Striving To Be "Christ-Like"!

Driving into the church parking lot tonight for mid week service, this is the view I see. My heart begin to stir, and this is my prayer for my church family and myself: "Lord, thank you that You have given us the honor of walking in that wonderful blood-bought authority. We have been redeemed and bought by the blood of Jesus. Lord, I ask that You put a supernatural hedge of protection around us and keep us safe from the attacks of the enemy. Give us favor to walk in complete freedom and unity always. Lead, guide, and direct our every step and remind us to keep our focus on You alone, where it needs to be. Lift off the spirit of oppression and heaviness. Move mightily in hearts and lives of families represented at this church, so we can continue moving forward in ministry. Give sweet peace to hearts and minds of so many who are overwhelmed with facing surgeries and going through sicknesses or battles we may not even know about. Let Your healing virtues flow over our families. Let t...

Part of Isaiah 51:16 says, "I have hidden you in the hollow of My hand"....that means you're in the palm of God's hand where you're most protected. It's in the hollow of His hand where I feel most secure and at peace when the overwhelmness of life surrounds me. Singing today, "I know the Peacespeaker. I know Him by name. I know the Peacespeaker. He controls the winds and waves. When He says, 'Peace, be still'. They have to obey. I'm glad I know the Peacespeaker. Yes, I know Him by name."

Two Sundays ago, July 18th, something unexpected happened to me in the middle of choir practice. Little did I know I was entering into a 2 week spiritual battle with oppression (a sense of being weighed down in your body and mind). This is long, but stay with me because it's important. There is an urgency in my spirit for God's people to pray against oppression. The oppressive spirit desires to shut us up and hold us down. When God graciously lifted it off of me a couple of days ago, I was so thankful. But, I knew it wasn't in vain. While I was praying in the spirit tonight, the Lord let me know the purpose; to understand what others are fighting, how to pray over it for myself, and how to pray over my church and family. God desires to elevate us and move us forward, but He can't do that if we refuse to completely surrender to Him and cast this spirit back to hell where it belongs. Let me tell you that the spirit of oppression is very real. It's effecting the church...