Brokenness – Disillusionment, and Redemptive Growth – The Raw Truth About Loss - Grief – Betrayal, and Maturity

 
By Mary Lindow
As you settle in to listen to this podcast, maybe you’re facing difficult times and you wonder how God can still have a plan for your messy, hurting, perhaps disillusioned life. What about your loved ones, or those in the neighborhood around you? There’s so much brokenness that it can feel like anything you do to help is like a drop in the ocean.
I certainly have had several moments this past season, months, days even, of being broken, disillusioned, angry, all the emotions that can go with hearing terrible stories of betrayal, clergy abuse, child abuse, adult children being estranged from parents, parents being estranged from their adult children, walking many from sadness over deep wounds from past relationships, festering with anger, guilt and shame.
This service of working with broken people that God has called us to, (and me specifically these past couple of years as a Biblical pastoral Counselor), well, seeing and hearing the sadness, can wear you thin at times, and I go running to the feet of Christ over and over again, asking him to make sense of how humanity can be so vicious and destroy one another.
Of course Jesus came to die for all of us, and in fact was broken, beaten, bruised and yes, he wept. So He knows the anguish and grief that can tow us under! The Lord has always been close to those who are crushed and broken, right from the very start.
 
Brokenness Doesn’t Distract Or Hinder God.
He extends endless compassion and love to us, even when we are feeling absolutely crushed.
When we don’t want anyone to see our brokenness, our shame, He is always close, never with judgment but always with kindness. The kind of kindness that heals.
The question is:
“Does brokenness have any purpose?”
Or is it a hindrance to God’s plans and promises?
Can God Turn Our Brokenness Into Something Beautiful?
 
In Matthew 26, Jesus had His last meal with the disciples before He went to suffer on the cross.
Now, even though I’ve read this passage many times, something rich recently stood out.
“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take and eat it; this is my body’. (Matthew 26:26).
First, Jesus took the bread,
Then He blessed it,
And then He broke it.
 
Now, I thought to myself … “Why would He not first take the bread, break it and then bless it?”
 
There’s A Purpose To Why Jesus Did It This Way.
The blessing comes before the breaking, because this was the theme of Jesus’ life:
Jesus was blessed by the Father and the Spirit during His baptism (Matthew 3:16-17).
Jesus endured the brokenness on the cross (Luke 23:26-39).
And, Jesus conquered death through His resurrection and then ascended to the right hand of the Father.
This is the greatest blessing for believers because we are united with Christ and fully restored to God!  (Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:4-6).
 
Blessed
Then Broken
Then Blessed again.
That's the pattern.
 
Maybe You’re In A Season Where You Feel More Broken Than Blessed.
I understand. But because God has blessed us with His Son, every ounce of brokenness we experience on this side of eternity is pointing us toward the blessing of heaven, where we will be reunited with Christ, if we trust in Him.
God also redeems our current brokenness as a means of blessing others who are also broken (2 Corinthians 1:4).
We Can Know With Confidence
That When We Endure Brokenness And Pain,
There Isn’t An Ounce Of Our Brokenness
That Is Not Under The Blessing Of God!
 
This Is A Hard Truth To Grasp. It may even be something we want to reject because it feels unfair or even cruel!
I agree that it can feel that way. Even Jesus Himself agrees. Just a few verses after the Last Supper, He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane and cried out, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38a, CSB).
We don’t have to dismiss our feelings when it comes to our brokenness. Even Jesus felt the full range of His emotions before His most broken moment.
We can come before God in humility with our raw, honest emotions. We can bring our brokenness to Him. We can trust that Jesus is with us, NOW. And, we can look to the cross and the empty tomb, knowing that though we experience brokenness, Jesus overcame it.
 
Brokenness Isn’t The End For Us.
Blessed, then broken, then blessed again.
Lord, give us the grace to endure this reality.
 
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus, who was blameless and pure, had scars that remained after his resurrection. Jesus’ scars were not a flaw. They’re a reminder that even the Savior of the world has experienced brokenness. They also give us a tangible answer to our doubts, like they did for Thomas. In a moment of faithlessness, doubt and brokenness, God meets Thomas with compassion and kindness.
Jesus’ Scars Are A Demonstration Of The Lengths He Went To For Us, a sacrifice given to restore hope in a broken world full of broken people.
And the same hands that were nail-scarred? They have our very names written on them as a promise that God will not ever forget or forsake us (Isaiah 49:16). Just like a scar, they’re permanently written as a reminder of God’s commitment to us, no matter how broken we feel.
 
