I have gained a lot of wisdom from studying the teachings of Charles Capps. One of the tools I use often is his "God's Creative Power Gift Collection" which features "God's Creative Power Will Work For You"; "God's Creative Power for Healing" and "God's Creative Power for Finances". It is small book that contains some powerful declarations and confessions to help me regulate my "mouth with my spirit".
A brief clip from his book "Releasing the Ability of God Through Prayer" (Harrison House, ISBN number = 0-89274-075-2) inspired me this morning and I trust it will take you further into your purpose, armed with this wisdom of implementing the Power of Prayer.
"If you say, "Well, I believe in prayer, then prayer ought to work for me," in this same way you could say, "I believe in flying, therefore I ought to be able to fly." Just because you believe in flying does not mean you can get in that 747 and fly it. You might get it off the ground and you might get in trouble, to say the least!"
(Note: Speaking of trouble, have you seen the movie "Flight" starring Denzel Washington? Major Trouble on so many levels, would you not agree??)
"Well, what makes us think the Word of God is any different? If we are going to operate in the Word accurately, we will have to spend time learning.
It is the same with the law of electricity. If you don't understand the laws that govern electricity, you are liable to get into trouble. The same power that will wash your clothes and cook your food and heat your house will kill you if you violate the laws that govern it. The Word of God is no less powerful. It operates on laws that will work when applied by whosoever will.
If I got in an airplane and said, "Well, I know that the book says if you are going to climb over a 50-foot obstacle in 1200 feet, you have use 20-degree flaps, but I just don't feel like it. It looks to me like it ought to clear the hanger without flaps." It doesn't matter how I feel or how it looks, I better go by what the book says or I am going to be in trouble.
(my bold and underline italicizes)
So are our prayers in trouble when we don't use God's rulebook. When you do things accurately according to the Word of God, you have all heaven behind you and the Word will work for you." (End Quote)
As you emerge through this first month of the new year consider this:
"One of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who you are, and what you believe in, and where you want to go" - Sheila Murray Bethel.
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 - New King James Version
"Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
And God's peace (shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace) which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 Amplified Version
Be IN Courage!
Linda Michelle
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Don't Believe the Lie
In reviewing some old files I just came across a note I shared with a friend about something I learned regarding how deception and the lie of the enemy can try to destroy us and take us off course; off of our destined path. I trust this will encourage you as you take in the wisdom behind my words and apply them to your personal life.
April 2005 (and just a true today - 2 Dec 2012)
"I just took a class were we went through some powerful scriptures on how God showed His desire to spend intimate time with several people in the Bible - beginning with Adam and Eve. When they hid themselves and God called them out, He asked "Where are you" He already knew. God wanted to begin a dialog with Adam, to invite him and Even to come out of hiding and come into the light of His presence!
The enemy came in with his lies, Adam and Eve bought into them, causing the lies to be born in them and they began to believe;
Lie 1: that they were not good enough as they were created; you can be like God, and God did not want you to eat of that tree that would make you like Him, and the reason must be that He doesn't want you like Him; therefore there must be something wrong with you! You are not as good as God, God must be holding something back from you.
Lie 2: they sewed fig leaves together to hide their shame, nakedness and fears.
The truth was that they were with God! They had life with them and all that was pure and holy and they ran from Him. We do the same thing in many ways. We hide behind our own fig leaves. We run from the very One who loves us, who already knows what is it we are going through and how to fix it! And yet we opt to run away from His presence, into further darkness and destruction instead of running into the light of His Presence!!
After a few more examples similar to that, our attention was called to the movie The Lion King, were a visual example could be seen.
Using your spiritual imagination;
See Mufasa as the image of God the Father
The baboon Rafiki as the image of the Holy Spirit
Scar - Mufasa's brother as the image of Satan
Simba could be the image of any of us - the offspring - heir to the Kingdom.
... the clips I did see clearly gave a visual for how deception can come from those close to us, being used of the enemy. I loved the part where Simba is with Rafiki, just after seeing the image of his dad in the water and he tells Refiki he cannot go back because of some things he did in the past and then Rafiki smacks Simba on his head with a stick!! Simba asks "what did you do that for?" and Refiki answers "what does it matter, it's in the past".
I am still smiling from that. That point was used to let us see the power of the lie of sin. The enemy tries to hold it (an action now distorted and blown out of proportion - the Lie) over our head, where the TRUTH is that Jesus paid the price for it on the Cross at Calvery and we NOW have the grace to walk in the newness of His Forgiveness!
