Welcome!  Blessings!

I have so much to report!  As you’ve probably read already, I wish my special friends, Billy & Sarah Gaines, a wonderful 30th Wedding Anniversary!  I tell ya, God knows how to join ‘em together!!!  & God has used them tremendously to compose & minister in song to many whose lives were falling apart.  I’ll never forget how the song “The One Within” (which they co-wrote) saved my life.  Thank you so much for ministering to this one and the one within!  Thank God for you!!!  Hey—you can pay these lovebirds a visit (and yes, it’s them and no, they didn’t get married five years before they were born!):  http://www.billygaines.com

I just returned from the doctor’s office and got a very good report.  One of the greatest things is that they did a blood test & I passed (I let them).  I begged them to just punch me in the nose and get the blood that way, but no, they insisted on traumatizing me.  I took it like a big girl—they didn’t have to strap me to a gurney and sedate me!  But then again, they didn’t give me a cast or crutches or a wheel chair (so I could draw attention to myself and tell everyone who would listen of the horrible ordeal I’ve just survived)!  Needless to say, I hate needles, especially in the middle of my arm.  They could at least have given me a lollipop or a coloring book & pack of crayons!

This weekend, I attended the graduation of Peniel Ministries, where my Godparents and mentors, Dr.’s Harold & Marion Spellman have laid down their lives to be used of God to pick up others.  I’ve spent countless days and timeless moments there as they grew me up.  I still await my honorary diploma!!!  But enough about me!  Peniel is a Christian Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Center & Residential Treatment Facility where countless men & women whose lives were ravaged and all but destroyed have been recovered, reclaimed and restored.  No one can attend a graduation & hear the testimonies of the graduates and not cry.  I will be sharing much more about it later.  But until then, feel free to visit their website:  www.penielministries.org

Also, they are in our prayers.  Dr. Marion Spellman’s mom, Mother Margaret Bridges, completed her last tour of duty and marched valiantly and arrived victoriously to a hero’s welcome in glory on Sunday morning.  We will miss her, but Mom Bridges—we’ll see you soon!  Jesus is so soon to return to gather us and reunite us again.  Mom & Dad, Lori & Andre and the entire family of Peniel, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.  She is with the Lord, and He is with us.  The God of all comfort never leaves us comfortless.  Praise God.

How measureless is our heavenly Father’s love!  Though it is beyond our human comprehension, we can grasp a meager portion of its vastness through His chastening.  We can measure His love by His chastisement.  He loves us too much to leave us to ourselves.  And He’d rather risk us misunderstanding and doubting His love than to not love us fully.

The Lord’s chastisement is not out of anger but out of great anticipation.  His plan to prosper you and not harm you is steadfast throughout.  He is adamant about giving you a hope and a future.  A father that does not chastise and correct his children can never be trusted, and neither can his children!

Do not shrink back from our loving heavenly Father’s most gentle strokes of love that correct us.  Instead, ask Him to help you to measure up to the discipline that He sees fit to administer because to whom much is given, much is required.  If He gives that much love, He should receive that much more in return.  We should love better and live better.

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of His correction:  For whom the LORD loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.  Proverbs 3:11&12

What wondrous love, how can it be,

That God would care to chasten me?

He could just let me go astray,

Do as I please and lose my way.

But He constrains and loves me so—

With love that will not let me go.

Since He does this so I'll be blessed;

May I repent with gratefulness.

As many as I love I rebuke and chasten:  be zealous therefore, and repent.  Revelation 3:19

What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?  Hebrews 2:6

Be Immeasurably Encouraged!

Pam

Happy 30^th Anniversary!

Billy & Sarah Gaines!!!

Who can find a virtuous woman?  GOD CAN!!! And He found one for you Billy!  And Sarah, no other voice but God's could announce a worthy candidate with whom you could trust your heart & future with this endorsement as He introduced Billy to you: This is My beloved son in whom I am well pleased! 

You have remained true to the plan that God had for you.  You have lived to become all the blessed things that God had in His heart and mind.  God knew He could trust you and I’m glad He has introduced you at large to the world.  We are so blessed to know you!  You have made a great difference.

You deserve each other and many more years of happiness!

