Tag: peace

God is Speaking in Your Storm

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Peace is not the absence of a storm or adversity. Peace comes in the presence of Christ. He is the one the winds and waves still obey. If He does not calm the storms around us, He calms the storms within us.

An encouragement I sensed from Jesus for the world. Certainly weigh it, test it against the word of God and character of God. Shalom.

“Beloved, I have come that you may have peace. Peace that surpasses your understanding. It will fill your heart and mind as you trust in Me. I love you and I am not unprepared nor unqualified to care for you in any and all circumstances. I am the Alpha and Omega. I have stood with My people through plagues, severe persecutions, wars, and turmoil since they began. I am the one who has the superior wisdom and all power.

I am the one who is speaking above the storms. The media cannot be your source. Sink into My word, My words, and surrender your fears at My feet. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. I disarmed every principality and power, spirits of wickedness in high places. I hold all authority. The Father and I still hold ALL power! We have never been defeated.

Do not allow the evil one to rob you of the peace and joy I paid to give you. Listen, listen, listen…turn your ears to heaven. Lift your voices to heaven. Turn your heart to worship. Worship is war song. It reminds the evil one that he has been defeated. When you worship in spirit and in truth it recalibrates your atmosphere, your soul, and body. We do not encourage worship out of ego. The Father and I know that worship releases heaven in your realm. There is no sickness, death, fear, or sorrow in heaven.

The Lord your God is all powerful. You do not need beg for help. Those who are united with Me through faith come BOLDLY before our throne of grace in times of need. It is your inheritance. I AM your provider. I AM your healer. I AM your peace. I AM your joy. I AM the all sufficient one. I AM your Deliverer.

Break your agreement with the spirits of fear and anxiety and command that spirit to FLEE! Your inheritance is peace despite the circumstances.

Those united with Me will bear fruit in every season. You are not defeated nor backed into a corner unless you come into agreement with the defeated one. I defeated him. I defeated death, hell, and the grave.

Lay down the idols that cannot save you. Place your trust in Me. Some trust in their bank accounts, their leaders, themselves, their spouse, their pastors, their military, yet behold only those who place fully in God will see themselves rise above the storm instead of sink into despair and poverty.

I have the power to take what you have and multiply it! I still have the power to send provision from heaven and call it from the sea. We are still working miracles.

Break up any seeds planted of unbelief. Your faith opens up a realm of the supernatural. Let your faith rise above the storm. Speak what heaven is speaking. Do not come into agreement with the reports of mankind. Mankind sees in part and knows in part. I SEE all, KNOW all, and stand ABOVE it all.

We have listened to mankind cry out for revival, yet leaned on their own strengths and agendas. We will do it our way. We will pour out glory over neighborhoods and communities. We will transform hearts and not a single person will hold the glory. Idols will fall. Demonic systems will fall. Religious systems not built on the foundation of My Kingdom will fall. My Kingdom will remain.

Those who worship in spirit and truth will see things in their day they could not even imagine. The trumpet has been blasting for years to turn, ‘Turn back to God.’ Mankind in their rebellion built monuments and idols to worship. Those idols cannot save!!! They cannot save.

I sent spokesmen and spokeswomen to blast the trumpet, ‘Turn from these idols. They seek to destroy you.’ Many were ignored. The earth began to shake and quake under the demonic idols of the land. For the evil one seeks to devour your world. He has been after worship since pride entered his heart. Mankind’s agreement gave him authority. I took back that authority and gave it to the sons and daughters of God.

I am not punishing the world. The demons beyond the idols are exercising the rights they have been given through human worship and human agreement to attack the world. When times are good, many sons and daughters of Adam turn their faces from us, ‘Who needs God?’ They blatantly sin and mock the precepts of God. Oh yet when crisis falls upon the earth, the same some ones cry out, ‘Where is God? Why did God allow this? Help us God!’

We are merciful. We hate to see the world suffer. Creation is groaning and crying out for the sons and daughters of God to arise to be light, to shine our light into the darkness. I tap on the shoulders and hearts of My friends and children of God to participate in My agenda for the world. Some ignore Me. Some buck the words of the Father in pursuit of self comfort and selfish ambition. My heart cries out ‘Wake up!!! A storm is coming. Wake up! The world needs what we placed inside you. Do not go to sleep.’ Some hear Me. Some ignore Me. Yet I stand in truth, love, mercy, and justice seeking whomever will listen and turn.

