Tag Archives: Christian

Situations Are Not Hopeless With God

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HopeChanges

There are times in life when we are faced with what looks like hopeless situations.

I have experienced some really hard times in life and yet here I am sitting here trying to encourage you. Why? One Word JESUS.

It doesn’t matter if the hopeless situation is your fault or the fault of someone else. God see’s you just where you are and in comes quickly to your side.

What type of hope are we talking about here? We all desire a life free from trouble. We would all love to live in a world where divorce never happens, families never fight, jobs never end and bills are always paid leaving us more then enough money to enjoy ourselves. Though we might desire this kind of a life we have to face facts that that type of problem free life doesn’t exist on this planet earth.

Unless our faith is tested, every now and again we never get to see how strong our commitment to God is.

In the mid nineties my faith was tested severely. Two weeks prior to Thanksgiving I was laid off my job. I never saw it coming. As it was I was living payday to payday as a single mom. What made it even more discouraging was that the worse time in the world to look for a job is during the holidays. People just don’t seem to hire then. I realized I would need a miracle and so I started looking for another job. God gave me a miracle, a few days before Christmas the human resources manager called me and said, “Merry Christmas you have a job if you want it!”

As committed Christians the rules do not apply. You know those rules that say it’s harder to find a job over forty, and no one hires during the holidays, and blah, blah, blah. With God on our side we walk in supernatural miracles.

Our hope is in God. God is our heavenly father. Like any loving father He doesn’t like his children suffering and He sends warring angels to our sides to fight off all oppression.

God took all my props away from me early in life. I am an only child and both of my parents died when I was fairly young. I had no siblings to run to and no parents to run too. I had no backup system but God.

I read the scripture that said, “The Lord thy God shall be your husband.” I took that literally and when I had a problem I ran to Daddy God with it. Each time He came through my faith got stronger and stronger.

Beloved, do the best you can do and God will do the best He can do for you. Until you understand that other people are not your help in hopeless situations, and go straight to God with your problems, things will not change for you. You have to start taking God’s word literally, what He says He will do, He does. Believe it!

You have to be rooted strongly in God because his supply never runs out. He has resources you can never imagine. It won’t usually happen like you expect. God delights in answering our prayers in unique ways. I remember when my children and I had eaten oatmeal for a week. Times were desperate. Just about when I was about to give up a neighbor showed up with four bags full of food. She said, “God woke me up last night and said you could use this food.” The thing about it was that the woman was not saved. As a matter of fact she had a reputation of being a drunk in our town. But, that woman had a heart of gold. If you wait around for church people to help you might often go hungry. I have been blessed more in my life by ordinary people who God used then religious church people. I often have people come to me and ask for prayer, that are losing this, that and the other and yet when I ask them if they are givers they tell me, “I don’t have any extra money.” I want to say “that’s why you are having financial problems.” We have all heard the story of the widow in the bible who gave her last coin and how blessed she was by God for that sacrificial giving. I once taught this principal of giving and a woman decided to put me to the test. I had said, “Give what you can give even if it is only a candy bar. Bring it in and place it on someone’s desk at work. That woman sent me a candy bar in the mail, sort of mocking my statement. What she didn’t know that when I received it I was really craving something sweet and truly enjoyed it.

When you give to others God gives to you at a time you most need it. If we are stingy, then God is stingy with us. I want to assure you that if you have planted seeds God will give you a harvest at a time you need it the most.

Don’t give up. God is on the scene! You never know whose ear He whispers in to answer your need. BELIEVE and receive!

In His Unconditional Love,
Cathie

belovedhandmdn1@ aol.com for email and donations.

Don’t Lose Hope!

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“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope!” Jeremiah 29:11

Recently I watched a video in which the woman was talking about a man she had ministered too. She said, “He walked away with renewed hope.”

I got to thinking about that. Beloved, I truly believe that when you lose hope it’s over. Hope is the thing that goes along with our gift of faith. We hope that things will get better or that something will happen to answer our prayer needs and then that hope stirs up our faith and we begin to feel so much better.

The Word says the following; “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
    but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12

Years ago I would look at some situation and in the natural I would think, “Oh, dear Lord this situation is not good! What do I do Lord, what to I say to this person? I don’t want to lie, Father. What do I tell them?” God gently spoke to my Spirit, “Daughter, you are wrong. THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE! What you see as an impossibility is an opportunity to witness to large groups of people who will be astounded when I miraculously answer this prayer! Don’t ever say that again.”

