rooted

Years ago when we had Healing School with Pastor Tracy, God showed me Life Christian Church Naples in Matthew 13:32.

Of all the seeds, it (Life Christian Church Naples) is the smallest, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and find shelter in its branches.

I understood that in order to be this large church, we have to have a large root system in order to support the tree! I finally found this picture to illustrate what God showed me.

Holy Spirit – kicking butt

“For most of my life I’ve been in a bondage to the flesh and it truly seemed there was no way I’d ever be set free. Everything I tried failed, not even prayer worked. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that the problem was spiritually influenced, and if I did what He instructed I’d be instantly delivered. So, after following His directions, I was instantly set free, just like He said I would be!

Praise God!!! I had been under the control of 11 spirits all this time, but now I’m set free! God is so good to let us out of prison!!! This was the most supernatural thing I ever experienced, next to being baptized in the Holy Spirit. God is good, all the time:)”

tithe to glory

I have been encouraging my husband to fill himself with the Word more and not to feel overwhelmed by not having a job, shortage of food, money, etc. – that together we need to fight the good fight of faith against depression and to stay focused on God’s finished results. Little did I know that my mother prayed over her tithe for my husband to have peace and a job. A few days later my husband’s co-worker from his last job called him to see if he would be interested in part time work and my husband started back to work. He received his first paycheck just in time to pay rent!

I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to sow seed to our God by volunteering in the church office. It means so much to be able to ‘serve’ and be part of fulfilling His Great Commission and to be able to learn from our ministry staff while serving.

hands on…belly

My son came home after school looking pale and sick. He said his tummy hurt.

My daughter and I laid hands on him and prayed for his healing. He said he received it and we went about our afternoon. I had to take my daughter to dance, but my son still said his stomach hurt. I gave him a bowl and we got in the car. I figured he and I would wait in the car while my daughter went to dance class. I reminded him a few times to say “I am healed by the stripes of Jesus”. As we were waiting in the car, he got extremely tired and looked as if he were about to throw up, so we got out of the car and sat on the sidewalk together to get some fresh air. He doubled over in pain and said he had to go to the bathroom really, really bad; so I knew I had to take him inside the dance studio to the bathroom. I was concerned about what the other mothers would think because of the recent H1N1 concerns. As we walked towards the entrance, I started praying in the Spirit. My son started praying in the Spirit as well, and very shortly (like not even 10 seconds) he exclaimed, “Mom! What if I’m praying ‘Jesus heal me, Jesus heal me; I am healed by the stripes of Jesus!!!!!” Immediately he stood up and said “I am not sick anymore!” Sure enough he had not one more symptom. We hadn’t even made it to the door of the building.

Praise Jesus for His healing power!

under your breath

One day in LBI when Pastor Dino said we can pray in the spirit under our breath where no one can hear. I was like wow I can do that when I need to; before going into meetings, when someone walks into my office or whatever arises where there are people around me and when I can’t get into prayer. Now, I walk around with a smile on my face as I’m praying and I just don’t stress out about anything.

The Light Series “with us” – Pastor Sarah Marie notes & video from 12/04/11

COMMUNION

In the Old Testament God required many ceremonies from man.

EXODUS 12:7 – And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.

They put the blood on the doorposts and ate the flesh of the lamb just by believing the prophet Moses and did it they were spared from the destroyer and healed.

In Psalm 105:37, we read that there was not one feeble person among them.

And this represented as a shadow, that Jesus was to come. Jesus came and fulfilled the Old Testament by giving his body and the shedding of his blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 

THE LIGHT – GOD WITH US

John 1:6-17 – AMPLIFIED

6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it [adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it] through him.

8 He was not the Light himself, but came that he might bear witness regarding the Light.

9 There it was–the true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that illumines every person.

10 He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him].

11 He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own--His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.

12 But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name–

13 Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!]

14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.

15 John testified about Him and cried out, This was He of Whom I said, He Who comes after me has priority over me, for He was before me. [He takes rank above me, for He existed before I did. He has advanced before me, because He is my Chief.]

16 For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.

17 For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ.

This means that all we receive is dependent on God’s grace, undeserved favor, and all His blessings, NOT earned by our own merit.

I Thess 5:5 – You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

But Pastor Sarah Marie, I don’t see myself as a light.

It’s because you have not heard it enough that you are a light.

The devil sees you as light, but he will deceive your conscience by reminding you of what you have done and that God is mad at you.

