Athiest meets God...

There once was a middle-aged man who was a professed atheist. He often would say, "If there is a god then why hasn't it been proven by science? If I had the proof or a sign, then I'd believe he exists."
The atheist then took in a deep breath of fresh crisp air and exhaled. The first sign...

He looked around waiting, wondering what could a god show him that would cause him to believe?

God sent a strong wind that blew his toupee right off his head. Embarassed, he quickly grabbed his toupee, slapped it back on his head so that no one could see his balding head. Ignoring the sign..
Then God sent a Cardinal bird that ended his flight on the tree branch in front of him. Still the atheist was not 'seeing' the sign...
As time had lapsed God commanded the day to end as the earth rotated the precise degree so the sun could rest and the moon could light the night sky. The atheist went to bed, disappointed he didn't see any signs. He said to himself, "All this hype about a god no one can prove exist. I knew I was right, there is no god." 

The next day, not only did God command the sun to return to it's position and the moon to rest, but He gave the man the ability to rise up out of bed and start the day. The man looked in the mirror and saw God's creation staring at him and took all the credit for his handsome demeanor and brilliant mind. Another sign...

He went about his ordinary day eating, drinking, working, and tweeting. He came across a tweet that said, "Father #God, thank You for sending #Jesus to die on the cross for me! Now when You look at me, You see His blood instead of my D.N.A." He replied in disgust, "You are thankful for death? What's wrong with you?" Yet another sign ignored...

Another tweet, "God's creation reveals Him and He sees to it that every person will know about Him. The choice is yours." 

The atheist replied,"Have you ever met God? Then you can't prove he is real." 

Tweet reply, "I see Him in all creation. You have to see something to believe it's real? Have you ever seen oxygen?" He replied in disbelief, "You're deluded. There is no god!" 

Tweet reply, "God is real, Jesus died for you so you can have a relationship with Him. If you don't believe that is between you and God."

The atheist couldn't believe how foolish the Christian was. Ignoring another sign...

He got in his car and drove home from work. When he pulled into his driveway and turned off the car, he felt a pain in his chest. As he struggled to get out of his car, he dropped dead at the young age of 58...

His soul immediately left his body and was present before the Lord. His soul cried out, "Jesus forgive me for my unbelief."  Jesus answered the atheist, "You were given many signs yet you still chose to ignore Me. You not only believed lies but you helped spread those lies about Me and tried convincing My children that I am not real. My justice is true and My word is sure. It is appointed to man to die and now your sentence. You chose not to spend your earthly life with me and now your eternal life will be spent separate from Me in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 22:12-13). Depart from Me, I never knew you.(Matthew 25:41)". And the angels escorted him to his eternal destination...

I wrote this blog to say to the skeptic, stop looking for scientific proof and start seeing the signs that are before you. God is real. There is only One God and only One Way to Him and that is through faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. He is constantly pursuing you, daily giving you "signs" that you dismiss as the ordinary. Every thing in nature, every new life that is birthed, every storm, every good and perfect gift is from God. The evil you see that causes you to doubt there is a good God is from Satan. He is as real as God. Satan is the one who causes the chaos and tempts people to do evil. He has an army trying to keep you away from God and the Truth that will set you free once you believe that Jesus is Savior. It's a free gift. It's yours for the taking. Are you willing to surrender your life to Him so that you will have eternal life in Heaven with Him? It's your decision. 

None of us know what tomorrow will bring so before it's too late for you, do you believe God is real and His love for you demanded a Perfect sacrifice. John 3:16 says, "For God loved the world so much, He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." 

 

Praying for someone to read this and believe. If that's you would you let me know and I will rejoice with the angels and pray for you to learn more about our Lord!

 

 

"Hello, My Name Is..."

On September 9, 2013, I was walking through downtown Salt Lake City and the Lord spoke to my heart, "Angie, you don't have to go into distant lands to see people worshiping false gods. Just look around you".

I began praying for the Lord to lead me to a seeking soul. I looked into the eyes of many...many believing that God was a man that "climbed the god ladder" to become a god...many believing that they belonged to the true church of Christ because of a membership...many smiling faces but sad souls...I prayed, "Lord, show me who I am to talk to for your glory."

