"The Cry That Broke The Silence" - EMMANUEL "God-With-Us"

 
By Mary Lindow
AS I PREPARE THIS PODCAST OUR HOME HAS THE AROMA OF BANANA BREAD FILLING THE AIR WITH A COZY WARMTH.Soft Carols are playing in the background. My dear Steve has gone bed for now.
He’s been working on a carpentry project for my Christmas present.
 
AS I SIT HERE, MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE MOVED WITH TENDERNESS FOR THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING over the recent miscarriage of a 22 week old baby, a friend who has had a sudden death of a family member, those friends of mine tending to the sick and fragile, and for the widows I know, who ache for the arms of the one they loved so well for so long.
My heart is saddened by the weariness of knowing single friends of Steve and I are longing for rest and still have hopes of meeting another godly person who might be the one to nurture and live them.
ALL OF THE KINDNESSES AND BEAUTIFUL THINGS OF CHRISTMAS, truly, when wrapped up in compassion, outreach to those who are hurting, personal sacrifice so that others may thrive, and with discernment to know when these things are God nudging you, this is what makes the true value of Christmas shine.
 
CHRIST CAME TO GIVE.
He came to give all.To tend to all those that were held captive, to set them free, to open the eyes of the blinded and the cerebral intellectuals who refuse to hear the truth.
But yet, HE came!And HE is still speaking today, still pursuing those who run from him.
 
WHEN GOD BREATHED THE BREATH OF LIFE
INTO EVERY HUMAN BEING...
...IT WAS HIS BREATH
 
As long as there is breath in a human, it is the breath of God.God will pursue every human being, regardless of how they feel towards him. This is the love that came down at Christmas. And this is the love that stays. People can run. But they cannot hide from the light of God.
 
AS I SHARE THIS BRIEF BUT WARM AND HEARTFELT PODCAST WITH YOU, I wanted to share something so profoundly, beautiful and so well spoken. I’ve read over and meditated/ pondered it many times during this Christmas season because there have been disappointments! There have has been betrayals, harsh words, indifference, people pushing you away because they can’t receive the love you offer them.
These are the things Jesus experienced on a regular basis, and yet in his perfection, he continued to pursue the will of God in his life, and eventually, it COST him his life!
 
THAT LITTLE, WEE BABE IN THE MANGER TROUGH, He was filled with the fullness of God and was God, but chose to walk out in human flesh, incarnate, the life of everyday human beings, in order to prove that he was aware of the suffering and the sorrows of this human life in a fallen world.
 
AS I SHARE THIS BEAUTIFUL EXPRESSION FROM ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL BY THE NAME OF JESSICA JECKER, (who is an influencer on another social media site), I hope that you will allow it to saturate any part of you that is suffering or that is resisting love, or, is perhaps angry at God, questioning why life is so hard, or where you may have become bitter and hardened to the tenderness that is available to each of us.
 
LISTEN CLOSELY TO THE CRY OF MALACHI AND WHAT GOD‘S WORD SPOKE. Listen to the words of one pondering the beauty and the fierce sacrifice that Jesus so humbly and willingly yielded to so that we might truly celebrate a Savior.
HERE IT IS:
“This week, I lingered in the final breath of Malachi’s words and I felt the unbearable weight of what followed.
When the prophet finished speaking, heaven did not answer. The echo of his voice faded...and then... nothing.Four hundred years of silence.No open vision.
No burning word.
No prophet rising with fire in his bones.
No “Thus says the Lord” breaking the darkness.
Four hundred years of waiting.
Of longing. Of groaning.
Of hearts lifted toward heaven that seemed sealed shut.
Generation after generation was born into the quiet.
They lived. They died.
And still—no voice.
Until one night. On a dirt floor in a forgotten place...
in a stable that did not look holy...
in the shadows of obscurity and insignificance... a sound was released.
After four hundred years, heaven spoke again—Not with thunder, not with fire, not from a mountain- but from the lungs of a newborn.
A cry pierced the silence.A cry that split history in two.A cry that carried eternity within it.In that moment, the King of Glory stepped down into the dust of His own creation. The Eternal wrapped Himself in skin.
The Word became flesh—and cried.
The Son laid aside His throne and chose a manger.
Heaven’s highest treasure placed in a feeding trough.
He came low. He came meek.
He came breakable.
Wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid where animals ate, born beneath the looming shadow of a cross.
A Lamb born to be slain.
The Hope of a hopeless world breathed His first breath in the dark.
A weary world rejoiced as a young virgin labored and delivered its redemption.
In that manger, the Great I AM made Himself vulnerable.
Touchable.
Killable.
And with one holy cry, the silence was shattered.
The separation was broken. The way was opened.
Then, suddenly, heaven could not remain quiet.
The skies erupted with angelic voices declaring, “Glory to God in the highest!”
Wonderful. Counselor. Mighty God!Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.With the cry of an infant, heaven invaded earth.Behold—our Redeemer. Behold—our King.Behold—the fulfillment of every promise.Behold—the sound that broke four hundred years of silence.Not the roar of an army. Not the shout of a king claiming His crown.But the fragile cry of God-with-us.He did not arrive with a sword in His hand, but with nails already written into His future.
He did not enter wrapped in royalty, but in cloths that foretold a burial. The silence was not just broken, it was answered.Every unanswered prayer. Every tear cried into the dark.Every generation that waited without seeing.
Every promise that seemed delayed but not denied. All of it converged in that single cry.That night, heaven did not just speak- heaven gave. God did not send another prophet.
He did not send another sign.
He sent Himself.
And in that stable, eternity took its first shallow breath. Omnipotence learned weakness.
Glory learned humility. Love made itself small.
The cry that shattered the silence would one day be echoed again- not from a manger, but from a cross.
The first cry said, “He has come.”The final cry would say, “It is finished.”
From swaddling cloths to grave clothes, from a feeding trough to a borrowed tomb, He came to be broken so we could be made whole.
And even now, that sound still reverberates.
It calls the weary. It awakens the forgotten.
It reaches into the places where heaven has felt silent again.
If God could speak through the cry of a baby, He can still break silence in our darkest night.
So behold Him.
Not distant.Not untouchable.
Not unmoved.
 
But Emmanuel.
God.  With. Us."
 
SUCH TREMENDOUS AND EXPRESSIVE WORDS!
 
DEAR PERSON, WHO MAY BE LISTENING TO THIS PODCAST OR READING IT IN PRINTED FORM.
Talk to Jesus.
Cry.
Ask Him to show you his love, his true self, his kindness.
His merciful forgiveness.
He’s listening.
 
LET’S PRAY BEFORE I END THIS PODCAST.
"Heavenly Father,For Those Who Are Lonely This Christmas,I Pray That You Would Surround Them With Your Presence.Let Them Feel Your Nearness.Bring People Into Their Lives Who Can Offer Companionship and Comfort.
Help Them To Know That Even When They Feel Alone, Abandoned or Weary That They Are Never Truly Alone Because You Are Always With Them.
Heal the Wounds That the Holidays Have Opened.Replace Sorrow With Your Joy, Despair With Your Hope, and Loneliness With the Knowledge That You Will Never Leave Us or Forsake Us.
Thank You That Jesus Came To Heal the Brokenhearted and to Bind up our Deep Wounds From Life on Planet Earth.
I Trust You To Do That Work in my Life and in the Lives of all Who Are Hurting This Christmas.
Father, This Christmas I Celebrate the Birth of my Savior With a Grateful Heart.Help Me To Never Get Over the Wonder of the Gospel, Never Stop Being Amazed That You Loved Me Enough To Send Jesus.
May my Life Be a Living Thank-You Note for the Gift You Gave at Christmas—the Gift of Your Son, my Savior and my King.In the Comforting Name of Jesus, Amen."
 
I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS PODCAST!
I know that we are fast approaching that day we celebrate and give gifts and just sit back and enjoy the beauty of the season, but, I know many people suffer during this time and, Jesus is there with you.
He’s understands you’re suffering and he understands where you’re stuck.
I encourage you to not hold onto those things that you want to manage or control or that you think, “This is just the way it’s going to, be it’s always been this way.”
That is fatalistic thinking and it’s really actually ungodly.
It’s an attitude that says, “I will control my destiny, and... I have control over my life because nobody else can help me.”
 
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO SOFTEN, TO TENDERIZE YOUR HEART BEFORE THE LORD IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS, and as you listen to Christmas carols and hear the words of “Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come, Let Earth Receive her King and Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room.”
That means it’s up to us to “prepare room” in our hearts to receive what the king has for us.
All the things the King has for us.
Some of it is discipline.Some of it is change.Some of it is repenting for just being angry ,
andsome of it is walking in fear.
Know this, that if we will prepare a room for him to come in and live and dwell, we can enjoy His presence in a greater way with us during this season and into the next year.
 
I’M GOING TO CLOSE OUT FOR NOW AND I WANT TO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR LISTENING!
I want to thank those of you who have been so kind to support and assist me.Honestly, I am just so grateful because I just don’t know how I would really do these without those that are touched and moved by God to assist is publishing this podcast and also to assist me in helping others with counseling who have a lower incomes, or, who are going through difficulties where their income is so tight, and they need that counseling, they need that help.
WHEN YOU HELP BLESS AND SUPPORT WHAT THE LORD HAS ASKED ME TO DO OFTEN I’M ABLE TO DO A LOT OF PRO BONO WORK because I know there’s a little bit more in that bank account for ministry that I can then draw on.
Steve and I live very frugally. We don’t have big mansions and we certainly aren’t driving any Rolls-Royce’s, yet God seems to always come through and provide in ways that truly humble us. Part of that is those that God moves on, and those that listen to him and do support what God has called us to do in these days.
I thank you again, and I asked that he pours out a blessing upon you in grace and in kindness and in peace for your kindness and grace back to me.
I WISH YOU ALL THE VERY MOST PEACEFUL AND BLESSED AND JOYFUL CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SEASON!
 
I will close this podcast out now and send my love and blessing to each one you!
Merry Christmas!
 
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed
As long as the complete message, website and podcast
 information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! Copyright © 2025
 
" THE MESSENGER "  - "The Advocate of Hope"
 Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
PODCAST
 
If you would be so kind and assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website and podcast costs, 
or 
desire to bless her service in ministry with Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support:
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of: 
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To: 
His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
PO Box 1253
Denver, Colorado 80614 USA 
 
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow 
Under the name of - Mary Lindow
His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
 
ALL gifts are tax-deductible under
His Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
 
We are financially accountable
and have been in full compliance since 1985. 
THANK YOU!
 
   
👆🏽
Want to  know about what Steve and Mary Lindow
are Involved with in Serving Jesus?
CLICK THE PICTURE!
 

“God Is Fully With Us In These Strange Days”

“God Is Fully With Us In These Strange Days”
 
By Mary Lindow
 
Just over 2,000 years ago, Emmanuel, also called the Christ, changed the world. 
In that moment when God became flesh, humanity watched prophecies unfold as hope was born. Jesus, our Emmanuel, provided hope that sin and death wouldn’t always win and mankind wouldn’t always feel so painfully alone. 
 
What Does Emmanuel Mean in the Bible?
It’s a word written on countless Christmas cards and sung in some of our most-loved carols. 
In Scripture, it first appears in the Old Testament in Isaiah 7:14, which says, 
 
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; 
The virgin will conceive, and give birth to a Son, and will call Him Emmanuel”.
 
The Lord Himself will do this, Scripture says. 
In other words, this act, which occurred in the birth of Christ, was God-ordained and God-accomplished. 
 
This points to grace, which doesn’t come through human effort but rather through relying on God to do what we humans cannot. This was the reason Christ came. 
 
God GAVE us this child, named Emmanuel,
which literally means, 
“with us is God,” or “God WITH us.” 
 
He may seem distant. 
It may even seem impossible this year for you to feel hopeful. 
You might have lost your job. 
Or maybe you’re feeling isolated from those you love. 
You may have even grieved the loss of a family member or friend.
 
Though he may have felt far away to them, 
God was so much closer than his people knew —
gently planning Jesus’ entrance into the world
in the most unexpected way.
 
Looking around, all you might be able to see right now is darkness. 
If you try to adjust your eyes, blinking into the night, there seems to be no light. 
The weight of sickness, death, injustice and pain perhaps, seem too heavy.
 
That’s why I love this idea of advent which is practiced only among Christians. 
And yes, it comes from probably a more liturgical view, but has been so embraced and now practice in homes and church gatherings across the world, as families gather to contemplate and to pray and to spend quiet time discussing when Jesus came as a child as the Messiah! 
Emmanuel!!! God WITH Us!
 
 
Advent means "coming" or "arrival" and refers to the Christian season that begins four Sundays before Christmas, where focusing on preparation for the celebration of Jesus's birth and his anticipated return is a beautiful thing! It’s definitely better than the commercial glut of constant “buy, buy, buy,” and, the overkill of sappy fantasy Christmas shows, as well as the pressurized giving of gifts to every boss, coworker, friend and pet! 
It’s a time of expectation, reverence and hope for many Christians!
 
I was reading through a Wycliffe advent devotional last evening, and these words so struck me that I’m going to share them with you trusting that they too, will move your heart to remember that Emmanuel, God …. IS with us! 
No matter what may come
 
This excerpt of the devotional said,
“As we enter the Advent season, do you feel weary? You’re not alone.
Or maybe you’re just tired. Numb. Ready to pull the covers over your head and try this whole "Christmas cheer" thing again next year. 
 
Don’t feel guilty. 
Instead, acknowledge the very real darkness of this world and you’ll have eyes to see Advent through the same lens as the people waiting for a Messiah thousands of years ago.
You could even say that being weary and worn out is an acceptable place from which to approach this Advent season. Because Advent exists to remind us that, while darkness surrounds us and troubles exist, the hope of Christmas isn’t far away.
 
The people of Israel hadn’t heard anything from God about their redeemer. 
God’s chosen people must have cried out to him, asking how long it would be before their hope, their salvation, would arrive! 
It was too dark, and God seemed to be silent. 
 
Has he felt that way to you this year? Silent?
Though he may have felt far away to them, God was so much closer than his people knew —gently planning Jesus’ entrance into the world in the most unexpected way.
 
But at the appointed time, Jesus came — God with us in flesh and blood. Born in Bethlehem, carried to Egypt, raised in Nazareth. Son of Man and Son of God. A humble child and a holy King. Worshiped by some, rejected by many. Fully human, yet eternally divine.”
 
 
What beautiful and raw honesty in those words in that excerpt from the devotional!
 
Friends! Any way you look at it, Emmanuel was a living Divine Grace. 
The infinite King, wrapped in the cloth of an infant. 
The holy One, living among the fallen. 
In Him, the impossible became real, not only in prophecy, but in His very presence. 
 
When God stepped into our world, 
“impossible” lost all meaning.
 