Turn to Me, I love you. Bring your heart to Me, I love you. Lay down your idols, your busyness, your selfish ambition, and listen. Seek first the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is advancing. Come into agreement and alignment with heaven. Heaven is speaking. Heaven is pursuing you. I am pursuing you. Look at Me! Will you listen and turn your heart to Me? Turn, turn, turn! My heart is here looking for your full heart. Come to Me!! COME!”

May you and I turn to God and surrender. God is speaking to turn. There can be idols in Christian culture. The things and people that are clung to and trusted more than God. Let’s turn. God alone saves. Turn from idols of busyness, self, selfish ambition, comfort, pleasure, people, politics, worship of ministry/ministers/church/family, entertainment, and anything else. May the reverence for the Lord return to us.

God you alone are God. May we find our identity, security, and comfort in you! Please forgive us for choosing any other god. They cannot save. Jesus is LORD! And His Kingdom will reign for ever and ever!!

Love in Christ,

Erin Lamb

Peace Be Still

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I am speaking

Can you hear me above the noise of man’s report

I am whispering

Draw near to hear

To hear heaven’s report

I am moving

Moving in the hearts of humanity

Revealing I AM the only one

Who can truly calm the storms

The winds and the waves obey me

All of creation responds to my voice

It is humanity who turns a deaf ear

When I am standing right here

Saying “Do not fear!”

Some have tried to mask me

Behind their traditions of men

And dead religions

I am not dead

I am fully alive

Reaching out to sons and daughters of Adam

Saying put your trust in me this time

Systems may fail

People may fail

Governments and economies may fail

Your strength may fail

I do not fail

I am speaking

Do you hear my voice

It is speaking peace into the anxiety

Calming hearts and thoughts

Look up and not around

For heaven is being revealed

The Son of Man is being found

Found by many who never looked my way

I am moving in every Nation

I am moving even when what you see looks dim

Faith is not seeing all the pieces

Yet trusting still

I am speaking to those who will listen

I am speaking truth to mend, save, and heal

For centuries mankind has built their empires

Some have chanted, “We built this! We are great. We cannot fail.”

Yet they forget from the dust man was formed

It is by God’s breath he moves and lives

Only my Kingdom is eternal

I am speaking

Come near

I am speaking

Turn your ears

Heaven has a different vantage point

Oh how we love you and long to let you in

In on the workings of something higher

Something greater

Someone who seeks intimacy over activity

Relationship over religion

My strength is put on display in times of weakness

Lean into me

Keep leaning into me

Hear my voice

Experience my peace

I am speaking

I AM the Prince of Peace

I Am Speaking

Written by Erin Lamb

Time with Jesus 3/19/2020

Painting: Peace Be Still (Pinterest Prophetic Art)

“You are greatly loved! Praying Shalom over you!”

Miracles Are For Today!

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Morning Devotion: The Great Physician and Deliverer. God is Bigger Than Any Diagnosis or Any Enemy. Miracles Still Occur Today! (Testimonies & Prayer at The End)

I believe in miracles because God says that He is the Healer, Deliverer. It is His name. I also believe in miracles because I am one. I am the product of a miracle. I am a recipient of many miracles. My mother was told she would not and could not have children. But God had another plan. We can always insert, “But God!”

I have seen God do things that were absolutely impossible in the natural. I have been in situations where I would have died if it had not been for the great power of God. There is no, “Maybe this is a fluke.” There is a “You lived because the hand of God and power of God did what seemed impossible.”

Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). … It is the power of God that makes what seems impossible possible. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

The same God who spoke the world into existence, pulled man from the earth and breathed into him, opened barren wombs, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, provided food in the wilderness, led His people into victory against countless enemies, opened blind eyes, sent forth His word to heal the sick, delivered the oppressed, turned wicked men into righteous men, delivered Nations, multiplied fish and loaves, multiplied the widows oil, gave children to those way past child bearing years, shut the mouths of the lion, protected the hebrew boys in the fiery furnace, placed His words in the mouth of the prophets, opened the earth to swallow treacherous men….is the same God we worship today!

