Pursuing the Presence, Purpose and Power of a closer walk with Christ

Posts tagged ‘Jesus’

14 and Counting


I’ve interrupted my series to share a special occasion with those of you  who have been reading my blog.

14 years ago I had come to a point of desperation because of my numerous failed attempts to quit smoking. Not an easy feat to be free of the frequent urge to light up and puff away on cancer-sticks.

My only hope was to turn to the Lord in prayer. “God, you parted the Red Sea. You raised your Son from the dead. Where’s my miracle? If you don’t deliver me, I will be lost forever- unable to repent.”

I prayed until morning and attended the Sunday worship service. Afterwards, I asked the Pastor to pray with me.

“What do you want me to pray with you about, Virginia?”

 I’m having trouble with this, that and the other thing. And,  oh, something I’ve been struggling with for 26 years.”

When he finished praying, I felt shackles pop off my wrists.  This chain smoker was no longer chained to smoking. I was free, free, free!

God’s power kept me from any temptation to return to the old habit, furthermore, I didn’t have withdrawal!

Now that’s a miracle!

August 23rd will always be remembered as my Spiritual Birthday. It was on this date that Jesus set me free.

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Inspiration

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Blackberry Harvest Part-3


In my last post, I promised to tell you how you can have abundance. What is Abundance?

The on-line dictionary defines it as:

     1. an extremely plentiful or over-sufficient quantity or supply

The picture above is an example of abundance.  An abundance of blackberry fruit.

Similar to the blackberry abundance, is spiritual abundance.

To understand this concept better, I opened my Bible to the 15th chapter of John.

In verse 5 Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

He didn’t say a little fruit, he said “much fruit”.  That’s abundance.

Staying connected to Jesus is the key to abundance in our spiritual life.

In my next post I will expand in more detail how you can stay connected to Jesus and “bear much fruit”.

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Inspiration

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Healing Waters


Healing waters The Wadsworth Church of the Nazarene had revival this week with evangelist Rev. Norman Moore. He brought a fresh word from the Lord and the Holy Spirit brought a fresh wind. Last night’s message was about the man that would sit by the pool waiting for someone to dip him in the water for healing when it was stirred. No telling how long he was in that paralyzed condition…the parallel to this story in John 5:1-11 was to a faulty cruise control that would operate fast, then slow, then back and forth. When the money was available it was finally taken to the garage to fix it, but fixed it wasn’t. The Rev. left it in that condition…broken. For that car-it was normal. Our abnormals can become normal to us and we can’t differentiate between the two conditions. But if we’re blessed to have the healing waters stirred when Jesus passes by, anyone who comes to Him will be healed. I was first in the “pool” and may have been last at the alter. I slept 6.9 hours, the 2nd longest in years! I’m trusting Christ for a continuing record of “normal” rest. Praise be to The Great Physician!

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Inspiration

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