-A Vision of St. Patrick and a Hedge of Protection

Yesterday morning I attended the Marketplace Prayer group at our church as usual. During the worship I had a remarkable vision of the ministry of  St. Patrick:

I saw him walk into the center of a village and challenge the pagan priests to a test of power. He called for the people to bring all of their sick to him. Then he asked which ones the pagan priests had been paid to heal but didn’t. Then I saw him pray for those first, heal them and later heal all the rest.

Then I saw him walk around the entire parameter of the village praying for a hedge of protection around it casting out all demons and calling for God’s protection over the village against attacks from snakes, vermin, and devouring animals.

Following the vision I asked the Lord what meaning it might have for us. Then I immediately saw a picture of myself circling the parameter of my own property praying, and stranger still praying over my check book.

Later that morning Pastor Mike and others started talking about how we are in the midst of a battle and that we need God’s protection over our jobs, businesses, and over everything we own. The enemy wants to steal and devour. I then told the group about my vision.

Afterward another bother leaped to his feet and told us how just the day before a snake had crawled up on his porch and he had prayed for protection over his family. Then the Lord’s told him that it was a sign in the natural that he and his were really under a spiritual attack from the enemy. He related how he had circled his entire home and property praying for God’s hedge of protection.

After the prayer meeting I immediately went home and circled my entire home and property praying for a hedge of protection over my family and everything I own. Then I went on to work.           

-Victory in ‘Living’ The Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom Come”-Becoming Naturally Supernatural

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Matt 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.   -KJV

Becoming Naturally Supernatural

When we pray ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ in essence we are praying for the Kingdom and rule of God to become part of our lives. But then we ignore him so much of the time—at least I do. Even for those of us who are Pentecostals and Charismatics, the supernatural is still the exception rather than the rule particularly in America and the Western world.

It is time for us to more clearly understand that Jesus is our example. He demonstrated what it means to bring the Kingdom and rule of God into human experience. How to be naturally supernatural.

The time has come for Christians to stand up and be the ‘body of Christ’—be real representatives of Jesus just like we have always been called to be. It is time to do the works of Jesus and forget about playing church and putting all of our efforts into organizations. The church should never be an end but always a means.

Unfortunately the history of the Christian church places so much emphasis on the organizations and leaders that have come and gone. It is riddled with the dead shells of past revivals, by-gone ministries, fallen leaders, and those who don’t know that they are fallen. But Jesus Christ remains and he said that he would be with us to the very end.

It is time to go back to the future. Our future lies in doing the works of Jesus in the 21th century just like the first all over again.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Jesus had come in our century rather than the first and to America rather than Judea. Who would be his disciples?

I am fairly well convinced that the main-line churches would probably be like the Sadducees of old and many Evangelicals would act in similar ways to the Pharisees. Also, the secularists would probably be like the Romans and their puppet rulers who sought after riches and political power.

What if a revival came to America and the Western world that looked very much like the works and ministry of Jesus? What would the response be? How would the religious leaders in America respond? How would the secularists?

I believe that when revival does come millions of regular folks will be affected and they will experience a major change in world view. The supernatural will no longer be the exception but a natural expectation and result. Bringing the Kingdom into every day life in the 21th century would change it all.

If and when the works and ministry of Jesus become the norm among the faithful Christians in America there will be a major paradigm shift and the supernatural works of Jesus will become natural for the participants. Then we’ll end up with a new ‘Kingdom culture’ to rival and parallel the secular culture that is now dominating America and the Western world. 

-Victory in ‘Living’ The Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom Come”

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Matt 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.   -KJV

What is the Kingdom?

For years I have prayed- “Thy Kingdom come” with only a vague idea about what I was praying for. Usually I had in mind the end of history and the Second Coming of Jesus when he is going to come back and set up His Kingdom and rule the World.

I had the perspective that right now the Kingdom of God was “not of this world” but in Heaven. Other times I viewed the Kingdom as merely another word for the church.

However when you look at the original Greek word used here for ‘Kingdom’ it seems to offer so much more that could apply to this life. The Greek word is: ‘Basileia’. It doesn’t necessarily refer to a geographical location like a country, but means: ‘rule’. So wherever God rules there is his Kingdom. So when we pray for his Kingdom to come we are really praying for an extension of his rule and authority.

Here’s the actual Greek word order from the prayer:

“Let it come- the- kingdom (or rule)- of thee”

The Kingdom in the Teaching and Ministry of Jesus

It is in the teaching and actions of Jesus that the Kingdom is more clearly identified for us. Wherever Jesus went he proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was near:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” –Matt 4:17clip_image002

In fact Matt 4:23-24clip_image002[1] tells us that where ever Jesus went he preached about the good news of the Kingdom and healed the sick. But what did he really mean when he said that the Kingdom was “near” and what did those listening to him think he was saying?

