washed us with His blood and we have to remember that by taking every thought captive.

This verse for me struck a chord in my heart.

⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me— now let me rejoice

I felt God speak to me and say, it is in your brokenness where My beauty begins!

So I am grateful for my brokenness! I write this through tears of joy because I have a God who wants me no matter what the stains of my garment look like, in fact, that is what drew Him to me!

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. ¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,  and they will return to you.

So I am gratefully broken today and in that I am able to tell others of His joy! God doesn’t want us to keep His joy a secret it. His joy was meant to share with others. When we are restored to Him and we are living in His presence we then can help others return to Him by singing of His forgiveness!

¹⁴  …….. then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. ¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,  that my mouth may praise you

So again I say I am gratefully broken, are you?

He Wants More

Over the last two months God has been speaking to me about abiding in Him.  I have been meditating on this and probably not as much as I should have hence why He is still speaking to me about it.  The more I abide in Him the more He will abide in me is what His words says.

A couple of weeks ago a man in our church, who often gives a word of prophesy, spoke to me after church one Sunday and this is what he had to say.

“Debby, God gave me this word today but I didn’t felt led to speak it to the church but I’m going to tell you.” He says chuckling a little.  I instantly heard in my spirit this is just for you Deb.

So he goes on to say, “You know we are to take every thought captive, right?”

I said, “Yeah.”

“Well, the Lord says, if you are abiding in Me and  I am abiding in you then there is no need to take every thought captive because you are constantly and continually thinking upon Me.” Again he starts chuckling and says to me, “Isn’t that so profound and wouldn’t that be so awesome it we all did that, I mean really, that would be, HALLELUJAH all the time!”

I said, “Boy, that would be awesome if only I could get out of my own way!”

It always amazes me that God knows when you need a word of confirmation and the exact person(s) to speak through.  This man had no idea that God was speaking this very thing to me. Abide in me and I will abide in you and He was calling me to spend more time with Him!  I mean every devotional I went to was all about abiding in Me and others in the church were speaking about how God wants us to abide more and more.

John 15:4 Remain in Me, and I will remain in you…

He wants more of me and He wants more of you!

Let me ask you do you want more of Him?

Are you willing to make more room for Him to abide in you?

 

Sunday Stills, the next challenge: Clouds in Black and White

Sunday Stills, the next challenge: Clouds in Black and White

Here are my clouds in black and white and check out other entries here and here.

I added the inverted counter part to each photo because I thought it looked pretty amazing!

Distraction Overload

Are you being distracted?

Are you frustrated?

Do you even know you are being distracted?

 These days the enemy likes nothing better than to get your mind off of Christ. And I have to say he is doing a pretty good job of it, well at least in my life he is.

If we let him the enemy will fill every available moment with little tasks which in turn begin to morph into larger ones resulting in a snowball effect of distractions. For me, it results in a multitude of frustration ending with a wasted day. But wait, it doesn’t end there because that’s when I start to ponder over how my time got wasted on the little tasks which turned into all day affairs and even now as I sit and type my “todo list” is calling me.

Oh, Lord, help me to stay focused on You and Your will for my life as I go throughout my day, Amen!

Now it’s time for me to finally get in His word.  Well, not only did I waste time on the little tasks but it seemed to have sucked all the energy right out of me as well leaving me too tired to spend time with the Lord. Oh, how the enemy likes nothing better than to put you to sleep while reading the word of God. Has anyone else experienced this in their life or are you experiencing it right now? Because I am!

Christian, we need to wake up we can’t let the enemy steal this from us!!! We must fight and press through the fatigue because the enemy is all too willing to remind us of just how tired we are.   We can’t let the enemy have any more ground because he has already taken and stolen far too much from us as it is, don’t you agree? !!!

I say all of this to tie in the devotion I read a couple of weeks ago which had to do with self-talk. The devotion came from The Word for Today entitled The Importance of Your Self-talk dated July 21, 2015 and here is the part that struck a chord with me:

             “When you change your mind-you change your mood! It doesn’t happen automatically; you have to deliberately refocus your thinking at the very time you feel like doing it the least.”

 This is the scripture that went with the devotion on July 21, 2015;

Lamentations 3:21 (NAS) ”This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.”

