Abiding Under His Wing

A Word by Angela Stolba

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. | Psalm 91:1-4

Recently, as I have been walking through a personal season of difficulty, the Lord brought Psalm 91 to my remembrance. He reminded me of one of His promises: no matter what I may be facing, or what storm I may be walking through, I am highly protected and hidden under His wings.

As I was laying on the couch, meditating and praying Psalm 91, the Lord gave me a very clear picture of a large, beautiful pair of white wings that were spread over me. Immediately I remembered verse four of Psalm 91, which says, “He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

This brought a whole new meaning to me as I reflected on this passage of scripture. Truly, the Lord’s Word is alive and powerful; it is sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).

I want to encourage you today. Whatever it may be that you are facing, as a child of God, you have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. The Lord is an ever present help in your time of need; you are hidden and protected in Him, as you make the Most High your refuge and strength.

Angie Stolba

AngieStolba.com

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This word came at the right moment in time for me as I too have been walking through a season of difficulty and fear has been beating at the doors of my mind for days. And at the onset of my season, nearly everything I read has been confirmation of God’s love and the fact that no matter what I face He is with me. Even in the deepest darkness He walks beside us to comfort and protect us. No matter if the whole world turns against us God will never leave us for even a moment! If you are in so much pain you can barley breath cry out Jesus, Jesus and He will be there with you. He doesn’t just save us but He stays with us forever loving and healing and comforting. There is fear abroad now as a means for the enemy to keep us from what God has for us in this season. One of the ministries I follow put out a questionnaire on what people wanted to learn about the most and “FEAR” was at the top of the list! They are doing a short daily video on it now that I’m running on my Facebook. So we are all in this but God is able to bring us though it if we just call on Him and believe and trust Him with our lives.

Sharing my heart and the heart of the Father from my Prison of Hope! Be blessed and trust God above all. ~ Charlene

https://www.facebook.com/Zephyrmorning

Evangelist Alveda King: Roe Dies; First Lady Prays; Evangelist Dreams

by Dr. Alveda King-Opinion via Breaking Christian News

“In the midst of all of this, I was in danger of putting my confidence in President Trump rather than God. Realizing that I was slipping towards emotional reactions, I came to my senses, turned off the television and began to pray…” -Alveda King

[African-American Blog] “What a difference a day makes.” On Saturday, February 18, my friend and sister Norma [Roe No More] McCorvey passed away. Norma was a valiant voice for justice in the anti-abortion war. We met on the battlefield years ago. I will miss her. Pray for her family and loved ones. Read a statement from her family HERE.

Just hours before news of Norma’s departure was announced, I woke up to face the day with a strange feeling that the world was shifting again. I couldn’t quite connect the awareness with current events; yet I knew in my heart there was a shift.

Dream: My Daddy’s a King!

Moments earlier, as I was waking up from a dream, I heard these words: “Your daddy’s a grouch.” Just before opening my eyes, I either thought or replied: “Nope. My Daddy’s a King!” Then I woke up to face the day.

As I lay dreaming, I had no way of knowing that as the day progressed I would hear the news of Norma’s poignant death or receive a text pointing to First Lady Melania Trump’s tender rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer” at a rally for her husband President Donald Trump at his U.S. Tour rally in Florida that same day.

Now regarding the dream; before you assume I was speaking of my biological dad Rev. A. D. King, the brother of my famous uncle Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., please realize that I was speaking of and still am praising my “Heavenly Father,” the Holy One and Only Lord God Almighty; the Creator and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ and Author of the Holy Spirit; the Loving Father of John 3:16. Oh, if we could only pray harder to model our kinship with our loving Heavenly Father.

My dream was an affirmation and confirmation of what I’d been reminding myself of all week: the sovereignty of God. However, sometimes grumpy, self-righteous and merciless judgment creeps into the hearts of God’s children. When this happens, since we say we are like our Father, it’s easy for others to think our Father is a grouch when we act this way.

I’m sharing these recent experiences with you because you just may be one who has been impacted by current events the way I’ve been lately.

