Merry Christmas With Love

Glynn and I have enjoyed living at a cabin-loft in Greeneville, Tennessee for the past five-plus years, while Glynn works on a contract. (I have often been reminded of aspiring writer Jo March in Little Women, living in a boarding house.)

Early in December, I felt led to have dinner in town at one of our favorite places on Main Street: a fine historic restaurant with proper white table linens and tiny china tea cups with saucers.

From our table, through big, arched picture windows, we saw our purpose for being there: A Christmas memory.

We watched a small choir set up then play silver hand bells across the street, at the top of a tall brick staircase of a historic church.

God knows I love hand bells!

They remind me of my favorite Christmas ornament when I was six-years-old: a tiny silver bell—always special to my heart.

It was a moment of God’s goodness revealed in a small thing.

It was the night that townspeople came to experience the Christmas tree lighting, unbeknownst to me in advance.

It is a memory I will take with me when I move on.

Days afterwards, snow had fallen and melted. I felt led to walk around town and capture a few pictures.

I hope you enjoy them.

There was a particular one that captivated my heart, as I drove just outside of town: a donkey. I call him my Christmas donkey. He has been put out to pasture by his owner, and he needed a friend.

I am his, and he is mine.

I feed him apples.

He warms my heart.

And he reminds me to remember the least cared for, especially during this Christmas season.

May your Christmastime be filled with special memories—old and new.

Merry Christmas with Love,

Margaret & Glynn

Regeneration Movement: God is Healing Paralysis

About fifteen years ago, I was awakened by a visitation from The Lord and received a massive revelation that a friend, who had become paralyzed from the waist down in an accident thirteen years earlier, would rise out of his wheelchair and walk again on earth as it is in Heaven (Jn. 16:13).

Since then, I have trusted God to bring it to pass.

It’s easy to not doubt God’s messages when they are so prolific, even for “impossible” circumstances.

Even when it takes time (Ecc. 3:11).

For the past few weeks, in stepping up to my divine assignment to write and record a new round of devotions for 2020, The Lord has had me study the topic of “renew” in scripture. I learned it encompasses many facets of restoration, including regeneration, rebuilding, repetition (daily renewal of the mind), etc. I know from God’s Word that He has the power to make all things new.

But Holy Spirit spotlighted “regeneration.”

Now, this was exciting!

As I began to write a devotion about renewal last week, The Lord ordered my steps away from my laptop to go run an errand. What happened next would prove to freshen my hope for my friend’s recovery.

And it came with expanded benefits (Ps. 103:2-3):

First Day of Prayer & Revelation

I stopped by a local business to drop off some items that, ironically, needed to be repaired. While chatting with the businessowner, she revealed to me that her family dog was in need of a miracle: spinal regeneration. I learned that this family was, heartbreakingly, on the verge of putting the dog to sleep, because they hadn’t seen any improvement in his condition. This businesswoman had grown weary from caring for her dog.

I could feel the Presence of The Lord profoundly as we stood in her place of business. I knew God was on the move. It was obvious to me that this was a divine appointment to intercede for the dog’s miracle.

I informed this businesswoman that God had just had me studying scripture about this very topic, that I had a friend who needed the same miracle, and that I would pray for her dog’s body to be regenerated as a witness of God’s miraculous power.

She is a believer.

I prayed that evening.

Second Day of Prayer & Revelation

What I didn’t learn until the next day, however, when I returned to her business to pick up an item I had dropped off, was that not everyone close to her was convinced that God would heal the dog and that someone in particular had been waning in their faith-at-large.

At this point, I knew God was up to more than freshening my hope for my friend’s recovery.

So, on this second day of visiting this businesswoman, I prayed with her; and I sensed The Lord saying to give the dog seven days.

Third Day of Prayer & Revelation

The next morning, I listened to Dr. David Jeremiah on TBN, who spoke about worshipping God with our mind. The Lord particularly illuminated this precept to me:

Mark 12:30 CEB – “and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (emphasis mine).

We know that as a person thinks so is s(he) (Prov. 23:7).

God gave me the understanding that He was putting a demand on us that since “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), He was stretching us to go beyond our level of belief and tap into more of the faith He placed in our spirit when we were saved.

