Meri's Musings even Ramblings for Nov. 6, 2016

This is a quote from a recent article by Chris Anderson called Finding Protections from Vulnerability to Government....which you probably can find using Google.

"Prayer for the leaders of the beast system is what gives us prophetic authority over the beast system as the Lord's forerunner. This is the Lord's answer to our natural vulnerability as sheep amidst wolves."  

God's ways are so simple and if we are to be the strong body that God has purposed then we will be participating as the Spirit directs us in His ways.  As we head into Thanksgiving I am reminded of yet another aspect of His ways.

This morning the message in the service where I attended covered the aspect of Thanksgiving as it relates to relationship. It was a fresh view to me....thanksgiving acknowledges a relationship with the person to whom thanksgiving is addressed, both when it occurs in human relationships and when it occurs in our relationship with our Father God.

On the other side of thanksgiving, there is what the speaker called "false thanksgiving."  While he didn't cover all the depths of this, he said "false thanksgiving" always comes back to me.  If we take the scripture out of context and see thanksgiving as something we give thanks "for things" I question whether it doesn't most often come back to me and "I".  Scripture on the other hand doesn't speak about thanksgiving FOR things. It speaks of thanksgiving IN everything....give thanks IN every situation...nor for. The difference is when we give thanks to God because He is God IN every situation and every circumstance, we have literally released the power of the Spirit of God into the earth in that situation from the inside out.  It is about a relationship with the Father and Christ IN me....not just what God is doing for me or what God did "for" me or even that he will "with me"  but it is about WHO HE IS....in everything.

Ok, I admit....that what I am sharing is about "coming to a measure of maturity" IN Christ.  Many of us find ourselves still in childhood, thanking God for the stuff he does for us just like we  might have thanked our parents for the stuff they did for us.  A friend told me as we were talking about this  message this morning how thankful she is for all Christ has done "for her" in her life.  And there is nothing wrong with that...but that is like we are as children thanking our parents for all they do "for us."  The test of maturity IN CHRIST as we mature in relationship is whether we turn from what pleasure we get from what our parents do for us....to thankful hearts for who are parents are and not just what they did for us, is it not?

How many of you have been tested here with parents or children who haven't moved from what they wanted from you and wanted you to do to valuing who you are or who they were as human beings?  To do this means we are past the place where we need our "desires met", where we aren't just in a relationship of "meet my needs."

Dear Brothers and Sisters:  we are entering a day when we are going to be challenged in our faith and trust in the relationship we have with Christ Jesus to an extent none of us in America have had to be tested. It reminds me of what my dear friend told me where she began to learn this. She had trusted for years that "premise of faith"..I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Year after year He saw her through issues, gave her strength to see through things, helped her do things with her cows and horses that were beyond her human strength. Always there when she called to Him.  Then the day came when it fell to her to deliver a calf....and she called upon the Lord, as she always had. And she was unable to deliver the calf alive.  She realized she was beginning to grow up in her relationship with her Father.  He was beginning to ask her  and continues to ask her to trust Him to be who He is even when He "doesn't deliver her" any more than he delivers people around the world such as the people in NIgeria where ten churches were attacked, burned and sometimes only one or two people escaped the fire, the hatchet or the rapes.  Was God not with them  because He didn't deliver them?   What of the "blood of the saints" that goes down when Babylon is destroyed in an hour of a day?

What of the young child that is captured by sex traffickers of godly parents? Or the wives of godly men that are raped or their daughters? What of our homes that will be taken over by government because we  don't say the right thing or because we speak the power of Jesus Name and our children "turn us in" not only to lose our property but to incarcerate us?  Where is God" Where is our Thanksgiving? It won't be there if we in this hour aren't able to see and thank Him for being who He is in the midst of our day today. NOT WHO HE IS TO ME.....but WHO HE IS apart from what he does or doesn't do in my life circumstances!!