 
In Isaiah 42:16 it says,
“And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; 
I will lead them in paths that they have not known: 
I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. 
These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” 
 
 
Dear believer! 
The darkness of this world has always tried encroach upon the joy and the hope of God being with his people. 
It hates that we cling to the light, and even though we cannot see or understand, everything fully about the ONE who came and paid the price for us, yet we abandoned our own hearts to him, trusting that he will guide and light our path. It is in this practice that all of hell must bow its knee and tremble for the very fact that Christ is in us and he is the hope of glory. 
Someday we will return to the ONE who created us, but for now, he has come to walk with us, to be with us, and his Holy Spirit is here to correct, to guide, to convict and to advocate for us. 
 
Let us cry out, “Oh Come! Oh Come Emmanuel! Oh come God! Be with us, in us, and move through us to help others who are trapped in the darkness!”
 
Let’s take time to pray together about all of this right now.
Lord God,only you can see into our hearts and knowthat under all the busy-ness of our lives ,there is a deep longingto make this season one that welcomes youmore deeply into our own lives.
 
Our hearts desire the warmth of your loveand our minds search for your Light in the midst of the darkness.
Help us to be peacemakers this season and to give special love to thosewho disagree with us.
Please, Give us the strength and courage to forgive those who have hurt us or who treat us dismissively.
Help us to free our hearts from the prison of anger and hurt.
Only you Lord can bless us,protect us from all evil, and bring us rest in this weary world.
We thank you for being a God that IS  with us!Amen.
 
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed
As long as the complete message, website and podcast
 information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! Copyright © 2025
 
" THE MESSENGER "  - "The Advocate of Hope"
 Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
PODCAST
 
If you would be so kind and assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website and podcast costs, 
or 
desire to bless her service in ministry with Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support:
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of: 
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To: 
His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
PO Box 1253
Denver, Colorado 80614 USA 
 
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow 
Under the name of - Mary Lindow
His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
 
ALL gifts are tax-deductible under
His Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
 
We are financially accountable
and have been in full compliance since 1985. 
THANK YOU!
 
   
👆🏽
Want to  know about what Steve and Mary Lindow
are Involved with in Serving Jesus?
CLICK THE PICTURE!
 

"Creation Groans - We Groan - The Holy Spirit Groans" - Why Waiting Is Sometimes Painful

Creation Groans – We Groan – The Holy Spirit Groans 
“Why Waiting Is Sometimes Painful”
 
By Mary Lindow
 
WELCOME TO THIS PODCAST EPISODE! 
As I promised, I had told you I was going to share a few podcasts and share a few wonderful stories and experiences that I have had where the Lord has divinely protected, orchestrated and guided my life and my husband Steve’s life. 
It’s been a very interesting and intriguing journey, and at times very perilous and not at all fun when it comes to the persecution side of things. 
 
For some reason, there are individuals who preach a gospel that say to the masses that follow them, “Everything is going to be rosy! Everything is going to be fully prosperous financially, and you’re going to be perfectly healthy every day of your life. Every single day of your life is one big, happy party!”
Well, for sure, this is not biblical foundational truth when you hear these things. 
 
If you examine the scriptures, you will see that there was a tremendous amount of persecution and much sorrow for strong believers, even some having to be driven into living into caves due to persecution! The apostle Paul speaks about learning how to abase and to abound, meaning, he learned how to function and adjust whether he had plenty or whether he had little. But, he continued to serve Christ and continued no matter how difficult the persecution became, to get back up, even after he was stoned one time and they left him for dead. He got back up and marched back into the city, met up with some dear friends, went to the next city and preached again! 
(Acts 14:19-21)
 
This Podcast Is Going To Discuss The Current Groaning Of Creation, 
Our Own Groaning And The Longing For God To Finally Complete 
The Fullness Of Things So That Christ Can Return, And Of Course 
The Holy Spirit Makes Groaning And Utterances Too Deep 
For Our Own Words, Travailing Through Us As We Pray.
 
Romans 8:26-27 tells us this! 
It says:
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
 
ALL THREE OF THESE TYPES OF GROANING ARE TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW.  It’s no secret if you know Steve and I that we have gone through a very difficult season starting a few months before the COVID-19 virus swept our world. With that taking place, we had the loss of our counseling Offices, our dear friend and team counselor/colleague and key supervisor, who carried the doctoral licensure for our Counseling Center died from Covid19. 
Adding to the difficulty, ministry invitations to teach and speak also came to a screeching standstill because people couldn’t travel and churches were suffering financially or were uncomfortable holding services.
 
WHAT IS ONE TO DO WHEN IT FEELS LIKE YOU’RE EXPERIENCING THE LIFE OF JOB OR JOSEPH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT? Certainly it’s not wise to pretend that everything is “perky and wonderful” and then lie to people when they too were suffering. 
No! We groaned and we wept and we encouraged and we prayed and prayed!  And then prayed some more with others who were suffering and going through the groanings of trauma and loss.
For the most part (and I’m truthfully speaking), I’m telling the partial story because the long version of the personal costs and deeper details would take entirely too long to share. I’m sharing openly and a bit vulnerably for a reason though! 
 
We personally had parents locked down in nursing homes over a thousand miles away that we could not get to and one of them died after being abused in that nursing home. Oh yes, we had police and investigators and detectives and even the state of Illinois health board investigating, but by the time they caught up with the perpetrators and those that had dropped my precious 90+ year-old mother-in-law on the front-side of her head, onto a hard wooden bedside table, and then onto the floor where they had stopped using fall mats (because no one was permitted to come into the nursing home to check during lockdowns), her bones were fractured as well as previously from another fall we didn’t know about, until the x-ray team was sent in, garbed up, to run a scan on her. She was also suffering from dementia so it was frantic and frightening for her. 
 
Deep Anguish. Deep Groaning!  The damage had been done and shortly after all of the fees and fines were placed upon this nursing facility, they placed her in a Covid-19 wing, and she died. 
Alone. 
We couldn’t bury her. 
We had one hour to make a decision what to do with her tired little body.  
 
The Glimmer Of Good News was that my father-in-law, who was in an assisted living facility a few blocks away, lived a little longer. He only got to see his wife one time in 18 months and that was through an acrylic panel. No hugging, no touching. 
When he became more frail and tired, Covid restrictions were just then being lifted. 
 
STEVE WAS PROMPTED BY THE LORD to fly to Illinois to see his father because he knew his time to go to heaven was near.  A very dear friend that is like a close family member, graciously offered to cover Steve’s flight expenses and partial hotel stay.
Steve had two days of being at the hospital with Steve’s father while he was being refitted with a new pacemaker, and being treated for an infection from sitting too long and alone in his assisted living apartment. He had been moved to a new, fresh, clean, assisted living facility, where one of our nieces was the new head administrator. Everything seemed so peaceful and wonderful! Steve’s dad was delighted to be getting such wonderful attention and care. 
Steve hugged him good night and said; “I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast Dad! Sleep well.” 
 
At 8:30 the next morning, Steve received a phone call…
… From our niece, and his Dad had fallen into her arms when she went to check on him that morning. He had told her he felt a little dizzy, and then passed into heaven. 
 
God’s Timing Was In The Details. 
There was joy that Steve could go see his Father, there was joy in the new accommodations and “sense of safety” with the Covid restrictions being lifted, and then there was sudden sorrow, groaning, grief, and loss. Steve’s parents had made plans to be buried next to each other, but it was impossible, since Steve‘s mother had to be cremated due to burial restrictions during the thick darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
A BEAUTIFUL THING TOOK PLACE AMIDST THE DEEPEST SORROW. 
Our United States military allows you to place the urn of a deceased spouse into the arms of the other deceased family member, if they were former military.  Steve’s dad was a World War II veteran. Steve’s Mother’s urn was placed in the arms of Steve’s dad, her husband, and they were buried together. An additional blessing was that because Steve was there, he was able to officiate his father’s funeral. It was a full honors military funeral.
 
The Majority Of People Don’t Like To Hear About Hardship From Other People. Especially people in ministry, missionary work, prison ministries, those who rescue trafficked children or those in care giving careers.  There is a “subtle suspicion” that suddenly causes people to pull back and pretend they don’t see the struggle or suffering taking place when they’re used to someone “appearing to look like they have it all together” or who have been some kind of a bright shining hope to them at one time in their lives, or are a ministry, or helper that they once looked up to. 
 
YOU SEE, THE PROBLEM WITH MOST OF US IS,
WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE PAIN, SUFFERING,
AND THE GRIEF OF OTHERS.
 
We Don’t Like To Face The Reality
That We May Be Called Upon 
To Help Those That Are Groaning.
 
 
Just Recently, Steve And I Were Again Facing A Bit Of Difficulty because he had an injury take place when he was working at a local Home Depot in a part-time job where everybody in each department take turns working at the customer services register. Steve being the kind of guy that he is, never slacks off in his work. He leaned over into a shopping cart because there was no one else younger or stronger nearby to help, and lifted out a 60-pound bag of dry cement to scan the price. Steve is 76years old. He is very healthy, very strong, but the lifting of the heavy object caused bulging discs in his lower back and he was in absolutely excruciating pain, thus, started a long recovery. 
 
He Is Actually Doing Really Well Now, and we are so grateful for the prayers and the wonderful chiropractor and doctor that we have, who are both Christians and are 100% committed to working towards better health without surgeries. During this time of Steve having to be home and not working and going to physical therapy, we were both also still doing part-time counseling. Steve gradually had the strength to work on installing and fixing a small appliance in our home. 
 
STEVE ALWAYS, WEARS HIS WEDDING BAND ON HIS LEFT HAND. 
He loves that wedding band! 
Sometimes we set our wedding bands on our kitchen windowsill close to each other so that we can see them next to each other and feel the “cozy joy and love” of knowing we are forever each other’s true love. 
When we were first married, we had picked out our wedding bands, and Steve’s was white gold with a gold center band running through it, with a few lovely diamonds embedded in it. It’s a very special lifetime treasure, which we hope to pass on to one of our grandchildren one day. 
 
Steve Had Taken His Ring Off And He Set It In A Strange, Not Normal Place. 
I had been cleaning house and I noticed his ring sitting in an unusual place. 
I thought to myself that I had better leave it there because he might remember where he put it and might want to put it back on. 
About three days later, he told me he could not find his ring. He couldn’t remember where he put it and I went to look for it in the location that I had last seen it. 
It was gone. 
 
Now Here’s Where It Gets Interesting! 
Steve had a little tin up on his bookcase in his office area. It was an old Altoid mint tin. In it, he keeps a cloth tape measure, rolled up very tightly, a couple coins, and I think he has some paper clips in there. But that’s where he usually takes his ring off and usually puts it in the tin, or next to it every night. He had gone in and looked and took that bookcase apart, and yet, the ring was not to be seen. 
I had gone in and looked from top to bottom as well, looked behind his desk with a flashlight, you name it, and I was searching everywhere! I even looked in his sock drawer to see if the ring had somehow fallen in there, but we could not find it. 
 
WE WERE GREATLY DISCOURAGED, HEARTSICK, SADDENED. 
Yes, it was another time groaning, another disappointment another loss, and although it may seem to be materialistic to some, this was something emotional. It was a bond between us both, that when we took our vows we put those rings on each other‘s hands looking firmly in each other’s eyes saying, “till death do us part”. 
 
You don’t want to replace something like that.
It has history. 
It has memories. 
It has weight to it. 
 
One week passed. 
Two weeks passed. 
Three weeks passed. 
We still could not find it. 
 
I Even Took My Vacuum Cleaner Bag Out And Put A Mask On and poked through it’s contents with a pencil into every single dusty section to see if maybe it had gotten suctioned up into the bag. Nope, it wasn’t in there.
I finally decided I was going to share it in the Kingdom Prayer rooms on Faith United Network’s Christian media site. I’m part of a team of prayer warriors there that pray for people from everywhere, and we fervently pray for, “everything”. Several people decided they were going to get busy praying with us and I basically said that our hearts are broken. 
It’s been something that we just were in anguish over.
 
ONE AFTERNOON I WENT TO LAY DOWN ON OUR BED TO REST. 
The next day was Father’s Day. 
As I lay there I asked the Lord if he would please by his grace, by his mercy, guide me to that ring, show me where it was. I spoke to the Lord saying to him that it would be such an indicator of great love for Steve to find that ring for Father’s Day. It would mean so much to know that the Father cared about even the slightest detail of our lives. 
I Just Could Not Sleep During That Nap After Praying And Crying A Little Bit. So, I got up and something prompted me to go back into Steve‘s office and look in that mint tin, one more time. 
 
Now remember…
Steve had looked in there and I had looked in there thoroughly.  
As I took the tin down and held it closer to my line of sight, at first I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!  Right there, perfectly placed like an egg in the middle of a nest, right in the middle of the wound up cloth measuring tape, perfectly wrapped around it, was Steve’s ring, sitting in the center of it. If we missed seeing it, then we missed it! But I know, and Steve knows that we both had looked in that location several times to no avail.  If the Lord in his kindness and his goodness decided to make sure that the ring was put in a place and then prompted me to go look one more time, I’m going to receive it in childlike faith that he cared so much that let us know. 
 
THE HEAVENLY FATHER CARES ABOUT THE VERY SMALLEST OF THINGS!
Now, some may say, “This is foolishness! Why would God care so much about a ring, and why would he possibly move it or have you see it in a different way?” 
 
There’s Another Interesting Happening In The Scripture.
The floating ax head is a story from 2 Kings 6:1-7, where the prophet Elisha helps a man who lost a borrowed ax head in the water. Elisha performs a miracle by making the iron ax head, float to the surface, demonstrating God's care for even small concerns in our lives.
 
There’s Also A Story Of The Woman Who Had Lost One Of Her Ten Silver Coins.  When she swept her house and looked everywhere for it and when she found it, she went outside and all of her neighbors rejoiced with her. (Luke 15:8-10)   
I WAS SO EXCITED that I’d been prompted to go look specifically in the location of Steve’s ring!  I put it on my finger and walked out and smiled at Steve and I said, “Guess what? Happy Father’s Day!”  He was so delighted and we both cried a little bit, then and then stopped and gave God huge thanks, and then of course I immediately went and shared with the prayer group that the ring had been found! Yippee! There was genuine delight and genuine rejoicing!
 
Dear Believer! 
God IS In The Smallest Of Details. 
He’s In The Little Things That Matter. 
 
RIGHT NOW WE ARE EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED DEVASTATIONS, HATRED, AND TURMOIL IN THE WORLD. Some say that things may be getting better, but maybe in another location it’s becoming more difficult. 
 
THE EARTH IS GROANING!
We are aching and groaning and questioning! 
We are crying out to God saying, 
“What is going on? What more can we do? How can we pray? 
Why are so many suffering? 
Why are the answers not coming? 
Why is it taking so long? 
Why do I have to wait for the answer?”
 