God has not ceased being loving. God also has not ceased being powerful. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work today. Will we choose to believe and partner with God? Will we look with an eager expectation for God to do what mankind says cannot be done? Can we move past the disappointment and “This did not work before,” to live out of a place of, “God, your word says nothing is impossible with you! I want to live as a person who sees the impossible made possible by your strength and power.”

It is not by our might nor our strength, but by the power of God! He is the all powerful and all sufficient one. He is the alpha and omega, the everlasting God; the great I AM. He is not the I was nor the I will be. He is the very sustainer of life. With one word from God, all of creation would feel the impact of His glory.

God chooses not to force His will on humanity, hence evil in the world. Yet we must understand that God can do anything! His abilities are limitless.

I recall a season of sickness in my life that I was not prepared for mentally or emotionally. I went in for a routine tonsilectomy and left on numerous meds and with a resting pulse of 150 beats per minute. I went from healthy to sick in one day. One surgery changed my life. I was on heart meds, scheduled to see so many doctors I wanted to scream. I love medicine, I do not love being poked and prodded. Some said, “We don’t know what is wrong with you.” Some offered a diagnosis and prognosis that if I did not take heart medication I would develop heart disease and not get very far in life.

I recall being tired, weak, my hair falling out, not sleeping, being winded, hurting, losing pills (there were too many to keep track), trying to study and having little energy to do work. As a chemical engineering student, being able to retain information was important. I was sick and tired of being sick. Some Christians were absolutely unhelpful in their counsel. If I just prayed a certain way or believed enough I would be well. Zero compassion and absolutely not helpful.

I recall crying out to God for breakthrough. I understood God still healed the sick. My parents prayed for the sick often and saw miracle after miracles. My dad kept letters of those who wrote in their praise reports. I knew in my heart that God was not only a healer, but the Healer!

One day I just became fed up with pills and doctor visits. I was quite passionate about freedom! I was driving in my car leaving the doctor’s office and I cried out loudly to God, “I do not want to take these pills any longer and I won’t. You are either going to heal me or I will die!!” The loud passionate cry to God was met with no audible response. I simply said no to sickness. I never took those heart pills again. My heart is beyond healthy today. I have no issues with my heart. There was another issue that was treated easily and I was back on the road to healthy.

I am not stating anyone should do what I did. I am stating that there is something about pressing in to touch the hem of His garment. There is something about God that moves in the direction of faith. There is something so powerful about God that can take a diagnosis and rip it to shreds. He is the most powerful being in the Universe. I was adamant that sickness was not my identity nor my destiny. No matter what the doctor said, I was empowered to get better and live healthy. There was a fight in my spirit not to live in a place of pain, lack, sickness, and exhaustion.

This same power to heal is available today. I recall my business classmate who had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, they had done the initial tests and biopsies. I asked my teacher if I could pray for people after class. She agreed. Weeks later my classmate messaged me to say in the repeat biopsy they could find no cancer. They had to cancel her treatment plan.

I recall the lady who was bleeding out like the woman with the issue of blood and we prayed by texting. She messaged back the next day her bleeding had stopped.

I recall the lady born partially deaf who could not hear without an implant, who God opened her ears. She had to take her implants out.

I recall the man in his back brace prepping for surgery who Jesus took all his pain away.

I recall the lady told her baby would be severely retarded and she should abort who has a healthy baby today.

I recall the woman bound to crutches, limping, and God removed all swelling from her body and restored her knees.

I recall the young man crippled since infancy and bound to a wheelchair who got up unassisted and stood for the first time in his life.

I recall the woman with facial swelling and pain who’s face returned to it’s normal size with prayer.

I recall the knees, backs, joints, hearts, and souls mended by God.

I recall the man pronounced dead on the operating table, who laid there for minutes lifeless that Jesus rose to life.

I recall the demonized, oppressed, tormented, and harrassed finding substantial freedom. God is beyond able to take dead things and make them living things. Can these dry bones live? Not only can they live, they can become an army!