Give Your Attention to What God IS Doing

For some reason midweek last week, I turned on the television set to national news before I read my Bible verses for the day. For the record, I try not to do this because I’m old enough to realize that I need daily heavenly fortification to help me face the problems of the world. But that morning, I overrode my training and daily regimen:

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” -Matthew 6:34 MSG

For those moments while standing before the television as I flipped back and forth among the programming, President Trump was being hammered by hostile media and he was defending himself. As he described how he was still draining the swamp while bringing new jobs back into America, I began to cheer him on; hoping that he would also speak of his reversing tax payers’ funding to abortion providers outside of America as well as the appointments of Dr. Ben Carson to HUD and a prolife Supreme Court Justice.

In the midst of all of this, I was in danger of putting my confidence in President Trump rather than God. Realizing that I was slipping towards emotional reactions, I came to my senses, turned off the television and began to pray:

“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.” -1 Timothy 2:1-3 MSG

Thursday had been a media day for me, filled with interview responses to my blogs and media appearances regarding race baiting, Bible baiting and sexism; and not enough time praying and meditating in the presence of God.

All of the hoopla over my recent interviews had begun to subside as I released a blog that said that race baiting, Bible baiting and sexism across the aisles must cease.

Pray to Circumvent the Demonic Structures and Infrastructures and Traps!

On Thursday I texted some fellow prayer warriors who were at various strategic prayer conferences around the country: “VERY intense warfare. Heart was getting heavy. On a call right now about exposing spiritual darkness and averting disaster.”

They responded with great insight and encouragement.

The next morning, Friday; soon after turning away from the TV screen, I joined a conference call where a report of a “Trump Resistance Movement” was discussed. We wondered if the “Resistance” really understands that their movement is fueled and funded by those who support abortion, anarchy and the like? Do they seriously want to resist restoring jobs from overseas, restoration of our inner cities, putting Americans back to work? Are they seriously resisting ending racism, reproductive genocide, sexual perversion, and global terror?

On that phone conference call I shared a word from our “prayer warriors” camp:

“Pray to circumvent the demonic structures and infrastructures and traps. Pray with guidance by Holy Spirit. Political correctness is serious witchcraft (mind control). Don’t ask God to show up. He is waiting for us to show up [to wake up, get up and get busy].”

Pray, Love, Avoid Strife and Forgive

In summary of this eventful week, I learned or was reminded of many lessons over those last few days:

1. Remember, Don’t turn on the TV before prayer and Bible reading [and coffee maybe].

2. Turn off the TV [and radio and social media and human conversation] and pray when your emotions get ahead of your spirit.

3. Pray with partners who can encourage and uplift with unbiased input.
4. Avoid all strife. Love and forgive. Seek highest ground of Agape Love as well as nonviolent conflict resolution.
5. Spend quality time with God. Pray without filtering the Bible or making God’s Word a “have it your way” buffet. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)

News Source: Breaking Christian News

 

God Has Perfect Timing

From One Blue Horse: In keeping with the theme I started I got a new prophetic word today about Christmas miracle gifts. I had another short word at the beginning of December that said: I heard the Lord say that there are a number of gifts coming to us starting in December! And now I have one of my own to share.

As some of you know I just moved less than a month ago into a new area, rural among the vineyards. The house is amazing but soon problems arose.

I found it had not been cleaned and despite the rules I got stuck with massive cleaning and I had hurt my back while moving!

Then the garage door stuck closed and it is a very old hand opening thing! I had help to open it and it seemed to work and then stuck again half way up. So the owner had a garage door man come and have a look and he declared it unfit for use or fixing so a new one was ordered which will be put in some time after the first of the year! First gift! It will be a real automatic door so instead of using all my power to pry it up rattling and scraping I will just push a button!

Then last week my air conditioner just quit suddenly with no notice. Which wouldn’t be to bad except for two things; all of Australia takes off work for 4-6 weeks around Christmas and you cannot get anything done; And a heat wave of great proportions is on the way! I was sure it would never be fixed in time; but God!

I got a call that they were coming out to have a look at the end of the week! Wow! but after 3 trips and another week they declared it totally dead and in need of a new one! That was yesterday, the 21st of December, 4 days away from Christmas with only 2 working days left!

