Submission (submit, submitted, submitting)

Currently every Sunday a group of women (whom I'm honored to be a part of) who have a heart to pray for Men of Valor across the world will unite in the International House of Prayer - Mission Base in Kansas City MO side room #2. Today we are each sharing on what the Holy Spirit has laid upon our hearts in regards to submission. The following is what my heart will bring to the group today. Submission to me is an honor because I know whom I am submitting too. When submitting to God it is not a bad thing or word because He has authority over all and as His child, I inherit all. Thank you Father!

Here's what I'll be sharing later today. I pray it blesses you as I have been blessed in praying and pondering over what the Spirit was wanting to show me in regards to submission.:

Hebrew word used in Hebrews 13:17 -- to be straightforward with.

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV) “17Obey(AD) your leaders and submit to them,(AE) for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to(AF) give an account.(AG) Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Greek word used in James 4:7, I Peter 2:13 and 5:5 -- hupotusso -- to subordinate; to obey – be under obedience, put under, subdue unto; be subjected to, submit self unto.

James 4:7 (ESV) “7Submit yourselves therefore to God.(A) Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

I Peter 2:13-15 (NIV) “13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.”

I Peter 5:1-10 “1 To the elders among you, I appeal (exhort) as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”[a] 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. “

Submission is an action, a choice. It is an action that we take whether consciously or unconsciously. We choose what or whom we are going to submit to (give authority or control to) with our emotions, with our time, with our money, with our possessions. We choose who we are going to give authority over our emotions. We choose who we are going to give authority over our time. We choose who we are giving authority over our money. We choose who we are going to give authority over our possessions. Absolutely everything in our life is based on a choice. We choose who we are going to serve or be a slave too. It is an action that in not making a choice you are still making a choice. For example, in not choosing God you are choosing Satan. Another example, When you are not walking a lifestyle that focuses on bringing glory and praise to God then you are choosing to walk in a lifestyle that focuses on self and what makes you feel good or allows you to take up your time and numb your mind and heart to its secret yearnings of being loved by the God of love. Yet another example, when you shut the door to your home you choose when to open it and who or what you allow in. When you don’t shut the door, leaving it cracked or wide open, then you are allowing whomever and whatever to enter into your home whether it be an edifying person, an evil person, a sweet loving pet or an evil poisonous snake. In every aspect of your life you choose to take authority over what you allow or you choose to give up the choice and allow whomever or whatever wants, to come in and take authority.

As for me personally, I have unfortunately in my past allowed myself to be robbed by the enemy when I have chosen not to taken authority and make choices in my life. During those times that I didn’t take authority and make a decision, I now understand that I was not focused, feeling worthless and/or walking in fear and allowed the enemy to chose for me. All of which is not operating in the Lord. He does not give us a spirit of fear but He gives us love, power and a sound mind. In Isaiah 11:2 it is written, “2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—“. God did not create us to be worthless, He empowers us. In Romans 8:14-16 (NIV) it is written, “ 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (Footnotes: Romans 8:15 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture; also in verse 23.) Thus He created us in His own image giving us through the blood of Jesus Christ authority and dominion over all things if we choose (submit) to be adopted by Him. God created us all with an intense desire to love Him and worship Him which is why we only find and feel emptiness when we submit to the worldly pleasures of lust and self-fulfillment.

I thank God that He loves me unconditionally and doesn’t ever revoke(unadopt) my being a Child of God just because I make a mistake or a poor choice. I know I am loved unconditionally and am reassured that as I travel the road of living fully in Christ, He looks on me with pride and love every time I take a step. Even when I stumble and fall down, because with His help I am always able to get back up, repent and keep moving forward in my sole life purpose of loving and worshiping Him. But wait! There’s more! I get the added BONUS because all the love He showers on me is manifested through me to any and all who cross my path. God’s bonus of loving one another. And all at one great price … FREE! I absolutely must make sure that all I know (and even those I don't know yet!) get this great lifetime deal!! I am gratefully and willingly submitted to His authority, power and love.