I walked and prayed for about an hour and as I was ready go back to my hotel, the Lord showed me this woman and her girls. I wanted to know her name, her story. I hesitated. I was nervous so I sat on a window sill and watched them from a distance. Praying for the right time to speak His words to her. "Lord, how do I approach her, what do I say? Give me Your words and Your wisdom." I got up and walked toward these beautiful souls, reached out my hand and said,"Hello, my name is Angie. What's your name?" Looking up she bashfully replied, "Shanni." Hi Shanni may I sit down with you?"

We often label people by their circumstances, especially those who find themselves homeless. God has made this truth known to me because I used to think or say, "Look at that homeless person." His Spirit has taught my heart,"Everyone has a name and a story! She is in fact a person and her circumstances do not define her. She is someone's daughter, friend, mother. Let me introduce you to Shanni and her story.

She is a mother of 4 (one in her womb) who is homeless on the streets of Salt Lake City. She uses public transportation to get herself and her children from place to place. Day by day she is desperate to put a roof over her babies heads. At one time they were staying in a shelter that housed men and woman but it became too dangerous. Wanting to protect her girls, she decided to leave the shelter saying the streets are safer. She sits on the street and begs for just enough money so that her and her girls; ages 2,4, 6, can to stay in a cheap motel and eat. Her oldest daughter attends a public school in a nearby town and loves it.

As I listened to Shanni's story, I prayed for God to give me His words for her hurting heart. He has taught me to truly listen to a person speaking and if I am listening His words will come at the right time. The Lord prompted me to tell her, "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) She looked at me and smiled with tears in her eyes, "Thank you." I was simply God's messenger to someone that needed to hear that God was still there. Even in the most dire circumstances, God is still with His children. Even when we don't feel Him, God is still with us. Even when we try to push Him away, God will not be moved!

I sat for about 30 minutes or so and just chatted with her and the girls. I contemplated how to take them to my hotel room so I could love on her precious girls! They were full of joy and very polite. Content with paper and crayons, they sat on a hard sidewalk waiting patiently listening to our conversation. The Lord reminded me of a book I had brought to read on the airplane. I reached in my purse, pulled it out and handed it to her. She said, "You're gonna make me cry." I snickered, "I tend to have that effect on people,"

Her oldest daughter said, "Are you going to pray for us?" I replied with gladness, "Yes I am! Do you want to pray now?" With a beautiful smile she enthusiastically said, "YES!" We all gathered in a circle, held hands and bowed our heads for prayer. The Spirit interceded when I wasn't sure what to pray. It was a moment I will not forget. After the prayer, I hugged Shanni and the girls goodbye...a sad moment for me...I imagine Christ felt the same way when He was about to ascend to heaven and leave His Disciples to the "wolves". Comfort came to my heart as God reminded me, "I will not leave them."

Lord, thank you for leading me to this beautiful family! I pray that You would provide their every need! I pray Proverbs 30:8-9 over Shanni and her girls;
 "First, help me never to tell a lie.
  Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. 
 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
    And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name."
You honor those who honor You and I pray she will continue telling her story so that she can get out of this poverty and have a place to call home! I thank You for providing her needs, our needs and the needs of others. For You are our Provider God! I pray that she will call on Your name and remember who she is in Christ Jesus. I pray all these things in Your Powerful Name, Jesus!

Hello, My name is child of the One True King!

"Just Kill Me Now..."

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship."

Have you experienced the prompting of His Holy Spirit to minister to someone you didn't know? Your first thought, "Ya know Lord, I have a better idea, you can send someone else that is gifted to minister, I would rather pray silently for them."
Has God asked you leave a familiar place and live in a new location? Your initial reaction, "But Lord, our kids are settled here. You surely don't want us to uproot them now, do You?"
Or has God asked you to forgive someone that deeply wounded the core of who you are and your response was OR still is, "I AM NOT! I'd rather go to my grave than let that person off the hook. To hear me say I forgive them, No, they don't deserve it! Just kill me now..."

When God revealed the truth of Romans 12:1 to me years ago I prayed, "Lord, I want to be a living sacrifice that is pleasing to You. I want my life to show devotion and worship to my Savior. With the help of Your Spirit living in me, I can do this!" I thought this 'living sacrifice' thing would be easy peasy. Wow, was I wrong! I found myself wanting to go back to the Old Testament times when the Children of God would sacrifice an unblemished lamb or offer a burnt offering and be done with it. That would be much easier than offering up MY life as a living sacrifice, especially when He asks me to do something I am not comfortable doing.

