Horseshoes and Victory

"The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord." Proverbs 21:31. 

I admire the stamina and grace that horses seem to show when they move. Stories about their help in battle, their beauty and even their companionship draw me in. Simply, I admire strength and beauty. Yet, God has greater strength and beauty than anyone or anything else I can find.

Nothing compares to His love and might. God not only is courageous and victorious over darkness, but also He has this reputation of displaying great heart as He relentlessly pursues people to come to know and trust in Him. This Savior King who rules over all things invites us into a real, growing relationship with Him.

Kelli Martin

By Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, the invitation is there for us to be forgiven, to be in God's presence and to be His people. As we are His and give Him the reins, we can trust He will be true to His word and that we are under His watch. We can be strong and courageous because we trust in the great I AM and His lead.

So, don't get me wrong - I still have a wide-eyed love for horses. I just am happy to be reminded that God is stronger and more beautiful than anything else. Pray with me thanks to God for who He is. Let's pray that we see times to share more about our strong and beautiful God with someone this weekend.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." Psalm 20:7

Verses related to this: 2 Corinthians 3:4-6, Genesis 3:14-15, Exodus 14:14, Deuteronomy 31:6.

Loving these music videos by Citizens: "Made Alive" and "I Am Living in a Land of Death."

God Wins!

God Wins Spiritual Wars, but my dear Christian friends, as His witnesses we ARE going to be in one spiritual battle after another...until Jesus returns! Today's picture is a picture of my mother and her brother (my 66 year old uncle) as I share with you one of the testimonies from their lives and mine!!

God shares specifically throughout His Word, "His Battle Plans for Believers", some key marching orders that we need to study and live out in order to be prepared to take our stand against the tactics and schemes of the devil! One reason that I am so excited about Gifted2Go is that Ephesians 6 is apart of this vital tool for women on the front lines that are sharing Jesus with others!

"Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand." Ephesians 6:10-12 HCSB

(The specific verses listed above, some of the verses that Gifted2Go are based on, gave me the battle plan that I needed as God strengthened me, clothed me with His armor so I could stand in against the enemies tactics, and equipped me with everything I would need to be prepared to stand for Him in Victory!)

Today I would like to share a personal testimony about a HUGE spiritual battle I was in and how GOD WON THE SPIRITUAL WAR when my mother went to be with the Lord after a very quick sudden death from cancer that was found after gall-bladder surgery. You must remember, as I have shared in previous blogs, that I am a first-generation Christian!! When I became a believer and follower of Jesus I began to witness to my immediate family the SPIRITUAL BATTLE began and much of this battle looked & felt like this: rejection, fear, emotional pain, nothing in common anymore, loneliness, burdened, brokenhearted, misunderstandings, and much more that every witness walks through as we battle "spiritual forces & evil tactics of the devil"! The exciting part of this testimony is what God does after every spiritual war, even if it takes YEARS...GOD BRINGS THE VICTORY...after every Spiritual battle we fight as His witness He brings THE VICTORY...it may not come about like we would like or the way that is the easiest, but the results are ALWAYS just like the cheer goes... V-I-C-T-O-R-Y...victory victory is our cry!!! It is my joy to share with you that after many battles and many tears, I had the privilege of leading and witnessing my mother come to the Lord on 2/15/92!! PRAISE YOUR NAME JESUS=VICTORY!!!! After many many years of fighting the enemy through love & prayer...GOD WON THE SPIRITUAL WAR!

Fast forward to April 3rd, 2009...my mother went to be with the Lord and at her memorial service I knew that she wanted me to share her testimony and that is what I did, by the Grace of God, but it was after much warfare because the entire room was full of extended family members and her friends that NEEDED TO BE SAVED!!!

The battle was intense the days before her memorial service, the day of her memorial service, and even today-the days after her memorial service and the battle looks like this from those that surrounded me that still need Jesus: distance, rejection, anger, accusations, lies, judgement, withholding of love, the lost & backslidden medicating their pain/grief with alcohol, darkness, confusion, the enemy actually trying to cut me off from my praying friends through lack of the ability to communicate by cellphone & computer networks that were down, so much more it would take an entire chapter to describe...fast forward to the memorial service where GOD brought His VICTORY...God led us to an anointed pastor & his wife, Brother Tony Lynn, through one of our praying friends in Michigan, Julie Scheving (Julie is a State Women's Evangelism leader in Michigan and she has recently had a stroke-one week after my mother's memorial service, please pray for Julie as the Lord keeps healing her) My mom had recently relocated to Toledo Ohio/Erie Michigan area to be closer to her younger brother, my Uncle Larry (and one of the biggest hearts desires my mother had was that my Uncle Larry would accept Jesus as his Savior)...as my mother's memorial service was being planned, the Lord laid it on my heart specific worship songs to be played (one of them can be heard at the bottom of this blog) and specific words to share as I opened up my mother's Bible and shared specifically from what she had written in it...as Brother Tony offered an invitation to accept Jesus at the end of my mother's memorial service. As Bro. Tony led everyone in an invitation to accept Jesus prayer, word for word, seated behind me my 66 year old Uncle Larry ACCEPTED JESUS AS HIS PERSONAL LORD & SAVIOR!!!!! All I could do was cry out to God with Persevering PRAISE and visualize my mother in heaven having one of the greatest prayers and desires of her heart answered by God through her death and her testimony being shared after MANY spiritual Battles...GOD WON THE WAR!!!!VICTORY VICTORY that's the Christian Battle CRY!!!!!!! The picture above is a picture of my dear SAVED 66 year old Uncle Larry pictured with my mother that is now rejoicing in Heaven for ONE dear soul that has been saved through her TESTimony!! I pray this blog and one of the worship songs that the Lord led me to share at my mother's memorial service will encourage you in the battle you may be in or may be about to enter...let us all remember that there is always VICTORY in JESUS!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XcXQoSlPg&feature=fvst
(I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin)

Who is on your prayer list that you are trusting God to bring SPIRITUAL VICTORY in their lives? NEVER GIVE UP!! Let's stop right now and PRAY for those in our lives that NEED JESUS as GOD SENDS HIS MESSAGE in WORDS & ACTIONS to point them all one step closer TO THE CROSS! IN JESUS' NAME..AMEN!!!!!

The Last Trailride

“11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:11-16, ESV).

As I drove back from the airport on Thursday, I ran into some traffic on the tollway access road. Turns out it was some of the trail riders coming in. Yeehaw, it's Houston Rodeo time! These riders come from near and far, riding their horses and pulling their wagons. It was a sight to see! I wondered if my friends Lisa and Joe were among them.

Sunday morning I ran into them and we sat together in class. We were so busy catching up that I never got to the question about the rodeo. During the lesson, our fearless teacher referred to this passage in Revelation 19 about the second coming. He read verse 14 about the armies of heaven following Christ on white horses. Lisa nudged me and said that would be her last trail ride! I'd never thought about that before! Not only will the angels of heaven be with Christ, but we as the saints will be in the army of riders as well...clothed in white, pure, and riding white horses! Oh what a glorious day it will be! One day we will ride and fight with Him; until then, I am grateful that God fights our battles for us (Ex 14:13-14), that He equips us with His armor (Eph 6:10 et al) and that we don't have to ride the white horses until we get our new bodies! GLO-reh!

(My hat's off to my friends who told me that they did ride and that it was their 19th trail ride! Yeehaw!)