 I personally like the new life version and I added a few more verses because

the Lord is mine, and I put my hope in the Lord. Amen!

 Lamentations 3:21-25 New Life Version (NLV)

²¹ But this I remember, and so I have hope. ²² It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not destroyed for His loving-pity never ends. ²³ It is new every morning. He is so very faithful. ²⁴ “The Lord is my share.” says my soul, “so I have hope in Him.” ²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the one who looks for Him.

 I wanted to add this last portion about self-talk because it’s not about me talking myself into anything it’s really about me turning my focus back to Jesus and God’s word. Well, I guess there is a little “self-talk”;

‘Deb remember from whence your hope comes from…’

Just the mere mention of His name, ‘Jesus’ my mood instantly changes from not so good to good. How about you, does your mood instantly change for the better?   If I can remember to look to Jesus even in the little tasks the enemy will have a pretty hard time stealing my focus well at least for that moment in time, right? Well, that’s my hope.

So Christian, remember to focus on Jesus every day especially when the enemy tries  creeping in with the little distractions and don’t forget whispering his name brings the peace of God, Amen!

God Speaks!

 

Deb be still and listen!     This is what God spoke to me the other day:

From where do you draw your strength in the midst of a storm?

            Call on Me child, for I am the Great I Am!
                     My word has many truths,
            You must choose to stand on them in order not to
                      loose your footing when the winds increase in velocity. 
            The evil one will surely try to knock you down
                      in hopes you don’t get up.

            Child, know this when your eyes are on Me
                      there is nothing I won’t do for you!!!
           
             The  enemy has been  D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D !

  V-I-C-T-O-R-Y  is  MINE !!!  

It is My gift to you if you so choose.

                       STAND STRONG in the LORD  and WALK in VICTORY !!!

               I will never leave you, nor forsake you! 
               I am your GOD, your Abba Father!
               I  love you My child!
You are so precious to Me!

Psalm 121
1    I lift up my eyes to the hills-
where does my help come from?
2    My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3    He will not let your foot slip-
he who watches over you will
not slumber;
4    indeed, he who watches over
Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5    The Lord watches over you-
the Lord is your shade at your
right hand;
6    the sun will not harm you by
day,  nor the moon by night. 
7    The Lord will keep you from all
harm- he will watch over your life;
8   the Lord will watch over your
coming and going both now and forevermore.

Oh, how precious we are to Him that He loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins.  Man, talk about a loving God!

So, Christian, be encouraged to stand strong in the Lord and have FAITH for He has our back, Amen!!!

A Photo a Week Challenge: Perfect Sky

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in Nancy Merrill photo challenges but I am grateful to join in on the Perfect Sky challenge.

Here are my perfect skies I’ve captured through the lens!

Check out more entries here.

Deep In My Soul

June 20th several of us artists participated in  Art In The Park hosted by C.cada.  For those that do not know what C.cada is, it is a community for Christian artists who get together and practice their art form whether it be writing, painting, pencil drawings, water-color,  photography, wood carving, musical/instrumental, fabric art, etc.  Pastor J- Joseph Elon Lillie over at Lillie-Put  is the founder of C.cada  and if you would like to see other artists from C.cada including our founder go to artistdayapart.com.

Our founder Pastor J asked the artists to write a piece of poetry keeping in mind the songs that we were going to be singing on the 20th.  You will see the list of songs we sang followed by my poem Deep In My Soul.

 Song list:

It Is Well
You Are My All In All
Holy and Anointed One
You Alone
Complete
Forever

Deep In My Soul 

by Deb Maciorowski©2015

Deep in my soul something is stirring.
I no longer want to satisfy,
The hunger pains of this world.

Deep in my soul something is morphing.
I no longer want to live by the flesh;
The sins of the past cleansed white as snow!

Deep in my soul something is arising.
I no longer want to walk like the dead;
By His blood, my spirit lives!

Deep in my soul an absolute conversion!
I no longer feel alone!
His Spirit dwells here DEEP in my soul!

 

 

We are NOT alone!

My Pastor gave a devotion a couple of weeks ago and he read this acronym, FEAR-(false evidence appearing real) and I thought, wow! Boy, is that the truth or what?!