What he's done in the days past  in David's life is what David used to trust that He is the God that the TORAH said he was, that the prophets talked about..the God that is NOW whether we see his hand in today's circumstances, whether we lose our jobs, our family, our lives or our physical abilities to function healthily!!

I turned 71 yesterday Nov. 5. I have aches and pains that I have never known until this past year and "conditions" that under normal circumstances apart from the Lord's intervention will continue to deteriorate.  I have a new perspective today.  I have read of so many in the persecuted church throughout the world....who are trusting God after every kind of medical issue and atrocity in their lives.  Today my aches and pains only remind me to pray for those that are suffering for their aches and pains inflicted because they name the name of Christ. Mine are because I am aging and not always lived and eaten and motivated righteously and healthily...not because I have been persecuted. Do I thank God for my hurts and pains! NO, I thank God that He is God in the midst of the circumstances of hurt and pain and aches....HE IS LORD. 

Then we move from thanksgiving for WHO GOD IS and all He is doing ....to praise of WHO HE IS. Thanksgiving opens the door of relationship that allows me to worship Him in holiness....it is the fullness of the release of HIs Spirit through my spirit which begins with thanking HIm for all He has done...not just done for me...but what HE is doing. That means that I have paid the price to seek Him and find out what He is doing. How can I really thank God in this election time if I don't know what He is doing? Sometimes  it means like David, seen what He's done in the past, and trusting HE IS GOD and He is loving, kind and gracious but HE will accomplish His purpose in the earth in this late hour!!

I don't like what I see happening in this year....and as I seek Him, I am assured that what He is doing isn't limited to this election in two days but  what He is doing will continue to be seen in the days, months and weeks ahead IF YOU HAVE EYES TO SEE AND EARS TO HEAR by His Spirit. For He has said....eye hath not see nor ear heard....BUT I WILL TELL YOU BY MY SPIRIT!!!    

That is what thanksgiving is about.....understanding and knowing from relationship with Father in the Spirit...what He is doing....and then worshiping him as we praise Him for being the I AM who is, who was and who will be all He IS.

And then it comes down to the practical side of our hearts being willing to let go of everything we care about in order to see and hear and experience what God is doing.  A good friend was grieving this morning over the loss of a good friend she's had for many years...her dog Snap.  Seeing her distress, I went over to minister to her. And what I learned is a lesson for me......she was enjoying her emotional turmoil over her dog and was being empowered by it and not in the least yet willing to "Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."  I spoke His Peace and rest into her but knew that at the end of the time I spent with her...there was no witness.

Such "coming unto Him" follows thanksgiving and praise IN  the circumstances of our lives....because it requires we yield all I have, all I know, all I love and value to Who He is, recognizing apart from Him, nothing I care about can bear fruit of righteousness....if I am not "in His Rest, at Peace who is Himself."    The funny thing is the pastor hadn't covered these scriptures yet when I ministered to her.........so I really don't know if, by the end of the service, Holy Spirit had stirred her and called her to Himself in "relationship" through thanksgiving and praise.  Of course I questioned whether I was too early and she wasn't ready yet to hear.....but as I wrote this, just now I realized...the Word went forth to her as I ministered and while it appeared when I got done she went right back to verbalizing her emotional energy from the grief..........I don't know what Holy Spirit did when the very scriptures and principles that I had spoken to her were preached from the pulpit. Do any of you question yourselves?  But as I said...I just realized what I shared with the lady in prayer ended up being preached from the pulpit...within the next 30 min.   

When I taught "gratitude" as a counselor, I often said that the words of our mouth determine the direction our lives take. When the words of my mouth are filled with thanksgiving by the Spirit of God IN every situation...we literally release the Holy Spirit to work.  Even as I posted the quote at the beginning of this article, it important that we comprehend than when we begin to pray for the leaders of this nation, even those so fully identified with what is often called the Babylonian system, the rising or forerunner of the beast system...we have released the very power and angelic forces that provide us with a measure of  security and protection by those same angelic forces.  