With much love, joy admiration & respect,

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

A little boy who was afraid of the dark called for his father to come and hold him.  His father told him that he had no need to fear because God has His arms around him.  He replied, “But I want some arms with some skin on them!”

Sometimes we put more stock in the comfort of mere humans.  Yet they cannot provide the security or calm that we need and seek.  And we should never get up in arms unless it’s up in God’s arms!

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…  Deuteronomy 33:27

What a shock absorber!

What a resting place!

What a very present help

He is for all we face!

It’s beyond description,

It is joy untold:

To have His everlasting arms

To comfort and uphold!

Be Assuredly Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings! 

Speaking of God watching—all I can say is WOW!!!  Yesterday, I left work earlier than I have ever done.  I made one quick stop and went home.  I wasn’t home more than 15 minutes when I heard this car going at an enormous speed.  I immediately began to pray the name of Jesus.  His name is so powerfully awesome & so awesomely powerful!  I heard a loud boom but it was too loud for me to distinguish exactly where it happened.  I opened my door to see what was going on and just as I did, this car went tearing down the street with a police car in back of it.  The police car was not going fast but the car was flying.  It then crashed into an approaching van with such force that it spun it around twice and knocked across the street backwards.  (It happened that the police just happened to be driving by and the person in the car (knowing he was up to no good) got scared and started to run (Proverbs 28:1 – The wicked flee when no man pursueth…).

Long story short—I should have been walking during that time but I was in my house.  That car sped through the entire route that I take when I walk.  I could have been driving and that car could have plowed right into me.  But one of the most amazing things is that I did not realize that this car hit the wall that is directly in front of my house.  Instead of colliding into my home, which it should have, the car turned and went into the fence of the house next door.  If I were walking home just a little bit later, I could have been killed or had my legs severed.  Also, my neighbor was directly behind the van that was hit.  She said that as she was driving up the street, a car cut her off.  That put her about ten seconds behind that vehicle and probably spared her life.

Does God know how to watch His children or what????  Thank You, Jesus!!!

God watches over you, He watches out for you!  He never just sits idly by and watches things happen concerning you.  The One who's for you is watching for you:  You can't go wrong watching the One who's ever watching you!

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him…  2 Chronicles 16:9

I know throughout the whole earth, that Your eyes run to and fro;

There is no place that they can’t see nor that they cannot go.

You saw that my “good-natured” heart was wicked through and through;

But saw a way to change and make it perfect towards You.

You saw all that was coming long before the world began;

And You see to it that it’s in agreement with Your plan.

You see each time approaching, long before I see it there,

And there is not one instance of which You are not aware.

You see the whole of everything, and nothing’s a surprise;

Because You are all-seeing and all-knowing and all-wise.

You see the weapons Satan builds for me specifically;

But You see to it that they fail and cause no harm to me.

You see the plots against me that man makes behind closed doors;

Then see that I'm blessed openly to let them know I’m Yours.

And knowing that Your eyes behold my life and all I do,

Just makes me fix my eyes to look continually to You.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.  Psalm 121:1&2

Be Continually Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

Are you waiting for deliverance?  Have you ever wanted out?  God wants every believer to know that deliverance is here and now.  No matter what you're going through, God has already delivered you!  Just like Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach) and Azariah (Abednego):  they were loosed, unharmed, and walking freely in the presence of the Lord in the midst of the fire.  They were delivered in the fire, and then they were brought out.

‘Surefire’ means certain to get successful or expected results.  Just as it was back then, so it should be with all Christians today:  the fire should make us sure of and all the more confident of our divine deliverance.

We must know that the fire cannot consume gold, only refine and purify it.  We shall come forth as pure gold.  & Even if we’re not sure of the fire, we can be sure of this:  our God is sure faithful!

Daniel 3:

23 – And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24 – Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?  They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

25 – He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

It seemed to go from bad to worse when they were "furnace-bound;"

But when they got thrown in the flames, was when things turned around.

It wasn't when things looked so bright, but when things looked real grim;

That it was clear to see the Lord was real and there with them.

It wasn't getting out of it that gained their liberty;

But though once bound, when in the fire, they were loosed and free.

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  John 8:36

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  2 Corinthians 3:17

Be freely encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

When a Christian seeks to pray according to God’s will and says, “Lord, teach me to pray,” God lovingly responds, “Repeat after Me.”