You know the enemy is trying really hard these days to distract us with FEAR-(false evidence appearing real), illness, cancer, the threat of divorce, children walking away from God, and spouses walking away from God all so we will get our focus off of God and onto our problems. I am not wrong when saying he is trying hard, am I? We all are going through trials and in many cases multiple trials at the same time. I know for myself, it seems no sooner do I come up for air and I’m right in the midst of another storm.

Christian what we have to remember is this we have something the enemy wants and he wants it really bad. Let me just tell you He will never ever have it and that is VICTORY!   The enemy has been defeated and he is under our feet! Can I get a Hallelujah and an Amen?!!!  God has given us VICTORY through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! We have to remember that as we are walking through these trials especially in the days ahead God is, has been, and will always be right by our side. He will never leave us nor forsake us, Amen! We are NOT alone!!!

Shall We?

I am part of C.cada (Cornerstone Christian Artist Day Apart) and we are having an art show on June 20, 2015 in Winchendon, Massachusetts.  We were given the theme “dancing with joy”.

For those that do not know what C.cada is, it is a community for Christian artists to get together and practice their art form whether it be writing, painting, pencil drawings, water-color,  photography, wood carving, musical/instrumental, fabric art, etc.  Pastor J- Joseph Elon Lillie over at Lillie-Put  is the founder of C.cada  and if you would like to see other artists from C.cada including our founder go to artistdayapart.com.

  This is my take on dancing with joy!

by Deb Maciorowski ^©

I’ve been waiting for you!
I yearn for you to be mine!
Shall we dance?

Feel the wind as I lift you up.
Oh, how I long for you!
Come, dance with Me?

Feel the warmth of My breath upon your ear,
As I whisper your name.
Won’t you please come and dance with Me?

Feel the softness of My caress down your cheek.
Oh, how My heart aches for you!
Come, take My hand and let us dance?

Feel the gentleness of My arms wrap around you.
Let Me comfort you in your time of need.
We’ll start with just one dance, okay?

Feel My strength as I hold you through the storm
Give Me not one but all your burdens.
Come and lean on Me as we dance.

Trust Me with your heart as we embrace the dance.
Allow Me the honor of giving you,
An everlasting life of dancing with an unspeakable joy!

He Wants More!

He Wants More!

Over these past couple of weeks there has been a lot of talk in our church about having a relationship with God.  Actually,  it is more than just having a relationship it’s about how He desires to have a deeper relationship with us.  Not so long ago it was hard to believe that God, well Jesus desired me, sin and all?

Growing up it wasn’t common for anyone in our family to put God and relationship in the same sentence.  Yeah, that just was not gonna happen.  If you knew of God, that automatically made you a Christian in our house and “poof” you instantly had a relationship with Him regardless if there was any conversing or not.

Unfortunately, there are many who still believe that to be true today.   In our family, it was a one-sided relationship, meaning it was pretty much a non-existent one this side of heaven.  I say this because I never heard anyone talking with Him with one exception my twin sister she would say the Lord’s prayer whenever she was scared.

Oh, yeah I almost forgot we always said grace at dinner; does that count as having a relationship with God?   Sometimes us kids would even try to see who could say grace the fastest and of course, my mom did not like that one bit.  I think she didn’t like it more because we got a little, well a lot loud versus her being upset because were not giving Him the reverence He deserved.

After I became born-again in Christ it was quite apparent that God had His hand on me through those years of uncertainty.  I now realize God was with me every step of the way and that He never left my side.  I tell you all this to let you know that even though my relationship with God was one-sided then (His side only), He never stopped desiring my heart.  Now I know what it is like to have a relationship with my Lord and Savior.  You see He desires to have a deeper more intimate relationship with me.  His word tells me so in the scripture below.

Psalm 139:5-7; 17-18

  5  You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on
my head.
6  Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me, too great for me to understand!
7  I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence.

17  How precious are your thoughts
about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18  I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

Psalm 139 is such an amazing scripture because it tells me that God has always been by my side and that He will never leave me.  I have to say that verse 17 really blows my mind, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.  They cannot be numbered!….And when I wake up, you are still with me!”  That right there tells me He desires me!   I mean me?  Really?  He wants to have a deeper more intimate relationship with me.  Does that not say love or what?

