Taking that Step by Faith

Some of you may not know but Mike has gone to Reformers Unanimous in Rockford, Ill and will be gone until December 2017, this program is a wonderful biblically sound program to help with overcoming addictions in your life. Mike has had so many surgeries that he has been on pain medicine for years (Physician prescribed) and it has become such a part of his life that it has had a profound effect on him and our whole family.   Last month some things transpired and brought Mike to a spot where he knew this was a decision he needed to make for all of us. 

I know not everyone would be willing to share this information with others if they had a loved one in this situation but Mike has been very forthwith in sharing his struggles with others since making this decision to go and gave me complete liberty to share this information here. 

Once Mike made the decision to go, God has proven over and over that it was his will for him to be in the mens home and has provided the money right at the time payments are due, or when he or I have had needs arise. 

Mike was able to call tonight but only because they are doing a fundraiser and he needs my help, otherwise his phone calls are limited to once a week for 10 mins.

On August 5th they will be doing a Car Wash to raise money for RU. The way the fundraiser works is they are asking people to pledge a certain amount of money per car they wash that day, so if you pledge a Penny and they wash 1000 cars (which is about what they average), that means you will donate $10.00. If Mike gets 100.00 mailed in, He will earn a $10.00 gift card to Walmart to help him pay for his needs while he is in the home. If he collects $1000.00 he will earn a $100.00 gift card to Walmart, which would be a huge help because I sent his first care package this week and it was very expensive to ship. 

The cost to enter the Men's home is not cheap by any means but if it were not for the donations the cost would be so much more.
If you feel this is something you are willing to help with, would you please contact me either in the comments below or you can PM me. If you would like to make a donation directly to the cause instead of making a pledge, you can call them directly and make a donation in Mike Estep's name or you can send it to my PayPal  and I will send it as a donation with your name on the donations. 

God has already began to use Mike in the home, with him being completely off of all medicine now he has his Pastors heart back and was weeping on the phone tonight as he told me of all the young men in the home that are not saved. He asked me to pray the Lord would allow him to have the opportunity to lead these souls to the Lord as God has already allowed him to bond with them in the short time he has been there.

My heart is rejoicing at what God is doing and I am thrilled to see what God will do in our lives over the next few months. 

Thank you for reading this far and please take a minute and watch the video I have posted and May God bless you as you listen to the Lord leading you in whatever direction he may lead you in this matter. I understand he will not lead everyone to help but if he leads you, I pray you will be sensitive and be willing to follow. 

Please feel free to share with your friends
Thank you so much in advance.

Mike is able to receive cards and or letters to the address below with attention Mike Estep but please no money or gift cards can be sent directly to him. 

The address to make donations on his behalf for the fundraiser would be:
Reformers Unanimous.
333 E State St
Unit 201
Rockford, IL 61104
United States

ruhomes.org

RUHOMES.ORG

What Are You Displaying?

As I was praying this morning I was spending time confessing my failures, which is right to do but I began to get so discouraged because I feel as if I fail him so much but something happened while I was praying and my thoughts shifted after I had a thought that came to me, Why not think about who I AM and dwell on ME instead of talking so much about yourself!

 I began to pray differently, I began to think about who God is and his characteristics:

His forgiveness, if we confess our sin, he says he will forgive us so  I began to thank him for his forgiveness.
His mercy he shows me when I do mess up, and I thanked him for that mercy.
His love toward me when I am unlovable, and I thanked him for his love.
His grace toward me when I cannot find it within me to show grace to others.

I began to ponder who HE  is and how I can be like him so that others will want Him, because
He is so sweet and such a comfort!

You know I may not always display all of his characteristics but I really realized how important it is to try to walk in those characteristics.  The more time we spend looking at ourselves, we will lose sight of who He is and get rather discouraged.

We need to study HIM and spend some time dwelling on Him and Praising him for who He is and get our eyes off of us and embrace who He is and learn to represent who He is by allowing him to change us into his image!

When we go to work for an employer, we go out everyday representing that company, they require different standards that we show the customers.   Whether we ourselves hold those standards we take them on in the work place because of who we are representing, how much more should  we as Christians strive to display who Christ is on a daily basis because of who we are representing.

The very essence of who God is, is written in his words to help us know who HE is.  The fruit of the Spirit is an evidence of his indwelling in our lives, but unfortunately who we are is so contrary to who He is.

Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,   23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.


The Bible says in Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

 Who do people see when they watch our lives?  

The Evidence of His Spirit living in us or the Old Nature of who we are on our own?

Some things we must consider!

FRUIT OF HIS SPIRIT                           US IN OUR FLESH

Love                                                          Hate, Disdain

Joy                                                             Sadness, Depression, Misery

Peace                                                         War, Uproar, Disagreement

Longsuffering                                            Impatient

Gentleness                                                 Harshness, Hardness

Goodness                                                   Badness, Corruption

Faith                                                          Disbelief, Doubt, Uncertainty

Meekness                                                  Arrogance, Assertiveness

Temperance                                             Excessivness, Carelessness

Little Is Much When God Is In It!

I am so thankful to be in a church that holds to the standard of Godly music.
Weekly I record the music and then share it to my YouTube page and have
been blessed by the way God has chosen to use it.

Many of the people in our Church have moved here to attend  Bible college
and have, in turn,  left family back in their home town and many times their
family is sad that they miss out on hearing them use their talents for the Lord
so I have found it to be a blessing to them.

But the thing I have found to be the biggest blessing is hearing that a blessed
Saint of God, that can no longer attend church, will go to the playlist and sit
and watch the videos of their church family they have grown to love over the
years and get their blesser blessed.