The Kingdom of God is about CHRIST IN US....it is more than Christ is for us...we are His. He has poured Himself into us and invites "relationship" with Him BY HIS SPIRIT....which becomes evident by simple thanksgiving and praise and prayers for those in our lives. When I thank God that  He is God over my leaders...........I release His Spirit in me to deal with the relationship that I have, that I  will have with those leaders and even which perhaps my children may have!!  In everything give thanks for this is the will of God IN Christ Jesus concerning you.

Apart from Christ in us, it is all about "us". Salvation begins with what He did for us, that we might come to know who He is and grow up in the knowledge of Who He is, as we understand that we are in relationship to the God of the Universe and participate in  seeing His will accomplished on earth..............And it begins with trusting that relationship in the spirit as we thank Him for being God in all circumstances.

May Jesus Christ be praised!!!!

Meri

                       
Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church...just in case your congregation such as where I attended to day didn't mention it!! We are a part of a Body...and much of HIs Body is suffering under great persecution in this hour and yet are growing exponentially while the "church" in America is dwindling.......

Meri Ford 516 Park Rd Winlock, WA 98596 360 520 4503
              Blogs http://meriford.blogspot.com/

These Times

I am most appreciative of the various articles folks have sent me, the personal opinions they have about the elections and the postings on Facebook. In considering the "lot of them" so to speak, and seeking to hear what the Lord is saying, what seems to be what I will call "the conclusion" is that the test of the hour has NOTHING to do with the candidates running for the highest elected office in the land. The test of the hour that we are faced with as Christians and as mature believers in Jesus Christ and sons and daughter of the King of Kings, is  first how we will treat each other with varying views of the candidates and the issues and secondly how we will be found talking about the elected officials and the candidates.  Will we be found with the Love of God in our mouths, will we be found with the Truth that Love speaks about even "our enemy", and will we be found saying of our brothers and sisters in Christ what our Father is saying about them.

Since we know judgement begins at the house of the Lord, perhaps what will happen in the USA isn't as dependent on which of the two candidates is elected but what shape the group of people called by the name of Christ are in before, during and after the election.  Have we, the determining force of any nation, been in some way responsible for the condition of the Supreme Court with our nay saying and complaining and negativity instead of our intercessions and thanksgivings for the Lord of the Universe being in charge?  Are we, as those who say we believe in Jesus Christ, allowed His Word to be what we have said about Obama and Trump and the other parties running for the highest office in the land?   That isn't to say I can't like or dislike one candidate over another...but what will I be found "saying" about that candidate?  Will it be what I have heard the Father say...how He has reacted to that candidate or is it my soul, my sense of right and wrong that I have been using as the basis of what I have been saying and doing, as if I weren't above all else seated at the right hand of the Father in Christ Jesus, if I weren't foremostly a member of the Kingdom of God and only temporarily a citizen of the kingdoms of the earth under the rule and reign of a prince, while I serve the King to whom that prince is accountable and whose plan that prince is ultimately playing out with most aspects of earthly government?

It brings us down to asking the question what is my role?   And I can't answer that for you or you for me, and to be quite frank, it kind of bothers me when I hear people telling other Christians what they think their Christian responsibility is when it comes to the election. Our responsibility is to hear from the Lord, to be a part of what He IS doing...not what I think I should be doing according to my sense of right and wrong. Righteousness is always life in Christ worked out in the natural..

I am learning there are things that are more grievous to my Father than lies and cheating...wickedness in some ways is far less a stench in my Father's nostrils than the person who like a king of old takes all the responsibility for what has happened or will happen in his kingdom and doesn't depend upon the Lord or honor the Lord in all he says and does.

I am learning that some forms of idolatry is more of a stench in the nostrils of my Father than blatant wickedness.  And I admittedly have learned some of these things as a result of some of the choices I made not understanding the Father's way of "seeing" things as I was seeing through standards of right and wrong instead of God's standard of righteousness which is always about Himself, the Lord God of the universe.  