Friends, Inside Of All Of Us, The Holy Spirit Is Groaning. 
That is the urging for us to pray, to cry out and weep before God with groaning too deep for even our own words.
The needs of God‘s people, and the cry for God’s intervention is as urgent in our days as it was in the time of Isaiah. I’m concerned that we may have forgotten the proper concept of what the so-called Christian life is in the sight of God.
Honestly, unless God comes down as “when the melting fire burns to make his name known to his adversaries”, our efforts to stop these unrelenting attacks are pretty much fruitless. That’s from Isaiah 64:2 
 
LOOK AT THE PICTURE OF MANY IN PUBLIC MINISTRY RIGHT NOW! 
How much of it presented in the wisdom of man, applauding the talent, the charisma and the physical appearance? And yet how little of the demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s genuine power.
THE BIBLE DOESN’T HIDE BROKENNESS. 
It doesn’t tie up pain up in a neat little package. What it does is, it shows us the kind of hope that enters into our suffering. 
A hope that weeps, a hope that groans.  
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” 
 
The Hebrew Word For “Near” Doesn’t Mean Help Is On Its Way. 
No! It’s a much more in its potent meaning! It means “present” -right now. Close enough for you to feel God’s breath while he speaks in your ear that. He is there. 
The Word “Crushed” Is Also Strong Word.  
When you’re crushed, you feel ground down, shattered, and at times you cannot lift your head. 
Friends! God doesn’t despise you or ignore you when you’re crushed. 
Actually, he moves TOWARDS you. 
He definitely doesn’t say, “get up and stop your sniveling”, first! 
Instead he says, “I will reach down and help you.” He did this through sharing, sending his son Jesus Christ. 
Love came down to us… 
 
DC Robertson In His 30 Day Devotional Book Titled “Hope For The Broken” Made Very Powerful Statements. I Will Share A Few With You. 
 “Hope doesn’t start when the storm passes. It starts when you realize you are not alone in the storm.  This is a place where the real journey of Hope begins, not in the removal or the resolution of our pain, but in the nearness of God TO us while we are IN pain. 
That’s what sets biblical hope apart from motivational thinking. 
It’s not about finding the silver lining. It’s about finding the savior in the dark.”
 
FRIENDS. THE CHURCH IN A BROADER SENSE, 
IS SUFFERING GREATLY BY HER OWN HANDS. 
Self harm, whether it’s by individuals or institutions, without a doubt involves defective thinking that is a side effect of self-deception. 
 
Many Of Us Are Grieved And Groan At The Devastation In The Church That Happens When Victims Are Silenced And When Abusers Are Protected. So often, Power is abused and truth is hidden from those considered by the deceivers as “the less powerful” in the body of Christ. His bride is still struggling with being unwell and too often is found to be “unsafe”. 
 
DR. DIANE LANGBERG HAS SO MANY GOOD STATEMENTS TO SAY ABOUT THESE THINGS. 
RECENTLY, I READ THIS EXCERPT FROM ONE OF HER POSTS. 
“It’s extremely important to remember that all power is given to us. The power that is operating in someone’s position, they’re gifting, their knowledge or verbal ability, or their spiritual authority has one source. All of that power comes from Christ. He said to us all power is given to ME in heaven and on earth, it’s not ours! It’s his and it’s to be used in humility and in alignment with his word and his character. 
He who had all power never used it to feed off of a vulnerable person or to increase his stature or to protect himself. Any power that we have is his and is to be used to bless others with his grace and truth.”
Christian psychologist Diane Langberg is a deeply intelligent and humble woman who has arbitrated among war torn countries, advocating for healing and preaching Christ through loving actions and helping reconciliation take place. She makes very potent yet honest assessments regarding the condition of many of the houses of worship being exposed today. 
 
I’D ABSOLUTELY SAY FRIENDS
THAT THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF GROANING GOING ON
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT GROANS AS HE SEES
THE DECEPTION AND THE HARM BEING DONE!
 
Here are Diane’s words;
“Where do we who serve a holy God, full of grace and truth, find justification for protecting a place where he desires to dwell, when that place is full of sin and harm done to his lambs? When this is done, we have failed to meet even the requirements of the law of the land, which calls the abuse of children and spouses criminal.
Jesus cleansed the temple twice. His people did not listen. The spiritual leaders of the people failed to obey him. The desecration of God‘s house and his people were scathingly denounced by both Jeremiah and Jesus. 
We who are the people of God, who worship in his sanctuary, need to pay heed and listen! 
Our God would have his refuge be holy, like he is holy. And in Matthew, after Jesus cleansed the temple the second time, he gave us a clear view of his ability to restore God‘s house to its true calling, giving us a picture of what that restoration looks like! 
After the cleansing, the wounded and the sick came in and he healed them. And the little ones came into the temple and sang praises to our God.
When the people of God expose deeds of darkness and the wolves in our midst that commit them, the wounded are healed, and the children sing. It is then that we will know the sanctuary of our God is indeed a holy dwelling for our Lord’s Holy Spirit and a safe harbor for his lambs. 
One of the measurements of our faithfulness to God is in the way that we conduct ourselves in relationship to our fellow humans.
A second measure of our faithfulness to God is in the stamping out and the calling out of sins that harm humanity. 
When these conditions are met, we as his people then live out the character of a holy and loving God and do this in front of the afflicted and needy while a watching world observes. 
It’s when we chase out the darkness and we address the corruption and provide a true sanctuary of safety, that we once again become a holy and a safe place.”
 (Excerpt From the Book “In Our Lives First” - Meditations For Counselors. Volume 2) 
 
DIANE’S WORDS HAVE A DEEP CONVICTING MESSAGE! 
Holy Spirit groaning most definitely takes place as you digest and pray over her words. 
The truth can cut deep into our denial of things.  The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus, and he told his disciples that he would send another, which would be the Holy Spirit who would convict the world of sin.
 
Conviction Causes Us To Groan As The Holy Spirit Groans,
Seeing The Condition Our Own Souls And The Souls
Of The Present Day Deceivers Of Our Current Day.
 
CREATION GROANS!
Romans 8:22-23 so deeply expresses this “groaning of all creation and longing” as we wait upon God, waiting for him to transform every aspect of our lives as individual temples of the Holy Spirit and to transform his church, making his bride spotless and without blemishes or malice.
22 “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together as if in the pains of childbirth until now. 
23 And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body at the resurrection].”
 
FRIENDS, THE WAITING IS SOMETIMES PAINFUL.
The groaning of the whole of creation describes the state of suffering and dissatisfaction with everything we have today! 
Look at how the earthquakes and the tragic floods and heartbreak of their aftermath, the fires burning in the West and the winds are groaning in the Earth right now!
We know - we feel - deep down inside that something is wrong!  Our anxiety and frustration is our inward groaning.
 
SO WHAT’S TO BE DONE? 
THERE’S ONLY ONE THING.
We wait upon God.  
We must cry with a cry that never rests! We say to him, “Oh that you would open the heavens and come down, that the mountains might flow down with your presence!” That’s Isaiah 64 verse 1. 
We must desire, groan in prayer and believe, and we must ask and expect that God would show us Unseen, Unknown things. 
 
Jeremiah 33:3 says,
“Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.”
 
IF HE CAN SHOW ME IN MY SIMPLE MINDED HEART CRY, exactly where my husband‘s wedding ring had been misplaced, or where it had been lost and he had in fact, placed it where I could find it, can he not show us great and mighty things that we know nothing about?
 
Oh Weary Listener!  
We must put our trust in a God who men absolutely don’t know exactly how he goes about preparing acts of great grace and compassion for them! 
 
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE 
WAITING FOR HIM TO FREE YOU, 
TO VINDICATE YOU AND OTHERS 
FROM GROSS LOSSES AND HARM, 
KNOW THAT THIS WONDER WORKING, 
MIRACLE DOING GOD, 
CAN SURPASS ALL OF OUR EXPECTATIONS.  
 
It Must Be The Only One True God Who We Put Our Trust In. 
Yes! Let us as God’s people prepare him room in our hearts to wait on a God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above, what any of us could ask or think. 
That’s Ephesians chapter 3 vs. 20.
 
Let’s join ourselves together as his chosen ones who cry day and night to him for things that men have not seen! He is able to arise and to make his people a name filled with praise and humble adoration in the Earth!
 
Isaiah 38 verse 18 says, 
“The Lord will wait, that he may be gracious to you, 
Blessed are all those that wait for him.”
 
 
In Closing Out This Podcast, 
I’d Like To Say Lovingly But Clearly,  
We Must Take Time To Develop 
This Much Needed Element Of Our Christian Walk. 
 
 
I Echo Andrew Murray, Who Often Talks About How Little We Wait Upon God. We get too much secondhand teaching and spiritual information from the teachings of men. Now, that teaching may have great value, even like the spiritual information, John the Baptist sent his disciples away with, but he sent them to the living Christ. If the teaching leads us to God himself, then it’s good teaching. But what our lives need is more of God. 
Anyone who wants to learn the beauty of waiting on God would do himself or herself a great favor to remember the lesson from Isaiah chapter 7 verse 4. It says to take heed and be quiet. “It’s good that a man quietly waits.” 
 
Friends, Take Time To Be Separated From All Of Your Friends, All Your Duties And Cares, And Even Your Joys. Take Time To Be Still And Quiet Before God. It’s when we look to the Lord and we wait for the God of our salvation that God will hear us and answer us in the most perfect and loving way.  
Micah 7:7. 
But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
 
LET’S PRAY TOGETHER 
Loving Father, I pray that You would teach me how to prayerfully and patiently wait on You, and to come to a true understanding of what it really means to wait on the Lord. Help us to be still before you, to listen to Your voice through Your Word and to abide in You.
Keep us from fretting and worry, but rather let us learn more of You. 
Draw us closer to Yourself and keep us from presumptuous thoughts, but rather teach us humility of heart, knowing that Your desire for all Your children is that we do justly, love mercy and walk humbly before You.
And in all things, I pray that as we learn to wait on You and go deeper into Your Word of truth, that in all things we would bring glory to Your name. 
In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.
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Copyright 2025  "THE MESSENGER" - The Advocate Of Hope  ~ Mary Lindow
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A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE - When God Says "GO"!

 
A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE – When God Says “GO”!
By Mary Lindow
 
This Podcast is going to be focusing on what I would call
“A Miracle on Christmas Eve!”
 
Steve And I Had Just About Been Married About A Year and had been through a complete reorganization of his business due to a partner, having not reported properly on the business financial books. Shortly after we were married, we found this all out and we were saddled with the debt of the business and the business was shuttered and the friendship was shattered.  
 
STEVE REOPENED HIS OWN INTERIOR DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURAL ADVISORY BUSINESS ON A LITERAL SHOESTRING. I was teaching piano and voice lessons and directing a church choir.
 
In October Steve had been asked to totally remodel a local restaurant as well as create matching themed Christmas decor. I had worked in a floral shop for years as a young high school girl and had done many wreaths as well as large swags of things for commercial decorations. I helped Steve begin to build and construct the pieces that went together for all of the items we were going to install. Once it was all prepared and ready, the owner was so grateful and so in love with all the work, she asked us to also do Christmas swags and decor for the Bar and eating area in the bar. This was a few days before Christmas and she had decided she wanted more festive decor in the bar since many parties were to take place for Christmas and up to New Years Day.
So, we gathered materials and created that and installed it.
 
WE WERE NOT ANTICIPATING THAT EXTRA BLESSING FINANCIALLY and we received a $400 check, (which was a lot at that time.) As we began to pray about a Christmas offering, we wanted to do something to honor the Lord at Christmas and help others. A friend of ours whom we had met and had had wonderful prayer meetings with two other schoolteachers in East St. Louis, Missouri, had shared in a prayer meeting about a family in need. At that time, the Bloods and the Crips gangs were very heavily active and there was a tremendous amount of racial tension in East Saint Louis. We were always very careful when driving through the area to not get off on the wrong ramp because often there was a lot of car theft and harm done to people who didn’t know or belong to that area. But, there were times that we would travel down with a group of our friends, both black and white, to a house where a woman by the name of sister Lucy, who had a Doctorate in education, would hold ladies teas and prayer gatherings. We would worship and pray, and intercede and study the word fervently among both black-and-white women who were either highly educated or women who cleaned homes for a living. It didn’t matter! We loved being with each other, and we loved the presence of the Lord. So, when sister Margaret Wren our friend from East St. Louis, who was also a teacher, told us there was a family in desperate need of clothing and food that she knew of and that the mother who was in her early 60s had been holding all of the children and grandchildren together in her home.
 
THIS DEAR WOMAN WAS SCHEDULED TO GO IN FOR OPEN-HEART SURGERY ON CHRISTMAS EVE. Margaret told us there was going to be limited food and of course they weren’t expecting anything for Christmas. Steve and I knew that we were going to end up making what we considered a very significant personal sacrifice instead of doing things we needed to do to broaden our business and also to take care of a few things we needed to handle as well in our home. Yet, the Holy Spirit was persistent. The extra job came in unexpectedly. We knew that $400 was to be used specifically to help this family.
 
WE BEGAN TO TELL OUR SISTER AND BROTHER-IN-LAW WHO LIVED NEXT-DOOR TO US AND A FEW OTHER FAMILIES BEGAN TO GET EXCITED TO HELP. Steve and I went to the local grocery store and filled carts with warm blankets, hams, cereals, fruits, vegetables, different kinds of meat and canned goods, and had the joy of a lifetime like we had won the “Supermarket Sweepstakes!”
 
WE WERE GOING TO GO DELIVER ALL OF THIS ON CHRISTMAS EVE AFTERNOON BEFORE THE DEAR SISTER WAS GOING TO GO AND HAVE HER SURGERY THAT EVENING. Everyone congregated at our little cottage home and we could not believe how many people put together beautiful things for this family! My sister-in-law Judi had put together stacks of beautiful clothing and little outfits for children that her children were no longer fitting into because we had said there were children needing clothing. They also found a giant 6-foot long stocking and filled it with candy, fruit, and nuts.
Another lovely couple had a giant Christmas turkey on a platter with all kinds of onions and celery and carrots with the stuffing ready to go so they could put it in the oven when we got there.
 
THERE WERE BOXES OF DIAPERS, FORMULA, AND SACKS OF GROCERIES FROM SO MANY PEOPLE! Many who also had large families! We really didn’t know how many we were going to be helping! We just knew that there was a large family in need, and there were children were involved. Several married couples lived in the same house with the mother and the poverty was substantial.
 
WE MADE A CARAVAN OF FOUR CARS TO TRAVEL INTO EAST ST. LOUIS and Margaret Wren met us on a side street as we entered to go towards this family‘s house. We parked the cars outside, and there was a young man standing outside who did live in the home, who told us he would watch our cars for us. We told him that we didn’t think it would be a problem and he smiled at us shyly and he’s told us it was very important to have someone from the neighborhood watching your cars. We thanked him and went up the steps to a house that was sturdy but in much needed repair.
 
WE STOOD ON THE PORCH AND RANG THE DOORBELL. The door opened and there was the most precious older woman standing there in her coat and hat with a purse on her arm. She told us she was waiting for us to come before she made her journey to the hospital. As we began to walk in with box after box, package after package, grocery sack after grocery sack of items, the room began to fill with people coming from upstairs just standing there, staring at us in wonder and shock.
 
AS I LOOKED INTO THE KITCHEN AREA, THE ONLY HEAT IN THE HOUSE WAS THE GAS STOVE WITH ALL FOUR BURNERS FLAMING AND THE OVEN DOOR WAS OPEN. Lying over on a vinyl couch was a little infant, beautiful, baby boy dressed only in a T-shirt and a diaper, and the house was chilly.
 