There are too many stories to place in one post. My encouragement is to believe God is bigger. It is not easy when the test results come back and it’s you who needs a miracle. It’s not easy when the person under attack is you or someone you love. It is not easy when you pray and see no immediate results. It’s not easy when you see others getting breakthrough and you still need breakthrough. It’s not easy knowing God is the Healer and still burying someone you love. I have walked those roads. I understand the tears, disappointment, the places of not understanding why God does not prevent everything bad from happening.

I have had my life threatened, people try to kill me physically or emotionally, walked through years of persecution, walked through sickness, walked through workplace bullying/harrassment, walked through all my parents battling cancer, walked through being hated without cause, walked through facing death over and over and over. I have lived through more than some 80-90 year olds and I am not even mid life yet. I have decades of life to live still. Whew! I will tell you still that God is the most powerful being in the world. He kept my mind. He walked with me through the valley of the shadow of death. He sustained me when no one was with me. God is my very best friend. God stood with me when people stood against me. God is more powerful than anyone and anything.

If you are in the fire, look for Jesus. Invite Jesus.

If you are in the valley, look for Jesus. Invite Jesus.

If you are facing death, look for Jesus. Invite Jesus.

If you are tired, sad, grief stricken, and worn out, look for Jesus. Invite Jesus.

He is the resurrection and the life. Jesus! He is the one who calms the raging seas with one word from His lips. He is the one who sends forth His word and heals the sick. He is the same God who called for Lazarus to come forth and his body, soul, and spirit had to obey the command of the Lord! Jesus! Beautiful Jesus. If He does not deliver you immediately from, He will walk with you through the trial, through the pain, through persecution, through grief, through it all! God is MIGHTY to save.

Papa for anyone reading this who needs a miracle, I ask for your powerful Kingdom to come. Let heaven come. Invade their circumstances with your goodness, love, life, healing, joy, peace, power! Reverse the diagnosis. I declare life. I bind the spirits of death, disease, trauma, infirmity, mental illness, pain, hurt, grief, dissociation, PTSD, and anything not of you God. Let there be light in every place where darkness had been. Holy Spirit wash over each one, head to toe. Be healed and whole in Jesus name.

Love in Christ,

Erin Lamb

Image Source: Pinterest

Jesus is the Solution (Weekend Devotion)

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Photo source: Pinterest

Morning Devotion: The only solution, Jesus.

My spirit has been grieved this week over our world. We have tried protests, policies, judgements, for some Facebook/Social Media rants, division, petitions, etc…yet none of these things deal with the root. They may temporaily deal with fruit, yet they do not remove the root.

The root resides deep inside the soul and spirit. Unless there is an encounter with Jesus in those places, there will continue to be fruit that does not look Jesus.

Striving and self help are not our ultimate friends. We can not will ourselves to be like Jesus nor love like Jesus. It comes straight from the mouth of Jesus, “If you abide (remain, stay connected to) in Me, you will bear much fruit (from John 15:4-5).”

Abiding in Jesus is the key to love, peace, joy, and the ability to have compassion even for those who hurt you, persecute you, or hate you.

Sometimes I have to just drop into the arms of Jesus. “Here I am, I do not know what to do. My heart needs you. I need you.” Jesus responds every single time.

God is good and loves us all. Our world needs Jesus.

  • In a world full of craziness, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of hatred, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of gross selfishness, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of identity crisis, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of deception, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of messes, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of misplaced priorities, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of dishonor/disrespect, the solution is Jesus.
  • In a world full of insecurity, the solution is Jesus.

Yeshua come… ישו באה

So my prayer today is our world encounters Jesus…truly encounters Jesus…not the Jesus painted in the image of mankind (our ideas), the real Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father.

Sometimes chaos is brought to the surface so we can seek God and heal…not leaders, politicians, etc…Jesus. We need God. Apart from God there is no agape love (perfect, sacrificial, unselfish love).

Lord, help us to surrender to your Lordship in every area of our lives. We need you! Our world needs you. Help those of us who claim you to abide in you and help others encounter you. Bring revival at the heart level that brings about transformation of cities and Nations. We need radical change on the heart level. Heal and restore us from the crazy of the world. In Jesus powerful name. Amen.

You are so deeply loved and prayed for too!

Love in Christ,

Erin Lamb

Weekend Devotion: God is Our Peace

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Weekend Devotion: Peace in the storm. Navigating through extreme challenges with God. Prayer at the end. 