All that He has promised is our answer in prayer and to our prayers.  That’s why He can declare that before we call, the answer is there!  It’s a given!  One of the definitions for the word ‘given’ is immediately present in experience.  When we pray His precious promises, the answer is a given!  It’s immediately present!

You may feel as if you haven’t got a prayer because you’re at a loss for words or there’s nothing left to say or you don’t know what to say.  Just begin to recite His promises, recall them to mind and rehearse them.  Get to know them by heart, and not only by memory. 

Genesis 32:

9 – And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:

10 – I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant…

11 – Deliver me, I pray Thee…

12 – Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.  Psalm 138:2

Psalm 119:

65 – Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O LORD, according unto Thy word.

49 – Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.

Because it all looks hopeless, I should bow out but instead

I’ll bow down and I’ll pray this prayer of all the things You’ve said.

You have promised that You’re with me and will do me well;

So I can face all opposition, knowing I’ll prevail.

And though I know that I’m not worthy of one thing You do;

You’ve already proven that that doesn’t count with You.

I now see there’s never cause to give up in despair;

For if I have Your promises, I’ll always have a prayer!

And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.  Isaiah 65:24

Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.  Jeremiah 33:3

Be Purely Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome! Blessings!

I want to wish a belated happy birthday to my big sister, Renee, and register my praise to God for putting her in my life and allowing us another year to share together.  Though I’m sorry you had to spend it in the hospital, I’m grateful to God that everything’s okay & you’ll be going home today.  I thank all of you for your prayers and words of encouragement.  It helped me & my family more than you’ll ever know!

I can’t believe how strong and brave I used to think that I was.  But I thank God that He doesn’t deal with me according to my own understanding, but according to His wisdom.  There is but a step between me, and falling flat on my face, but praise be unto God, there is nothing between me and His love that catches me and keeps me from falling!

So, never forget that He's there to catch us, catch our falling tears, catch the pieces of our broken hearts, catch our sinking hopes and reminds us that He is not only our refuge and strength, but He's the Resurrection and Life!  Hallelujah!

In this Christian walk, we all are in the place where we can give someone help and where someone can give us the help that we need.  We're in this together:  walk with me; work with me; pray for me (please, of course)!

And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.  And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me:  and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.  Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant; and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure...  Genesis 33:14

Some people have not gotten to the place I am today;

But I know that for me it hasn’t always been this way.

For I remember being further back than they are now;

And I am here because of help that God’s grace did allow.

The gentle way He’s dealt with me is why I’ve thrived and grown;

And there was no way possible to make it on my own.

So since I know that they are in the same way I have been;

I’ll gladly offer help to them for I remember when.

I look and see that I’ve not made it up to where you are;

But please remember it is by God’s help you’ve moved that far.

It may be that I lag behind or that I walk too slow;

But keep in mind that you have been the way I’ve yet to go.

So please don’t be impatient nor indignant when you see

My many signs of weakness and lack of maturity.

And when you see me struggle, please don’t look and be appalled;

But think back to the times before you walked and how you crawled.

And when you see I’ve fallen, don’t walk past and leave me there;

But would you help me up by simply lifting me in prayer?

Though thankful for my progress, it’s not where I want to stay;

So will you please reach back to me and gently lead the way?

Ecclesiastes 4:

9 – Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

10 – For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

Be Unselfishly Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!!

It’s really getting late but I still wanted to spend time with you & Jesus.  Please continue to pray for my sister, Renee.  She was admitted to the hospital.  Her birthday is Sunday & that would be the greatest gift (for me) to have her up & about instead of down & out.

Someone once said, “If being born has not brought you much satisfaction, then try being born again!”  I can witness to the fact that my life was a total loss before Christ.  I lived every day wishing myself dead.  I saw no reason for my existence.  Well, Jesus said that a person who is not born again can’t see the kingdom of God.  That is so true.  I couldn’t see God’s kingdom coming into my life, nor could I see myself having a place in it.  Then I met Jesus, the Life!  I went from being a born loser to being more than a conqueror!

Jesus asks in Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  Jesus also declares in John 15:5, “for without Me ye can do nothing.”  So that means that without Christ, no matter what is gained in life, it’s a loss.  And without Jesus, no matter what is accomplished, it amounts to nothing.  So, everyone is a born loser until he or she is born again!