A bit later on this same (third) day, during communion, The Lord began to reveal to me an even broader message on this topic of regeneration:

You have entered into a time in which regeneration has the potential to become a movement on earth in record number. People need only to receive this mighty move of My mercy.

God further revealed to me that Dr. David Jeremiah’s message about worshipping Him with the mind is connected to receiving the restoration of regeneration into physical bodies and that it would happen through God’s Word.

Here’s how it works:

God’s Word has the power to heal (Ps. 107:20). As Holy Spirit leads us to study His Word topically, we will receive the light of revelation-understanding in our soul (the mind in our head and heart). As we worship The Lord in gratitude for His forward movement of these revelations, He will expand His regenerative power to touch our physical bodies (and those for whom we pray) by His Spirit.

This regeneration will come directly from the living Word of God and the Presence of Holy Spirit in the secret place, not necessarily through a third party, such as in the laying on of hands. God desires people to experience restoration directly through His living Word. This is an outpouring of His perfect power to regenerate beyond our spirit into the soul and body (3 Jn. 1:2). It is being released for all who will receive it.

Fifth Day of Prayer & Revelation

On the fifth day of prayer and revelation, The Lord gave me a scripture for the businesswoman:

Ephesians 3:20 TPT – “Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.”

Late this evening, the businesswoman texted me, saying the dog’s condition noticeably improved and that a conversation with a veterinarian confirmed the dog could recover in three to four weeks.

Sixth Day of Prayer & Revelation

On the sixth day of prayer and revelation, The Lord revealed to me that the work of regeneration He would do in the dog would prove to be a powerful witness that would stir a regeneration of faith in someone particularly close to the businesswoman and that it would extend into the next generation.

The Lord also gave me a scripture, a quote, and a song, which I texted to this businesswoman:

Isaiah 61:3 NLT – “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”

The quote: “We can have joy if we walk in Spirit and faith” (Dr. David Jeremiah).

The song: I Will Rise, by Chris Tomlin (Ps. 98:1 TPT).

Seventh Day of Prayer & Revelation

On the seventh day of prayer and revelation, The Lord gave me another scripture, which I texted to this businesswoman:

1 Thessalonians 5:24 TPT assures us of God’s faithfulness, “The one who calls you by name is trustworthy and will thoroughly complete his work in you.”

The businesswoman texted back on this same day with an update, saying the dog experienced a “huge improvement.”

The Lord gave breakthrough to this family! And we are standing on God’s promises to complete the work He began!

By His Spirit, faithful Jesus still reaches out and touches the afflicted with miracles. He is doing this for a dog. What more will He do for you? May He establish you and your loved ones in His promises of renewal and greater mobility for His glory, even if it has felt like a long time coming.

Just receive.

Update: Since this story was written, the dog’s owner shared with me on January 27, 2020 (9 1/2 weeks later) that her dog is 95% restored! All honor and glory to our Lord God, who still heals and who is faithful to His Word! We are grateful and are believing for God’s healing touch to complete the process!

How My Road Trip Revisits Led to Revival

I recently experienced a succession of revisits along a three-day road trip, where God had me cycle back to a string of places and events I had been to years earlier.

Amazingly, God met me at each revisit with a corresponding revelation.

He enabled me to re-experience each place and event in a new and better way, giving me pleasant memories over painful ones. Each shift built on the previous one(s), which culminated in a greater transition from my past for my future.

I felt like I was on a treasure hunt trail with God as He transformed me daily in bullet fashion.

What’s more, on the third day of my trip, my most direct route home was a stretch of highway that was new to me and is, quite literally, the road I believe God will also use to lead me deeper into a future He revealed to me over a decade ago.

Small and large, God is opening doors to better experiences for all of us who are willing to follow Him into multiplicity for Kingdom purposes.

These revisits are not the “go around the mountain” kind, like Joyce Meyer speaks of, that involves a timely cycle of trying to get it right. But the effortless “beauty for ashes” loop in Isaiah 61:3, where the Spirit of The Lord sets us on a progression of manifest redemption beyond ourselves:

“to strengthen those crushed by despair who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful bouquet in the place of ashes, the oil of bliss instead of tears, and the mantle of joyous praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. Because of this, they will be known as Mighty Oaks of Righteousness, planted by Yahweh as a living display of his glory” (TPT).