Our hearts were breaking to see how little they had, and yet the love among them was evident and of course, the mother/ grandmother was introducing us all with great pride to her children and their spouses. Two of the little boys saw the big fluffy blankets that we bought. We had stacked things over on a makeshift couch that was really just a twin bed with a covering over it, and these little boys grabbed the blankets and ran upstairs to their rooms.
 
TO SAY IT WAS HUMBLING IS MINIMIZING HOW LITTLE THESE DEAR PEOPLE HAD. We were not there to give out of any sense of benevolence, but out of love.
 
We Began To Talk To Their Children And Coo Over The Babies,
And The Tension In The Room Began To Melt As They Began To See,
That We Were Just People Who Came To Love And Bless Them.
 
Because they knew Margaret Wren, they knew we were safe people and that we were kind people. We knew they were safe people and kind people.
 
NOW HERE’S WHERE THE BEAUTIFUL MIRACLE PART BEGINS TO TAKE PLACE! Steve asked if we might be able to pray for this dear woman heading into surgery that night. She was the one holding the family together and I think pretty much financially as well. She was covering what it cost to pay for the house and just basic comforts. Although several other others did have jobs, it just was not going to be enough with her being incapacitated.
 
SHE SMILED BROADLY, AND SHE SAID, “I AM BELIEVING THAT GOD WILL HEAL ME AND THAT I WILL COME OUT OF THIS WITH A NEW HEART. That I will mend quickly! I trust in Jesus!” Some of her older children were rolling their eyes at her or had an attitude of just accepting that “this was the way their mother always was”, but there was not necessarily disrespect, just a lot of disbelief. Yet, they all joined the large circle we formed to pray.
 
STEVE BEGAN TO PRAY.
He prayed and blessed the family and thanked the Lord for the privilege of meeting every one of them. He asked the Heavenly Father if he would come and show himself to be kind and real to each and every one of them and provide for them and open up new jobs for them. He then laid hands on this dear lady, as did several others who were with us, and he anointed her with oil and prayed that the Lord would touch her body and astound the doctors, asking that there would not nearly be as much damage done to her heart as originally thought.
 
We All Felt This Unusual Warm Presence Gently Surround
All Of Us As We Were Standing There.
Everyone Was Aware Of The Sweetness Of God’s Presence.
 
WHEN STEVE GOT DONE PRAYING, WE ALL HUGGED EVERYONE.
Some of it was awkward, some of it was genuine and warm, and the dear lady said, "I need to be on my way, they’ll be waiting for me at the hospital." We said Merry Christmas to everyone and went outside where the young man was still watching our cars and of course, he had seen us take in all of the items. He was smiling a big smile and gave each of us a hug and said, “Thank you all so much. You have no idea how much this means to our children.” Many of us smiled and said, “We do understand because some of us came from big families and have been through hard times in the past, so we’re so glad to be able to share!”
 
ON OUR WAY HOME STEVE AND I JUST SAT THERE QUIETLY basking in the joy of knowing that God sent us to a difficult place and a potentially dangerous place, and that the enemy would want us to think that we were doing something foolish or dangerous, but instead, we were sent to love people who were in need. We were given the privilege of watching joy take place in their home, as well as seeing their beautiful children, and then praying for the dear lady who was going to have the heart surgery.
 
WE WENT TO STEVE’S PARENTS HOUSE and sat there with Christmas music playing and good food everywhere and said, “we’ve already had our Christmas” We just had the most beautiful moment and it just seemed like everything else paled compared to what we had had the honor of partaking in. It was about a 35-minute drive from Steve’s parents house to ours and we went home and prepared for bed.
 
CHRISTMAS MORNING, (THE NEXT MORNING), WE HAD GOTTEN UP AND WE WERE PREPARING SOME COFFEE AND WERE GOING TO OPEN OUR SMALL GIFTS TO EACH OTHER WHEN THE PHONE RANG. When we answered it, Margaret Wren was on the phone and she was laughing and praising God. We said, “What’s going on Margaret? What’s got you so fired up on Christmas morning to call us! Aren’t you with your family?”
Margaret said, “WELL!! I WAS getting ready to celebrate with my family, but I got a phone call from our dear sister who went into surgery last night …
…And as they were examining her last evening and did a final scan, the doctor was extremely puzzled. They decided to do some exploratory surgery before fully opening her up to make sure that everything was necessary.
Upon further examination with laparoscopy, the doctor was absolutely stunned and flummoxed that this woman’s heart was in perfect condition! There was no scar tissue. There was no evidence of heart attack or stroke anywhere in her body. Her blood pressure had gone into a normal rhythm and she was breathing with ease. They ran more tests and didn’t know what to do with her so they sent her home. 
 
WE WERE STUNNED, JOYFULLY PRAISING GOD AND LAUGHING AT THE FACT THE DOCTOR’S DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH HER! We told Margaret we would split calling everybody up with her to let everyone know, and each time we called and told someone the rejoicing increased!
 
After the phone calls, Steve and I sat and talked about what an absolute moment it must’ve been for her children to have her walk through that door and smile at them and say, “Look what the Lord has done. He gave me the best Christmas ever! He gave me a new heart!” All of those young adults and grandchildren who stood in that room, doubtful that God cared about them very much, but knew that their grandmother or their mother loved them and gave everything for them in order for them to have comfort and shelter. Yet, she stood there bravely and courageously saying she was believing God for a new heart. (I think the Lord gave a few other people a new heart that day as well!)
 
WATCHING PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT FROM YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD or even from your own culture, praying for your mother, bringing gifts and treasures much like the Wiseman brought, filled with abundance because of Jesus to celebrate Christmas, created an open door for God to work a miracle and change an entire family’s focus to see that he not only cares for them, but that he loves them.
 
NO CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, NO TINSEL,
NO BEAUTIFULLY WRAPPED GIFT HELD INTEREST FOR STEVE AND I THAT CHRISTMAS. We sat on our little couch and held hands and wept and praised God for the extra income that we had been given through the unexpected extra job. Even though we had suffered great losses and had been saddled with the business debt, we knew that we had obeyed the Lord being a part of the blessing of watching God unite many people who gave their little bits, which created a tremendous amount to bless another family in need. To see joy on those dear faces and learn of the miracle that took place was more than we could handle!
 
Every Christmas we recount the story. We remember the years where there was hardship and yet God always came through. That dear woman lived into her late 80s and although we never saw her or the family again, we occasionally would hear from sister Margaret about the advances that had taken a place in the family. How the grandchildren were doing. We knew that we had been a small, tiny part of validating that they were worthy of love and care.
 
WHAT IS IT RIGHT NOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH IN ABUNDANCE?
What is it that you have in your home?
Maybe you have a box of new tennis shoes that you don’t really like or a pair of dress shoes.
Maybe you have jeans or clothing that you can’t fit into, or, they’re too big and they’re just hanging in your closet.
Maybe you have an extra $20 or $50 where you could go buy bags of fruit loaves of bread, a few blocks of cheese.
 
When you put these things together and you ask around, you will find a family in need. A family worthy of love, going through a difficult time.
In that moment when you choose to go and be the hands of Christ extended, not only will he empower you with his Holy Spirit, but he gives you the opportunity to offer prayer for the deeper needs that they may have.
 
Perhaps In The Next Few Days You Will Be Called Upon
To Do Something That Starts Out As Simply A Loving Act Of
Giving Of Sustenance And Warmth That Will Turn Into
A Miraculous And Beautiful Testimony.
 
We live in a world in a time we’re hoarding has become something others applaud, holding our “earthly stuff” close to us, and becoming cynical when others suffer or others are going through difficult times.
 
IF YOU HAVE WEALTH, IF YOU HAVE ABUNDANCE OR IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE,  and there is even the slightest hint of condescension or looking down on anyone else who suffers or seems to have cycles of loss, Check your heart!
You have been blessed in abundance, to help others in abundance.
That is the biblical approach to wealth.
 
We don’t store up and hoard for ourselves in order to impress others as believers.
We don’t flaunt and act extravagant in front of others in order to appear superior.
We humble ourselves, we give sacrificially, and we go to hard places, we go to difficult places, perhaps to families who have no interest in Christ, but we become light in their darkness and plant seeds.
 
THERE ARE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS NEARBY WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW, THAT NEED TO KNOW THAT THEY ARE SEEN AND LOVED. Even the smallest thing, a plate of cookies or a basket of fruit taken to a woman who has been recently widowed, can cause her loneliness and fears to be calmed.
 
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO PRAY WITH THOSE THAT YOU GO TO CHECK IN ON. They may say no, they don’t want to be prayed for, and you can lovingly say, “that’s fine. I will pray quietly for you at home.” But never be afraid to offer to pray for them in the moment.
This Is What Jesus Would Do.
 
Ask the Holy Spirit right now what is it that you have been blessed with.
Ask if you are supposed to share a part of that blessing.
Ask if there’s something sacrificial that you can do to help bless others who serve. Those who bless others who care take.
 Bless others who seem to be givers and others think they have an endless supply, when in fact; they too need to be loved and seen.
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST WAS A GIFT OF IMMEASURABLE GRACE.
God gave his entire wealth to mankind so that this gift would give us back access to the Father himself. He gave the very best that heaven could offer. That is why Christmas is such a potent time, because it is to be about the giving, the light, and the celebrating of this immeasurable gift.
 
When We Step Out Into Difficult And Hard Places And Sacrifice,
Remember,
God Is With Us! Emmanuel!
 
Matthew 1:23 Tells us
“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN WILL CONCEIVE AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND THEY SHALL NAME HIM IMMANUEL,” which translated, means, “GOD WITH US.”
 
THE NAME OF JESUS THE MESSIAH, “GOD WITH US”
MANIFESTS IN NOT ONLY THE MIRACULOUS,
BUT HE HEALS AND BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS. 
 
May your celebration of the King of Kings who was sent to earth as a tiny, vulnerable baby, be filled with a deeper understanding of the price that was paid for our lives.
 
Of course we know this is not actually the accurate date or celebration for Jesus’ birthday, but we must never minimize the fact that the world is aware of what we are celebrating! Something of great power and a great comfort. It has a depth and a meaning that many are still seeking to understand.
 
Let us use every opportunity to its fullest to tell of the wonders of his love!
 
Have A Miraculous And Beautiful Christmas Season My Friends!
God Is With Us.
We Are Not Alone!
 
I will say goodbye for now until my next podcast!
I bless you all in the mighty name of the Savior of mankind, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, GOD WITH US.
 
 
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed, as long as the complete message, Website, podcast link and information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! 2024
"THE MESSENGER"  - Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
 
If you would be so kind and assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service in ministry with Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support:
 
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of: 
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To: 
 
His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
PO Box 1253
Denver, Colorado 80614
 USA 
 
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow 
Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
 
ALL gifts are tax-deductible under
His Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
 
We are financially accountable and have been in
full compliance since
1985
THANK YOU!
 

"A Gentle Nudge From God & Joy To The World" - Divine Encounters!

“A Gentle Nudge From God & Joy To The World”
by Mary Lindow
 
I highly encourage you to listen to this podcast!
There are very special "musical moments" that took place in this story about God's Divine Appointment! 
My next two podcasts are going to be two wonderful Christmas season stories that tell you about how God will lead your steps and sometimes, into places that are not always convenient or comfortable! There may be even good hearted individuals telling you that where you’re going is not safe, but God instructs you to still go because there’s a miracle or a need to be met, that must take place.
 
Today’s Podcast Is Going To Be Telling A Story That Just Happened To Me This Past Week.
Isaiah 30:21 says, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”\
 
I Had Stretched Out Getting My Hair Styled, and all the things that “women do before the holidays” and was up to that crucial, “I’d waited too long”  deadline. I had an appointment scheduled far out and suddenly the day arrived! It’s about a 35 to 40 minute drive to where I go due to traffic. So it’s a great time to worship the Lord and ponder life as I make my way to the hairstylist. As I was driving, I was talking to the Lord about so many things and about the condition of the heart of the body of Christ and all of the painful exposures and sad things taking place, as well as the hard working, diligent, good people in the kingdom of God who are rarely seen, and who are rarely given much validation for their service, at least here on earth.
 
It was as if the Lord was saying to me,
“I see it all, just continue to do what I tell YOU to do, and focus on what’s right in front of you.” With that I took it to heart and I arrived at my hair appointment. The young woman that does my hair comes from a Jewish background, but never was active and also had a father who was a very non-practicing Christian, but had instilled some sort of faith in her. Every time I go to her, we share a little bit more. She opens her heart to me now. We talk about her children, and this day was another one of those kinds of days. She is what I call the kind of person you have to gently lead like a sheep to Christ. You can’t preach at them you can’t try to force any kind of message, you just talk about life and about the need for help from God. You laugh with them and love them. By the time I left her, which was about an hour and 40 minutes later there was a gentle peace saturating the room, and several of the other ladies had been listening in on our conversation about the need for peace, kindness, and integrity in the world.
 
My Stylist Even Told Me She Had Prayed Recently and asked God to help her be a better mother. Now this is a huge win to hear her say something like this, but she wanted me to know. I gave her a big hug and a little Christmas present and told her she was a wonderful mother and thanked her for her gracious salon service and told her how gifted she was. She teared up and said, “Those are such nice words. They just went right inside of my heart!” And of course, again, I didn’t preach at her, I simply smiled at her and I said, “Well, every single one of them are true.”
 
She Didn’t Grow Up With Much Validation , and she didn’t grow up with much warmth, so these words must’ve felt like warm honey poured over a very busy, active Soul who is constantly taking care of other people’s needs every single day with her hair Styling profession.
 
It Was An Absolutely Glorious Afternoon In Colorado! We have these warm days that come in during winter! The sun was bright, the sky was gorgeous and clear blue and the temperature was 65°F! On my way home nearby the salon, there is a boutique type style coffee shop that is a rare treat to go to. I had saved a few dollars to go and get a cup of “Christmasy coffee”, because it’s handcrafted and not something that I do on a regular basis. But today I delighted in it and was going to do a little bit of personal restoration, because it has been a very busy season of intense counseling and caring for other people. I had also recently had a parent pass away after a difficult battle with cancer and had gone through some uncomfortable family dynamics with his passing.
 
My Heart Was Still Tender, And I Needed To Process A Bit.
I went in and got my coffee and talked a little bit about “coffee things” with the owner and they directed me to a most glorious Guatemalan coffee that was just spectacular and they prepared my coffee for me kindly! I went outside and sat on their patio and looked at the sky, the trees and the mountains as I sipped joyfully on a glorious perfect brew! I was just relaxing and enjoying the moment and so grateful for God making coffee beans!
I contemplated having another cup of coffee but at $5.60 a cup. (Yikes!) I figured it would be better to go home and brew a few entire pots from beans that I already had!
 
As I Was Leaving, I Got Ready To Get Into My Car, I had parked right in front of a place that we also used to go, to get organic crafted homemade bread and rolls for holidays. It’s called the Great Harvest Bread Company. (Now understand the word “great harvest” is poignant at this point!)
 