Very Few See This Bleak Moment For What It Really Is.     
It's a chance to see their need for something that is beyond themselves. But my friend, this can be a moment where the soul can cross over from its own empty silence, into an expected quiet that is alive with His presence.
It silences the anguish, the anxious restlessness into a calm and still place of peace. It's as if the soul finds that in this dark place, there is a secret well of sweet water, and it springs up and overflows with light and life. 
 
LEARNING TO PASS INTO THIS
PLACE OF THE SPIRIT AND ALLOWING GOD
TO KEEP YOUR SOUL IN REFRESHING
SILENT TRANQUILITY IS A TRUE ACT
OF THE MATURING BELIEVER.
 
God Put You On Earth In Your Exact Place For His Specific Purpose, and you are living in that purpose, even when you don't know it.
Your soul may be grumbling and resisting, but you are living the story that God is ready to reveal to you. God is a lot bigger than you expect Him to be.
He's a lot bigger than your circumstances.
He is a God of detail.
He is deeply involved in the small details of your life, but He has a "bigger yes" for you.
Your true glory is the revelation of His splendor, his amazing ability to create redemptive “Resurrection moments” revealed in you day by day.
 
In 1 Peter 1:6. It says,  "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."
 
As Jesus Is Revealed In You,
You Can Rejoice No Matter What.
 
The Display Of His Glory Often Comes Through Your Wounds.
Your dark nights and cries of longing are lovingly heard, and as His bright light dawns, your grief contrasts with His glorious joy.
In brokenness, God works in you something beautiful, deep, and solid to offer others. You are developing inner strength as you are being blessed, broken, and given as an offering in your trials. True strength comes from your desperate need of God. You are a joy to Him as you offer yourself as a representative of His sufficiency.
Paul said He wanted to know Christ and be conformed to the fellowship of sharing His sufferings, knowing there's a resurrection coming. (Phil. 3:10).
 
Know that your Father created you for this time, for these very circumstances. He knew exactly what would be happening in your life as you are living it right now. He knows the impact for which He is preparing you, that still awaits you.
Be Filled with his Grace and hope to lean into the purpose that you were create for, in spite of difficult people, through hard circumstances, and through tough challenges.
 
Your Purpose, My Purpose Is In The Process.
We won't get there overnight.
We won't mysteriously wake up with it one morning.
But today we are closer than yesterday, and tomorrow we will be closer than we are today.
Be at peace in Him to know these things, and rejoice in Him.
HE IS ALIVE! We Are Not Alone.
 
Let’s Pray Together,
Dear Lord,
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by how painful earthly brokenness can feel. Please help us, help me remember that you Jesus are our greatest blessing.
You are with us now with me now, as we face hardship and grief and sadness and await a day when you will make all things new. Give me strength, give those that are listening strength as we long for this day, and we ask this in the name of the Resurrected King of Heaven, Jesus Christ, The Messiah.
Amen.
 
I Know That Many Of You Are Going Through Many Things In Your Own Lives and there is so much going on around us everywhere right now as the Lord is more than shaking his church. He is exposing so many uncomfortable things, but what he is really doing is bringing his people back to a place to where HE alone is enough, his word alone is light and life, strength and guidance, no matter how difficult or dark the times can be. His word will penetrate past all of that panic and bring us daily comfort.
I’d like to call it daily bread since we’re on the subject of talking about bread, and remember because Christ was the bread of life and he gave it to us, and since we’ve given our lives to him, we are now bread of life to others with whatever we speak out of our mouth in the name of Jesus.
It has to be in accuracy and mimicking the way he lived and walked. If it isn’t, then there’s going to be difficulty there’s going to be pain.
It’s going to cause pain.
It’s going to cause difficulty.
 