I just love how God uncovers the attitude of my heart! He led me to His truth in Psalm 51:16-17, David was broken over his sins and cried out, "You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to the Lord is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humble heart." King David had all the possessions in the world at his finger tips and the only thing he could offer God, was himself, humbled and broken.

In order for me to be a living sacrifice that is pleasing to God, I must be broken and humble of heart. Daily, I must admit my sins before the Lord. Daily I must cry out to my Father to remove any remnant of self and be filled with His Holy Spirit. Daily, I must put my desires aside and be reminded that He is the desire of my heart! And daily, I must be reminded that a living sacrifice has the choice to be prostrate before the One who is the Sacrifice or walk away from the alter...

Yep, at times it would appear to be much easier to walk off the alter than to offer my life as a living sacrifice. As His child, in the end, when I stand face-to-face before my Savior (Romans 14:12,"So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God) and explain to Him the times I chose to walk away...I will probably drop to my knees in remorse. To see the pain in His eyes, unbearable!  I believe He will then lift me to my feet and remind me that I am His because I chose to accept Him as my Savior while living on earth. He will then show me where my life was a living sacrifice, a sweet aroma or worship being offered up to heaven. Times I was aware of making the hard choice and even the times I had no clue.  The joy I will see on my Savior's face, is what my heart longs for!

Father God, I thank You for the truth of Your words. Help me to die to self daily, be filled with Your Holy Spirit, and truly let You have Your way in me no matter how much it hurts. May I be sensitive to Your prompting to minister to someone in need, to pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ, to forgive those who have hurt me, and to share the Good News to lost souls. Let me always remember the smile on Your sweet face far exceeds the smile on other people's faces. I want to be pleasing to You! Amen

How Beautiful The Feet of Our Savior!

As I sit here pondering the cross, thinking about what Jesus had to go through for all of mankind, I am drawn to the foot of the cross. His feet. His dirty, bloody, nail pierced feet that carried away our sins. Jesus chose the cross, He went in obedience to the Father but also because He knew that without His sacrifice, NOT ONE would be in heaven today! As in the Old Testament, we would still be going to a temple to sacrifice unblemished animals to atone for our sins. Can you imagine with the population of the world today, how much blood that would be? Just imagine Metro St. Louis, with an estimated population of over 300,000, what that would be like. Now imagine Delhi, India, with an estimated population of 16.75 Million! Are you getting a visual of how many unblemished animals, priest, towels, and water to clean up all the blood sacrificed to have a right relationship with God?

This is why I am in awe of His precious feet that carried away our sins...Jesus could have came in an instant as a grown man, went straight to the cross to die and then rose from the dead three days later. Boom, done! No secret betrayals, humiliation of carrying the cross, beatings, suffering, just a simple death that freed us all from sin. But instead; He came from Heaven, was born in a manger, learned to walk like us, talk like us, and experienced all the pains of childhood like us. As He grew older, He learned from his mother and His earthly father taught him the family business. He read and learned from the scriptures of old. I am sure He experienced teasing from other youth, and also the joys of growing up with strong family bonds.

When it was time for Jesus to begin His ministry; His feet carried Him on the dusty roads of Nazareth, near the shores of Galilee, to Bethany by way of the Jordan river which is where He stepped in to the waters to be baptized. He was then lead into the Judean wilderness for forty days. He walked throughout the regions of Galilee, Judea and Samaria. He walked up mountains to be alone with His Father. He stood on the raging sea. He taught in temples, in homes and on sea shores. People flocked to wherever His feet landed; those who believed He was the Messiah and those who would reject Him.

His feet lead Him to the outcasts; the crippled, blind, deaf, prostitutes, lepers, and demon possessed. He performed miracles in front of their eyes. He was lead to broken sinners wanting to be freed from the chains that bound them. His feet lead Him to the dead and He raised them to life. Oh, how beautiful His precious feet that were stained with dirt, tears and blood...