When Steve And I Began Full-Time Ministry and began pastoring, our key statement, (we had it painted on the wall in the back of our sanctuary), was “Laborers in The Final Harvest.” This bread company is a Colorado owned Bakery with franchises. As I looked at it, I realize it had been remodeled and everything was extremely decorated and Christmasy and of course, just fun to look at!
 
I Turned To Get Into My Car Again And Gently, Ever So Gently, I Was Nudged By The Holy Spirit To Go Inside. I really didn’t want to go into a bakery because we had just had Thanksgiving and we were kind of “fooded out”. But they do have excellent bread and I thought maybe I would get a little something to bring home for Steve my husband.
 
I Still Didn’t Really Want To Go In.
I was kind of looking forward to getting home and traffic was getting hectic and thick at that time. Yet the Holy Spirit persisted that I go in. It wasn’t urgent, but it was one of those moments where you know there’s a purpose that God wants fulfilled, and my steps were being directed by him! Remember that verse I mentioned previously? It said, “whether you turn to the left or to the right there is a voice behind you saying this is the way walk in it.” This definitely was the Holy Spirit nudging me forward.
 
As I Opened The Door, which had bells on it that jingled as I walked in, I stepped into a room that was absolutely lovely and beautifully prepared for the holiday season. There were nativity sets on display everywhere and handcrafted sale and gift items. Everything was well presented, and a few Hanukkah candelabra were stuck in different places with the words “Jesus is Yeshua” with signs underneath them. I smiled inside and thought “this is pretty cool. I don’t remember this place being very spiritual beforehand when we used to visit!”
 
Over The Sound System Music Was Playing.  
The Song “Worthy Is The Lamb! Worthy Is The Lamb! You Are Holy!”
I just stood there and felt the tears begin to well up and felt gratitude to the Lord for being in a place that didn’t just serve up great organic bread products, they were serving up the bread of life. In that moment, I realized how tired I really was and depleted somewhat from giving out so much lately. Now, I do love to take care of people and nurture and try to persuade them to Christ, into a better way of living and thinking. Counseling lately has been a steady stream of people who have been abused in churches on every level. Building trust and instructing them about their real identity in Christ is again, as well as unpacking Trauma, can be very delicate work.
 
As I Stood There And Just Marveled At The Song. I remembered that for about a week now every morning when I woke up, I was already singing on the inside of me, a similar message. A song coming up out of my spirit! It was a worship song we used to sing often and it was, “I will glorify the king of Kings, I will glorify the lamb. I will glorify the King of Kings, who is the great I AM!”
 
It was as if the Lord was saying, “Keep your eyes on the lamb, keep your eyes on the one who has paid the full price, and as you glorify him, he will walk in your midst.” I was enjoying his presence tremendously standing there, realizing he also wanted me to be refreshed!
 
So With That, I Went Around The Corner To Begin To Look At The Bakery Goods and to see if I could find some good, dark pumpernickel for Steve. And yes, right there in front of me was 1/2 loaf prepackaged ready to go. I picked it up and went around the corner to go to the register and began to notice a shelf above me about shoulder height, filled with the most unusual and beautiful gold-looking jewelry, weaved into different patterns for earrings and bracelets and necklaces, all extremely well-made and unique.
 
There was a woman about mid 40s tending to the jewelry display and adjusting things and replacing items that needed to be restocked. I said, “Hello! These are beautiful. Are you the distributor? Are you a representative?” She said, “Yes I am. I’m here replenishing. I help this organization.”
 
In That Moment, I Felt The Holy Spirit Come Over Me Again and impressed me with this thought, “This is why you’re here!” As she began to share with me about what the organization does, (and I won’t go into all of it right now), but basically in Brazil, there is a beautiful strong grass that grows very thin like a gold wire. The people from an indigenous peoples group there are artisans, and they handcraft all kinds of beautiful things and they have developed this jewelry line. She and a team of other people work to help promote their products so that they can feed the people in their village and produce jobs so they can be self-sufficient. This organization that has been formed is Christian and has only been operating maybe 3 to 5 years. They’re a very quiet, and they’re very small group, but they’re passionate and active in taking care of people.
 
Now remember on my way into the hair salon in the car, I was talking to the Lord about the people that do the hard work behind the scenes. The people that are not high profile public ministries, and those that work so hard to care for others, but are often overlooked when it comes to provision or care themselves. So there I was, standing in front of someone when I had just prayed about it on the way in!
 
As she began to tell me the story of these people, she then went over into the conversation about how she also works among the sexually abused because she was abused herself, as was her child from a relative. She has done tremendous personal work in counseling, and so had her son. She said the sadness still remains that these things happen and have happened. She has decided to be an advocate to help people through the shame and often the shunning from people in the church when they share that this has happened to them.
 
I Began To Talk To Her And Tell Her What I Do As A Pastoral Counselor, as well as having been a minister who understands the public forum and having seen behind the scenes many ministries who were involved in things they should not be involved in, but no one ever caught them.
 
I began to talk to her about the goodness of God and how pleased he was with her for by willing to go and take care of the brokenhearted, to bind up their wounds, take care for the poor, to care for the sick, encouraging her that this was a marvelous and beautiful thing she was doing, and that Jesus himself was looking down upon her with great, great joy, because he paid the price for all that happened to her in order to find a way to bring her to a place of peace, and then to use her to help bring others to a place of hope and peace.
 
Now This Was A Very Brilliant Woman, And She Was Very Discerning.  She had a Masters degree, and some type of a leadership organizational degree as well. 
With tears in her eyes, she said, “You know, I know this was one of those moments where God has you meet someone for a reason.” I asked her if I could take her by the hands and pray for her and she said, “Oh please do!” Yes, right there in the middle of the bread store with people coming in and out I gently took her hands into mine and began to pray for her tired and weary soul. The words just flowed as the Lord himself gave me the right things to pray, and words that he heard and honored, not simply just lip service.
As I prayed, I was prompted to continue praying that the Lord would help her with the funds needed to continue to promote this micro-type business, and then I was prompted to pray that the Lord would give her a very special indicator of his love and concern for her, by providing for her personally during this season. That by showing her in a very unique way that he was going to bless her for her hard work, often unseen, and often unappreciated. I blessed her.
I asked for grace over her as the Holy Spirit began to give me the words that would affirm and validate her.
When I finished praying with her and we looked each other in the eyes, still holding hands, her eyes were streaming with tears and a softness had come over her face. She said, “You have no idea what you prayed. I can tell you’re prophetic.” Of course, I laughed, because I didn’t say one word about that to her. She said, “I do know these things and I can pick up on someone who is a caregiver and a nurturer, but I can also indicate to you I too flow in prophetic gifts and you have no idea how much the Lord just spoke to me and answered things that only he knew I’ve been asking him about.”
And Then She Told Me The Past Five Years Due To Covid And Another Company She Worked For, How The Financial Strain Had Become Unbearable. Yes, she does get paid for working for this organization because they have to have people who do all of the distributing and arranging to get things to the places they need to be for sales, but it is not anything close to what you would consider a secure income. She told me she was trusting God to open a new door to her, and a different group that was going to listen to her about a presentation that night, might possibly bring in the needed finances to continue to help these dear people.
Now imagine, this woman has a masters degree in foreign studies and people groups as well as leadership and she’s more concerned about providing for them than her own income!
We hugged and said if we never meet again, we’ll see each other in eternity but today I told her, today we had a moment in eternity because God planned this day.
 
I Told Her, “I Knew That He Sent Me In. I Wasn’t Going To Come In Today! I just wasn’t going to come into the store and I was prompted twice by the Holy Spirit to come in, because he knew today I was to meet you and you were to meet me, and we were to remind each other of the goodness and the kindness of God.
That God sees!
That God knows everything!
That HE was listening in on our conversation and our prayer and that he was at work sending encouragement, sending Hope, and that we are not alone.”
 
She Suddenly Looked At Her Watch And Squeaked! “I have to go. I’m supposed to be at a meeting in 15 minutes”, grabbed her purse waved to the people behind the counter. They said,“Bless you sister”, and out the door she went.
I did pick up a few brochures and I had saved $40 tucked away in my wallet to go buy a few pine bows to use for some decorating in our home for Christmas.
 
Now I Know Everyone Of You Have Had This Happen To You Before! You know, the Lord says, “It’s up to you, there’s no judgment no guilt, but that $40 could be used for a higher purpose.”
There was a beautiful pair of bohemian-style looking, weaved earrings that had caught my eye in this collection that the woman was organizing, and I knew my youngest son‘s wife’s birthday was coming this week. She loves organizations like this who help take care of disenfranchised people groups who are poor, and long to work and have purpose because she worked for an NGO in Uganda. I selected those earrings with joy and said to myself, “Who needs pine boughs! This is much more fun and much more meaningful! Thank you, Heavenly Father for the prompting!”
 
I took my pumpernickel bread and the earrings to the register and the lady behind the register was smiling at me. I said, “Are you a believer as well?” She said, “Absolutely!”
 
I asked her if there had been new management and she said, “Oh yes, the new manager bought the business in 2019 right before the Covid bioterror event took place. But she pressed on and we prayed on and on and on, and God has been faithful to bless the business.”
 
I was thrilled to find out that believers had purchased this specific franchise. I made my purchases and as always as offered in this location, they give you a slice of fresh warm, organic, honey- whole wheat bread, slathered in butter to eat on your way home. BLISS!
 
I Gathered My Items, Went Out The Door, and got into my car and just sat there looking in the windows, feeling as if indeed, I had just had Christmas, and there in my hand was another indicator of the goodness of people behind the scenes who run excellent Christian businesses, who leave the door open to the stranger and the unbelievers and invite them into their world of warmth and kindness.
 
You See Jesus Came To Be The Bread Of Life! He was the wheat that was ground and poured out that we might feast upon the redemptive powers and hope of his sacrifice. We in turn become much like the parable of the loaves and fishes. He multiplies what we have in our lives and serves it up to those who have need. There is always ample supply even when we think we are completely empty.
 
He Uses It To Expand His Kingdom! We are to share that bread of life, we are to give a “slice” of what we are no matter where we are of that bread when the Lord is behind us saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”
 
I can only imagine that dear woman going home in her car or to her meeting, resting, letting go of the fear, letting go of the stress and anxiety, knowing the Lord had sent a sister with “the slice of the bread of life” to speak hope over her and to give her what Jesus had already prepared in advance for her, if someone would just go! If someone would just step in and obey in the moment.
 
Tell You The Story, Not In Any Way To Pat Myself On The Back, because honestly, my brain was absolutely exhausted and I had 1000 things in my mind I needed to get done like everyone else with pre-holiday decorating and preparing to travel. In between all of that is working and caring for others and just life in general! I could’ve simply sat there with my tasty coffee and enjoyed my time and been fine!
 
I Could’ve Chosen To Not Go Into The Shop and just get into my car and drive home at my planned time so I would miss traffic rush-hour. I would’ve never known the difference except may be a little bit of sadness in my heart that I pushed away a prompting of the Holy Spirit because I was tired.
I Want To Encourage You That The Christmas Season Is A Unique Time When People Are Longing To Feel Safe.
Safe and, they want to experience deep joy.
They have warm memories inside of them from Christmas events, or they have damaged and frightening memories because of things that have taken place during the holidays. It’s in these gentle but poignant moments when the Holy Spirit can bypass our fleshly concepts of fatigue and timing, and direct us into a divine appointment, a divine moment that was planned by the hand of God, so that the Bread of life that came to earth to redeem mankind is served up fresh!
 
As I Drove Home Again, The Tears Were Streaming From My Face, and I worshiped and praised God with a music station that was playing Christmas carols. The song “Joy to the World” began to play.
 
As always, the one line that just pierces my own heart and has since I was a little girl, was, “Let every heart, prepare him room.” When I was a little girl, I used to picture very vividly that in my heart, there was like a storybook picture of a hollowed out tree, and inside there was a little bed and I would picture preparing a room for Jesus. I wanted to have a table with a candle set on it, some homemade cookies, some fruit, a comfortable chair and a warm bed for him to lay his head down to sleep. I was “preparing him, a room!”
I realized that in that coffee shop in that hair salon, I had prepared him room, and indeed it was, “Joy to the World!
 
I Encourage You - Everyone Listening, to understand that “heaven and nature sing” when we obey the Spirit promptly and heed that voice behind us directing our steps.
You Are The Light Of The World Now!
You are the lamp that God uses, and if we put a basket over it, or we decide to cloak it and go about our way, we will miss the opportunities to prepare him room in our hearts, and in the world. Today if you hear his voice, don’t harden your heart. Obey him promptly.
 
You Know, The One Thing I Have Found Out About Sacrifice Is That It Hurts A Little Bit.
It’s inconvenient to give time to people.
It’s inconvenient to stop and listen.
It’s inconvenient to get out of your car and go help someone who is fragile walk into a store or walk across the street.
It’s inconvenient to scale back on your Christmas gifts and giving to yourself in order to help others in peril or to help others in need. To help others share the gospel like this dear lady who was beautifully displaying the handcrafted hard work done by these individuals in order to help to further the gospel.
Be Aware!
Be listening for “holy moments” during this Christmas “holy days” season.
 
Each Of You Are Ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of you are sent out in the world to tell of that wonderful, marvelous news. And often, we’re sent out to encourage one another to do good works and to continue in serving, even though others may not see, others may not understand, and others may not validate!
My Next Podcast Is Going To Be A Story About Where We Went Into A Very Dangerous Place, led by the Holy Spirit of course, and how truly a Christmas Eve healing miracle took place that completely changed an entire family’s trajectory.
I encourage you to go to my website at www.marylindow.com
I have some beautiful short video presentations with scripture and music and encouragement to play, especially for those who are fighting anxiety or who are going through persecution or a lot of pain right now. Just hit that video button at the top of the website and scroll down and there are several there for you to enjoy.
Please Take Time To Rest In The Lord‘s Presence And Not Be So Over-Taxed About Holiday Preparations. It is after all HIS birthday and his celebration! It was also the day that he began to lay down his life for 33 years to come and prepare the way for us to be able to be redeemed!
 What A Mighty King We Serve!
Until my next podcast, I bless you in the name that is higher than any other name and that is the name of King Jesus Christ the Messiah!
 Goodbye for now!
 
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed, as long as the complete message, Website, podcast link and information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! "2024"
"THE MESSENGER"  - Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
 
If you would be so kind and assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service in ministry with Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support:
 
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of: 
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To: 
 
His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
PO Box 1253
Denver, Colorado 80614
 USA 
 
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
 
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow 
Under the name of - Mary Lindow
ALL gifts are tax-deductible under
His Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
We are financially accountable and have been
in full compliance since
1985 THANK YOU!
 

The Clash of Kingdoms and Moves of God - WE ARE NOT ALONE

By Mary Lindow
 
TODAY’S PODCAST IS ADDRESSING SOMETHING THAT I FEEL THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HAS GIVEN TO ME TO SHARE WITH ALL OF YOU, AS WELL AS HAVING A PROPHETIC WORD AT THE END.
THERE IS ALSO A BEAUTIFUL SONG FROM THE LORD TALKING ABOUT HOW HIS MERCY REDEEMS.
This was a song that our son, Joel our oldest son recorded while he was going through a very difficult and deep time in his life and out of that came this beautiful song out of his grief and out of his hurt. Out of his challenges and change came this beautiful worship song, which I feel will encourage you today!
 