How many of you have had a wilderness experience with God? How many have had a series of challenges that seemed overwhelmingly hard? I have. 

I lived in the wilderness. I had a tent there, a water pail, a tear stained pillow, and it got to the point where I would not answer the phone because it was simply bad news after bad news. If people knew my story, they would understand why God is my best friend, why being with God trumps being with them, why worship and intercession are crucial parts of my life, why intimacy with God is the highest priority, and they would understand the intensity of my current joy. 

I would love to tell you God immediately takes away every challenge, pain, trial, or Judas experience. This is false. Every warrior, including Jesus, I have studied in the Bible went through a series of tests and challenges. James, who’s real name was Jacob, tell us the following…

Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing,~James 1:2-4 (AMP). 

Before you want to slap Jacob. I want you to change vantage points. Can you take a moment to look not from earth’s point of view, but heaven’s point of view? 

Earth is a temporary place. Heaven is eternal, forever, does not change, has no pain or suffering. We may live 100 years on earth. There is no end to heaven. 

Our loved ones who leave us far too soon, we will grieve. This I have walked through. The pain some days was almost unbearable. Yet I know for those in Christ, I will see them again. And we will be together forever, without end. Oh praise Jesus. 

Our hearts that end up broken by those who are void of God love, they can heal. This too I know all too well. God reminds me over and over, “The love you receive from people is directly proportional to the love they have received from me. They can not give what they do not possess.” So you pray as Paul prayed that people would know the height, depth, width, and vast expanse of God’s love. You forgive and allow God to love you to wholeness. 

Our disappointments are nothing compared to the glory of God. God withholds nothing good. Our idea of good often varies from God’s. God sees what is coming. We see today. We see earth, the physical realm. We do not see fully what God sees. Maybe that relationship or job would have brought hell on earth. Maybe that friendship ended to protect someone. Maybe destiny was on the line. Maybe something better is coming. Maybe that person left earth because they wanted to go home to Jesus. We do not see all. Therefore, our best bet is to climb up into the arms of God. 

No matter what happens, God is so good He can bring something good from the situation for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes and plans. 

What did I learn from the wilderness I could impart to you: 

1. It is temporary. 

Life in the wilderness is not the intention of God. Our mindset, murmuring, or complaining can prolong a short stay into a long one (read about the Israelites). 

2. It is often a call to intimacy or spiritual bootcamp. 

I am not saying God causes bad things to happen to get our attention. I am saying God does not prevent every challenge. Sometimes God does not immediately deliver us from, we are delivered through. I see prime examples of this in the life of Daniel, Jesus. God did not prevent all adversity. He did bring forth Kingdom advancement through adversity. 

3. We can learn more about God and our own beliefs in the wilderness. 

It’s easy to proclaim God is good when life is skipping through rose gardens, and every person prayed for is healed, when there is breakthrough after breakthrough. Is God still good when life feels like a massive storm? 

Our faith is revealed in the wilderness. Unbelief is exposed. Our true ideas of God are put on display. If we take our thoughts, pain, and disappointments to God, we can grow! Oh my, we can grow stronger in faith. 

4. We gather testimony of overcoming! There is power in being an overcomer. 

I love the quote, “Smooth seas do not produce skilled sailors.” If I were placed on the front lines of battle, I would not want my commander to be someone afraid or unable to withstand adversity. You want someone who has overcome and keeps on overcoming. There is power in facing adversity and refusing to let the storm kill you! 

We have authority in the storm where we maintain peace. Peace, dear ones, is a weapon. Tenacity and refusal to succumb to circumstances is powerful. It’s hard to beat someone who will not move or give up or give up ground. 

5. Our character is refined in trials and challenges, if we yield to God. 

The weakest person is the one who refuses to face challenges. They do not grow. They never allow their faith to be stretched. They shrink back, retreating from the next spiritual promotion. 

Character matters. Jesus was promoted (grew in favor with God and man) by overcoming tests. What if Jesus just threw in the towel? What if He said yes to Satan just like Adam? We would all be lost. He overcame. He turns to us and says, “In the world you will have trouble. Take heart, I have already overcome the world!” He overcame demonstrating we can overcome! Jesus maintained peace in storms because He knew the heart of the Father and the intentions of God are always good. Always! Not sometimes, always. Even when we do not see it or feel it or understand, God is good. 