Do you know He desires you?

He wants more of you!

So let me ask you this, do you want more of Him?

It’s Breathtaking!

Do you long to be in His presence and to know His love? I do and I can’t seem to get enough! Our church as a whole has been reading through Sarah Young’s “40 Days with Jesus-Celebrating His Presence” as a daily devotional. Not only are we reading Sarah Young’s “40 Days with Jesus-Celebrating His Presence” our pastors have been delivering some great messages on the subject of ‘Celebrating His Presence’. A couple of Sundays ago Pastor J delivered an awesome message entitled Pastor Wrinkles:  Complete Worship  and you can find it at Lillie-Put.

The excerpt below is from his message, Pastor Wrinkles:  Complete Worship pt. 5 and has been resonating in my soul for the last couple of weeks.

“I want us all to capture the heart of worship. That is a heart that has eyes only for Jesus. It is a heart that let’s go of every other care for the job, for the family, or for the bank account. It is the heart that knows Jesus will take care of all those things if we just make Him a priority.”

I think for the first time in a very long time I actually put everything aside and gave Jesus my full attention. So many other times when worshipping whether it be at home or corporately there were thoughts lingering in my mind of my home life, finances, and many other things tugging on my heart but not that Sunday.

When God enters the room I usually get the warm fuzzes but that Sunday was exceptional. I mean yes I got the warm fuzzes but my heart converged with my Lord’s deeper than ever before on that day. It was BREATHTAKING! Honestly, it felt like it was just me and my Beloved in the room. And that feeling has not left me!

Day 17 in Sarah Young’s book “40 Days with Jesus-Celebrating His Presence” really spoke to me. Here are a few excerpts from Day 17:

“I HAVE LOVED YOU with an everlasting Love. Before time began, I knew you. For years you swam around in a sea of meaninglessness, searching for Love, hoping for hope. All that time I was pursuing you, aching to embrace you in My compassionate arms.”

       “I sang you a Love song, whose beginning and end are veiled in eternity. I infused meaning into your mind and harmony into your heart. Join Me in singing My song.”

Is that not beautiful or what? To bask in the Lord’s presence is absolutely an indescribable experience!

As we read from Sarah Young’s “40 Days with Jesus-Celebrating His Presence” He knew us before time began. God’s love is an innate love but that does not mean it is automatic. God will not violate our free will and so tragically many do not choose His love resulting in death. God’s love is not the love that everyone might think of, you know, that “Hollywood” kind of love. The love of God is impossible to describe because of its vast GREATNESS! God wants us to know His love and this is what His word says;

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT)

¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

To be in His presence and surrounded by His love 24/7, what does that look like to you?

A Must Read!

 First of all I want to say thank you to Ben Nelson for giving me the privilege of reading his  book, Encounters With Jesus.   Ben Nelson from Another Red Letter Day  is quite a gifted writer. I had the awesome privilege of reading through Ben’s book, Encounters With Jesus before publication to which I am eternally grateful. The very first time I read one of his encounters with Jesus stories I was hooked. Ben’s style of writing reminds me of the authors of the Left Behind Series-Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye.   Not only could I not read these stories fast enough but my 11-year-old son was hooked just like I was. I encourage you to check out his new book and considering purchasing an extra copy or two as a gift.  

If you would like to purchase his book click on the links below:

click here for paperback

and

click here for the kindle version.

Would You Do It?

The return of our Lord Jesus Christ is closer than ever and as Christians we need to be strong and courageous.

1 Corinthians 16:13 (NLT)

¹³ Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.^[a] Be strong. ¹⁴ And do everything with love.

 We never know exactly when our faith will be put to the test, now do we? As I meditated on the above verse over the last couple of weeks I found my mind constantly being reminded of the children in the Middle East and the fact that they gave their lives for Jesus Christ.

What about you, would you remain faithful to our Lord and King just as these children demonstrated?  Would you, would I have enough courage to stand strong in my faith if faced with an evil like they were?  I think we all would like to hope our courage and faith would be STRONG like these children but really there is no way to know that unless I/we were faced with a day such as theirs?   Honestly, we will probably never know the answer to these questions based solely on geographical reasons. What I mean is most Americans probably think that kind of evil would never happen on American soil but let me say this, we never thought 9/11 would happen either, and it did, right?