The Old Testament prophets talked about the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom that he would establish and what it would be like. It was going to be an incredible life under the Messiah—no sickness, no more slavery or servitude, plenty for everyone and perfect justice. Totally different than the Roman Empire and the puppet kings like Herod they were suffering under.

When Jesus preached about the Kingdom and healed the sick the people received it in the context of a hope for the coming Messianic Kingdom of justice. In fact when the disciple of John the Baptist showed up asking if he was really the Messiah, he indicated that the Kingdom was being demonstrated in his ministry:

“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” –Matt 11:4-6clip_image002[2]

Then when he returned to Nazareth he was asked to read from the scriptures in the synagogue:

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” – Luke 4:17-21clip_image002[3]

This was the context that the disciples and regular folks understood when they heard Jesus talking about the Kingdom. The Messianic Kingdom of freedom and justice, healing and no sickness, plus abundance for all.

Today when we read the words of Jesus about the Kingdom we think about the life to come in Heaven or about the millennium at the end of time itself. For us the context is mostly future and we are asking for the ideal future to come.

The Kingdom -‘Basileia’

However the prayer is not future, we are asking in the present for his kingdom to come now—Thy Kingdom come—let your Kingdom come right now. Let healing come, let oppression cease, let freedom ring, let abundance come to the poor, let God’s justice reign.

Again, the original Greek word for Kingdom – ‘Basileia’ actually means ‘rule’. So wherever God rules there is his Kingdom. So when we pray for his Kingdom to come we are really praying for an extension of his rule and authority.

I believe that it is our calling as the representatives of the Messiah—his body-to extend the ‘rule’ of God in this world. To bring healing and justice, and freedom and hope for the poor and oppressed. We are to be agents of the Kingdom in this world and the world to come.        

-Victory in ‘Living’ The Lord’s Prayer: “Hallowed be Thy Name”

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Matt 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.   -KJV

The “Hallowed” part is something I glossed over quickly for years without understanding that it was really a declaration of worship. I knew it meant that God was ‘holy’ but never gave it much thought. I was always in a hurry to get to the “give us” part.

The actual words in the Greek text are in this order:

“Let it be hallowed- the- name- of thee”

It really is a statement of praise and worship of God. What it literally means is- ‘God let your name be known and consecrated and set apart as holy or sacred.’

In our culture today nothing is considered sacred or holy anymore and the name of God is commonly used in the marketplace and in many homes as an expression of surprise or worse yet in the form of a curse. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are some Muslim countries today where if the name of ‘Allah’ is defamed in any way heads will literally roll.

To put it all in perspective, Jesus taught that the greatest commandment of all is to Love God. Obviously if we truly love God we will treat his name with respect:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” –Matt.22:37-38clip_image002[1]

Wow! This means that we should be thinking about God and that he needs to be on our minds and actually apart of everything we do daily.

For most of my life I have honored and worshipped God on Sundays and have prayed to him every day at least when I remember too. Also I have made a point of honoring his name and have not used it in ‘vain’. But have I really honored him daily by including him in my daily life? Not always, particularly at work where I have usually forgotten all about him most of the day even though I have always tried to be a ‘good’ Christian.

Obviously a change is way over due.

I believe that we are entering a time when ‘business as usual’ is no longer going to be an option for those who bear the name of Christ. In the dominant Western culture, God has been removed from the schools and the marketplaces, and many of our courts are removing him from the public square entirely. Now it is even a struggle just to keep him in our busy homes.

Nevertheless, I believe that we are called to honor God daily. In fact we literally need too for our own good. If God our Father is in our daily life then it becomes easier to receive his blessings, reject the temptations of the enemy, and receive of the happy abundant life that God intends for us to have. Sure we are still going to have ‘bad’ days, get sick, and experience a tragedy or two but for once we are not going to be alone.

Therefore, we actually need to think about God and His name needs to be set apart and consecrated or ‘hallowed’ in our daily living—if we truly love him.

But how and where?

Where? In our homes, at our jobs and work, on the freeways driving, and at the malls and shopping centers. Everywhere that life carries us we need to honor God and serve him in all that we do.

How? Jesus is really our example and he teaches us how to Love, worship, and honor God every day. More on that later, but we need to learn how to live a ‘red letter’ life and allow the very words of the Son of God to enliven us and inspire us to include His Father –Our Father–in our daily journey.        