And throughout the scriptures, He tells us that judgement comes, that we might know that HE IS THE LORD GOD!!

And it seems a bit ridiculous from a human standpoint that this appears to be the "test" for the hour for the Body of Christ....to teach US He is the Lord God!!  Our human understanding would tell us it is about government, and about the highest office in the land. Imagine what changes might have been in this nation in thelast 30 years if we who are called by his Name, really had functioned in the intimate knowledge that HE IS IN CHARGE, HIS WAY REIGNS, HIS WAY ENDURES?

There is much diversity of thought in the body of Christ...may we demonstrate as never before the reality that my fellow Christian has a Master and that fellow believer  is responsible to that Master...who is Lord of the Universe. May we be mindful and treat others, freeing them to operate by their conscience and be dealt with as we have been dealt with in due time by the hand of the Lord and the loving ways of our Good Good Father!!

We who are called by HIS NAME

After reading and participating in some of the praying and seeking the Lord's face with others in the body of Christ today, these thoughts came to my attention and I have decided to share them with you.  It is one perspective of the present situation that we in the Western world and particularly the USA are facing~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

August 9, 2016    Meri Ford

While many are praying for our nation and the political situation we find ourselves in, I am reminded that "the way the "church" goes is the way the nation goes. What we see in the West and in America is a reflection of the condition of us who call ourselves Christians, followers of Messiah Saviour, Jesus Christ. We can pray against all sorts of forces that affect this nation, but until those who are called by The Name humble themselves and pray and seek His face and TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS....until this happens nothing is going to be effective on the national scene....that isn't my opinion, that is the Eternal Word of the Lord.

If you look at the nation...it manifests all the issues local communities of "Christians" suffer under due to our own greed, idolatry, adultery,self-indulgence, etc. Power struggles and exclusivity, "paneled houses", yet the lives of the families in the building are falling to pieces, adrift with fathers that are angry at their children and children angry with their fathers....which the Word of the Lord indicates is a first line of restoration that must happen if this land isn't going to be destroyed. Abortion came into our nation because of "rot at the core" in what we call the "church" not because of a supreme court decision. It is so easy to get our focus off the root issues and put blame and focus on circumstances that have come because we, who carry the name and power of the creator of the universe haven't applied His love and power to those immediately around us and ourselves much less manifested it into our communities.

A post talking about the Western church that is under discipline was posted of Facebook........if it isn't under discipline, then it is not the church or body of the Living God, but a illegitimate son..a "false" religious body. A good father ALWAYS disciplines his children....which is an educational process to reveal to the student the healthy and godly ways of living. A son that isn't disciplined ( this isn't punishment) isn't a legitimate son and will not grow up into the character of the father. Discipline is the process of making a disciple...one trained and schooled, educated in the ways of the one he is following. It is time for us to repent of following the ways of the "prince of this world" that rules in the kingdoms of this world, rather than following the ways of He who rules the universe, who cast the "prince of this world out of heaven" and for this period of time gave him rule over the 7 mountains of authority.

It is the time for us to recognize the Spirit of Elijah...to turn our hearts to our children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. God's Holy Spirit is .working in our midst as the people of God...to conform us to His image, to build up Christ in us.. When this happens...then we will see nations changed...whether immediately or in the "long run" upon the return of Christ Jesus and the kingdoms of this earth become the kingdoms of our God and King. His Grace is sufficient to see us through all the consequences of our self-centeredness and self-indulgence, our self-focus and exclusiveness.

Haggai 1:4, 2 Chronicles 7:11-15  Malachi 4:6   Luke 1:17

Meri Ford
516 Park Rd
Winlock, WA 98596
360 520 4503
Blogs
http://meriford.blogspot.com/

In the hour when right is wrong and wrong is right

This morning I come to encourage you who are called by the name of Christ, the Lord Jesus, to be aware of a pit that lies in front of us as believers.