If you believe that deception then your conscience will keep you defeated not God.

But Pastor Sarah Marie, I do make a mistake.

When you make a mistake, you are to say, “I really didn’t want to do that, Lord help me not to do it again”.

Then go on conscious of God still loving you and see yourself as light.

Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

When we receive revelation from God and we give it to others we become that light to the world.

Stop looking at your circumstance or the position you are in now and start looking at the position Jesus put you in.

We need to be constantly reminded how God sees us through the finished work of the cross. He did the great exchange for us.

We need to believe it, receive it, and live like you are the light.

Psalm 1:2-5 – Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

God did His part. Let’s do our part by receiving Jesus in our hearts.

12/04/11 God With Us – Pastor Sarah Marie from Life Christian Naples Campus on Vimeo.

Keeping God First – a note from Pastor Sarah Marie

marriage extension…for life

My husband and I have both been struggling about whether we should move forward in our marriage or go our separate ways. We had been going to God and asking Him and trusting Him. On Sunday, Pastor Sarah Marie had a word that there is a couple struggling in their marriage, and to go to each other and make things right.

My husband came to me at the end of service and said that was for us. We know God is restoring our marriage and family of 20 years! Praise God!

Talk about favor…

My mom wanted us to fly home for Thanksgiving to be with the family.  We looked for flights and they kept coming up too expensive.  After saying “no” to flights for $69 each way I told mom we wanted to wait to get cheaper tickets and maybe it wouldn’t work out for the holiday, but we weren’t giving up yet.  We then said “no” to flights for $29 each way and insisted if it was meant to be we would find favor and get tickets that were either $7 or $9 each way.  About a week later, I received a call from my mom that she was walking out the door but had to stop to check for flights before going…. She found flights for $8.01 each way.  So we booked and headed home for the holiday!  God is so good!!

I am blessed, highly favored, empowered to prosper and walking in divine health all the days of my life!

The Jericho Project

About a month and a half ago a friend & I started fellowshipping everyday in order to keep each other encouraged & strong in our faith. We were tired of satan attacking our relationships, finances and peace of mind. We became adamant about destroying his attempts to destroy us!

The Holy Spirit led me to Joshua, where he & his camp marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days. On the seventh day, after they completed their final march, the walls crumbled and fell & victory was in the hands of Joshua & God’s people!!

So what we were instructed to do was to put all our bills/debts in a pile on the floor. We included on a sheet of paper all other challenges we were presently facing. Relationship issues, material/financial needs, health issues, where I’ll kids will go to school and many more things. We then prayed for specific scriptures to stand on, concerning these things. We wrote those scriptures down, put all of these things together in a pile on the floor and prayed over this project. As specifically instructed, every morning we prayed as we usually do. Afterward, we joyfully praised God as we approached the pile of stuff. We then silently marched around that pile one time and went on about our day. We did this for 6 days. On the 7^th day we marched around the pile 7 times. After the 7^th time, we shouted & danced & praised God as we envisioned the walls of that pile of stuff crumbling to dust!

Satan tried to distract & discourage us, especially on the seventh day of our project. But we fought him off with praise to God and confessing the scriptures the Holy Spirit gave us. We exercised our authority in Jesus!!

The last day of our project arrived. The very next day, blessings began to manifest. Within the last 3 weeks my friend was blessed w/a new car!! I’ve received an increase in my wages!! We both have received other financial & material blessings! There’s a supernatural peace inside of us and in our households concerning the challenges we face! A debt was totally cancelled! We’ve had more favor @ work and with people in general! There’s been no strife in our relationships! Most of all, we’re more sensitive to the voice of God, we’re stronger as people and in our faith and we’ve grown more spiritually & naturally. We think, speak and act better!

We wanted to share this w/everyone that we could because it’s real and it works!! We were obedient to the instructions of the Holy Spirit. We were and remain to be diligent in seeking God first in EVERYTHING we do. We’re also vigilant with using the authority that God gave us through Jesus Christ. We have authority over ALL the power satan has, but faith without works is dead, so we did some things and God is doing the rest!!!!!!!

Thank you Pastor Sarah Marie for dedicating your life to the body of Christ. It’s because of the teachings and candor of our family @ LCC that has me, my family and others close to us, where we are today. We live in freedom & victory in a way that I never knew even existed. I love you & your children beyond explanation, because you all loved us before you even knew who we were!!!!