-Victory in ‘Living’ The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father”

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Matt 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.   -KJV

Last Friday night it was raining as I was rushing to be on time for a Marketplace Conference at church. Still half a mile away I impatiently waited for the light to change and then took off for the next. Before I got half a block ahead to the next light, The Lord had downloaded to me a better understanding of the Lord’s Prayer. After that I was no longer in a hurry except to get as much of the new insights down as possible.

In essence the Lord told me: “you have been praying the Lord’s Prayer all of your life…now it’s time to live it!” Within the prayer itself is a summary for victorious ‘Kingdom living’. Funny thing is that none of it is really new and its been there all the time and a lot of this stuff you probably already know.

Anyway I going to put up an outline of some of these thoughts in a series of posts. 

“Our Father…which art in Heaven”

Jesus didn’t say “my” father or “the” father, though most of the time we look upon God as being ‘The’ Almighty God and Father of creation. But Jesus specifically said “our” Father and included his disciples as part of his family—the family of God.

This had to sound strange to folks raised upon the Old Testament scriptures and at a time when Priests didn’t dare enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple without repenting and fasting first and even then without having a rope tied around their ankle so that they could be pulled out in case the Lord God zapped them. In fact it sounded rather heretical to the scribes and Pharisees.

We hear the words ‘our Father’ so much in church that it is way too familiar. Sometimes the real implications of those words do not properly sink in. In Jesus Christ every believer becomes part of the family of God. His Father is now our Father and we are supposed to be brothers and sisters in Christ. Yup, and sometimes we fight just like a family too!

But think about it—the Creator of the universe is our Father. Remember Jesus said that he doesn’t give rocks to his children when they need bread. He really does take care of his creation, the birds, the flowers, and even more so he only wants the best for his children.

In our day the title ‘father’ is so messed up for many of us because of the way we were treated or ignored by our natural parents. Also some of us were orphans and never did really experience a father in our lives while others of us wish that we hadn’t.

Because of our past, many of us have trust issues that make it difficult to receive the Love of Our Father in Heaven. therefore intimacy with God doesn’t come all that easy and we end up putting Him in a box that will only be unwrapped after our death.

Yet when Jesus died on the cross the curtain separating the people from their God in Holy of Holies in the temple was slit in two for all time. In Jesus intimacy becomes possible and the almighty creator touches us and dwells within us with his own Spirit and we become members of his family and the new temple of God.

It is time for the church to get this down—all of the church. I believe that the ‘Fatherhood of God’ and greater intimacy will be part of the Kingdom message of a ‘New Awakening’ coming soon near you. All of creation awaits for the church to understand more fully what it means to be and act like the children of God and cry out—Abba Father! (Romans 8:12-19clip_image002[1]).  

-A Word for 2010 From ACPE: ‘Breaking Debt Cycles’

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Here’s another section of the ACPE ‘Word for 2010’ that clearly spoke to me in particular. This is something that the Lord is stressing right now in my life—‘get out of debt’:

Breaking Debt Cycles

Key Scripture passage:

“The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

We felt that the Lord had given us an “eye of the storm” time period to get out of debt. In fact, as we discussed the many prophetic warnings about a second economic shaking, we felt that the Lord in His mercy had extended a period of grace to His people because many were not ready for another shaking.

Supernatural ability to get out of debt is being released. If you will start paying your debts, even in very small amounts, God will supernaturally get behind your efforts and help you get out of debt.

Response: Actually this word is good in any year. But in the midst of recession when so many Christians are having a hard time even paying our current bills much less get out of debt it is particularly poignant. Also it reminds us of the importance to rely on God for supernatural help in getting it done.

Fact is, God can give you new ideas and download information and wisdom to you that can help you get out of debt and even have extra $money to invest in ministries.  This is the essence of a ‘Kingdom economy’ that is not ‘business as usual’ but relies upon God in a major way.

I have heard many prophetical folks saying that right now is just the ‘calm before the storm’ or like in this document ‘the eye of the storm’—a time for us to rest and get prepared for another coming maybe even greater recession or even depression.

I believe that the severity of the next economic dip may depend upon how his church responds to his offer of bringing major revival. A new awakening is coming whether the Lord just needs to awaken his church with a ‘sleeping beauty kiss’ or whether a swift kick will be necessary. He still has major purposes in mind for America and he is not done with us yet.

The American church (and Western Church for that matter) has become so enmeshed in the dominant secular/materialistic culture that most Christians in this country are far too disconnected from the supernatural Christian Biblical view that would bring His Kingdom into the midst of their daily lives.