So, I learned to speak hope into people. I learned to be a possibility thinker. When I counsel people they are desperate for just a glimmer of hope, just a Word letting them know that things can and will get better if they only keep the faith.

The problem with a lot of us is that we think in the natural. We look at something and our minds start to figure out what God needs to do to change the situation. Then we start to pray like this, “Dear God please let Sue talk to my boss and tell her that I need a raise.” Instead God works in mysterious ways and he doesn’t need anybody to tell him how to fix a situation. He has ways that our little human brains have not even thought of.

Now when we need answers, He stands ready to guide us. All we need do is ask and then wait for him to direct us.

I have had God tell me to go into car dealerships without a dime for a down payment and bad credit and as I obeyed him, as crazy as it sounds, I walked out with a very nice car. God had sent angels before me to prepare the way. Everything just simply fell into place. When I walked down the hall to see the sales manager I heard Christian music playing. I begin to get excited and I thought “What should I tell him Father?” God said, “Tell him the truth.” So I did. I laid my whole ugly story out in front of him, thinking he would say, “Well, I am so sorry but I can’t help you!” Instead he said, “I know what you are going through. The same thing happened to me.”

Instead of using your time calling all your Christian friends to pray, why waste your time? You are a child of God. You have the spirit dwelling inside you. Pray and seek an answer from God and then when you feel He is directing you in a certain way do what he tells you to do and DO NOT ask anyone else by saying something like this, “Do you think I heard from God when he told me, “this or that?” Because if your friend doesn’t have your level of faith they will say, “You are nuts, why would God tell you to walk into a car dealership without any money and bad credit and try to buy a car!” But we walk by faith not sight. God honors hope and faith. Don’t second guess him just do what he tells you.

Right now it’s Christmas and a whole lot of you are worried sick about how you are going to get gifts for your children and have a family dinner. I have been in that very place, beloved. The thing to do is to get into prayer and praise and wait on the Lord. He is going to direct you. You will go to a store and just what you need will be on sale, you might win something, something might just appear on your doorstep. Be open and be obedient and then wait on God. Do not lose hope. God inhabits(dwells within) our praises. He will either send us what we need or give us supernatural peace in the midst of our situation.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Negative talk, and a lack of belief in God’s supernatural miracles, kills hope and squashes faith. You get your faith up by repeating faith scriptures. When God then answers your prayers it increases your faith.

Quit feeling anxious and sorry for yourself. Start praying and praising and believing for a miracle. Tell God to touch the heart of someone who can help you in whatever way God has for you to be helped. Help someone else in the midst of your need and God will help you.

Tell God, “I do not know how you can do this, but I know you will. I rest in your presence and put my worries here at the foot of your cross.”

Do not lose hope. It may be all you have right now but if you are still able to hope you will be helped by the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills! Nothing is too much for the God who parted the Red Sea! Nothing.

In His Unconditional Love,
Cathie
Belovedhandmdn1@aol.com

Dysfunctional Due To Divorce

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One of the things about being an elder is that we have seen things, both good and bad. We have done things, both good and bad, and so hopefully we have learned better and we mentor others to do better.

I was watching the Bush family and their togetherness. It’s admirable.

I know that there are situations that were, and are, hard and sometimes people have no choice but to make a change.

I truly believe, having unfortunately been there, that divorce causes so much dysfunction and remarriages do too.

You have children who don’t like stepparents. It is painful on so many levels, women who are jealous of step mothers, fathers who are jealous of step fathers, children and even adult children, who play one set against the other.

Look around you and maybe in your own life, or some family member, you see constant chaos and dysfunction caused as a result of having to try to get along with people you never asked to have in your life to begin with.

Praying about this today I feel God directing me to encourage those I mentor to try and work things out in your marriages. If you have been through a divorce try your best to be kind to all involved. Don’t badmouth your ex or the new spouse. Try to show love and respect in order to put a stop to a lot of the dysfunction caused by divorce and remarriage.

Most importantly we can avoid all of this by having strong marriages. When we aren’t living for God there is no way we can stay happily married. First of all, if we are single, we should not even date unbelievers. Why? Because we walk into Satan’s territory.

Just my humble opinion, after learning the hard way. I pray none of you will have to suffer through the chaos of divorce!