The owner was notified and if he would give his consent an air conditioning company “might” have one that would work and “might” put it in on Saturday! Then I got a call today that they wanted to come by and see if the new air conditioner they had would fit and if so they would try to put it in before Christmas! They came, they looked and it fit and they put it in TODAY! The electrician comes tomorrow to connect the power!!

They had ordered the air conditioner for someone else who didn’t need it just yet and it was the only one in the area that would fit my house! So I got it and that is a huge miracle gift from God! So it will be working on the 23rd and the heat wave is due on the 24th! God has perfect timing: never early, never late. God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time.

And some of your gifts, like my garage door may come in the start of the new year! God loves to give good gifts all year long, all of our lives but He knows the best time so don’t fret if if doesn’t arrive on Christmas day but expect it at just the right time!

God is More Generous Than Santa Claus

From One Blue Horse – Graham Cooke is one of my favorite teachers and I found this short word very good for this time of year and the season of uncertainty that we are in all around the world. We are going to need a lot of special gifts from God to respond to people and circumstances that may be something new to us in the coming years. I used this list to make one of my own asking God for an upgrade of love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. I personalized it and made a Christmas wish card for my special man to say I want to show you more of these gifts in our life together. We can give these gifts to everyone as God upgrades our gifts.

By Graham Cooke

In this season of giving & getting gifts, have you stopped to ask God what He wants to give you for Christmas?

Sometimes He gives, when we don’t ask, and other times, He wants us to intentionally ask.

For me, I am constantly asking the Father, “Who do You want to be for me?”

This question has put me in a position to receive gift after gift of His nature. It’s been instrumental in my growth, as it has been the doorway for the fruits of the Spirit to grow in my life.

Not sure what you want to ask for this Christmas? Perhaps you could start by reading through my “wish list” below. You may even recognize it from somewhere!

LOVE is exclusive affection. Love is about cherishing and treasuring. Love is the tangible favor and goodness of God. Love demonstrates loving-kindness. It’s about having a regard for someone with benevolence attached.

JOY is about an intensity of gladness. Joy is about delight! Joy is bigger than you, and it’s bigger than all your circumstances. Joy is about rejoicing over something. Joy is who God is. Rejoicing is our response to who God is. Joy is about elation. It’s about having a sense of wonder. It’s taking absolute pleasure in someone or something. It’s being jubilant. It’s being cheerful, triumphant, celebratory.

PEACE is a state of being quiet. It’s about learning to be calm, to be restful. It’s a freedom from disturbance. It’s an ease of mind. It’s about stillness, having an inclination towards calm so that walking into a troubled situation, you bring the peace of God with you. Peace is about being undisturbed, untroubled, content, composed, free from strife.

PATIENCE is the quality of being able to persevere under pressure with a good heart and mind. It’s about endurance without complaint, not easily provoked, having a calm expectation, being even-tempered, a quiet persistence in the nature of God.

KINDNESS is about being considerate. It is about being thoughtful towards someone, being benevolent, compassionate, generous, loving, showing superior qualities of grace.

GOODNESS is about looking after someone’s welfare. It involves acting with honor, being favorable towards someone, blessing them, lifting them up, giving them a divine advantage.

FAITHFULNESS is about being consistent, constant, and unceasing. To means to be firm in your promise, loyal, reliable, unwavering, keeping your word, being trustworthy.

GENTLENESS is really about having a powerful humility, being meek. You understand that meekness is not weakness, it’s strength under control, being merciful, sweet-spirited like a dove, tenderhearted, overcoming.

SELF CONTROL is about being restrained, having a good frame of heart and mind, exercising discretion. It is believing the best about someone, being composed and disciplined and even-tempered, having a moderating influence on people and situations.

As you meditate through the fruits of the Spirit, did any in particular stand out to you? Perhaps, that’s the area of your next upgrade, your 2016 Christmas gift you’re about to receive.

Merry Christmas!

Franklin Graham: “Now Is the Time to Come Together”

Whether your preferred candidate won or lost, you may be wondering, what now?

The 2016 election is over, and Americans have chosen a new leadership team—President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. “This election has been long, it’s been tough, and it’s been divisive. It’s time to put that behind us,” Franklin Graham said on Facebook Wednesday morning.