It's the little things that matter most sometimes.  Don't think for a minute, the little
thing you may do for the Lord does not matter because honestly,
never in a million years would I have realized how huge a blessing these videos would
be to so many people.
Little is much when God is in it!   I just want to be used by him and if the phone
God gave me can be used for his Glory, than I want it to be used!

Go here to check out the Amazing Music we are blessed to hear each week! Take a
minute and share a song with someone that you know may need to be encouraged
today.   We just never know, how the Lord may use a song to change the direction
of someone's thinking!  

We Must Take a Stand and Protect the Generations Ahead!

If there has ever been a time when we as parents need to step up and renew the minds of our children and saturate their minds with God's word, it is now.....We are being bombarded with the conditioning of the world, and they do not stand a chance except we teach them the word of God.   We as adults need to be saturating our minds with God's word or we will begin to be conditioned too.  It is on every show, it is on FB, it is everywhere we look today.  We need to turn the TV's and computers off and get our nose in the BIBLE.  You can see it now, "Christians" being receptive to this and supporting it.  It is because we have walked away from the Word of God and not allowed it to be a part of our everyday lives.  The only way we can defeat this and keep from falling into the trap of acceptance is by knowing and being thoroughly convinced of what God says and be willing to stand in a day of what is totally not the norm!  Christianity is not about feelings it is about absolute truth.  Yes, we need to be sensitive and loving and caring and a witness with a heart of love but we also do not need to be waving the flag of the enemy!   If we were in a battle with another country, what do you think your fellow soldiers would do to you if you were in the trenches waving the flag of the enemy?  This is a battle and I guarantee there is not a soldier alive that would not agree that the soldier waving the enemies flag would  be brought up on charges of treason and rightfully so.......I am sounding the trumpet of Treason, WE AS A COUNTRY ARE BEING DEVOURED FROM THE INSIDE OUT!        1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:   It is time to take a stand for what is right and ask God to give us  much wisdom for the day we live in.

The Women at the Well, Do we see the World as Christ sees them?

BY NO MEANS DO I AGREE WITH THE LAW THAT HAS BEEN PASSED TODAY BUT............
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   As I scrolled through my facebook page all I saw was how upset people are  about this new law being passed about gay marriage and Christians ranting about this and that. 

Can we really expect righteousness out of unrighteous people?

Shall we take a moment and look at how Jesus dealt with sinners and consider our need to be Christlike?  People need the Lord!   Would you agree?  If we want to get mad,  should it not drive us to our knees before God and should we not be begging God to send us to the one that is seeking him? (they are out there, I was one of them).  If we really think this is the end, shouldn't we all be begging God to snatch them from Hell? Shouldn't we be the ones begging for their eternal soul to be saved?  Shouldn't we be weeping for them to come to Christ?  My heart is hurting for the very blindness of their eyes, people are so lost but have no clue they are, it is our duty to love them and show them hope not condemnation.  Ranting and raving never saved anyone.  

God has a formula to heal our land but it will take time and commitment on the part of Christians to do it God's way.
II Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The women at the well.
NOT ONE TIME DID JESUS CONDEMN HER OR REJECT HER.    
John 4:
verse 4 Jesus had a burden and he needed to go through Sameria. 
WE NEED TO SEE THEIR NEED. 
Verse 7 Jesus interacted with the Samaritan women when in that day, custom was the Jews did not interact with the Samaitans. 
WE MUST SPEAK TO AND LOVE SINNERS.
Verse 9.  The women was even shocked that Jesus spoke to her because she knew the normal Jewish person would never speak to her.
WE NEED TO BE LIKE JESUS AND NOT FALL INTO THE TRAP OF BEING A CONDEMNING CHRISTIAN THAT CHOOSES NOT TO SPEAK TO SINNERS. Verse 10. He shared the truth of the living water with her. 
PEOPLE DO NOT CARE WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY UNTIL THEY KNOW WE CARE.
 Verse 11. She did  not understand what he was sharing with her but it provoked her to ask questions. 
WE MUST SHARE THE TRUTH SO THEY WANT WHAT WE HAVE ALLOW THE LORD TO CREATE WITHIN THEIR HEART A DESIRE. 
Verse 13 & 14 He gave her hope and showed her a cure for her incurable thirst. 
PEOPLE ARE THIRSTY FOR SOMETHING, THAT IS WHY THEY ARE SO DRIVEN TOWARD SIN, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO CURE THE EMPTINESS IN THEIR HEARTS. 
Verse 15.  The truth drew her in and created a  desire for this living water.  GOD TELLS US TO SHARE THE TRUTH AND THAT IT WILL NOT COME BACK VOID.  HE IS THE ONE THAT DEALS WITH THE HEART.
 Verse 16.  Jesus asked her about her life.
Verse 17..she acknowledged her sin and confessed her sin on her own.
ONCE SHE TRUSTED HIM WITH INFORMATION ABOUT HER LIFE  HE WAS THEN ABLE TO SHOW HER MORE TRUTH OF HOW HE SEES HER SIN.
Verse 18 He was then able to shed more light. 
Verse 25, She confessed the Lord Jesus Christ with her mouth and acknowledged him for who he really was. 
Verse 26. He confirmed what she acknowledged was truth.
Verse 29 she went back to her friends and family and many came to Jesus to find

I pray as we go out into the highways and hedges to compel them to come in that we will be Christ-like in all that we do and say and fulfill this scripture.

Matthew 10:16-20  (KJV)
¹⁶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
¹⁷ But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
¹⁸ And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
¹⁹ But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
²⁰ For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.