Papa God, I thank you that these momentary afflictions are nothing compared to your glory which will be revealed within us. Change our vantage point so we live from heaven down. Help us to abide in your truth even when what we see is vastly different from your truth. You are always good. I declare peace into every storm. I ask for the anointing of your peace to flood every heart, soul, spirit, body of each reader. Take us higher, above the storms. You are greater. We can trust you. You will work it all for a greater good, even if we do not see it until heaven. We are going from glory to glory! May our faith not fail. In Jesus powerful name.

Love, 

Erin L. Lamb

Finding JOY in Suffering

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Hebrews 12:1-3 New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Joy and suffering don’t seem to fit together. They evoke different reactions. If you ask people if they’d like to sign up for a lifetime of joy, most would say yes. If you offered suffering, many would run in the other direction.

I will be forthright with you. I hate suffering. I endure, I don’t delight in suffering. Jesus for the joy set before Him, endured the cross. I’m guessing, but I don’t believe He was laughing, singing, and having a party on the cross. The Bible tells us He was in pain.

Our sin was a heavy burden, a tremendous weight. His body was tired, worn out, beaten, bruised, and His flesh torn off His body. He heard the mockers. He saw those He came for and loved yelling, “Crucify Him!” People He walked with, taught, and served, abandoned Him in His hour of need.

The movies don’t do the crucifixion justice, we couldn’t stomach the true image of what sin cost Jesus. It cost Him not only physically, but relationally.

The only disciple present when He took His last breath was John. Where were the others?

Jesus suffered greatly.

If that were the end of the story, it’d just be sad.

That’s not the end of the story!

Jesus rose with all power in His hands. One mans sin cost the world greatly. The Son of God paid greatly to set things right. The gain far surpassed the suffering.

I’m in no way stating sickness, death, loss, tradgedy, and horrific events are to be celebrated. No way. None of the experiences I’ve had with sickness, loss, betrayal, burying loved ones, traumas, accidents….evoked celebration.

Here’s what I have learned.

1. God never abandons us during seasons of suffering. Never does He leave or forsake. He’s close to the broken hearted!

2. God’s comfort surpasses understanding.

The day we buried my mum, I felt a peace I can’t explain. I held my dad’s hand and felt concern for his heart. He’d loved the same woman for most of his life. He knew her longer than I had been alive. God gave me grace and peace. Losing a parent is awful. I lost my best friend. Yet, Jesus stepped right in to fill voids on my heart and life. I’m not a big crier, yet this season produced so many tears. Tears I know God bottled. During many days and nights of sorrow, God was there.

3. You develop empathy for others who are suffering or struggling.

4. You learn to lean on God in deeper ways.

5. God promises to bring good things out of bad situations. It’s not always immediate. Some things take years to heal (trust me I know). Yet the healing power of Jesus far exceeds our pain.

6. God gives us grace to get through and soar above the storms.

I’ve annoyed many people in life by maintaining joy in some pretty horrific situations. I’ve been called Pollyanna, fake, phony…I’ve learned that God works things for good. So, I don’t have to remain depressed or oppressed. I know from experience what it’s like to wallow in sorrow. I prefer the opposite, continual seeking of God’s face. I can draw from the well of His joy.

Jesus rose! I too can rise. So can you!

7. God will keep in perfect peace those who’s minds are stayed on Him.

It’s one of my favorite verses. I know when I feel overwhelmed, if I can get to a place of focusing on Jesus there’s a peace that comes. He gives beauty for ashes and joy for mourning.

Father, in seasons of intense suffering or pain, help us to see You. You are our comfort, peace, joy, hope, and love. You don’t delight in our suffering; I pray we see You want the best for us. I ask for abounding blessings, in Jesus mighty name.

A Greater Yes

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Last post I wrote about when God says no. It’s easy with Christianity to focus on what God says no to instead of what He says yes to. If we entered into a relationship with God only to be given a list of rules, it would not be a blessing. So, today I want to talk about the blessings that come from being with God.

Redemption in Christ

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him, Ephesians 1:3-10.