No one can deny that these children’s courage and faith in Jesus were off the charts and my prayer is that they saw the glory of God just as Stephen did when he was martyred (see Acts 7:54-60). I would venture to guess that Stephen knew without a doubt Jesus Christ would never leave his side nor forsake him and I believe these children knew that as well.

My heart breaks for the parents of these children because they were forced to watch their children be martyred.  How do you erase such images from your mind, I mean can you? As a parent, I can’t even imagine what ran through their heads in that moment it is beyond all comprehension.  Just think about the enormous amount of courage it took for these children not to renounce our Lord knowing they were faced with certain death.   As a Christian parent how do you muster up the desire to continue to live never mind live for Christ after seeing your child lose their life for Christ?

Jesus’ mother Mary I’m sure knew exactly what ran through these parents’ minds and hearts.  Just as these parents watched their children martyred Mary watched her son, her Lord, be crucified for all of us.

As Christian Americans we are spoiled in the sense that we have freedom of speech and freedom of religion knowing pretty much that we will not get martyred for speaking what’s in our hearts.   As Americans will we really ever know just how much courage it takes to be a Christian?

Maybe some day we will because the bible says in the last days men will call evil good and good evil so anything is possible.

 Isaiah 5:20

What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.

 My pastor asked me this question and so I  ask you, what if your child renounced Jesus?   Could you renounce Him  just to be with them in the present time knowing you both would be condemned for eternity?  Would you do it?

Blessed Beyond Blessed!

Disclaimer: I, Deb Maciorowski, am the President to the Special Touch R.E.A.C.H. New England Chapter and the postings on this site are my own and don’t represent Special Touch Ministry’s positions, strategies or opinions in any way.

I wrote this post back in the fall of 2014.  So many people have not heard the gospel and as a part of a faith-based organization I believe everyone deserves the right to hear about Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Amen!  I am asking people on behalf of my son Tom if you have never sponsored or supported a participant in a Special Touch bowl-a-thon before please consider doing so now.

If you would like to donate you can do so here for the REACH New England bowl-a-thon or here for the Northeast Region Get Away bowl-a-thon.  If you can’t support us financially then please pray we will meet our budget so that we can continue to  “to ease and enrich the lives of people impacted by disability.”  Thank you and God bless!

My son (Tom) and I, as well as my niece and twin sister had the pleasure of being part of this year’s Special Touch Northeast Region Get Away at Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in the first part of this month.  For those who do not know what Special Touch Ministry, Inc. is about it is a non-profit, faith-based organization that strives  “to ease and enrich the lives of people impacted by disability.”

When the Special Touch R.E.A.C.H. New England Chapter started last December (2013) my son absolutely did not want to go to the meeting.  Tom and I made a deal that he had to try at least one meeting and if he didn’t like it, well then, that would be that.

He was fine right up until we had to go in, in fact, he cried and was quite angry with me.  Yes, I admit it I resorted to bribing in order to get him in the door.  He so did not want to go in; it took him about 20-30 minutes to get in the door.  As soon as he was in he was under the table playing his iPod with his green lawnmower headphones to help block the noise around him.   I prayed that God would bring some other kids to the meeting so Tom could have someone to play with.   I just knew in my heart of hearts if he could just make this transition into the Special Touch R.E.A.C.H. New England Chapter meeting he would be accepted for who he is.   God is oh, so good!   Guess what happened?  Yup, you guessed it there were two other children at the meeting that day and Tom really connected with one of them . Hallelujah!  On the way home Tom told me;

“I’m only going to one more meeting, Mom, and then that’s it.  I mean it, no more!”  After a brief pause he continued, “Only one more, Mom I mean it.”

Then I asked what about the bowl-a-thon?

“Okay, then I’ll stop right after I bowl with my friends.  Did you hear me, Mom?” (Special Touch has their annual National Special Touch Bowl Across America fundraiser every March)

I told him I heard him meanwhile my insides were doing a “Hallelujah, dance”!