In His Unconditional Love

Cathie

Belovedhandmdn1@aol.com

Being Faithful With What You Have

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Your level of blessing is all equal to your stewardship. What you do with what you have determines what more God will give you.

When I was a young mom with four kids I was praying for a bigger house as we had outgrown the little house we were living in.

One day as I was seeking the Lord, while my kids were napping, I cried out to the Lord as to why nothing was moving forward in regards to us being able to get a new house.

As clear as a bell, in my head, the Lord spoke to me, “ My dear daughter look around you. Your home is a mess. If you cannot take care of this house, you are not ready for a bigger one.” I looked around and it was true. I was a stay at home mom at that time. I had no excuse at the time. It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon and dirty dishes were still in my sink.

I got my act together and started taking better care of my house. A year later my husband got a huge raise and we moved to a beautiful, larger home.

Take care of what you have been given by God before you ask for more.

Jesus – “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven. And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be trusted with money of your own? No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16:10-13 )

In His Unconditional Love

Cathie Miller

Belovedhandmdn1@aol.com

The Truth About Counseling

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This may offend some so I apologize in advance. If your therapy is working for you by all means continue.

Ten years ago I began to question the Lord about why so many people would tell me they wanted Christian counseling who were already seeking counsel with a secular counselor and we’re not getting better.

God used the woman at the well to show me the counseling method he wanted me to use. He spoke to me about the woman at the well. He said, “In secular counsel you delve in a person’s childhood. Bringing up all the hurt does more harm then good. When I saw the woman at the well I didn’t do an intake. I didn’t tell her she was a relationship addict due to her childhood. Even if true it didn’t matter because she was in desperate need of something to satisfy the hole in her soul that was being filled with anything to make the loneliness go away for a time. No. I told her exactly what I discerned. I told her she had been with 5 men and wasn’t married to the man she was currently living with. I told her what was wrong and then I told her what she really needed was to drink from everlasting water.” Jesus continued, “I cut to the chase, told her what she needed and she got it. She then went and told people, “Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did!” I want you to discern the problem through prayer, tell the person what the problem is and then what to do about it.”

So that’s what I do. Granted I could make more money by dragging things out and making clients dependent upon me. As a matter of fact very few people pay me at all. Jesus wants us healed and whole so that we can help others.

Dwelling on events from our past is depressing and at the end of the day we have to accept the past, because it cannot change, and come to peace with it. Blaming our parents, even if they deserve it, is a way of putting our pain on someone else that was probably messed up by their parents too.

Accept,forgive, move on in peace.

Do all Christian Counselor counsel the same? No. I used the model Christ gave me and I have had so many people set free that are now living depression free. Not because of who I am but because of who HE is.

The past cannot be changed but the future can be whatever we want it to be.

In His Unconditional Love

Cathie

Please use this email address to contact me or for PayPal donations Belovedhandmdn1@aol.com

Even Jesus Was Rejected

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So often we suffer rejection of our message about Jesus from our own families.

Even Jesus was not listened to by his own people, yet we cannot understand, often, the rejection of our message by some of those in our own families.

To quote from the Bible, ‘Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honour in his own country’ (John 4:44). Christ also said ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town’ (Luke 4:16-30), and ‘Only in his home town and in his own house is a prophet without honor”

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Torah and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Mark 6:11

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Cheer up believers. Even Jesus suffered rejection by those closest to Him.

In God’s Unconditional Love,

Cathie

For contact or PayPal donations Hsbelovedhandmdn1@aol.com

A Warning Dream?

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My absolute favorite worship song is “Way Maker” I had the most wonderful encounter with the Holy Spirit last night in a way I had not experienced before. I kept waking up off and on last night, tossing and turning, as I would wake, each time, I heard the sound of angels singing Way Maker. That is one of the most anointed worship songs I have ever heard and God was literally soaking me in it all night long!

God is up to something! I feel a great revival is coming but prior to that something is going to happen that will literally rock our world. Stay close to God and never fear because he surrounds His children with angels!

Last week I dreamed that I was hearing hail falling on the roof. It started to get louder and louder. I opened the door and saw huge rocks, even boulders, falling everywhere. In the dream I heard God say, “Close the door and stay inside!” I closed the door and as I did I felt the earth tremble and shake back and forth. I awoke in a cold sweat! It was one of those dreams where you are so glad when you awake and realize it was only a dream.