IT’S A CRAZY, UPSIDE DOWN, DISPLACING PHENOMENON WITH ALL THAT IS BEING THROWN AT US IN THE WORLD AND IT’S NARRATIVES.
It’s trying to get us to feel completely off balance and mentally weary. Resting, reading, getting outdoors, crying, laughing and expressing healthy anger gets a good detox going, shaking off the "world slime" and, its agendas.
Quiet resting in the presence of God just letting His grace and unfailing "nurture" wash us clean, renews the day and our minds.
 
MY FRIENDS, THIS BATTLE IS UGLY, LONG, IT’S VICIOUS and although new to us humans right now, to God it’s the same mocking evil that has forever attempted to overthrow and usurp His Kingdom.
It will never happen!
He IS THE Supreme Being, THE Creator of Love, and he laughs at the wicked.
 
NOW, WE AS HUMANS CAN’T MANUFACTURE AN AUTHENTIC MOVE OF GOD, but we CAN create the conditions that welcome a move of God!
We mustn’t forget that these events are God’s Divine work.
Human planning ignores the sovereignty of the Living God.  
A move of God begins with a person, or with a very small group of people.
Minorities, not multitudes make history.
 
WHEN GOD SENDS A FRESH MOVE BY HIS SPIRIT, IT ALWAYS COMES SUDDENLY. Where we are least expecting Him to act, God intervenes in time and space, revealing His might and His mercy.
Light comes into dark places whether invited or not.
And, it either exposes or…
…It illuminates hearts.
 
THE VOICE OF TRUTH WILL NOT BE MOCKED OR TWISTED.
Now, God will allow time for a heart to hear and obey, but will not permit passive resistance to change when He is speaking of new directions and desires to straighten out crooked paths.
Follow the Light of Christ prodding you to obey and fall upon the rock! Broken and honest people are His favored ones.
When a heart is open to the whispers of "The Counselor", life becomes a sweet gift as each day unfolds itself like a blooming flower, from bud to full mature glory, peeling away the layers of hiding and hurting, helplessness, and the hoarding of secrets.
Light shines into your darkness and fear no longer paralyzes you when you listen to the ONE, who knows you better than any other.
 
LOVE YOUR FAMILY, PLAY, PRAY AND PROTECT.
That’s power against the darkness!
And yes! Pray honest warrior prayers!
King David did!
In Psalm 10:15 he cried out to God saying,
“Break the arm of the wicked and evil man Oh God!
Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds,
which he thought you would not discover.”
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS THE FOLLOWING WORD OF PROPHECY
TO US IN THIS MESSAGE.
I want you to listen with an open heart
to what God instructs us to do at this time.
Here is what the Spirit of God has shared:
"Darker and broader and louder come the shouts of world to draw you into its intricate webs. 
These webs of deceit are spun with easy threads of recommendations to give in and accept passive living, and they lie with the softness of the promise of an easier life.
There is a reckoning coming to those that sell lies and imprison those who buy their wares.   
But, for those who are determined to not walk on a fence, trying to balance between their own thinking and me, there will be a “Divine Might” that will empower them to continue down the narrow and simpler pathway.
Where does this narrowing journey lead? 
What is the payoff at the end?
As you become more determined and lay aside the things that have hindered you over and over again from fully entering into the deeper places with me, a lightness and freedom will propel you toward a place of Living and Clean Light.  
That Light is Me, and you will soon know Me in a different way than you have in past years and different seasons in life.
My one warning to many is that they cannot argue that the path is “too hard”. 
What mankind may call “impossible” I call “Straight and Direct”. 
If you choose to alter the plans that I have set down for your protection and safety, you will grieve my Spirit and allow a searing of your conscience to override the truths that you know deep in your heart.
 Isaiah 26:7 says 
“The path of those who do right is straight and smooth.        
I, who am upright, make the way of the righteous level.” 
 
The simplifying and straightening of crooked places in your life has begun to increase, and the love for this move of my hand has decreased among those who choose to remain passive to conviction and pure living. 
Allow my Holy Spirit to move freely again!
I know what I must do, to break the constraints of man.
Let me move!
Wait in my Presence in prayer, in worship, in gatherings!
My Presence and Peace creates the environment for a move among humans who hunger for hope and safety! 
“Don’t stifle the Holy Spirit. 
Don't scoff at prophecies,
But test everything that is said. 
Hold on to what is good.” - I Thessalonians 5:19-21
 
Choose the “more narrow, simple way”, 
I Am there. 
Choose the pathway of “rightness and tenderheartedness” with me, even when others scoff at your simple and grace-filled choices.
When the days become darker and the world tilts and twists in further unrestrained darkness, you will be the carrier of My Light, which can lead the lukewarm and lost down the narrow, but safe and integral way, straight to Me.
Be Gracious. Be Kind. Be Hopeful.
Let go of bitterness and self-protective behaviors.
Grace and Kindness, Humility and Compassion, are the behaviors that attract the move of my hand and heart in the earth.
 
There is no greater love on earth than when you lay down your own life and your own opinions and lift up love and a sacrifice of worship and joyful unrestrained giving of all you have spiritually, physically, and in humble intercession, so that others might thrive. 
“I Am Forever With You!” Says the Spirit of Grace.
 
THIS WAS A POWERFUL WORD FROM THE LORD FOR US!
I encourage you to maybe print it out, take time to meditate on it.
Pray about it!
These moves of God that we are beginning to see moving on college campuses in different areas and now beginning to move in junior high schools, these are the moves of God that are coming for us to partake of and not to put our hands on and try to manipulate, and certainly not to cause these to become a movement that becomes something that we promote or try to sell something from!
Let them remain organic!
Let the Spirit of God blow across the land and if you’ll notice, this is causing people to cry out to God and repentance to get their hearts right.
 
MANY PEOPLE HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT IT’S LIKE TO WAIT IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD, and to let worship just roll through the congregation or the gatherings!
Many churches have become more "concert focused" in their worship lifestyles and people just sit and listen, but there is no real entering in! No hymns, no traditional songs, maybe modernized, but certainly these are the hymns of our faith!
I NOW ENCOURAGE YOU TO SIT BACK AND LISTEN TO THIS BEAUTIFUL, WORSHIPFUL SONG AND LET THE HOLY SPIRIT SING OVER YOU, sing through you (and I think there will be some tears), as you just enjoy the beauty of how the Mercy of God Redeems us and make us clean.
 
I encourage you to go to my website which is at www.marylindow.com
I now have a page there that introduces you to our pastoral counseling services. We keep the fees very modest because we believe in helping people and not “fleecing” people.
 Now, let’s listen to that song!
 
"Your Mercy Redeems"
© Joel Lindow 2013
Do in me, Anything,To bring you Glory
Do in me, AnythingTo tell your story
Your Mercy RedeemsYour Mercy Makes CleanDo in me, Anything,To bring you GloryYour Mercy RedeemsYour Mercy Exceeds
 
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed, as long as the complete message, Website, podcast link and information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! 2023
"THE MESSENGER"  - Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
 
If you would be so kind and assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as web site and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service with
Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support:
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of:
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To:
His Beloved Ministries Inc. 

PO Box 1253
 Denver, Colorado 80614
 USA
Or feel free to use our 
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow
Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc.
 
ALL gifts are tax-deductible under
 His Beloved Ministries  5013c non-profit status.
We are financially accountable and have been in full compliance since
1985 with Clergy Financial Advantage.
THANK YOU!
 

”The Timing of God and His Impeccable Attention To Details”

By Mary Lindow
Today’s podcast is one that I am going to share with you about “another wonderful story” of how the Holy Spirit can prompt us to do things for others at the most uncanny times, and as if they were perfectly orchestrated years and years beforehand.
And, of course, the Lord knows the heart desire of every one of his children, but he often uses his own children to help bring about the heart’s desire for many other people by being obedient and acting when the Holy Spirit in first Corinthians says, “Don’t you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don’t belong to yourselves.” 1 Corinthians 6:19
 
IT WAS NEAR CHRISTMAS TIME, and a local Women’s Aglow group, which happened to be a good sized chapter, was having a Christmas ladies luncheon and asked if I would come in and be their keynote speaker. The room was decorated beautifully and of course the tables were festive for the holiday!
As I was sitting at the table next to the team members and the president of the group, there was a conversation about the beautiful table settings. I was just listening and enjoying hearing them talk about how they went about getting everything ready, and why they wanted to make it so nice for so many other women that were coming, because many of them worked full-time jobs and didn’t get a chance to come and partake of beautiful things during the holidays because they were also busy mothers.
 
ONE OF THE LADIES BY THE NAME OF BILLY WAS SHARING WITH EVERYONE THAT SHE HAD JUST GONE SHOPPING WITH HER DAUGHTER A FEW WEEKS AGO, and they had picked out Wedding China for her daughter and her husband, because her daughter was going to be married in the spring. She went on to say that she never did get to have Wedding China as a young bride and wanted her daughter to have a beautiful experience and opportunity to have a beautiful table.
 
I THOUGHT, "WHAT A WONDERFUL THING THIS WAS THAT THIS WOMAN WAS GETTING CHINA FOR HER DAUGHTER, AND THAT SHE HAD NEVER HAD WEDDING CHINA HERSELF." She went on to mention that she had picked out a special pattern herself as a young bride, but that it was just not possible for her family and friends to give wedding china at that point, because it was a very frugal wedding, and other wedding gifts were more important.
I sat there and wondered about how wonderful it was for her as a mother, to be so concerned that her daughter would have a beautiful table to set with beautiful things, when she herself had never had any. Now, it was time for me to get up and share my Christmas message so I did, and afterwards told her how beautiful her story was to me about her daughter, and proceeded to go home for the day.
On my way home, I began to remember that I have been given an entire set a Fine China from a dear friend, whom I had come to know while I was in Bible College.
 
NOW, THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING!
This dear, godly, lovely man would take on students to help with jobs or different kinds of projects in his home or, other derelict properties that he would buy, and train them and also pay them so they could pay for their Bible college fees. He had been in the military with a high clearance type of job, and although he had wanted to marry, he knew that he would never be able to be home enough to justify caring for a bride. At 63 he began to take students into his home for meals and storytelling, and developing them for skill sets. He had been a trainer for all kinds of business components of the military.
WHEN I MET HIM WHEN IMMEDIATELY HAD A BOND because he was also a gifted musician, and had a love for Fine art and Fine China. He would go to the thrift stores or take me along and different places where very wealthy Texans would drop off Crystal and China and dishes and silver that they were no longer using. So he was forever scouting out Havilland china pieces or different kinds of China to add to his collection. I went on to meet my husband and marry him later and we moved to Illinois. (That’s where my husbands from.)
THIS LOVELY MAN BY THE NAME OF ALAN would occasionally sent boxes of pieces of things that he would find to add to a side of China for me, and I did have wedding China of my own. At one time we had three full sets of Fine China and I wasn’t sure what to do with all of it! Then came two boxes that he had found of a 1950s china pattern that he thought was exquisite! I had opened the boxes and noticed there were eight place settings, eight cups and saucers, eight salad plates, eight serving plates, and also a creamer and sugar set as well as a large serving bowl.
 
SOMEHOW, I NEVER FELT LIKE THESE WERE TO BELONG TO ME, and I really didn’t have storage for them. So, I put them away in a cupboard thinking that someday if we moved and I had a China hutch for them, I would use them as spring dishes. They had a platinum rim, they were white and off to the right side there was a spray of flowers that had a lot of teal and a little bit of touch of pink and a hint of orange, and of course soft green.
 
STEVE AND I WERE THEN CALLED TO GO HELP PIONEER A CHURCH IN MISSOURI, so we packed everything up and moved those dishes and everything else to Missouri. And understand these dishes have been shipped from Dallas Texas to Illinois. Now they were taking a trip to Missouri!
 
ABOUT TWO YEARS LATER STEVE AND I DECIDED THAT WE WERE GOING TO MOVE BACK TO DENVER, COLORADO BECAUSE THE LORD HAD PROMPTED US TO DO SO. So once again, we packed everything up and moved to Denver. There I was in Denver speaking at a Women’s Aglow Christmas banquet luncheon and I hear this woman-discussing find China for her daughter.
 
NOW! BACK TO ME ON MY WAY HOME. 
The thought came to me, (prompted by the Holy Spirit) “Why don’t you give that set of China to Billy? What a wonderful Christmas gift it would be to gift to her, and she would have a lovely set of China for her own home.”
I was absolutely thrilled to think that this would belong to someone else, and that the Lord would want me to give it to them. But I wasn’t sure if it was a pattern she would want or not.
 
BUT THE PERSISTENT NUDGING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…
… WOULD NOT GO AWAY!
 
I went into our basement storage area and found the two boxes and everything was still pristine and in great condition. I wrote a quick card, and told her that I felt like the Lord wanted me to give these to her after listening to her conversation about buying China for her daughter and then that I just wanted to bless her with it so she would have a beautiful table at Christmas time. I did get a hold of her telephone number and called and told her that I was having my husband and two little boys run some boxes by, just a little something for her. Would she be home? She said of course she would and she said she was “quite intrigued”.
I BUNDLED UP THE BOXES AND HELPED MY HUSBAND GET THE TWO LITTLE BOYS INTO THE CAR AND OFF THEY WENT TO DO THE DELIVERY. I was downstairs folding laundry, and just thinking about how much I hoped it blessed her, and that she would be tickled that the lord thought of her.
 
 NOW COMES THE MOST EXCITING PART!
The phone starts ringing and I went upstairs and I missed it. (This is back when Cell Phones were way too expensive for everyone and we still had a landline with a long cord!)
Then the phone started ringing again, so I quickly answered the phone, and on the other end, there was the sound of someone gasping and crying! Now Being a pastor's wife, we often received calls from people who were in distress or who were needing prayer, so, I began to saying, “Hello? Who’s there? Can I help you?” Finally, the person on the end of the line was able to clear their throat and gather their emotions, and it was Billy the lady who Steve had dropped the China off to.
 
SHE BEGAN SAYING, “OH MARY! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!” And of course I didn’t, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but I could tell that she was overcome! She then began to tell me that when the boxes arrived, she was tickled to think that someone thought of her, and my husband said my wife wanted to give these to you and wish you a Merry Christmas. But, when she closed the door and went to open the packages, she reached in and pulled out one of the dinner plates that was in a slotted cardboard area. The China pattern was the EXACT China pattern that she had wanted as a young bride, but never had. It had the platinum rim that she had desired to have on her pattern! And there were eight place settings, just enough for her Christmas table and her family that was coming to feast. Also, she was able to set a beautiful place setting and table, for the Mother of the Groom, who was going to come and visit.
 
THIS WOMAN WAS WEEPING AND LAUGHING, AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THE LORD WOULD HAVE HELD ONTO THIS CHINA FOR HER ALL THESE YEARS. I told her that they have been given to me and shipped from Dallas to Illinois to Missouri to Denver. Imagine! The Lord had shipped those dishes, and had me move them “strategically”, until they got into the hands of the woman that he had planned to bless them with!
 