In order to rise up and be the Church and people that we are called to be it will be necessary for the Church to cast off the bonds of the dominant culture and allow the ‘rule of God’ to in flood our daily lives.

Hopefully we will not have to become desperate before we allow the Kingdom to come to our homes, jobs, businesses, marketplaces, and churches.            

-Overcoming the Strategy of our Enemy

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In his devotional for today- “The Enemy’s Secret Strategy”(Link NLA)-John Bevere says the following about the goal of our enemy Satan to marginalize Christians:

Hollywood, religious people, and our culture have painted a warped and limited image of God’s people. What is the distortion? We have an enemy named Satan, who is called “the ruler of this world,” “the prince of the power of the air,” and “the god of this world.” He influences the world’s systems and sways the minds of those who do not belong to God. He has fallen angels and demons to help carry out his grand strategy.

The sad fact is that too often the church has limited Satan’s chief strategy to certain behaviors, like trying to get people to drink alcohol or watch sex scenes in movies. He’s much more crafty than that and uses a wide variety of snares and diversions. We’ve missed his primary purpose. Because what he fears most is Christians discovering who God’s made them to be—extraordinary people with abilities to carry out remarkable and unusual feats. This should be the image society has of Christians.

Response: You can see this everywhere in America today and particularly in Europe and the UK. Christianity is being marginalized and most of the time falsely identified with a couple of ‘far right’ issues now considered out of the mainstream.

However, the reality is that when accurate polls are taken Christians are still the real mainstream in this country but a great delusion is reining over this land and the Western world. Christians have allowed the enemy and in some ways have helped him to redefine and marginalize the church.

The media now portrays Christians as mean, angry, and judgmental folk who care more about their antiquated beliefs than about people. 

We are living in times where what is ‘good’ is now sometimes considered bad in this society and what is scripturally ‘bad’ is now the goals of many. Nevertheless we should let our lights shine in the darkness and do everything we can to make life better for ourselves and those we come in contact everyday.

Christians need to accurately portray the gospel and the Kingdom in our everyday lives blessing everyone who comes in contact with us—this puts the lie to how our enemy defines Christians and breaks through the deception and prevailing delusion.

May we let the Holy Spirit enliven us and let us become the example and face of Christ in a fallen and deluded world.        

-Kingdom Economy: Not business as Usual

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(Image by Lel4nd (busy) via Flickr)

Historically in America we are in a transition time politically and economically when ‘business as usual’ no longer works. Anyone who tells you they know where this is going to end up is just wrong or prophetic.

I know I’m not the only one that has been going though some difficult times economically in my business and in our family. Church and ministry leaders are finding it far more difficult to fund their ministries in 2009 than in previous years. So many in the Christian community are suffering along with everyone else in this economy.

The church that I’m part of has had to find ways to cut expenditures without downsizing valuable ministries. The economy in wealthy Orange Co. Southern California has taken a heavy hit and nearly every family is being affected in one way or another which affects giving.

In the midst of this downturn one program in the church has grown exponentially—our food and thrift warehouse. The Lord has sent capable people our way to administer our food bank. It really is a miracle when you consider that a couple of years ago it was just an empty warehouse but our pastor had a vision that one day we would be supplying food to 1000’s in need. Didn’t really seem possible or even needed 2 or 3 years ago but now we are sending entire containers full of cloths to Africa and Southeast Asia and we are feeding 1000’s of needy folks even many in our own congregation that are going through some tough times.

We are now handing out roughly $100,000 worth of food every month—there are some real miracles happening when it comes to the exponential increase in our suppliers. Not only that—it has become a real ministry outreach and an opportunity to provides for folks on many different levels including healing.

One of the major backbones of the church is our prayer ministry program—HOPE ‘House of Prayer for Everyone’—on Wednesday morning we have a Marketplace prayer group that meets and prays over the businesses of church members, over the sales of the sales folk in the congregation, and we pray for jobs for those out of work. It is a practical time where many have received prophetic insight and direction from the Lord on how to carry on in these hard economic times. Lately we have seen lots of ‘break throughs’ in business where we seem to be going one way while the economy is going another. Not only that but new innovative businesses are being launched with incredible potential.

For years, all of us Christians have carried on our everyday business like everyone else in the country and that has been good enough in this wealthy land—now like everyone else the Christian community has been going through some tough times. It is no longer ‘business as usual’ and I submit to you that it never will be again. I repeat—It never will be quite so easy for us in the future as it has been in the last 60 some years.