In this day when right seems wrong and wrong seems right, when what we have know to be true is seen as error, when governments around the world seem to be operating out of a veiled sense of truth, and voices that are  raised up against that which is covered and hidden are ridiculed, may we be aware that our stand in the Anointed One of the Father must not be on standards even of right and wrong. But our stand must be in Him, in Him who is Truth,.

In this hour it is necessary that we hear what the Lord is saying about this hour. and not lean on our sense of right and wrong even  though it is  thoroughly grounded in our knowledge of the written scriptures. Secondly, there is the necessity to be reminded that HE IS LORD and NOTHING escapes his involvement. He is in charge. Whatever is transpiring in the world today, is according to His plan not initiated at the last moment to take care of some evil person that suddenly arrived on the scene, but is a part of His plan which He knew before the foundation of the world and which may have been set in motion years, maybe even centuries ago, to rise to the surface in the manifestation that we see it today.

What does this mean? It means that we who know our Father and the greatness of His power and authority, that he is indeed Him infinite, incorruptible-mortal, invisible, the ONLY God....that all power and authority IS HIS , that we do not need to be shaken by the forces of men. The choices of righteous men may differ according to how the Father is executing HIS plan at this time.

In the affairs of a nation, our God often works from various perspectives, towards the fulfillment of His plan. Sometimes our Father is as interested in those who perhaps may  “vote against” a matter as  well as those that “vote for”. He is often interested in the “numbers” as well as theo outcome. Our God's way are uniquely calculated in and with a form of numbers/math mostly still beyond man's comprehension/understanding. I know righteous, godly men who voted in various elections very contrary to what was my “moral vote.” Did they vote the “moral vote” or did they vote as the Lord directed? I didn't vote the way the Lord spoke....I voted "morally."  OUCH!! Could it be the Lord, while fulfilling a purpose for the USA actually raised up a President that so many godly people despise? Would a “godly” person vote for such an individual....YES, if the Lord so directed according to HIS purposes. And other godly people might vote against the same man. God's ways are NOT our ways.

I am thankful I do not see the plan of God completely. My  flesh would not be able to comprehend ,much less handle in any way, the full knowledge of the plan of God for the world in this hour. I only know what His Spirit leads me. I have a choice:follow what His Spirit leads.,or follow what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil tells me. Strangely, both may have “justification” in the written word. For the written word apart from the Spirit of God has power, holds a measure of truth but will kill. And it is the nature of God to use those who will respond to this hour in our nation out of either His Spirit or out of the “other tree.” He will have His purpose. fulfilled. 

 What then is my role or the role of His Body? To allow Him to BE in us what He is and follow after what He is doing in this hour. If we don't know what He is doing, then it is necessary that we wait upon Him, seek His Face, express our deep inadequacies and inabilities to even know Truth apart from His Spirit, and direct our attention to Him and His Spirit....THEN he promises to hear us and heal the land....IN HIS TIME!!!

We have the promise....He will never leave us or forsake us. Though he may “hide his face” for a season, He still journey's with us, He is still Truth and our abiding place is in Him. And that is where we must let others be.....those who know Christ and those who fight against Him tooth and nail. He is in charge. But if my heart isn't at rest, if my heart isn't confident that He is in charge, then I will be found striving. What side of God's plan do I want to be on?

In the Hordes of Hell, that vision from years ago, it tells of Christians riding the backs of demons attacking other Christians. AND it is USED of God to accomplish a purpose...NOTHING is outside the involvement of God. We just need to seek His Face and hear His voice and stay quiet and receptive in our spirits to Him , lest we operate out of our minds/understanding and the spirit that has always worked through the human soul that is in opposition to the Love of God in Christ Jesus. YET....He will use even our failures to accomplish His plan. He will use the reprobate and ignorant “church” to bring in the end-time One World Government; he will use our “ignorance” and our “right stands on truth” apart from hearing His voice to bring forth that end time kingdom that is finally destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not want to be found praying against that which God is raising up.....no matter how ugly it might be. I don't want to be found criticizing those who don't stand for what I think is the “best choice” in this hour when I haven't heard what God is saying about His plan and purpose and whether or not those who disagree with my take on truth, might also be used of the Lord to accomplish an end that I may not really like.