The Blessings of God

Forgiveness. God gives us forgiveness of sins. All of our sins have been paid for on the cross. Jesus paid the penalty for all sin. Why is this a blessing? It’s a blessing because the wages of sin is death. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 6:23. If we are not forgiven, we are not saved from eternal separation from God. We cannot save ourselves. We need God and His forgiveness.

God is not like us. We forgive and cannot forget. God removes the stains of sin forever. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us, Psalm 103:12. I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more, Isaiah 43:25. God gives us a clean slate. Not only does God forgive us our sins, He gives us freedom from being slaves to sin. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness, Romans 6:18.

Relationship. God is after a relationship, not our rule keeping. He invites us to have a fruitful and blessed relationship with Him. Jesus paid the price so we could have full access to God.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me, John 14:6.

In Him (Jesus) and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence, Ephesians 3:12.

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me, John 15:4.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, Hebrews 4:16.

This relationship comes with so many benefits. God is our Provider, Advocate, Helper, Healer, Wise Counsel, Wisdom, Redeemer, Friend, and so much more. We have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  Also all the things He asks us to do, He gives us His Holy Spirit to enable us to do those things. He only asks us to do things that will lead to blessing. He invites us to know Him. He is the greatest reward. We don’t have to go through a bunch of rituals to get to Him. We can go boldly to Him with confidence.

Eternal Life: God offers us life eternal in paradise. This life is just a blip on the screen of life. Eternity is so big and vast beyond measure. Our minds cannot fully fathom what awaits. Heaven awaits. There will be no sickness, death, evil, fatigue, pain, suffering, poverty, no bad news, and we will reign with Christ forever and ever. For God loved the world so much that he gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life, John 3:16.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory, 1 Corinthians 15:51-54

The only alternative is life apart from God in eternal damnation. God invites every person to bypass hell which was created for the devil and the angels who rebelled with him. He says, “Come to Me and find life.”

Spiritual gifts: God gives us His Spirit and the Holy Spirit has numerous roles in our lives. He is at work to transform us into the image of Jesus. He also is at work so that we can operate in the gifts of the Spirit and have the fruits of the Spirit in our lives.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other, Galatians 5:22-26.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

This post does not even begin to capture all the benefits of saying yes to God and His will. He withholds nothing good from us. The world has many things to offer, but saying yes to anything outside of God’s will leads to bondage and death. God is good. Everything He does is good! If He says no it’s because He has a greater yes.

Bless you friends. You’re in my thoughts and prayers, Love Erin.

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The Healing Father

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Today I wanted to write to you about one of my favorite characteristics of God, a compassionate Healer.

We tend to think of God as our Savior, Redeemer, and Judge. We sometimes forget that He is the God who not only saves, He heals and delivers.

When Jesus saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick,~ Matt 14:14.

God forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ~Psalm 103:3.

He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chatisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed,~ Isaiah 53:5.

My dad, Papa W is a chaplin. He goes all over the city praying for the sick. He keeps a log of answered prayers and those God has touched with healing from physical, emotional, or spiritual sickness. Growing up reading about healing in the Bible, watching my dad pray for the sick, hearing the stories, seeing the stories, solidified the belief for me that God still heals people. He is the Healer.

Some believe God doesn’t heal anymore. Some believe God only heals certain people or through special people. Well, if you search out the scriptures you will find that God is the Healer, and He used ordinary people to heal the sick. Jesus commissioned the disciples to go and heal the sick and pray for the oppressed. These are the same disciples who fought over who would be the greatest, who denied Him, fell asleep when He needed their prayers, and were often filled with doubt and unbelief. These were regular people called by God to do great things. If you are a follower of Jesus, you’re an ordinary person called to do extraordinary things for God.

If you don’t believe God still heals people, I can say I’m a living testimony that He does. I wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for the power of prayer. I am a child my mother never thought she’d have due to sickness. She was healed and along came me. She was also blessed to have more children.

I am the person who almost died from an allergic reaction to medication, who lived and now lives a healthy life. I remember the doctor telling me after my surgery that they didn’t know what exactly went wrong, why I couldn’t breathe on my own and my resting pulse was in the 150s. I remember being a frightened teen wondering if I’d be normal again. I went from healthy to sick in one day. I recall crying out to God for relief because taking 8-10 pills a day wasn’t how I wanted to live. Many prayers were prayed, and I’m happy to be healthy today. I don’t have a story of some special person coming to pray for me. Most of my encounters with the miraculous have come from prayers to God.