MY FRIENDS, GOD KNOWS THE DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS even down to the simple things like Fine China, and he knows that soft and beautiful things, in specific times of our life are so necessary, to show us how lavish and beautiful his care and love for us is.
 
THE STORY GOES ON BECAUSE MANY OF HER FRIENDS THEN BEGAN TO HEAR THE STORY ABOUT “THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE CHINA”, and they began to give her serving pieces that matched, or Silver pieces or Crystal, and one friend even gave her a set of family silverware to accompany her beautiful table. Everyone wanted to get in on the beautiful moment!
 
WHEN STEVE CAME HOME, WE JUST PUT OUR ARMS AROUND EACH OTHER AND LAUGHED AND CRIED at the joy of knowing the Lord had those dishes, literally moved and sent on his behalf, to this darling woman.
 
I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO NEVER, EVER, MINIMIZE THE FACT, THE HOLY SPIRIT ASKS YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
It could be something as simple as giving them a beautiful scarf that you are no longer wearing, or perhaps you have tools in your garage that you’re not using.
IT’S IN THE ACT OF GIVING
THAT THE PRESENCE OF GOD COMES DOWN
AND TRANSFORMS WHAT WE ARE GIVING, INTO HOPE.
 
 
GIVING IS NOT THE NATURE OF THE DARK WORLD! Taking and grasping and hoarding is from the dark part of the world. But we as believers are to give freely because we have freely received everything we could ever need to save us from the doom and darkness of this world.
When Christ himself came and gave his life as a lamb, as a child, he gave his life to us in the form of an infant so that when his day to die up on the cross came; he could truly say that he experienced life like we have, from cradle to grave.
 
AS WE ALL BEGIN TO DE-CLUTTER AND PUT AWAY CHRISTMAS ITEMS, I would encourage you to look at through the lens of what you have, and ask the Lord, “Is this something that I need to be sharing with someone else?”
Is there another set of silverware in your house that you are not using that another family might need?
Do you have several pairs of sports tennis shoes that you purchased and realized you don’t like them and they’re practically brand new?
 
FIND A FAMILY, FIND SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THEM.
And yes, you have to look for them sometimes, but the Lord will direct your path because you are led by the Holy Spirit and you belong to Him, and the Holy Spirit wastes NOTHING!
 
WE ARE LIVING IN A TIME WHERE THE BODY OF CHRIST
IS BEING CHAMPIONED AND CHALLENGED TO LEARN
HOW TO CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER AND MEET ONE ANOTHER’S NEEDS SO THAT NONE ARE LACKING.
There’s no place in the Bible that talks about hoarding or keeping everything to us. None whatsoever. But it does talk about sharing and at times, “sacrificial giving to others” so that they may know the love of Christ.
I encourage you to go through your canned goods to look at your bedding, sheets, extra coats, and by all means that dozens of Bibles that we all have sitting on our shelves in abundance! There are those who would give anything to have a new Bible or perhaps a warmer winter coat.
 
WE CANNOT LOOK DOWN ON THOSE WHO ARE SLIGHTLY IMPOVERISHED OR IMPOVERISHED,
BECAUSE THERE’S NOTHING "MORE GODLY" ABOUT BEING WEALTHY, THAN THERE IS ABOUT BEING POOR.
 
GOD JUDGES THE INTENTION OF OUR HEARTS,
NOT THE ABUNDANCE OF OUR WALLETS.
 
THERE ARE THINGS AROUND YOU THAT THE LORD HAS PLACED WITHIN YOUR REACH and maybe even you have moved from state to state or move from one house to another that you could easily ask him about and ask him to prompt you to show you who is this to go to.
You may be sitting in a restaurant and hear someone talking about something they need and you may be prompted by the Holy Spirit that you are the one that has it.
It takes simple listening.
It just takes simple listening!
It doesn’t take a Herculean effort.
But love acts!
 
ONCE WE SECOND-GUESS OURSELVES and never stop and buy that cup of coffee for the person in front of us that seems downtrodden. Or, we wonder if that $20 towards someone’s grocery bill in front of us makes any difference, then we miss out on the blessing. But you see it’s not for us to question the amount or the moment! It’s for us to act in loving grace and humility and kindness, and in that moment change the world!
 
HEAVEN COMES DOWN AND MEETS THE NEED AND KISSES SOMEONE’S HEART WITH HOPE, AND HE USES US TO DO IT.
 
I wish you all a beautiful week as you prepare  for this up-and-coming year.
My message after the first of the year is going to talk about “Peace in the midst of chaos” because the world is becoming more chaotic, and unfortunately the world is covered with a gross darkness right now.
Believers need to be strengthened encouraged not to quit, not to hide, and certainly not to hoard!
I BLESS YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS AND I PRAY NOW THAT HE WILL TOUCH YOU AND GUIDE YOU AND SHOW YOU WHAT TO DO WITH THE THINGS THAT YOU DO HAVE, THAT YOU CAN GIVE FREELY. And, perhaps there are things that you are feeling a tug at your heart that you need to give but they’re going to cause a little pain to give away. That’s OK! The Lord does love, sacrificial, giving, and above all, he loves a joyful giver!
 
THERE IS NOTHING MORE JOYFUL THAN TO SEE THE ABSOLUTE SURPRISE AND DELIGHT ON THE FACE OF SOMEONE THAT YOU HAVE BLESSED IN KINDNESS, AND WITHOUT FANFARE.
 
Have a beautiful and Happy New Year, but above all, pray that the Lord would show you what he has to say to you in 2023 specifically for your life  and what kind of assignments he has for you.
 
THE CHURCH IS BEING CALLED UP TO BE THE FULL ARMORED BODY OF CHRIST, AND MY FRIENDS THAT MEANS YOU AND I.
Goodbye for now please go to my website at www.marylindow.com where you can listen to this podcast directly there or you can read and listen to other things that I have posted there and a few videos.
I say thank you to all of you who have been so gracious to send beautiful Christmas cards and little notes in the mail and also emails with encouraging words, sharing what these podcasts and stories I’ve been doing mean to you.
And I thank those of you who have been prompted by the Lord to support this next year of ministry. Your response has been a bit overwhelming and I thank you for your help, and also I think you more than anything for your prayers for I truly do feel them.
God bless all of you.
 
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed provided that complete article, podcast and website information for Mary Lindow is included. Thank You!
Copyright © 2022 " THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
  www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
 
If you would be so kind and assist Mary, helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website and podcast costs, or desire to bless her  ministry service with Spirit-led love gifts or regular support:
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of: 
► Personal Checks ► Business Checks
► Money Orders ► Cashiers Checks
To: 
His Beloved Ministries Inc. PO Box 1253Denver, Colorado 80614USA 
Or feel free to use or send a tax-deductible gift with
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow 
Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc. 
 
ALL gifts are tax-deductible underHis Beloved Ministries  501(3)c non-profit status.
We are financially accountable and have been in full compliance since
1985 with Clergy Financial Advantage.
THANK YOU!
 

“THE SPIRIT OF GOD SPEAKS! DREAMS - VISIONS and PROPHECY. OH CANADA!

 
By Mary Lindow
TODAY I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE TRUTH AND REALITY OF HOW GOD, AND WHY GOD USES DREAMS AND VISIONS, WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE, WORDS OF WISDOM AND PROPHETIC WORDS TO DIRECT US, ENCOURAGE US, AND TO PROTECT US!
I’m also sharing a very recent dream that I had and how it confirmed God’s plan for a local church that Steve and I were invited to minister at.
SO OFTEN PEOPLE THINK THE LORD ONLY SPEAKS TO “SPECIFIC PEOPLE” AND THAT HE CANNOT SPEAK TO THEM IN THE SAME WAY. So, I think we need to understand clearly as believers what the Lord said in Jeremiah 33:3.
‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
He also says in the book of James if any man lacks wisdom let him ask of God who will give to all liberally and will not withhold it!
The one big catchall is that people think God‘s going to speak to them at the same time or in the same way or in the same fashion he has previously, and so when they don’t hear from him the same way all the time, they wonder somehow if they’ve missed it.
 
TIME AND TIME AGAIN THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT NIGHT VISIONS AND DREAMS THAT THE LORD USED TO INSTRUCT HIS PEOPLE, AND TO PROTECT THEM! 
Here are a few Bible verses that give examples of biblical dreams, provide guidance on how to verify the source of this type of revelation, and show God's purpose in using them.
Amos 3:7 – "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets."
Daniel 1:17 – "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds."
Job 33:14-15 – "For God does speak—now one way, now another—though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds. 
ONE THING ABOUT HEARING FROM THE LORD IS THIS. 
There has to be an element of the Word of God undergirding anything you receive in a vision, in a dream, or through other people who are used in the prophetic gifts of word of knowledge and word of wisdom! It is out of the word of God that prophecy then is solidified!
 
I’M GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU ONE OF MY MOST RECENT EXPERIENCES to encourage you to know that as we act upon what the Holy Spirit shows us, he can then move corporately. He likes to move among groups of people!
 
STEVE AND I WERE RECENTLY INVITED TO SPEAK AT A WONDERFUL FELLOWSHIP NOT TOO FAR FROM OUR HOME IN A CITY CALLED BRIGHTON, COLORADO. So, we were praying about it and told the pastor and his wife that we wanted to pray first before we committed to saying we would come, because, we wanted to make sure what we were supposed to share, and to be sure it was the right timing.
We had gone to bed one evening and I had gotten back out of bed up to get some water and was just restless and not ready to sleep. I read for a while and finally got tired enough to go back to bed and fell into a deep sleep. 
I THEN HAD A VERY VIVID DREAM. In the dream I was standing up behind a pulpit or podium, and Steve was standing there with me and I looked out into the congregation and I saw a young man who was very tall and had on a gray colored t-shirt, he had a beard and had a baseball cap on and was wearing black framed glasses. He was halfway between the congregation and about six seats in and he was to my right as I was facing him. 
AS I WAS STANDING THERE, I FELT THE HOLY SPIRIT STANDING BEHIND ME. He said to me, “People want to receive their prayer language. If you will tell people exactly what I want you to say, I’m going to move on and within them today. They’re going to experience the fullness of my joy with their prayer language by speaking in tongues.” 
So, in the dream I said these words, “I had a dream and the Holy Spirit showed me that they were people here who would be moved on by the Holy Spirit and will receive the blessing of praying tongues, and there are many here who have been afraid of it or who have not been able to get a release for some reason when they were prayed for. As I stand here and begin to pray the Holy Spirit‘s going to come on you in a very gentle and soft presence, and we’re just going to all lift our voices and in that moment and you’re going to be able to be released to pray in tongues.”  
In the dream, I was watching the young man and I pointed out him and I said,  “You are one who has been wanting the Lord to bless you with speaking of tongues aren’t you” and he raised his hand up and was crying and he said “yes”, and in that moment I just said to him that the Holy Spirit is gently touching you right now, just begin to open your mouth and begin to speak, and he did! He immediately began to pray in this beautiful prayer language and then the whole place erupted with people cheering and crying and the room was filled with the Spirit of God and the whole room was lifted up in worship and praise to God with people praying in tongues and laughing joyfully. There was lots of crying and worship, because they could feel the love and kindness of the Lord everywhere.
 
I THEN WENT BACK TO SLEEP AND SLEPT DEEPLY I GUESS, BECAUSE WHEN I WOKE UP IN THE MORNING I WAS AWARE THAT I HAD SLEPT LONG AND HARD.Steve was already up and was drinking coffee and reading, so I told him about the dream and that the Holy Spirit had said that there were people at this church (the church’s name is “Fearless Church”) that had been wanting to receive their prayer language and speak in tongues, but they just had not had the release, or, anyone help them with that. So I told him that the Holy Spirit said if we will tell them that the Holy Spirit said that there were those to be filled today, the Lord would honor it and he would do a great and precious thing in that service.
 
NOW, WE HAD NOT YET BEEN IN THIS COUPLE’S NEW CHURCH FACILITY BEFORE BECAUSE WE HAD KNOWN THEM FROM THEIR OLDER BUILDING LOCATION.
When we walked in, it was exactly like the building that I saw in my dream which was amazing, because I didn’t even realize it until we walked in, so I knew this was definitely the time and the place for what God was wanting to do with this special meeting.
After very beautiful worship, Steve got up and began to share his message and was teaching. I was just kind of looking around and then paying attention to what Steve was sharing and you could begin to feel this calm and peace come over all of us. 
 
STEVE SHARED ABOUT THE LOVE OF THE FATHER AND ABOUT HOW MUCH GOD IS CALLING US TO A PLACE OF GREATER HUNGER FOR HIS PRESENCE.
As he began to wind up that part of the message, I joined him on the platform and began to share about what words of knowledge and prophetic ministry, (what they were), and as I looked out into the congregation, there was the guy halfway down the middle to the right about six seats in that I had seen in my dream.  He had on the exact same gray T-shirt, he had the beard he had the black glasses and he was very tall.
 
I JUST BEGAN TO ACT OUT AND SPEAK EXACTLY WHAT I SAW IN THE DREAM THAT THE LORD HAD GIVEN TO ME AND I SAID THE EXACT WORDS, and sure enough this young man lifts up his hand and we began to lift our voices and he was immediately overwhelmed with the power of God, and began to speak out in his prayer language.
 
WE BEGAN TO TELL OTHER PEOPLE TO BEGIN TO LIFT THEIR VOICES and do the same thing, and the entire room began to speak out in their tongues or they were praising God or just praying in English, and some people were praising in Spanish, but for a long time there were many people were just spontaneously being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking with the evidence of tongues in languages they had never spoken. 
NOW, THIS LED TO A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF JOYAND ALL WERE SHOCKED AND IN AWE AT THE PRESENCE OF GODSUDDENLY OVERWHELMING THEIR CONGREGATION!
 They had been through a very difficult time since they had had such lockdown and restriction problems and pressure from the local government. There had been a lot of grief and death and a lack of continuity in the people. It seemed as if the Holy Spirit just wanted to come in and bring this peace and hope to them.
 
NOT TOO FAR AFTER THAT THEN, WE BEGAN TO MINISTER IN THE PROPHETIC GIFTS OF WORD OF KNOWLEDGE AND WORD OF WISDOM.People stayed for an additional full hour! We did not ask them to do this!  They were hungry to be loved, they were hungry to be at peace, and they were like gentle lambs receiving the word of the Lord, even some words that were not easy to receive.  But the atmosphere was primed, simply by a dream that the Holy Spirit had given to me, and then asking us to obey him and act on what we had seen and heard in the dream.
 
WHAT I’M SAYING ABOUT ALL OF THIS IS THAT,SOMETIMES IT TAKES JUST A DREAM OR A VISION OR A THOUGHTTHAT COMES TO YOUR MIND WHILE YOU’RE GOING ABOUT YOUR DAILY BUSINESS.
It is a catalyst then that the Holy Spirit can use to open the door to a sweeter or greater move of God in a meeting or a gathering, or in a coffee shop, depending on where the Lord happens to have you go.
He knows exactly what to do in every situation that we are sent into, and knowing the timing of the Lord was right for us to go minister to this body of believers, was all because of the fruit of prayer.
 