Another things was that Simba had forgotten who he was, but Rafiki knew and told him "You are Mufasa's son". And then the image of Mufasa said to Simba "you have forgotten me, by forgetting who YOU are. You are more than you have become. Remember who you are!" POWERFUL!! How many times do we buy into the lies of the current situations and circumstances and forget who we are and more importantly, we forget who our Father is - El Elyon, Most High. Jehovah. God, Almighty.
One more thing about the Lion King; it showed a visual parallel between Simba's character and us; as with Simba, our own weaknesses, inabilities and fears causes a distorted belief system and causes us to ran away, trying to find LIFE in something away from the pain and reality. True, Simba was disobedient to his dad and went somewhere he was told not to go (buying into the dare (LIE) of his uncle, who played on his innocence and knew the mind of a curious child would get the best of him, as well as appealing to his adventure by telling him the place was an elephant grave yard. Simba was told because he was disodience he was the cause of his dad being killed and he was led to believe (the lie) that his mom would not forgive him for it.
But God does, each and every time, leverage those things in our own "valley of the shadow of death" experiences for His glory each and every time. And it even works out for our good!" (end quote)
Remember the power that you have inside of you stand on the truth, denying the lie any access. You are Powerful through Christ who is within you.
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have not might he increases strength." Isaiah 40:29
Be IN Courage.
Linda Michelle
April 2005 (and just a true today - 2 Dec 2012)
"I just took a class were we went through some powerful scriptures on how God showed His desire to spend intimate time with several people in the Bible - beginning with Adam and Eve. When they hid themselves and God called them out, He asked "Where are you" He already knew. God wanted to begin a dialog with Adam, to invite him and Even to come out of hiding and come into the light of His presence!
The enemy came in with his lies, Adam and Eve bought into them, causing the lies to be born in them and they began to believe;
Lie 1: that they were not good enough as they were created; you can be like God, and God did not want you to eat of that tree that would make you like Him, and the reason must be that He doesn't want you like Him; therefore there must be something wrong with you! You are not as good as God, God must be holding something back from you.
Lie 2: they sewed fig leaves together to hide their shame, nakedness and fears.
The truth was that they were with God! They had life with them and all that was pure and holy and they ran from Him. We do the same thing in many ways. We hide behind our own fig leaves. We run from the very One who loves us, who already knows what is it we are going through and how to fix it! And yet we opt to run away from His presence, into further darkness and destruction instead of running into the light of His Presence!!
After a few more examples similar to that, our attention was called to the movie The Lion King, were a visual example could be seen.
Using your spiritual imagination;
See Mufasa as the image of God the Father
The baboon Rafiki as the image of the Holy Spirit
Scar - Mufasa's brother as the image of Satan
Simba could be the image of any of us - the offspring - heir to the Kingdom.
... the clips I did see clearly gave a visual for how deception can come from those close to us, being used of the enemy. I loved the part where Simba is with Rafiki, just after seeing the image of his dad in the water and he tells Refiki he cannot go back because of some things he did in the past and then Rafiki smacks Simba on his head with a stick!! Simba asks "what did you do that for?" and Refiki answers "what does it matter, it's in the past".
I am still smiling from that. That point was used to let us see the power of the lie of sin. The enemy tries to hold it (an action now distorted and blown out of proportion - the Lie) over our head, where the TRUTH is that Jesus paid the price for it on the Cross at Calvery and we NOW have the grace to walk in the newness of His Forgiveness!
Another things was that Simba had forgotten who he was, but Rafiki knew and told him "You are Mufasa's son". And then the image of Mufasa said to Simba "you have forgotten me, by forgetting who YOU are. You are more than you have become. Remember who you are!" POWERFUL!! How many times do we buy into the lies of the current situations and circumstances and forget who we are and more importantly, we forget who our Father is - El Elyon, Most High. Jehovah. God, Almighty.
One more thing about the Lion King; it showed a visual parallel between Simba's character and us; as with Simba, our own weaknesses, inabilities and fears causes a distorted belief system and causes us to ran away, trying to find LIFE in something away from the pain and reality. True, Simba was disobedient to his dad and went somewhere he was told not to go (buying into the dare (LIE) of his uncle, who played on his innocence and knew the mind of a curious child would get the best of him, as well as appealing to his adventure by telling him the place was an elephant grave yard. Simba was told because he was disodience he was the cause of his dad being killed and he was led to believe (the lie) that his mom would not forgive him for it.
But God does, each and every time, leverage those things in our own "valley of the shadow of death" experiences for His glory each and every time. And it even works out for our good!" (end quote)
Remember the power that you have inside of you stand on the truth, denying the lie any access. You are Powerful through Christ who is within you.
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have not might he increases strength." Isaiah 40:29
Be IN Courage.