“Now is the time to come together in unity and work together. Our nation has so many problems that need fixing. Even more important are the spiritual needs of our country. Whether we are rich or poor, without Jesus Christ we are the most desperately in need, the poorest of the poor. We cannot ignore His hand and His supreme authority.”

All year long, Franklin Graham traveled from coast to coast, urging Christians to do three things: pray, vote and engage in the political process. The polls may be closed, but the need to pray and engage is just as important now as it was before the election.

“One thing is for sure, we need to pray for our new president, vice president, and our other leaders every day—whether we agree with them or not,” Franklin Graham said. “They need God’s help and direction. It is my prayer that we will truly be ‘one nation under God.'”

As the nation prepares for new leadership, read these five reminders for some Biblical perspective.

1. Remember the Truth

“How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and His dominion endures from generation to generation.” (Daniel 4:3, ESV)

Nations and kingdoms on earth appear and disappear throughout history. But God’s Kingdom is everlasting. The news headlines may have you feeling uneasy, but remember that God was in control before the votes were in, and He’s still in control now. Before the election, Franklin Graham posted this on his Facebook page:

The Bible tells us that ultimately “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne” (Psalm 47:8). I am praying for God to give us a president, a vice president, and other leaders in this country who will acknowledge Him and look to Him for direction. But no matter who is in the Oval Office, God is still on His throne. My hope is in Him. He is what our country needs. “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you” (Psalm 39:7).

2. Start at Home

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

It’s easy to focus on the flaws and the sins of the nation’s politicians. But God’s Word instructs us to take a hard look at our own sins.

Jesus said, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3, ESV)

Throughout the Decision America Tour, Franklin Graham led hundreds of thousands of Americans in prayers of repentance for their individual sins, the sins of their families and the sins of the nation. “Because the only hope for America is if God’s people repent of their sins and call upon His Name,” Franklin said. Take a few minutes today to search your own heart and to ask God for forgiveness.

3. Pray for the New President and All Elected Leaders

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4, ESV)

“I pray that President-elect Trump will surround himself with godly men and women to help advise and counsel him as he leads the nation,” Franklin Graham posted on his Facebook page.

Have you prayed for the newly elected president and vice president today? How about your governor? Your local school board members?

Regardless of who won the elections, pray for the salvation of those who are in leadership. And pray for unity within the Church.

4. Start Looking for Godly People to Run for Office

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!” (Psalm 33:12, ESV)

“We need men and women in office who love God, who fear God,” Franklin Graham said on the last stop of the Decision America Tour, in Raleigh, North Carolina. His message wasn’t new—Billy Graham said the same thing 40 years ago.

“Here’s something my father said in 1976,” Franklin shared. “He said, ‘Get involved in the political process. I’d like to challenge every deeply-committed American who’s qualified to think about running for political office.’ He said, ‘I don’t believe that we as Christians should withdraw. We need men and women of integrity, of Christian commitment, who will run for political office.'”

If you don’t like the current political landscape, ask God to show you what you can do about it.

“Go back into your community and start looking, start praying, but look for people in your community that would be good on the school board, who would be good as a mayor,” Franklin Graham said. “But start looking for Christians—real, true, born again men and women of God, and begin to get behind them and organize for them.

“Because if you can take your community back, we’ll eventually get the capitols back and eventually get Washington back.”

5. Take a Stand

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31, ESV)

When the early Christians were persecuted and thrown in jail, they prayed for God to allow them to continue to preach with boldness. Their prayers were answered, and many people came to faith in Jesus Christ.

As Franklin Graham has declared time and again, now is not the time for Christians to be silent.

“We as Christians, we have been told we’ve got to be quiet,” Franklin said at the North Carolina State Capitol in October. “We don’t want to upset people. We don’t want to turn anybody off. We want to be loving. We want to be caring. And of course we want to be loving, and of course we want to be caring. But they accuse us of being intolerant if we speak up.

“Well, we don’t want to be accused of being intolerant. So, we want to be nice. Christlike. But I remember Christ one time taking a whip and chasing those money changers out of the temple (John 2:15). I remember Jesus one time telling those Pharisees, ‘You’re a bunch a whitewashed tombs’ (Matthew 23:27).

“There are times that we need to stand up and speak out.”