So I Encourage You, If You’re Running And Hiding or if you’re trying to protect yourself from something that you’ve done that you know needs to come out into the light,run to Jesus, then tell the truth and get the help that you need. It won’t be easy, but that clawing horrible feeling of waiting for the shoe to drop will end, and the enemy will no longer have a foothold in your mind.
For Those That Are Suffering Because Of The Behaviors Of Others and you know that there just doesn’t seem to be an answer or an end in sigth, and certainly no vindication. I encourage you to not back away and to stand where God has you, but don’t grow bitter and don’t look for revenge. This is when we take it back into our own power at our own strength.
I Bless You Today!
I encourage you to get before the Lord and ask him to show you “the way” that he has for you during these times where he is maturing you, maturing his bride, and it is all for the glory of the ONE who laid down that entire greatness so that we would have an access to return to heaven.
 
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!
2025
"THE MESSENGER"  - Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
 
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"DISCERNMENT vs. SUSPICION" - Telling The Truth About Abuse and Wolves In Leadership Positions

 
By Mary Lindow 
 
I’m going to make a few statements about this podcast before I begin.
I hope I am not required by Lord to make many podcasts like this one, but I will obey him if he does ask me to do so!  To even things out a little bit, my next few podcasts are going to be sharing about some magnificent and overwhelming experiences that I have had in meeting First Native Chiefs throughout the United States and Canada.
All of these events were orchestrated by the Lord in order for us to meet. The things that I learned from these godly individuals who love Jesus, but understand the strongholds in our cities, our nations and upon our lands, has been absolutely Life-changing. I hope to share at least two podcasts telling you these stories and experiences that glorify Jesus, and show the power of his supernatural ability to get us to the places we need to go without ever having to push our way in or manipulate anything.
 
Now let’s begin today’s crucial podcast.
We are in a time when many people are seeing much evil take place, not only in our nation, not only in large and small corporations, but in church organizations and organizations that claim to bear the name of Christ on their letterheads.
 
One of the greatest deceptions taking place is that people are being told to NOT “discuss”/not to tell the truth about the abuses that are taking place in some of these organizations.
With the multitude of public exposures that is taking place right now all over social media regarding unconscionable and difficult happenings, I have been agonizingly yet strongly prompted by the Holy Spirit, to share my thoughts and the experiences that I have had in walking other people out of dark places, because of the harm done to them in some of these institutions.
 
I do this with a heavy heart, and yet I must take courage and be obedient in order to be an “Advocate of Hope” for those who feel that they cannot speak out for fear of being threatened or ridiculed, letting them know that there are others who will champion and stand with  them by calling “wolfish abuse” what it is, instead of sweeping it under any kind of Church Carpet, Corporate Carpet, or Institutional Carpet.
 
I am by far, not the perfect believer by any means!
I’ve had some wonderful mentors and training from others in ministry as well as in the counseling arena who have been strong and good people of discernment.
When something inside of you is alerted or feels really uncomfortable, or even just the thought of, “there’s something not right about that” pops in, that’s a built-in radar God gives us.
Now, if someone’s judging someone because they don’t like that they’re loud, or seem to be "too meek, obese, skinny, or speak a truth that they aren’t comfortable with or don’t have wisdom about", then that’s where all the speculating and suspicion move in.
 
Being set free from critical behavior and suspicion takes a willingness to admit that we don’t trust anybody, or, that we think we have an exclusive lead on how God speaks all the time.
 
I certainly need the accountability friends in my life
who speak truth to me firmly and regularly!
 
The soul loves to put itself in its own place of authority and override discernment, humility,and often the need to prove that our opinion matters. Honestly, keeping a heart pure and clean before the Lord every day, (and that’s truly not just an easy thing), but pursuing him with the right heart, keeps that place where we hear from him very sharpened and aware!
Studying his word, digging into what it really means, provides a depth and place of resource to go to, to check whether our heart is in accordance with his word or if we’re making up our own ideas about things.
It’s so easy to let other people think or speak for us, or their opinions, being strong, driving a message to us that says we should probably do what they say. This is where we get into trouble!
 
We are supposed to question or “test” things
and not just take everything hook, line, and sinker!
 
In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 it tells us,
“Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies,
BUT, test everything; hold fast to what is good.
Abstain from every form of evil.”
 