Giving Lesson

We have been called to International House of Prayer to get equipped for the next part of our journey in His purpose for us on this Earth. The boys know how things have been very financially tight as we seek Him and wait. My heart just swells when I see and hear them profess the faith that they too are building during this time. Hearing them share how God just blesses our food supply for us to keep feeding physically and spiritually those that He brings in to our lives. How God provides a car from someone that doesn’t even know us so that when Randy’s truck breaks down and we are on foot … we are not, thanks to God’s provision through someone else in advance. How God directs our steps so that we are in a place at a specific time to see or meet someone that could not have happened unless it was preplanned. These are just a minute few examples that we are seeing and recognizing of God’s doing in our daily lives.

The boys know we are seeking God provision to finish fixing our truck, school curriculum for them, clothes (it gets cold here in MO – definitely not in Texas short weather anymore!) and bills. In spite of these needs, this past week we took the boys over to the prayer room, gave them some of God’s money and had them get quiet in the Lord and ask God who He would like His money to go too. I had told them once they had the person God laid upon their heart –whether they knew the person or not - they were to go, give them the money and tell them that “God wanted them to give this to them.” then walk off. The boys being very sensitive, discerning and loving were a bit quiet in having the responsibility of giving God’s money away especially when they knew we could use it for our bills. We spent almost an hour in prayer in the prayer room while they were seeking God’s direction. During my quiet time with the Lord my mind took off: Should I have given them more direction of who/how to give it away? What if they just give it to one of their friends to try and win favor in the friendship arena? PTL! My God is faithful and I was able to stop these ungodly self-doubts as soon as the thought about them giving it to someone their age. Who am I to put guidelines on who they can give it to? As long as it is given freely then God will bless it no matter whom or what age the person. I then settled into a glorious time of prayer.

Once I got quieted in the Spirit and entered into the Throne Room I had this intense desire for at least one of the boys to give their money to a specific person but I was not about to tell them who. As our time to leave was drawing near I kept asking the boys if they were ready and they didn’t think they were. We finally agreed to go walk through the Higher Grounds and Bookstore to see if it was anyone there – no results. We finally were out of time and had to get home to get Randy’s supper so he could go back to his work so we decided to we would just go back over after supper, that maybe the person(s) were not there yet. On our way home the boys were sharing their thoughts and experiences during this time of seeking and shared that they had someone on their heart but one couldn’t figure out how to get it to him and the other didn’t see the person there. I asked if they knew where to find these people and they both said, “Yes.” I told them we would then go find them after supper and give it to them. When I asked them who/where we needed to be, my heart and total being was so totally blessed as the Lord showed me yet again how totally in control He is. The person God had laid on my heart in the prayer room was the person that Josiah had felt lead to give but couldn’t figure out how to get to him. The person Malachi was looking for … are you ready for this? … was the wife to the man Josiah had chosen. Talk about affirmation to all three of us that it was totally the leading of the Holy Spirit and we were walking in His guidance. None of us had shared with the other who He had laid on our hearts until that moment. That was affirmation that ministered deeply to this mom, her two awesome sons and their dad after he heard the events.

Now we are anxiously and excitedly awaiting more of God’s money so we can go out and seek whom God wants to have it. This time with even more confidence that He is always directing our steps and leading us. Our God is always so faithful and true.

Isaiah 30:21 (New Living Translation) 21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.

Condemnation or Compliment

We have been accused of the possibility of stealing - by a person with a long judicial record whom during his entire time of knowing us has been shown God’s example of loving one another and mercy. I have been accused of “attacking my husband” and “always tearing him down” because I am one of his chosen accountability partners and I dare to hold him accountable - by someone who, from experience, runs away when asked to be accountable or responsible in even the smallest way. I have been talked ill of for speaking & praying God’s will over my husband’s life, especially life choices and for asking him “Is this God’s will?” Our family has been slandered because we choose to attempt to live a Biblical standard and allow our sons the ability to make choices to prepare them for adulthood and walk the consequences good or bad instead of raising them the worldly way and forcing them to meet our demands with harshness and violence. We as parents have been judged harshly because we have the heart desire and focus to allow and assist our sons in finding their calling in life now while they are still in their youth and help them train/prepare so that they can fulfill their destiny to their utmost potential instead of allowing them to fumble around well into their adulthood or possibly waste their whole entire life and have deep regrets in their final moments. I would rather be accused of the above then live outside of God’s will and calling for our life. We are not perfect nor will we ever be but we strive daily, moment by moment to be more like Him. When I look at the list, instead of condemnation & guilt I actually see compliments and affirmation that we are living in His will and on the right track. Thank you Lord for the affirmation.