He entered Jerusalem where people threw palm branches at His feet. He wept for He knew that most would not believe in Him. His feet were washed with tears,dried with hair and anointed with oil. He was then lead to the Garden of Gethsemane where He cried out to His Father for His will to be done. He was betrayed with a kiss and lead away in shackles, beaten and mocked. He carried our humility and shame, our guilt and burdens. He carried our sins as He walked the long, dusty road to the place of Golgotha. 

Imagine with me the pain He endured. The blazing sun beat down upon Him and sweat began to stream down His shredded flesh! I am sure he wept, for He experienced excruciating pain. But the spiritual pain He endured was far worse than the physical pain. He was broken because He took on the stench of sin, the punishment of being separated from His Father. The Holy Son of God, who NOT ONCE sinned. The Unblemished Sacrifice became blemished, distorted for US!

How beautiful the feet of our Savior! He didn't stop and cry out, "Father take me home now. I give up!" Instead, He willingly laid down His life and cried out, "Father, forgive them they don't understand what they are doing." (Luke 23:34). And then cried out with His last breathe, "It is finished!"(John 19:30). Three days after His burial, He triumphantly walked out of the tomb ALIVE, defeating death and the power of darkness! He didn't stop there. He walked and talked with people to prove He was alive and that the grave could not keep Him, for He is GOD! Thousands witnessed His steps after the crucifixion!

As His beautiful, nail pierced feet stood on the mountain near Galilee, He spoke His final words to all of His followers before He ascended to heaven, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age."(Matthew 28:18-20).

We, His disciples, should walk as He walked. Are you following the footsteps of our Savior? Have you taken up your cross? He did say, "And whoever doesn't take up your cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me." (Matthew 10:38)

*Bible references found in HCSB throughout the four Gospels*

Am I Narrow Minded, Old-Fashioned and a Hater?

Because I fear the Lord, love Jesus, and believe the Bible to be the TRUTH; I am called narrow minded. Because I don't accept what the culture says is "acceptable", or follow what is "politically correct"; I am called old fashion. And just because I don't agree with another person's choice; I am considered a hater...

The other day someone said to me, "The bible is an outdated book of fairy-tales. It was good in 1950's but doesn't fit our day. I mean, I believe in God but He doesn't expect us to follow that 'old book'."

After a few moments, he  made a racial comment saying, "I'm SICK of blacks complaining about justice and within a few seconds he said with excitement, "Finally gay and lesbian have equal rights to get married!" WOW! Who is narrow minded?

The one calling me narrow minded, old-fashioned, and a hater because I don't agree with their lifestyle, and I believe the Word of God IS relevant for today, is the one that needs a fresh look in God's holy mirror. It breaks my heart when hate/prejudice against a person or group of people is justified for any reason.

God proved He loves ALL sinners but HATES sin when Jesus died on the cross. I may disappoint some of you reading this but I must say that a person's skin color is NOT A SIN! Jesus died for THE HUMAN RACE! Me marrying a black man and having bi-racial children, IS NOT A SIN! I will side with my God and say, "I love ALL sinners!" I am a sinner just like the rest of the human race. I chose to sin or not to sin. By the power of His Holy Spirit living in me, I can overcome sinful choices when I allow Him full control of my life by daily dying to self.

Hate/prejudice for ANY reason is SIN! Hate cannot reside in my heart because His Holy Spirit dwells in me and He is full of love. Hate and love cannot coexist! If you call yourself a Christian and have ANY hate for a person regardless of your reasoning, I plead with you to ask God for His heart. He is the only One who can change you and that change is from the inside out. 

Yes, I admit I am a Jesus freak, I'm in love with God, and I will not change my beliefs because "times have changed"! I will continue striving to please my Lord and Savior because He is worthy! God is STILL on the throne, His word is STILL true because He is TRUTH and HE doesn't change with the times!" I pray that people will stop believing the "god of lies" and turn to the God of TRUTH!

His Word is clear...
Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear."
Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever".


Dear Lord, help us to not give into the ways of this world but to always stand firm in our belief in You and Your word. If there is any hate in our hearts for a person for any reason at all, please reveal it so that we can repent and love as You love! For You are the One we will stand before in the end. In Jesus' name I pray.