God is repositioning us for His ultimate fulfillment of restoration, rebuilding and renewal as in Isaiah 61:4.

But it begins with the revival of our heart—the release of the old and the embrace of the new. God is bringing a miraculous completion to the pain of past experiences to enable us to receive gain for His Kingdom purposes.

God can lead us to re-visit a string of places, events, situations and memories (even in dreams), then instantly pivot us in quick successions of manifest redemption—to awaken us and further position us into His plan.

These revisits are cycles of recreated experiences purposed to reset our present in peace over our past and free us to continue to head into the bigger blessings God has for us—near and far.

Revisits are set-up by God and are a kind of reunion, where we become more aligned with Christ in our soul through the release of Holy Spirit’s inner revelation as we walk through a better outward reality.

I liken revisits to a revolving glass door, where, in a pivotal moment, we enter into a threshold able to see where we’ve been and where we’re going—but moving swiftly with God’s help. Then we exit to a new place of satisfaction and fresh vision, not wanting to go back but being content with what’s before us.

God uses these revelatory revisits to revive us from death to life (Ps. 71:20).

Revisits may be necessary to adjust our inner and outer attitude so we can head in the right direction and grow in more light. In a revisit, we learn instantly and are gratefully made aware that God has perfected us in a way that only He can.

God uses revisits to deliver us into His abundance.

From darkness to light, His goodness will bring an uncommon finish of some former things in our lives to produce an uncommon future. In these revisits, God helps us align with His plan incrementally, so His multiplicity before us isn’t so overwhelming. In this way, God uses a progression of bulleted revisits as preparation for bigger revisits.

Revisits are one way God delivers, heals and strengthens us from regret to revival.

They are one way God miraculously redeems time by repositioning us for Kingdom purposes.

They are one way God reveals His final say: that life won’t end in our past; there’s more forward—much, much more.

Romans 8:28 TPT – “So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.”

God uses revisits to break us through into a new familiar, which is a kind of justice over a painful past, as much as it is a beautiful new beginning of resurrection life (Ps. 71:2).

God is streamlining our lives, making us more efficient for the journey forward.

Many of us are on the edge of our eleventh hour for greater manifest blessings, divine promises being fulfilled. If we are sensitive to follow The Lord, we will come out triumphant and receive nothing less than His very best.

Let’s stay on course.

“Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” -Isaiah 43:18-19 TPT

“Even though you’ve let us sink down with trials and troubles, I know you will revive us again, lifting us up from the dust of death.” Psalms 71:20 TPT

“…When your miracle rescue comes to me, it will lift me to the highest place. All who seek you will see God do this for them, and they’ll overflow with gladness. Let this revive your hearts, all you lovers of God!” -Psalm 69:29, 32 TPT

“Now I can say to myself and to all, ‘Relax and rest, be confident and serene, for the Lord rewards fully those who simply trust in him.'” -Psalm 116:7 TPT

“No matter what, I’ll trust in you to help me. Nothing will stop me from praising you to magnify your glory!” -Psalm 71:14 TPT

This article graciously appeared online at Charisma Magazine and SpiritLed Woman Magazine on October 12, 2019 under the title “How God Can Use Revisits to Places You’ve Been to Revive Your Heart.”

Back To School – God Is Faithful To Protect

It’s back to school time for many—a flurry of school supplies, schedule adjustments and, sadly, safety anxieties.

Will it be like last year?

Will be better?

In the midst of chaos, God’s promises are our best protection—His fidelity of faithfulness as armor—that surrounds us like a large shield, firmly affixed.

Psalm 91:4 TPT assures us, “His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you. You can run under his covering of majesty and hide. His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm.”

Therefore, back to school is a time of grace to pray, believe, and receive God’s promises.

Mark 11:24 TPT reveals, “This is the reason I urge you to boldly believe for whatever you ask for in prayer—be convinced that you have received it and it will be yours.”