Linda Michelle
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Something to Smile About
The following is something that was shared with me that brought a smile to my heart and my face. I trust it will lift your spirit as well.
"A Little Christian Humor"
Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for day, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.
Finally fed up, God said, "That's It! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results I will judge who does the better job.
So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.
They moused
They faxed.
They emailed.
They downloaded.
They did spreadsheets.
They wrote reports.
They created charts and graphs.
They did some genealogy reports.
They did every job known to man.
Jesus worked with heavenly efficiently and Satan was faster than hell.
Then ten minutes before their time was up, lighting suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and of course the power went off.
Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.
Jesus just sighed.
Finally, the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.
Satan started searching frantically, screaming "It's gone! It's all GONE! I lost everything when the power went out!"
Meanwhile Jesus quietly started printing out all of His files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate. "Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come He has all His work and I don't have any?"
God just shrugged and said,
"JESUS SAVES."
(End quote - Author unknown)
" A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing..." Proverbs 17:22a
"For this I labor (unto weariness), striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me." - Colossians 1:28 Amplified
"The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad!" Psalm 126:3 Amplified
Be IN courage.
Linda Michelle
(Linda Michelle Trainer)
"A Little Christian Humor"
Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for day, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.
Finally fed up, God said, "That's It! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results I will judge who does the better job.
So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.
They moused
They faxed.
They emailed.
They downloaded.
They did spreadsheets.
They wrote reports.
They created charts and graphs.
They did some genealogy reports.
They did every job known to man.
Jesus worked with heavenly efficiently and Satan was faster than hell.
Then ten minutes before their time was up, lighting suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and of course the power went off.
Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.
Jesus just sighed.
Finally, the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.
Satan started searching frantically, screaming "It's gone! It's all GONE! I lost everything when the power went out!"
Meanwhile Jesus quietly started printing out all of His files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate. "Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come He has all His work and I don't have any?"
God just shrugged and said,
"JESUS SAVES."
(End quote - Author unknown)
" A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing..." Proverbs 17:22a
"For this I labor (unto weariness), striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me." - Colossians 1:28 Amplified
"The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad!" Psalm 126:3 Amplified
Be IN courage.
Linda Michelle
(Linda Michelle Trainer)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
One Minute Vacation
Simply take a sea shell and place in the palm of your hand.
Close your eyes, feel the warm sun caress your face;
the tropical breeze embrace your very being.
In your mind's eye, kick your shoes off
and feel the sun-drenched sand playfully between your toes.
Take a stroll along the ocean's edge.
Sit awhile, returning after you have replenished your inner "fuel tank".
The image is your gift to yourself.
Rest, because you must, but don't quit.
Be IN Courage.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Elegant Doves International, Inc.
October 9 – November 27, 2012
Tuesday evenings
8 pm – 9:30pm est.
Via private conference call phone line.
Registration required and
Confidentiality respected and honored.
Tuesday evenings
8 pm – 9:30pm est.
Via private conference call phone line.
Registration required and
Confidentiality respected and honored.
Cost: $25. This
includes registration and materials.
Scholarships are available.
Please email elegantlin@aol.com to register and obtain more information.
"The pain of understanding and healing is
far less than the pain of denial and despair".
If there is HOPE in the future,
there is POWER in the present.
Be IN courage!!
PO Box 420, Powder Springs, GA. 30127
770.310.6434
email: elegantlin@aol.com
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
The Value of You
A dear friend of mine recently said to me, "The greatest power you can have towards someone who has been manipulating you is to say "I'll miss you."
I encourage you to take a few minutes to review your life and to clearly see if you are at the top of your own list of things to do or if you have discounted your own value and worth. Answer the question "Am I allowing myself to be manipulated by someone in my life - home or work - or by my circumstances?"
Life if made up of events and challenges that stretch us. The discomfort, pain or irritation of that stretching is no excuse to avoid doing what you must do to move into your destiny. Overlooking or dismiss your needs and desires is cheating yourself from the fullness of the life you have been given to live. As I share in the chapter of my co-author book Power to Change, "Your well-being is a prerequisite for the well-being of those around you. Taking time to step aside and get still and quiet enables you to hear your inner wisdom. You will be better equipped to make quality decisions about your next course of action."
M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and Author (1936-2005) is quoted as having said, "The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."
He is also quoted having said "Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit."
The the end of summer upon us and this next change of season, I encourage you
to face your life head on and take the necessary action to truly live your life, instead of merely existing You are worth it!. Remember that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139). Respect and honor yourself as the precious jewel that you are.
Be IN Courage.
Linda Michelle
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