What then can I do? Most of all it behooves me to stay quiet before the Lord, to stay submissive to His voice, his direction for me, sharing my heart and struggles (submitting them) to him in that relationship of intimacy that only He affords and in which He is similarly free to respond to me. That is the only place of Life and which will allow us to discern His voice either personally to us or through His creation, including our fellow man.

In a time when there is much anger...may we be found “without anger” having repented when we come before Him to worship...so we can “lift up HOLY hands” trusting, secure in Him...ONED in Him. Anger always says...it should have been, it shouldn't have been, it ought to have...it ought not to have....and when God is our focus...our anger is seen as coming from the lack of vision of what IS, what HE is doing and the knowledge that NOTHING is outside His plan and purpose for mankind...and it will culminate with the return of our Lord Jesus, the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon the earth. 

May we learn to live in accord with that Kingdom now...a Kingdom that is present, a Kingdom that does exist and is being formed and shaped even in the hearts of men...and WILL NEVER END.....but will come to fulfillment. May we be found serving that Kingdom, going forth, making disciples of the nations, baptizing them, healing, casting out demons...all in the powerful name of our God, Yaweh, Jehovah, Jesus, Yeshua....Elohim....but I call Him Lord.

When I was a child....

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.

1 Corinthians 13:11

This scripture has been very strong in my understanding the last couple weeks since I heard someone preach on it. Little by little the Lord has been bringing to my attention things that I “did as a child." Ways of thinking that resulted in behaviors, many of which didn't have the most positive results, have been brought to mind that I can  now “put away” as behavior that I engaged in as a child. I was reminded through  that message that Our Father understands us as our human fathers do, and He expects us to be children and that He doesn't expect children to act like adults and doesn't punish us for acting like children. When we disobey as children, yes, we get taught about consequences and our choices which is called being  disciplined.
Even as human fathers and mothers we focus, hopefully, on teaching our children “from their mistakes.” Mistakes and shortsightedness are two of the characteristics of children and from such failures we as parents work to help them to see what were the choices they had and why they suffered the kind of consequences they did. But sometimes children just don't have the mental equipment or emotional stability to even comprehend some of the things happening around them. And it may take time for them to grow up to really compehend some of the things that they need to learn. Until then, we as parents often are called to minimize the consequences or ramifications of behaviors in our children's lives.

So Papa, as Our Father, understands the situations we have gone through, the mind sets that we had, and our need “to grow up.” Growing up is a process...a two year old doens't become an 8 year old by an act of his will or by the teaching of a parent. A two year old may be a mature two year old...meaning he is working with the equipment he has and making decisions appropriate for his age and understanding according to how he has been taught. We don't expect him to see life the way an 8 year old or a teenager would and don't punish him when he doesn't act older than he is.

Similiarly my Father saw the things I did 30 years ago in a similar light. I don't know about some of you but I had very limited visiion 30 years ago...narrow maybe. But I did see and I did have vision and I did have divine insight and revelation. But it was that of a child in the spirit without a broad understanding of the things that were going on in the circumstances. I think of a situation in which I waited two weeks upon the Lord to write down some things a wife asked me to put on paper that we had talked about on the phone, saying she wasn't really capable to share the things I shared with her with her husband. And trusting the Lord I put together a letter with the things she and I talked about and gave it to the husband at church. It was just a full explanation of the things the wife and I had talked about regarding things going on in their lives which the wife had set really lined up with their circumstances. Little did I know or see that the husband had had a history of alcoholism and was tied in with the very spirit  with which I lived with in my home. Little did I know that that spirit would react to the Word of the Lord even though I did not in any way address alcoholism or wife abuse which I was totally unaware existed in that home. I was blind, ignorant. I was also not aware that the foul spirit would be loosed to the eldership of that congregation of which the husband was a member and it would blind the eyes of the pastor and the elders, again unaware that   the enemy had  some ground  within that group of brethren. The end result for me was 6 months of “ church discipline” because it was said that since “only God knew what was going on in their lives, Meri must be of the devil.” I had no problem with that 6 months...and sometime later ask to be relieved of that discipline and was never able to get them to lift it for reasons that it took me years to really comprehend.