If you’re reading this and wanting this new & abundant life, if you want to believe it but can’t see it happening to you, then ask God to reveal Himself to you and open His Word to you.  Invite Him in your life and let His kingdom come & His blessed will be done.  You will not regret one day of living for Him, with Him and in Him. 

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world:  and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  1 John 5:4

I was a born loser with no way in life to win;

Then Jesus came into my life and I was born again.

And that changed everything for whatsoever’s born of God;

Has faith to overcome the world and beat out every odd.

And Christ, who's overcome this world, told me, "Be of good cheer."

Though I'll face tribulation, I'll have faith instead of fear.

Now I'm more than a conqueror, for I have faith to see—

My victory regardless to what fate is showing me.

Now I'm an overcomer even in my time of need;

For I have faith that all I lack, God will supply indeed.

Each bout of opposition, I'll triumphantly outlast;

Regardless to the pattern of defeat that filled my past.

For I have faith and it is in a God that cannot fail;

And through Him, I have overcome and always will prevail.

Jesus said…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  John 3:3; 5 & 7

Be Profitably Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

Thank you very much for your comments and encouragement.  There is nothing like the family of God loving on each other.  I will be responding to each of you perhaps tomorrow but until then, I pray that you’ll be exceptionally blessed when you visit here and in every way.

I have a very special prayer request.  It’s for my very special sister (well, all four of my sisters is special) but this was my first sister and only sister for about 3 ½ years (until another one came along and another one and yet another one!).  No, my mother does not have floppy ears or a cottontail.  –laughs–  Anyway, my sister Renee is going through a series of medical tests and I just want to pray that they find that God has already fixed whatever it used to be!  I believe God!  Amen.

In these days when modern technology has made people as unreasonably impatient as they could possibly be, I already know that ‘waiting’ is not going to be a popular subject.  In fact, some probably can’t wait to get through this (yet it’s too good to miss)!!!

Some think that they are waiting, when they’re actually procrastinating.  Some suppose that they are waiting when they are actually wasting time attempting methods of their own.

If we can but learn the rich reward in waiting on the Lord, we wouldn’t resist it so much.  Yet, the only way to learn is to wait!

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…  Psalm 37:7

Some say they are waiting, yet they’re working feverishly;

To hasten what God’s said in His own time shall surely be.

Some claim they are waiting but it’s really just a stall;

As they lie dormant in God’s will and do nothing at all.

But when someone is truly waiting on the Lord, they’ll be—

Active serving God and also resting patiently.

And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you:  for the LORD is a God of judgment:  blessed are all they that wait for Him.  Isaiah 30:18

Be Patiently Encouraged!

Pam

Welcome!  Blessings!

Someone may be feeling like they’re really getting a spiritual beat-down today!  Have you ever felt beat-up from the feet up…tore up from the floor up?  (Thanks Israel Houghton for the rhymes!)

Listen, don't allow that enemy of your soul to attack your faith.  Don't let the accuser accuse you of not having enough faith.  And don't let him accuse God of not being loving, compassionate and kind towards you.  Don't let your adversary devour your faith!

Don't allow the deceiver to twist the truth in an attempt to discourage you and have you filled with regret.  Don't allow him to have you look back on the many ways that God has used you mightily throughout your life and sarcastically taunt, "That's the thanks you get!"  Don't look back because you won't be able to see where you're going, where God is taking you.  Don't look back because you won't be able to see how you can go on.  Look forward; look to God!

As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  Romans 8:36&37

How could we believe that all we're worth to God, the Father,

Is some defenseless animals appointed for a slaughter?

Though there are many battlefields where we have gone and served;

The Lord's been with us and made sure that our lives were preserved.

Who is it that wants those who serve God to be upset;

And jeers sarcastically that pain's the only thanks we get?

None but the deceiver, he's the one who has the ploy;

To get all those he can so he can kill, steal and destroy.

And if that is not bad enough, he's also the accuser;

Who tries to make us think that God's the one who's the abuser.

But God's already let us know He loves us and He's for us,

And when we would succumb to doubt, He's there to reassure us—

That nothing that's in front, behind, beneath us or above;

Can counteract or separate us from His wondrous love.

Be Unconquerably Encouraged!

Pam