I have not received, to date, an interpretation of the dream. I do know it may not have been an actual earthquake but perhaps a warning that something is coming that will literally rock our foundation. I will wait on the Lord. As I said the other day…Stay alert.

In His Unconditional Love,

Cathie

Belovedhandmdn1@aol.com for email or PayPal donations

Stay Alert

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God is still, as of this morning, surrounding me with the following scripture, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!” Job 1:21.

We see things going in one way on the world scene but we serve a sovereign God whose ways we cannot always discern before He reveals them.

Stay alert and watch. Read the following scriptures with discernment. I will not make any prophetic announcement because that’s not my strong gifting but I will say that things on the National scene could become shocking before this year is over.

New International Version

“Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” Psalm 146:3

Psalm 118:8-9 New International Version (NIV)

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in humans.

9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in princes.

In His Unconditional Love,

Cathie

Belovedhandmdn1@aol.com for email or PayPal donation.

Living Through Unimaginable Sorrow

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Turning against God, when something hurtful happens, is for some understandable. We have all had times when we suffered pain and felt as if God let us down. It was during one of those times in my life where I reached a crossroad with God. I knew I could go down a road without Him or I could decide to trust Him and go on down the road with Him. I fell to my knees and told Him, “I don’t know why you have allowed this but nevertheless you are the only one who truly loves me, unconditionally, and whether you never answer another prayer I pray again, I am going on with you!”

I remember this quote from the movie, “The Shack,” when I need to, I take it out of my bible and read it. It puts everything in perspective for me. God spoke the following…

“Just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don’t ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.”

― William P. Young, The Shack

In His Unconditional Love,

Cathie

Belovedhandmdn1@aol.com for email or PayPal donations

Appearances

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As I was watching and listening to Steven Furtick preach online this morning the Lord started pouring some wisdom into my spirit. Steven was, surprisingly, teaching on appearances. Some people have all the right appearances. They are in church all the time. They have a lot of money, which pays for fancy vacations, new cars and fine houses. You look at them and are impressed by it all. But God is not! God is not! Because God is looking on the heart, as my sweet Sister, Ihu Oma, reminded me this morning.

All of that stuff is impressive to look at and read about but it’s nothing to God because behind the scenes these people are empty suits. It’s all about them. Sometimes I see some of them and their own families of origin are hungry and sick and they do nothing but drive on by self-centeredly in their new cars. They eat at fine restaurants while their own family’s are praising God for beans and tortillas.

Folks God is keeping score. Those folks eating beans and tortillas invite others in and share what little they have with them. They go to minimum wage jobs each day and then do their best to encourage and do for others. Their appearances are not as good as yours but their score with God is so much higher then their appearances.

There is a scripture James 2: 3-5 that warms about appearances;

…3If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man “You must stand,” or, “Sit at my feet,” 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?…

God knows our hearts. He looks past the appearances to the heart. If we do something simply to tick a box and our heart is not really in it, if we do it for praise or recognition God knows that and we miss the blessings involved with it.

The Bible tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. A person that gives because they love to see others happy is much more blessed then a person who begrudgingly pays a tithe. God taught me that years ago. He said to me, “once you give don’t worry about if you get blessed or not. Just give and it will come back when you need it.” Giving is like paying into a heavenly account. God looks down sees you in need and remembers you helping someone in need and then says, “Cathie has a balance in her heavenly account! I will send a Financial blessing her way.” Some of you don’t receive because you have nothing in your heavenly savings account. Start giving sacrificially and watch your situation change for the better.

God says to do the best we can and if people judge us for not doing things their way, they will answer to God. We may look healthy on the outside and yet have a disease such as Lupus that doesn’t show. God made us, he knows our health limitations and he doesn’t expect us to be at the church every time the doors open. We need to leave the judging to God and live our own lives.

One day a woman called me for a counseling appointment. During our time of counseling she proceeded to tell me she had Fibromyalgia and several other health issues. She started crying and telling me how she was invited places and didn’t have the strength to go. Friends and family put a

lot of pressures on this woman and shamed her for not going all the time. She said, “Why can’t I go? What’s wrong with me mentally? They say it’s all in my head!” I told the woman she was not mentally ill at all. She was physically ill and it was her family and friends who had a problem and not her.

Do the best you can. The only person who we need to worry about disappointing is God.

In God’s Unconditional Love,

Cathie King Miller