Float -the -Boat fundraiser for the Northeast Region Get Away.

He was given the Captain’s wheel!

Tom’s cousin Janee our little “spider girl”!

Tom made it to just about 35 feet.

Mom and Tom enjoying morning chapel service.

REACH NE Chapter Bowling event March 15, 2014

That one meeting really made an impression on his heart as well as on mine! I tell you all of this because the transformation I saw in my son at the Special Touch Northeast Region Get Away  truly blessed me and I mean for a lifetime.  I have been blessed beyond blessed!  My son has never entered a room and started talking never mind talking to strangers. The first day at the Get Away the atmosphere was so anointed with the Holy Spirit it felt like the very first time I walked into Cornerstone Church, I knew I  had finally found my church family.  I personally did not know a lot of the people but somehow it felt like I knew them already.  The most important thing is Tom felt comfortable.  When you are accepted just as you are; you are then free to be who God made you to be!

Normally, Tom is a very picky eater so I was worried that he would lose even more weight and he really could not afford to lose any more weight.  We have been trying for several months to get Tom to eat more so he could gain back some of the 10 pounds he lost over the past year.  The chef at Eisner’s Camp was absolutely wonderful!  When people ask Tom what he liked most about the Get Away he says,

“The food! The Chef was awesome.”

So a great big THANK YOU! to Chef Paul out at Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, MA.

I joke and say Tom is the Special Touch R.E.A.C.H. New England Chapter’s ambassador.  In essence, he is because no matter where we go people are hearing about the Special Touch Northeast Region Get Away. He tells everyone how wonderful it was and he is 100% right!

Tom is looking forward to the 2015 Northeast Region Get Away and so am I!!!

 

Preparing for Battle

So many times I find myself in the middle of a battle before I even realize I’m in one and boy, does that put me at a disadvantage! I need to go into training.  Let’s just say a soldier wouldn’t go off to war without first preparing him or herself for battle, right?  I’m no expert of war by any means but doesn’t it make sense that the commanders of the army would try to defeat the enemy on a smaller scale first before declaring war.

My eleven year old son, Tom absolutely loves anything to do with WW II.  I once asked him why does he like it so much and his answer was,

“He had to learn as many war strategies as possible.”

I said, why?

His answer was, “So I can fight the enemy, of course!”

Soldiers aren’t just put on the frontline to fight for their country they go to boot camp first to learn to submit to authority and then obey that authority at all costs. Men of war have to learn the basics of survival before they enter the battle. If they don’t have the basics down how can they be expected to execute the strategies their commanders have devised to conquer the enemy.

Spiritual warfare is kind of like that as well, isn’t it? As Christians, we need to know the basics of the Word of God before we can fight the battle never mind win the war. Learning His ways and submitting to His will is a must in order to conquer and defeat the enemy.   The truths of God are our spiritual ammunition against the enemy. We know the enemy has been defeated and that VICTORY is ours but that doesn’t necessarily make the battle any less demanding or taxing, now does it?

The other day I received some wise advice from a good friend and I will paraphrase what he said,

“Deb, you need to strengthen your spiritual walls and gates so that the enemy will not be able to penetrate them! Ask God, for His strategies and what the enemy’s weaknesses are!”

I am taking his advice and praying for God’s wisdom, knowledge, and strength to be obedient to His strategies for the spiritual battles that are in my midst now, as well as, those to come.  Listen to me, Christian, the times we are presently living in calls for all Christians to do the same.   Another way of putting it is, Christian now is the time to get your house in order and be prepared for the battles preceding the war.

God’s word says He will never leave us nor forsake us;

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV) Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

and I believe this wholeheartedly but I’m not so foolish to think I don’t need to be in training for the battle.

There is another aspect I have not discussed and this is something you will need to meditate on; are you willing to pay the cost of being a soldier of God?  Only you and God know what that cost is and He knows your heart better than you do!

So tell me, Christian how do you prepare for battle?

 

The Power of Forgiveness

God commands us to forgive and so we must forgive.

Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV

        ¹⁴ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

How many times do we say the words yet our hearts are not quite ready to forgive? I always thought if I said it then one day I would truly believe it in my heart. Well, for this girl no such luck there were still things I needed to forgive. I didn’t realize I was holding on to unforgiveness until someone pointed it out to me and, oh boy, was that a big ouch.