Friends! Evil can be deceptive and cunning!
The word of God has an omnipotent power that cuts through all of the fog of self-deception and definitely pontificating! Many people quote the scripture and use it to their benefit when they want to self promote or appear to be somewhat spiritual. This is where discernment has to come in!!!
 
If something feels wrong, if something is spiritually off key, is not in alignment with what Jesus said or what the scriptures speak, then discernment has to come in to play.
 
The road gets narrower as you walk your Christian journey with Jesus, and you absolutely will be called many names because of the stance of wanting to be more like him, and more detached from the volumes of worldly knowledge.
Wisdom isn’t easily gained!  But, it’s so worth it when you get a little nugget that lasts for eternity.
 
Suspicion vs. Discernment.
I’ve seen this destroy and have been painfully more than a few times, a recipient of ugly and ruthless “suspicious” judgments.
Suspicion destroys relationships.
It destroys lives.
It listens to hearsay rather than God’s inward warnings.
Suspicion can feed a self satisfaction (which is actually pride) when our choices to put others in a lesser and suspicious light, even sabotaging them, justifies our own agendas.
 
When we are constantly suspicious of the motives of others, we drive people away that could be a great blessings to us. (They may even walk with a bit of a limp due to the battles and hard fought victories they’ve fought throughout their lives.)
Check your life today.
Are you discerning, or merely suspicious?
The problem is, sometimes we label suspicion with the pious name of “discernment” and think we're being super spiritual.
It’s so important to learn the difference between discernment and suspicion!  
 
The difference is quite simple.
Discernment comes from God and will recognize evil for what it is.
Suspicion come from or soul and will imagine evil when there is none.
If you see genuine compassion, kindness, mercy, accountability, humility and a forgiving nature in someone, you are seeing a surrendered soul.  
 
Not many want to talk about how hard spiritual growth and dying to ourselves, our opinions our interpretations is.
It's not a one time thing, it's every day.
It's remaining quiet when we want to speak.
It's trusting God's timing when we would, rather control.
It's doing it God's way when it doesn't make sense to us.
It’s quietly walking away from what might “appear to be a lucrative or more publicly promoting opportunity” when you know there are political or spiritually abusive environments involved.
 
We don’t get a lot of accolades or crowns here on earth for that kind of brave but necessary decision. But in heaven, when we do behold the face of the one who literally bled out for us, and he says, “Well done, so well done my good and faithful servant! Enter into my rest!” Oh my goodness, how absolutely all of the hardship and persecution will melt away in that moment, and the joy that is unspeakable and has yet to be fully understood, will be complete in our lives.
 
It is necessary in life to learn from those
who have more wisdom and experience,
because they can help us see things that we don't notice.
 
Even though modern culture tells us that we should “live our own truth and do whatever we think is best”, it’s this type of thinking that leads us into trouble. This is why Scripture tells us not to be wise in our own eyes.
 
True wisdom comes from fearing God. This means we should have a high regard for God's Word and His instructions to us. He knows all things, including, what is best for us.
We can also gain wisdom from other people. When we can learn from the mistakes and experiences of others, we're better equipped to not make the same mistakes. However, if you think you're the only one who knows best, you are bound to repeat the same errors.
 
There’s a huge amount of exposure taking place in pulpits, Ministry organizations, Christian Media Corporations, Governments, Christian Universities and Bible Schools...
...Right now.
 
Of course, we all know the Lord is doing a lot of the exposing and dealing with painful and shocking events that have or, are currently occurring, or are being investigated.
 
Why is he doing this? Because he will not allow these kinds of charades, criminal acts or hiding of sexual misconductsto NOT be caught.
Sadly many individuals who are sitting in church pulpits or are serving in ministry environments such as youth ministries, children’s church, Young adult groups and more, are often made uncomfortable by things they see taking place with some of the staff members.
The big question now is do you dare say anything?
 
If you see a male individual in a place of authority as a teacher, a pastor, any kind of youth worker anywhere, being over familiar with females, and by that I mean, resting their hand on their back too often with letting it linger, standing too closely to them in their personal space, spending time alone with them in their office etc. with doors shut and no visible way to see anything taking place. These are red flags!
A little bit of investigating and watching and taking notes is appropriate. Always document things that you see that make you feel there is something wrong going on and always date it. But be honest, not suspicious and don’t exaggerate or embellish. If necessary, take pictures. These are now used as evidence in court cases.
 