“And now out of his fullness we are fulfilled! And from him we receive grace heaped upon more grace” (John 1:16 TPT)!

As we head into our new assignments of learning and growing, it’s good to know that we can experience God’s faithful assurance continually in our journey, beyond a single object or event … as we learn to trust Him at more of His truth.

This is where we grow our shield of faith.

So what’s to worry?

“Jesus replied, ‘You don’t understand yet the meaning of what I’m doing, but soon it will be clear to you’” (John 13:7 TPT).

We can always trust Him in this next-level of opportunity-process whereby He trains us, develops us, tests us, and establishes us.

Stronger in Him.

Knowing Him more.

To better equip us to do what He called us to do in this life as our classroom, where our commitment to His character and ways are proven.

Therefore, God’s faithfulness is necessary for our victory.

“Keep trusting in the Lord and do what is right in his eyes. Fix your heart on the promises of God and you will be secure, feasting on his faithfulness” (Psalm 37:3 TPT).

Found in the armor of His blood covenant, God’s faithfulness is a battle strategy of running to Him, hiding in Him, and receiving from Him to progress and finish our race by His strength, not ours.

His faithfulness is a post of revelation for reformation, perpetual truth that travels with us, and a marker for excellence-in-the-making. It is a place of support, a respite in our marathon, and a divine task and object that guards us.

God’s faithfulness is always available as the armor that sustains us completely. When we believe and walk in the Spirit of truth, faith, and grace, we can hold to our shield and watch His love for us unfold.

Beautifully.

No matter what.

It’s worth going back to.

Amen.

This article graciously appeared on Charisma Magazine and SpiritLed Woman Magazine August 19, 2019 under the title, God’s Powerful Promises for Your Family’s Back-to-School Days.

Black Friday In July – Second To None

We’ve heard of Christmas in July. But Black Friday in July?

This was something new to me when I first saw the department store circular delivered to my door earlier this week.

Black Friday sales officially begin tomorrow (with a couple of pre-sale days added).

Yes, right now!

Who doesn’t like free shipping and deeply discounted prices?

But like all other activities (or habits), shopping needs to be done in submission to Christ.

For me, among other things, this meant not purchasing anymore “seconds.” The Lord had spoken to me about this months ago.

“What’s the big deal?” I initially thought. “I’ve been doing this for decades.”

After all, there were only a couple of items I had consistently purchased as second quality over the years: paperback books with nary a mark or crease that would probably get more messed up anyway, and holiday china from my favorite outlet with only the tiniest of imperfections, usually on the bottom, that would, perhaps, get broken over the years.

At first thought, books and dishes seemed like small things to me.

But not to God.

Books and dishes were just His beginning for me in the shopping arena.

When I asked Him for understanding, He helped me realize it’s about a new mindset that He desires to establish in me: The expectation of first-rate, top-quality, best, flawless, heirloom, legacy—His character outwardly reflected as manifestations of my inward inheritance.

God has fine stuff that He desires to give.

But old mindsets can feel like self-entitlement.

Still, it has to go to receive God’s best.

Galatians 5:16 TPT encourages us, “As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.”

So what are you expecting?

First-rate or second-best?

God’s finest strategy is to release the settling for seconds to Him and advance to top choice.

When we have the mind of Christ, victory can happen like lightning in God’s promised land. We need only to see clearly, having the blinders of our way removed.

Black Friday in July sale?

Doorbusters galore?

Free shipping?

1 John 2:16 TPT warns us, “For all that the world can offer us—the gratification of our flesh, the allurement of the things of the world, and the obsession with status and importance—none of these things come from the Father but from the world.”

But for me, it’s not about status.

It’s about beauty.

I’m drawn to beautiful things.

I’ve learned He’s the most beautiful thing.

And everything else is just second.

“Your pleasant path leads me to pleasant places. I’m overwhelmed by the privileges that come with following you, for you have given me the best” (Psalm 16:6, TPT)!

“So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly” (Matthew 6:33, TPT).

“…For the Lord sees not as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, MEV).

This article graciously appeared on Black Friday in July at Charisma.com under the title “Why God Has More For You Than Second Best.”