It is time for Christians to be involved in God’s Kingdom Economy. One way to do that is sponsor ‘Marketplace Prayer’ groups in every church and allow the Lord to reach out in a new ways and bless us with his inspiration corporately and support one another in our everyday businesses and occupations. Let Him expand our horizons and business visions in Jesus name, Amen.

-Receiving God’s Favor and Living in His Kingdom Economy-Part 2

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(Dome of the Rock—Jerusalem via Wikipedia)

Things have changed enough for the better in the last two months that I am now in the middle of a 2 week vacation in our motorhome—a vacation I really needed–Praise God. At the end of June I really didn’t see how I was going to pay the current DMV registration that was due on the RV much less take a vacation in it this year.

The last week of June at a Wednesday morning prayer service Pastor Mike prophesied over me that my work was going to get a whole lot easier and all of the stuff I was then worrying about was going to be resolved and that I was going to receive ‘God’s favor’.

I sorta wondered about what ‘God’s favor’ meant and involved–how that was any different than what I already had but it sure sounded good. Anyone out there ever receive a prophetic word that was full of good sounding stuff and traditional ‘prophetic filler’ that really didn’t mean a whole lot? If you receive ‘God’s favor’ how do you know for sure except good stuff starts to happen?

Well in this case, ‘God’s favor’ has been miraculously demonstrated to me literally on several occasions—here’s one incredible incident:

I had just spent 3 or 4 hours with a new client going over some of his needs for his new store (I sell market equipment to pay the bills). I was afraid that this was going to be a complete waste of time and effort. I had already been there twice before and sent him 10 pages of quotes and we really didn’t seem to be getting any closer to doing business. I threw up one of those traditional prayers like I always do in this situation— “Lord just give me favor in their eyes—don’t let this be a complete waste– I really do need something out of this—anything”.

At that point I really had little hope that I would see anything in the way of sales for all of the time and effort I had invested. The owners were Middle Eastern Muslims and usually the business climate is full of mistrust and like warfare in these cases. The only time in my experience that I really receive any large sales from Middle Eastern folks is when I have already done business with them in the past or with a relative and received a good referral. These were folks that I didn’t know nor did they or any of their relatives know me.

Right after I threw up that short prayer, the owner that I had been dealing with said— “I want you to come meet the big boss.”  We went to the front of the store and there was a circle of folks drinking tea with one guy obviously at the head of that informal table—he was wearing a teashirt that said “Jerusalem” and had a picture of the Dome of the Rock mosque on it. My heart sunk a little seeing that as I was introduced to “Ali” the big boss and money man of the operation—the one who makes the real decisions over anything substantial.

The moment we shook hands he proclaimed—“I just saw a vision of you standing with a Bible preaching or teaching—are you a Bible teacher?”

I was totally shocked and amazed and blurted out: “I am a Bible teacher!”

Ali shouts out- “I knew it, I knew it!”

Then he turns to those around the table and says: “This is a man we can trust—give him an order”.

And it was a very nice order indeed–Praise the Lord!  

-Receiving God’s Favor and Living in His Kingdom Economy

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(Image by John McNab via Flickr)

2009 has been a difficult time for the Davis family. 2008 wasn’t so good but then 2009 rolled around and the bottom fell out of the economy in So. California. At one time or another this year, all 4 of my adult children have been out of work—we ended up with 3 extra adults living with us along with 2 grandchildren. Meanwhile my business and income dropped 30% while our expenses with 5 more mouths to feed increased exponentially.

By the end of June we were in a crisis with far more bills to pay than money. I really didn’t know what to do but continued to pray for some answers which didn’t seem to come.

I went to that last Wednesday morning prayer service of the month rather down and with little hope. The Pastor gave me a word that my work was going to get a whole lot easier and that I was going to receive God’s favor. Unknown to Pastor mike, the previous 3 months had been the hardest I had ever worked for the least results. I wish I could say that I received the word in faith but I didn’t—this is not a ‘name it and claim it’ testimony. I left with a wait and see attitude.

Immediately our situation began to change miraculously. The same day I sold two huge orders and had more referrals than I had all year. In 4 days we had enough money to pay the bills that month which had seemed so hopeless.

One son who had been unemployed for 4 months but couldn’t get any unemployment money—his application was lost– then found–than delayed because of a technicality–he finally got a check the next week. Since then all three at home ended up with new jobs one by one—now we just have one son and two grandchildren still living with us.

Meanwhile, with the economy going one direction—downhill, my business has been incredible and full of down right miracles lately.  Next post I will tell you about one.