Not only I was a chld...and thought like a child...but I have come to understand others were childish in their thinking and allowed demonic forces to affect them, some of which I might have actually been carrying. I carried some of the scars from that interaction for 30 years, as some of the threads that were woven into the lives of those elders that day were still affecting them 30 years later and were elders in a congregation that I was a part of. It has taken this understanding of being a child and growing up to help me to see that I have no reason to look back on the situation and feel guilty or ashamed or carry any kind of animosity towards anyone else....we were children...sometimes blind and deaf to the value of other human beings and sometimes consumed with our own importance. I think of how my own grandchildren are a bit “careless” of how they play at times and inevitablity someone gets hurt. Sometimes their mouths release things of which which have meaning they are totally unaware of.  Since they have a good mom, she will work with them to help them to see the value of their siblings and how a bit of carelessness can hurt them or what the meaning of certain words are and why they aren't acceptable talk.

In the 1980's there were none of the kind of overseers or counselors that are around in my life today to help me understand what my “siblings” had done. And I am sure many of you hearing this, realize that in many ways, many of us were “orphans.” Learning to lay aside the “orphan mentality” with which we grew up,  particularly as prophetic people, is one of the “demands” of maturity if we are to grow up into Christ as sons.

I am also seeing that many of us who were “children”   have gone through some hard battles in the growing up process. Church splits, moves, divorce, strokes,major rejections,  long term diseases, cancer, drug addiction issues in the famiily: some of these  things affected not just “them” but  have happened in my life  also. It is my hope that others that I knew as a child have grown up in Christ through the suffering they have gone through and are facing these difficult days in this nation as a more mature son and no long a child. My effort to seek reconciliation with some has not been successful. However, I am not a child anymore and I can leave others in His hand knowing I am accountable to Him and trust others into His loving Father care. I didn't realize I had some of these things to clear up until one of the parties from thirty years ago moved back into this area and everywhere I turn I run into someone associated with that situation 30 years ago.  There is therefore now no condemnation for them that are in Christ....and it is a joy to know that today I know in Whom I live and move and have my being!

Today, I am free.  Sometime I'd love to be able to talk to some of the people and maybe we can laugh about our “childishness”...and see what each of us have learned. But then that is believing that each of the parties has been dealt with in the same areas as I have been. I am not childish enough today to think that has necessarily happened in each person's life which may be why effort to address the incident 30 years ago was not met with a response even though I know it was received.

We aren't all growing in the same areas. Someone said the other day that each of us has a blind spot when it comes to “ourselves.” Prophetic people are great at seeing what is happening in other people's lives, but not always able to see what is present  in their own. I am not sure that isn't true of most people and especially those in the five fold ministries where there is such expectations to perform and be accurate as relates to others.

This  is why whether we are little children, teenagers, or mature adults, we need accountability. We desperately  need those who watch over our souls and are willing to speak into our lives when or if they see us engaging in behaviors or thinking that could bring us or others injury whether we are still children or are still being perfected in the image of Christ.

 I am thankful today that my Father also meets my needs as a husband who watches over me as a wife and mother....whether He does it through my earthly husband or in other ways. I am not left alone these days....though there may be few people that I encounter in my circumstances throughout a month who are there to speak into my life. I am thankful for Holy Spirit who is my guide, my teacher, the mentor that my life was missing for years as He reveals the Father's love to me and the Lordship of Jesus Christ over my life and the world. He's my Father and I am growing in Him as a part of the corporate body of Christ that He has ordained to come forth in these last days!

Meri Ford