I NOW WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SHARE OR UPDATE YOUABOUT SOMETHING THAT THE LORD HAD ME SHARE A FEW MONTHS AGO REGARDING CANADA.
I will include the link right below for you to go read or listen to the entire word again, but again, when the Holy Spirit begins to speak he does confirm these things.
LINK: https://tinyurl.com/xzk2hvh8
WORD FOR CANADA STARTS AT MINUTE MARKER 11:34
 
MANY OF YOU ARE AWARE OF THE THINGS GOING ON AT THE CANADIAN BORDER AND OF COURSE, THE ENTIRE GLOBE IS FIGHTING TYRANNY. 
In this prophetic word the Lord had me share something that I did not understand at the time, but I knew that I needed to deliver the word AT that time. Now in review, it is happening and coming to pass.
 
HERE’S WHAT THAT WORD SAID.
“Canada will experience one of its most prosperous seasons ever known, for a short season.
 The Lord would have Canada know that they must deal fairly with the wealth that they will produce and pay back the First Native families, and with Godly equity. 
If this is not addressed with wisdom and integrity, Canada will have to pass through the sorrows of disobedience.
Canadian Intercessors are being awakened and called up to stand in the place of prayer for its leaders and tribes.
Now is the time for soberness, It is not a time for silliness and laughter. 
It is a sober day, with a command for sober prayers. 
 "Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep wide awake (alert, watchful, cautious, and on our guard) and let us be sober (calm, collected, and circumspect)". - 1 Thessalonians 5:6 
“So get up! Stand UP! Be Purposeful,” says the Lord!
How do you not know that through your borders I can bring a North American Wave of Justice and Restoration?” 
 
As you have just heard or have just read, the Lord knew these events were going to take place on the border of the United States and Canada way before I ever spoke it out.I am certain that the Lord spoke these words or similar words to other men and women of God.
 
MONTHS AGO HE BREATHED THESE WORDS OUT SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT HEAR THEM AND PRAY ABOUT THEM.I believe that when the Lord gives a word especially specific to any nation, it is first a call to prayer and repentance. From that then, the outbreak of moves of God can take place.
 
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO NOT FEAR THE SUPERNATURAL. If you are grounded in the Word of God and a person filled with the spirit, God is going to speak to your spirit and instruct you in the way you should go. He is not going to talk to your mind, because you will talk yourself out of anything that takes risk or costs you laying down your own intellectual reckoning.
 
WE ARE LIVING IN A TIME WHERE HEARING FROM GOD  WILL LITERALLY SAVE YOUR LIFE. It is not a time to hope we have everybody else hear from God, and tell us what to do.I am almost certain that anything I share today is something the Lord has been stirring in the hearts of the majority of you that are listening. And it is confirming things deep in your spirit that you needed to have sorted out in order for you to proceed.
 
MY PRAYER FOR YOU TODAY IS THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THERE IS A STIRRING IN THE HEART OF GOD TO MOVE UPON HIS PEOPLE IN A DYNAMIC AND EXTREME POWER THAT SHAKES THE CORE OF EVIL IN THE WORLD.
It will cause a great upheaval, because darkness resists light. 
But light penetrates past darkness. 
 
YOU ARE A LIGHT IN THIS WORLD, BECAUSE OF THE LAMP OF CHRIST INSIDE OF YOU. 
Take the bushel basket off and let that light shine.
Yes it may cost you something.
If it doesn’t cost you something to be strong in the Lord then we are pretty much guaranteed to be lukewarm and passive.
 
THESE ARE THE DAYS THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR YOU AND I.
He planned for you to be here today in this very hour in this very moment. He has words to speak out of your mouth that are his words that will help break the darkness over peoples lives that have no ability to understand how captive they are to the narratives of the world.
 
Don’t underestimate the power of God’s words coming out of your mouth when you are talking to someone. 
It takes just one anointed obedient act to set a captive free.It takes just one obedient act done while stepping out in courage to open the ears of someone who has been deafened to truth most of their life.
If the words are rejected, understand that a seed went inside of them and was planted. Someone else may come along and water that seed, and someone else may harvest what comes from that.
But in the end you were obedient to plant the seed, and all of the joy and the glory and honor of a new soul or someone set free, goes to Jesus.
 
Psalm 31:24 is what I want to speak over each of you today!!
TAKE COURAGE!
“Be strong and take heart, 
All you who hope in the LORD.”
 
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed as long as the complete message, podcast and website information for Mary Lindow is included. 
Thank You.

Copyright © 2022 "THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow

 
 www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
GLOBAL PRAYER ROOMS
 
Do you or a loved one need prayer?
There are faithful intercessors around the world who areready and who are prepared to pray for you.
 Please send your Requests to:
GLOBAL PRAYER ROOMS
 
If you have been impressed by the Holy Spirit to assist and bless Mary by helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service with Spirit-led Love gifts or regular and prayerful support:
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of:
Personal Checks
Business Checks  -  Money Orders
Cashiers Checks
To: His Beloved Ministries Inc. PO Box 1253Denver Colorado 80614USA
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow
Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc.
ALL gifts are tax deductible underHis Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
We are financially accountable and have been in full compliance since 1985 with Clergy Financial Advantage.
THANK YOU!
 
 

Prepare Him Room - "We Prepare Him A Place"

By Mary Lindow
 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  -Psalm 139:14
 
WE ARE STRANGE AND EXQUISITE CREATURES.
We can ache for God tremendously; yet find ourselves getting nervous if God gets too close! After all, the closer God gets, the more we hear the call to be unpolluted. It's both exciting and frightening to hear that call!
A STORY: Once upon a time there was a little plant that was small and whose growth was stunted, for it lived under the shade of a giant oak tree. The little plant valued the shade that covered it and highly enjoyed and lavished the quiet rest that its majestic friend provided. Yet there was a greater blessing prepared for this little plant.
One day a lumberjack entered the forest with a sharp ax and cut down the giant oak! The little plant began to weep, crying out, "My shelter has been taken away! Now every fierce wind will blow on me, and every storm will seek to uproot me!"
The guardian angel of the little plant responded, "NO! Now the sun will shine and showers will fall on you more abundantly than ever before! Now your stunted form will spring up into loveliness, and your flowers, which could never have grown to full perfection in the shade, will laugh in the sunshine. Many will say, look how that plant has grown. How gloriously beautiful it has become by removing that which was its shade and comfort!"
THE TRAINING OF A SPIRITUAL COMRADE
We need to see that the Lord wisely trains his soldiers by calling them to difficult travels and service. He strengthens them through wildernesses and mountains. God knows that spiritually armed Soldiers can only be developed in battle and are not developed in times of calm. We can only become true seasoned soldiers of Christ when we train and serve in the preparation time of the inhospitable surroundings.
TRUST FOR A SEASON!
It's all about trusting God in the end. Oh yes it is! We often ask in the heat of difficult battles whether they are mental battles, spiritual battles, and financial battles. "Will He REALLY refresh us in this time of struggle?"
His Loving Word says so.
"For I satisfy the weary ones
And refresh everyone who languishes." -Jer. 31:25
 
THE LORD IS PRODUCING STAMINA! WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT! "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; For once he has been approved, He will receive the crown of life, Which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12
THE FATHER IS URGING US TO RUN TO HIM, TO CRY TO HIM!
He is there! Even in this fog of struggle, loss, anxiety, or seeming success! He wants us to be desperate for Him and is training us to rely on His voice.
To make our decisions based on His plan for the whole earth!
TIE YOURSELF TO THE HAND OF GOD!
Get a "rope of expectation"(the word of God) and tie yourself to it. Hold on! The boding evil is nearly over! The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness And put on the armor of light." -Romans 13:12
INTIMATE PLACE OF COMMUNICATION
It would be a powerful opportunity for all of us to get on our knees in an intimate place of communication with the Lord, and refresh our commitment to purity, and with a willing heart to yield to the bidding of the Father.
"They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line, not swerving from their course." -Joel 2:7
LET OUR HEARTS WILLINGLY Give Him Room to Move Freely ...
...in our daily actions in this Life.
We do this by clearing away or removing anything that feeds and pampers our flesh and our own concepts of the Kingdom.
WE PREPARE HIM A PLACE
A throne in our hearts from which He can reign and activate His anointing.
"No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs.
He wants to please his commanding officer." -2 Timothy 2:4 1
"As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeits just as it has taught you, remain in him." -John 2:27 
Duplication and sharing of this writing and podcast is welcomed provided that complete message and website and podcast information for Mary Lindow is included. Thank You!
Copyright © 2020" - THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com 
Do you or a loved one need prayer?
There are faithful intercessors around the world who areready and who are prepared to pray for you.
 Please send your Requests to:
GlobalPrayerRooms@protonmail.com
If you have been impressed by the Holy Spirit to assist and bless Mary  to minister. helping her to meet needs such as web site and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service with Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support:  
Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of: 
► Personal Checks
► Business Checks
► Money Orders
► Cashiers Checks 
To: His Beloved Ministries Inc. PO Box 1253Denver  Colorado 80614USA
Or feel free to use our send a tax deductible gift with 
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow
Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc.
ALL gifts are tax deductible underHis Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status.
We are financially accountable
and have been in full compliance since 1985
with Clergy Financial Advantage.
THANK YOU!

"WHEN SPARROWS FALL" - THE VALUE OF ONE SMALL SPARROW

By Mary Lindow


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THE SPARROW IS A CLEVER LITTLE BIRD
In Psalm 84 David describes his longing to be with the people of God and in the actual moment that he wrote this, he was a wanderer; he was a fugitive.
He was not able to be in a place where he could have fellowship with God or other people, and this is when he wrote Psalm 84.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,  Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out
 for the living God.

Have you ever felt this way or longed for fellowship like David wrote about with the Lord? His word so clearly express what it meant to David.
Then, he remembered one of his bird watching experiences. He remembered how at one time when he was in the house of God, he looked up toward the altar and he noticed some movement. When he looked closer, he found a sparrow building her nest, so he wrote in verse 3:
“Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may have her young—a place near your altar.”

“Lord Almighty, my King and my God!” he said. “I wish I could be like that sparrow.
I wish I could be like that swallow that is able to build its nest at the very altar of God.” What David is saying here is, “Can you think of anything better than to have your home in the altar of God in the sanctuary?”
This is something so very precious to me because I am always so tremendously interested in nurturing and loving my family that I cannot pass this over.
Did you notice this swallow chose the altar of God to build a nest for her family?   She could have chosen any place to build a nest, but she chose the altar of God.
Yes! The sparrow is a clever bird.
BUILDING YOUR NEST IN THE SANCTUARY
I believe that things are put here for a reason and for instruction; so I am going to suggest that if you want your family to be all that God wants it to be, build your nest, metaphorically speaking, at the altar. Build your nest in the sanctuary because in the sanctuary is the answer to every question that you have. And I hope that you understand that I am not talking about a church building! I am talking about your fellowship with God. There must also always be room in your nest to include those with broken wings, or who have been abandoned or left as orphans.
A SPARROW IS VALUABLE
One more lovely thing about the sparrow. The sparrow is a valuable bird. I am sure that some people might question this statement! But it is a valuable bird, indeed. Some may say, “But not to man”! It is Valuable to God though!
I am sure the Lord did some bird watching as he travelled to places with his dear friends, but this particular instance that He records is in the temple.
As He went into the temple one day, He saw a whole bunch of sparrows, (remember that we are talking about a small bird) with their legs tied together, and they were being sold for a sacrifice in the temple.
In Matthew, chapter 10 notice what Jesus has to say about sparrows.
As He looked at those sparrows, He said, in verse 29:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?”
That was the least expensive offering that anybody could make.
If we were to stop there, we would say what we ordinarily say, “What is a sparrow? They are not worth anything at all,” but the Lord said, in the last part of verse 29:

…and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father knowing about it.
That is how valuable they are. Not one sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing about it.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU SEE A DEAD SPARROW?
Do you just kick it out of the way and go on?  Often we see someone much like the little dead sparrow, wounded or suffering from the cruelty of others too busy to really care about a “broken wing” or perhaps a broken heart.
So many are busy licking their own wounds and getting on with their own lives, that they are unaware of the “sparrows” that God has placed in their midst. Those who need to be invited into a place of “Sanctuary”.! Do you treat your employees like this or a friend who has been through a season of sorrow or loss?
Do you find yourself simply walking past the Wounded or “dead Sparrow”? That would be a normal reaction, but evidently when the Lord saw the sparrow that fell very differently.  He said,
“MY FATHER KNOWS ABOUT THAT SPARROW…
…And my father cares about it.”
Then notice what He says:
Matthew 10
30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

A SPARROW IS SO IMPORTANT TO GOD,
…that it doesn't fall to the ground without God knowing about it, and you and those whom He has placed around you to radiate truth and hope to are of more value than many sparrows.
In Matthew, chapter 6 I think that Lord has done some bird watching and might want us to do some as well!
He said:
Matthew 6:26-34 (NCV)
26 Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds.
27 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves.
29 But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers.
30 I clothe the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even surer that I will clothe you. Don’t have so little faith!
31 Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’
32 The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them.
33 Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well.
34 So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

A very well spoken and eloquent preacher said one time,
“There is never a sparrow that dies but that God goes to its funeral.”
This really touched my heart and impressed me. Not a sparrow dies, but that God goes to its funeral.
THE NEXT TIME THAT YOU SEE A SPARROW…
…Remember that God is paying attention to that little sparrow. God is interested in you and He is interested and concerned about me as well! Remember that God cares about you so much more than even that sparrow and that He wants to draw you closely into a safe place of Sanctuary with Him! A place of safety and peace, where you can rest and learn about His love for you, for your family and those dear close friends and perhaps a few lost or weary lonely souls that He has sent to you.
HE HAS MUCH TO TELL YOU REGARDING ALL OF THE PLANS THAT HE HAS FOR YOU!

“Settle into the nest…
…And Rest!”
God is waiting to speak and meet with you!
“The Lowly Sparrow”
~Author Unknown
I am only a little sparrow!
A bird of low degree!
My life is of little value.
But the dear Lord cares for me
He gave me a coat of feathers
'Tis very plain I know:
With never a speck of crimson.
For it was not made for show.

But it keeps me warm in winter,
It shields me from the rain.
Were it bordered with gold and purple
Perhaps it would make me vain


I have no barn or storehouse:
I never sow or reap:
God gives me a sparrow's portion.
But never a seed to keep.
If my meat is sometimes scanty.
Close picking makes it sweet:
I have always enough to keep me.
And life is more than meat.

I know there are many sparrows:
All over the world they're found:
But our heavenly Father knows
When one of us falls to the ground.

Though small, we are never forgotten-
Though weak, we are never afraid.
For we know that the dear Lord keeps
The lives of the creatures He made.

I fly through the thickest forest,
I light on many a spray,
I have no chart or compass,
But I never lose my way.


Duplication and re-transmission of this writing is welcomed provided that complete source and website information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You!
Copyright  2012 " THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com