Love as Jesus Loved and Serve as Jesus Served

John 13:35 (HCSB) “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Early one morning as I was praying about a situation, God spoke to my heart and had me read the story in John 13, when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. I had studied this passage over the years and one truth that stuck out to me; Jesus washed ALL of their feet! Peter, Andrew, James, His beloved John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas the one to betray Him.

The truth that Jesus served His enemy, the one to betray Him, had such an impact in my personal life that I was compelled to share it with our Deaf ministry.

I asked for twelve volunteers and designated one to be Peter and another to be Judas. As their teacher, I put on an apron, grabbed a towel, pitcher of water and bowl and got on my knees and humbly washed their feet. I looked into each of their eyes with love and after I dried their feet I signed, “I love you”.

I explained that I imagine Jesus, who is full of love and compassion, looked into the eyes of each disciple showing them what LOVE looks like. I imagine when Jesus got to Judas, He tried looking into his eyes but Judas was full of selfish pride he could not look at Jesus. Jesus continued to serve Judas with the same love he shared with the others. After this Jesus said, in John 13:13,“Do you know what I have done for you? You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.”

When the Lord first revealed this truth to me, I was extremely upset and said, “Lord, I CAN’T serve the one who has betrayed me. It’s not fair. I can’t! I won’t! The hurt is beyond anything anyone should have to experience!” Then He spoke gently to my heart and said, “Daughter, I know you can’t but if you learn from Me, I will show you how and in time you will be able to truly love and forgive this person.” I had thought I forgave but when the Lord showed me this story in John, I realized true forgiveness is seen through my actions. I surrendered all my pain, my “right” to hold a grudge and asked my ABBA to help me forgive as He forgives. That day I was set free from bitterness and love filled my heart for the one who betrayed me.

I believe the Lord wants us all to learn from this story. It’s easy to love and serve those who love us. It’s easy to forgive those who seek our forgiveness but what about the one who doesn’t. What about the one who has hurt you and won’t admit their wrong. We must ask the Lord to give us His heart to forgive, love and serve them too,and by this the world will know we are His disciples.

Lord, heal my pain, my scars that are so deep and help me to forgive as You forgive,love as You love, and serve as You serve. The world is watching. May they see You through me. In Jesus name!

I AM FREE!!!!!

John 8:31-32 "Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:36 "So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free."

Galatians 5:13 "For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love."


I AM FREE! By the precious blood of Jesus, I am set FREE! I am no longer bound by sin, no longer bound to self! I am FREE to live for God because He set me FREE the day I gave my life to Him! How can I be so confident and KNOW I have been set FREE? The Bible tells me so! Jesus speaks about the freedom He gives. Read the passages of scripture once again. If you have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ, you too are set FREE!

Unfortunately, many Christians do not understand what it means to have freedom in Christ. Some are still bound by sin because, sadly, they are believing Satan lies over Jesus' truth. One reason is because they rely on others to tell them what God's word says instead of spending time reading His word for themselves. This leads to spiritual weakness and the end result is using our freedom in Christ to satisfy the sinful nature.

What sin has you held captive? What is IT that has you bound up to the point of exhaustion and you are no longer trying to get out from under its yoke? Seriously?! I am not talking about a moment of sinning, because we all fall from time to time. I am talking about the sinful behavior that the world says is alright if you do it. There may even be sin that no one else knows about except you and your Savior. Yes, He knows the addiction that continues to control your life and so does Satan. Satan keeps screaming in your mind,"(Your name here), come on you know you want to. You're already thinking about it so you might as well do it. No one is watching. Come on just one more time and tomorrow you will try again. After all didn't Jesus die for all sins, He will understand."

The TRUTH is, Jesus DID die for ALL SINS but He didn't die for us to stay in our sins and use His precious blood as a reason to keep on sinning! He was tortured, beaten beyond recognition, and mocked by onlookers as He died on the cross. Praise be to God, after three days in the grave, HE AROSE! He defeated death to set the captives free! This freedom cost us nothing but cost Him everything! He proclaimed to the world that day, "You are worth my blood being shed!" In return for my freedom I will proclaim to the world, "I was once a slave to sin, headed to hell, and now I am FREE in Christ!" It may cost me friends, family, popularity among the masses but all I can say, "HE IS WORTHY! I AM FREE!!!!"