Love Begins With You
Your Testimony Is Their Victory©
By A. Lin. Thomas
Your Testimony Is Their Victory©
By A. Lin. Thomas
A little over a year ago, I received a report from a young lady, who was a support counselor to my grandchildren. She visited periodically to check their progress and give assistance. During a visit to our home, the conversation swayed away from the children to me. She wanted to know how I was doing and managing being a custodial parent to my two oldest grandchildren. I had taken them to give support to my daughter and alleviate some of the burden from her shoulders. I began to share a portion of my testimonial experience with Jesus and she sat poised, listening intently, while I praised the Lord.
After her visit was over, I escorted her to the door, bid her farewell and locked up the house. As I turned to head back to the living-room, embarrassment latched on to me. I couldn’t believe I had just commandeered the visit with my story. She wasn’t here for my sake, but for the children. “Why, did I say that?” I argued aloud to myself.
A few weeks passed between visits, due to her vacation. But upon her returning, I took a moment when we were alone, to apologize for monopolizing her time. To my surprise, she confessed, “There is no need to apologize, because your testimony blessed me so much that I returned to church, after being away for twelve years.”
I knew then that the time I took to share with her my story of God’s goodness, was a divine intervention prompted by the Holy Spirit. I had not planned to talk about my life, and I’m sure she had not planned to hear about my encounters with God’s amazing grace. However, we both were being divinely led by God.
I admit, that I love to testify about the goodness of the Lord—I can do it all day, and night! But what I really enjoy is watching someone else get blessed by my testimony. My past victory became her present victory, and that’s the way God divinely designed it. Amen!
Don’t be afraid to share your story, even if you don’t understand why. I really didn’t, but I still felt led to do it. Let God use you. Then wait and see how he did it to effect change in someone else’s life.
Prayer:
Father, please help me never to be afraid to proclaim Your glorious name! And lead my words to the praises of You. Make my every encounter with anyone be a place where love is received, joy is dispersed, and peace is divinely transferred. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen!
Victory in the Storm!©
By A. Lin. Thomas
Victory in the Storm!©
By A. Lin. Thomas
Sitting in the middle of a storm is not the most enjoyable place to be. As the rain of heartache pours and the crashes of sorrow roar, you find that you feel the most helpless that you’ve ever felt. The joy of yesterday is overshadowed by the turmoil of today’s struggles, and you brace yourself for a fight you have no idea how you are going to win. Every prayer is stronger and longer than the one before as you cry in anguish for God to deliver you from the hand of the enemy. Days pass by and still the problems of life rear their ugly heads.
“Lord, why?” you shout! But still no answer is received. You wonder in your heart if you’ve done something wrong to prompt such a painful situation. Looking intently at the issue, you realize, you did only what you thought was right. However, right didn’t seem to prevail. The storm still rages on.
In 2017-2018 my family and I were in the middle of a storm and I cried out to God asking for a word that would give me some needed guidance to maneuver through this time. He spoke softly as I laid in bed numb, “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8, NIV).
I thought to myself, I don’t see love in this at all. What I see is hurt, pain, suffering, emptiness and frustration. But when I really thought about what He said, it made me take a good look at love. The scripture says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NIV).
Considering the attributes of love, I am encouraged that love is always with me because God is love. And because He is love in me, He is also love through me and I am love through Him. So, despite the raging winds of the storm, I am locking into Love (God) and trusting Him to see my family and I through this storm. I am encouraged because Love (God) has seen us through other storms and our Savior, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, KJV).
Prayer:
Father, I just want to say Thank You! You are always there to comfort, counsel and console us when our emotions or life’s issues get us down. Please forgive us for our meltdowns, it’s the human side of us. Thank You for the spiritual part of You in us that gives us the strength to endure, anything! You are truly our Father, Savior and Comforter. In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, amen!
Victory Over Fear©
By A. Lin. Thomas
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
With all the attacks of the devil that were going on in my family over the past 3 years, I began to feel fear rearing its ugly head. It was only a few months ago, when I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “There are two versions of fear.”
What? I thought as I sat straight up! Please tell me more, I inquired of Him. Then He reminded me of the scriptures, “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:7, KJV) And Proverbs 1:7 (KJV), “The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
It brought me back to reality and reminded me that in this world there are always two kingdoms at work, the Kingdom of Heaven (Light), ruled by God, and the kingdom of darkness, ruled by the devil. Satan is trying to establish himself as God, so he is mimicking God in everything.
God is pure Love, and Satan is pure hate. Satan's kingdom is darkness, and a completely opposite version of God’s kingdom (light). Where God gives life, he gives death. Where God gives joy, he gives sorrow. Where God gives love, he gives lust. Where God gives peace, he gives worry. Where God gives faith, he gives fear.
Too often in times of trouble, we succumb to the devil’s fear when we should be fearing God, only. Don’t get me wrong, I know for a certainty, that it’s not easy to do all the time. However, if we are determined to gain victory over the situation, we must stay in faith. We can’t walk with God in faith and bow to the devil in fear.
I found this to be true during the summer of 2018. I was sitting in a chair in my living room crying after a phone call with my daughter, when I felt two hits to my right shoulder that physically shook me. It felt like someone had thrown two balls of fire at me. “What was that!” I screamed, as I jumped up.
The Holy Spirit replied, “Those are the fiery arrows of the enemy! Put your shield of faith up, now!”
Until He said that, I hadn’t realized that I wasn’t in faith. But when I thought about the fact that I was really worried about my children’s well-being, I understood that I had stepped into the realm of ungodly fear—the devil’s territory. I always thought those fiery arrows were a “figure of speech.” Nope! I felt both of them, and that’s when I knew the devil wasn’t playing around. Those arrows are definitely real!
From that day on, I declared that I will I keep my armor on and my shield of faith up! And I will do my best to stay out of ungodly fear. Just as Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) reminds us, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."
Prayer:
Father, in this world where much evil is prevalent, please help us as your children to remember that, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18, KJV). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.