One of the most powerful encounters I had with Abba came after being trapped in a car under water. See previous posts (Me & Abba or My Hero). That accident left me fearful of confined spaces. If I were stuck in traffic, I’d have a sense of dread that I would be trapped in my car. Seems unreasonable, but once you’ve been under water in a car thinking that’s your last moment on earth, you just don’t know how your body will respond. I tried to pray fear away, to no avail. I even went to a pastor and asked for prayer. He told me to seek a counselor. That wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want to talk through my fear. I wanted delivered from my fear. I left church that Sunday and began to talk with God. I said something along these lines, “I know you can fix this problem. You died for my freedom. I don’t want to live another day afraid. God fix me.” In that moment, God did something for me that no person could. I was overwhelmed by His presence and His love. I never had another panic attack or fear of being trapped. I knew God healed. I knew He delivered. When you’re the person needing help you sometimes forget all Jesus paid for.

Dear friends, Jesus didn’t just pay to forgive you of sins. He paid for healing. He paid for freedom. He paid for deliverance. He paid so that you and I could have life abundantly. There is no sickness in God’s presence, there is no fear, or torment, or pain. Jesus paid for life, peace, and joy.

Looking back it’s good to recall what He’s done. I’m an ordinary person and since that day I’ve seen God heal other people.

In 2008 I was on a mission trip in Brazil and a lady came up for prayer with a disfigured hand. She told the interpreter that she had never been able to fully use her hand. I was hesitant to pray for her as I saw her desperation, and I wanted so desperately for her to be healed. We (another lady and I) laid hands on her and watched as God took a crooked hand and made it whole. I was more shocked than she was! She ran through the church telling others what had happened and they wanted prayer for ailments as well. I saw God’s love in an even deeper way that day. This ladies dream became a reality because someone prayed, and God heals.

My dear friends, God heals. He’s still in the healing business. I have not seen every person with physical sickness prayed for get healed of sickness, but I’ve seen enough to keep me seeking Him for the healing of the sick in the world. Jesus paid for healing. I have seen those oppressed set free, and the spiritual sick restored. It’s by God’s love, and compassion. God is the Healer. And He loves you. He uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things!

This Too Shall Pass

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This Too Shall Pass

Erin Lamb, all rights reserved.

Have you ever been through a rough storm? In the natural you wonder when the lightening will cease, when the winds will stop blowing, and when the thunder will end? In our lives we wonder, when will the person we are praying for encounter Jesus, when will each day not seem like it saps energy and joy, when will the storms pass over? Maybe you have been in your storm for a week, maybe a month, maybe a year, maybe years, maybe a decade or decades. The word God spoke to my heart today was, “This too shall pass.” No matter the storm, it will one day end.

I am encouraged by people who lived through wars and the Great Depression. They truly understood the storms of life. Or those who lived through segregation, not being able to vote, and were treated like animals instead of human beings. I admire those who did not lose faith during the Holocaust, those that survived and still believed in a loving God.  I look back to those who suffered and say, “This too shall pass.” My heart is encouraged that no matter what it looks like today, tomorrow is a new day.

Are you facing sickness, this too shall pass…

Are you facing depression, despair, or discouragement, this too shall pass…

Are you facing relational problems or even loneliness, this too shall pass…

Are you facing what seems like a steep mountain to climb, this too shall pass…

Are you wondering how you will make ends meet, this too shall pass…

The words I wrote to you, are the words God speaks to me. God will not leave you where you are. God will always make a way. I can’t always see it when the winds are crashing against the shore, but I hear my Savior crying out, “I still walk on the water. I command the winds and waves to obey. This too shall pass.”

In the storms of life, cry out to Jesus. He loves you more than you can imagine. He is the peace in the storms. He heals, He restores, He gives joy, and He is a comforter.

My dear friends, the sun will come out again. The Son is shining on you right now! He never stops shining. May the peace of God rule in your hearts. More than being able, God is willing to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask or imagine. He’s the God who loves us.