My last post was about Daniel and his perseverance with prayer. I have been praying for years that my son’s seizures would stop and when they didn’t I would tell myself that it’s just not time yet. You know God’s timing is perfect, right?

During my inner healing prayer sessions I was able to surrender my unforgiveness with God’s help. This was when I truly let go and forgave as well as asking God to forgive my stubbornness. I’m not saying that all unanswered prayer has to do with unforgiveness because sometimes it could be that what we are asking for is just not in His will.

In hindsight, I believe my unforgiveness was actually holding up my son’s healing of his seizures. I say this because it is God’s will that we all be healed whether it be on this side or on the other side of Heaven. Unforgiveness, is an open door to the enemy. The enemy can deafen one’s ears to the truth especially when it is God’s will you are waiting for.

Long story short my son no longer has seizures and we are tapering him off of his seizure meds. My son’s seizures have stopped and I thank my God for His healing touch on my son. The power of forgiveness is life changing.

Don’t let unforgiveness hinder your prayer life.

Perseverance

I have been reading the book of Daniel and “perseverance” has popped into my head quite a few times throughout the reading of this book. Daniel was a persistent and faithful man. He prayed three times a day since he was a young child.

Now there were some officials that were jealous of Daniel and they could not find any faults with him. So they devised a plan that would definitely make some trouble in Daniel’s life. These men figured the only way they could trap Daniel was by tricking the King into signing a decree against anyone who worshipped any other god besides the King- (King Darius).

So what was the first thing Daniel did after gaining knowledge of the signing of the decree, a decree condemning all who prayed to or worshipped any other god besides the King would be thrown into the lion’s den.

Daniel 6:10 (NKJV) states;  

  Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

God wants us to persevere in our prayer life just like Daniel no matter the troubles that swarm around us. Daniel knew that praying to any other god would land him in the lion’s den but that did not deter him from being faithful in his prayer time to the Most High God three times a day just as he had always done.   I mean really, how many people do you know that would have done the same having full knowledge of the dire consequences? Daniel never wavered from his faithfulness to the Most High God not even when sentenced to death.

This is exactly what God is calling us to do in these last days. Can’t you hear Him calling you to a much deeper walk? A walk so deep that others will want to follow in your footsteps and as Christians it is our job to be the salt of the earth declaring the Most High God is The WAY, The TRUTH, and The LIFE!

John 14:6 (NKJV) states;

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  

So let me ask you this, are you ready to persevere for His Glory no matter the cost?

An Encouragement From Mirjam In the Netherlands

When we can’t GO our missionaries are our hands and feet to reach the LOST! Please join me in helping my sister Brenda get back to the mission field!!! She is just itching to get back to the Netherlands!!!

Lillie-Put

My sister Brenda, as you may know, is a missionary to The Netherlands. Currently she is here in the U.S. raising funds for the mission. She cannot return until the funds are fully raised.

Mirjam is one of my sister Brenda’s fellow laborers in the Netherlands. Mirjam and her husband Willem are both integral parts of the team over in Zaandam and they want Brenda back.

Here is Mirjam’s word of faith

Stuck at just $430 a month.
Surely there are some people out there who can help Brenda J. Lillie get back to the mission field?
We’re praying for this to be down to $230 by this time next week.
Go on – make a pledge. You know you want to.

Brenda J. Lillie

4 hrs ·

Marching to the Funding Finish Line!
The Future Awaits! Just $430/month to go!
To make your monthly pledge:
http://www.tinyurl.com/brendalillie

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Tehillah Tuesdays 3-8-16

Tehillah Tuesdays 3-8-16

I’m joining Lillie-Put in creating a culture of praise on his Tehillah Tuesdays!  You can check out Lillie-Put’s Tehillah Tuesdays here.

Gutters For Jesus!

This gallery contains 10 photos.

Originally posted on Lillie-Put:
Good morning readers!  Today I am launching my first giving page for Special Touch REACH New England’s Annual Bowl-A-Thon. Special Touch is a national ministry to the disabled. The work of Special Touch is to… to…