God's Parent Heart

The last few days have been very heart tugging as I struggle with the heart hurts of being a parent. Seeing my child's heart struggle and hurt is not easy. Not rushing in and fixing it is even harder especially if you don't know how - but that often times just clips their wings instead of allowing them to learn and become stronger from what they are going through. I am so blessed that God has opened my eyes and heart with the intense awareness of how much more our Father God's heart hurts when we are struggling, feeling lost, overwhelmed, undervalued, blue, etc... I know the intense love I have for my own children and even the overwhelming love for other people in their times of hurt. I am standing absolutely in utter amazement right now of how much more Father God's love is for me. That just gives me a warm fuzzy heart hug (which I dearly need right now) and immense reassurance as I struggle in my daily life with raising our children (and note getting "do-overs"), in my relationship with my husband, family & Friends, in every day decisions. My Heavenly Father is watching me with loving eyes filled full of love, pride and joy as only a parent can as I take each baby step in every moment of my day. His heart hurts when mine does. His heart is filled with immense joy and love when mine is - probably even more. His heart feels what I feel only so much more intense as He is the God of the Universe. He created ME in HIS image - feelings and all. THANK YOU GOD!!

Showing Jesus

Tonight Malachi is being blessed with having a young man, Josh, (who was a counselor at the Signs & Wonders IHOP camp this summer) come and take him to the skatepark for a while. This is the first time that he has gotten to go skating since we got here. Randy & I are so thankful that Josh is being an amazing mentor and showing Jesus to our son through being excited to see him when we are in the same location, texting back and forth and spending time with him by taking him to the skatepark & skating with him. I only wish I was able to be there to take pictures … oh the heart of a mother.

Through the classes that God has lead me to take I have been made very aware of the importance of having healthy images of Father-God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit. Randy & I, as well as the boys, have been focusing on trying to show “Jesus” to others through communication and fellowship. Some times it is so easy and comes naturally. Other times it is quite the challenge not to respond in the flesh to a situation or attitude. I wish we could say we’ve got it down but it’s a lifelong commandment and process of constantly loving one another. Its such a blessing to watch the boys (& us) try to put this to practice and at times have to stop and say, “That’s not showing a very good picture of Jesus.” or when it gives a great warm, fuzzy feeling when we get to stop and say, “Wow! That was an amazing opportunity to show Jesus.”

Being a parent is not easy but oh it is so rewarding. The love in my heart just overflows and grows with each moment.

God knocking

I just absolutely love seeing how God works out the smallest details to direct our steps to be where He wants us to be all in the right timing.

Yesterday some friends, knowing that we are basically on foot until God provides funds for the truck steering gear box to be fixed, called from the grocery store to see if we needed anything. I was going to say no but my mouth burst forth with “Beef bouillon please.” As soon as I said it I was wondering where it came from. I think I’ve only bought beef bouillon once in my life and definitely could live without some right now during this part of our journey of faith and waiting on the Lord. I proceeded to go back to my studies and fixing supper for my amazing sons and their friend, Jenelle. Right after we ate our friends showed up with the beef bouillon. We proceeded to sit down and start fellowshipping in sharing what God has been doing in our lives and how we are growing in His time of waiting and seeking His leading. Such a glorious time of heart sharing and joy. During this time frame there came a knock at our door. I opened it to find another of our new God brought friends utterly beat up in spirit, overwhelmed, exhausted and overburdened. After giving him a great big hug, I immediately ushered him in to our ministry chair. Josiah served him by getting him a big, cold glass of pink lemonade. After our beloved brother shared some of his burdens, I had our other friends start praying over him while I prayerfully applied oils to his leg that was under physical attack. Randy called at 9pm when he got off work, during our time of prayer, to see if we were to be going to where the gentleman (who was currently in our ministry chair) was staying to help unload his U-Haul. Malachi answered the phone and told his Dad he needed to come straight home and to hurry. So even Randy was allowed to participate in lifting up one of our brothers with our ministry group/team that God seems to be bringing together right now. Would love to report total healing for our brother but he definitely left a lot lighter and breathing once again.

Christmas Socks!

Got to love them ... here's yet another tradition for our family! Thanks to my amazing mom who got us started years ago on fun, exciting, Christmas socks. We all love to wear them (at least Randy participates to some degree - could be most socks are a tad small for his masculine feet but the boys and I thoroughly enjoy them!)