Another example!
If you would happen to know that there was a youth minister who sexually approached or interfered with a child or a young adult, and it was hidden and “dealt with” in an internal investigation among elders or leaders of a church or youth organization, club or scouting group, but was never reported, and this individual was then packed up and sent off to another state to minister or workelsewhere, they have basically turned this person into a repeat offender. These things must be reported to the police!
 
Here’s the hard thing.
We sure hope that we could go to people like elders or other leaders in the church if we see something taking place and know that deception is involvedand that others are covering it up.
If there has ever been a question that you have seen or a child has reported to you, that a young adult has reported to you or a teenager has reported to you that something inappropriate, whether it was conversation, whether it was physical touch, whether it was a threat that took place, you must go to the police.
 
Taking it to the pastor or taking it to the leadership "feels" like a good idea. But when there’s a wolf in the crowd, when there are wolves in leadership positions, we don’t take time to try to defend ourselves against wolves or predators. 
 
If you know, for a fact that these things have taken place, you must document and you must protect the children. You must protect the young developing adults. And, you must protect the future generations that would be affected if this perpetrator is permitted to be allowed to continue to remain in any organization, and not have appropriate legal consequences take place.
 
There are many who are holding positions in churches that are hiding inappropriate events of their own, within their own staff, or within their own organization, who value their building, their notoriety and their income, more than they value protecting the sheep or telling the truth.
 
Some people do not believe this is true! They think that surely the Holy Spirit would be exposing these things if they were really happening!
Well, my friends, the Holy Spirit uses practical human beings who are aware and have cultivated discernment and see that there is something very wrong and very out of order going on, and these human beings must be bold, courageous, and speak out like the prophet Nathan spoke to King David when he was having a long-term affair with Bathsheba and murdered his own military leader in order to cover his own manipulative and adulterous behavior.
There were terrible, painful consequences that took place because of what David did. Yet God in his mercy when David repented, restored David’s relationship back to himself.
But if forever changed David, and there were things that he was no longer permitted to partake in because of his wickedness.
But God did not shun him.
God corrected him.
 
Here are a few basic recommendations I’d like to share as a Pastoral counselor (and as a minister myself), with those who are in some form of ministry.
It’s not wise for men to counsel Women alone, but if necessary they must have a glass window where another safe office or staff member can see into the room. I have seen too many people get enmeshed emotionally with intimate counseling and I have historical documents that sadly indicate where several ministers who fantasized or planned or, actually have run off with people they were counseling for marriage difficulties! They have devastated marriages, families and churches because they crossed a line and blew clear past healthy boundaries, and safety protocols for counseling.
 
I also strongly recommend that men are not often alone in an office setting or ministry facility with women, especially if single, because they’re vulnerable women, because the table can turn two ways. The woman can become needy or manipulative and play on the affections or the emotions of a tender, kind hearted man, and then turn around and accuse them of some kind of inappropriate actions.
Men in buildings alone with women who are married and it’s late at night with a woman who is beautiful and lovely, or even sweet and precious, can create a sense of desire in a man whois tired of the grind of life, maybe hard work, might be having some strain at home, and in a few moments of weakness, begins to pursue an emotional affair, talking too openly, sharing too openly, and it can quickly lead to other kinds of affection, emotional bonding and inappropriate touching.
 
I know some of this sounds pretty heavy, and we as believers just don’t want to have to hear about the horrible, dark things that could possibly take place! We so want to believe the best in everyone and we want to be merciful and forgiving!
But, with the recent rash and exposure of well-known names, seemingly appearing holy and virtuous, many well protected individuals are now being exposed in multiple areas and in multiple environments, for hiding harm done to children, harm done to staff, and then using spiritual gifts or “spiritual pedigrees” to justify that they were just “tired or weak in the moment” and that they thought they’d handle it in house privately!
 
Well, to speak bluntly and boldly,
this fakery and denial is just all hogwash
when the gaslighting and lying starts!
 
 
We have to call it what it is!
It’s called spiritual abuse (SA) or clergy sexual abuse. (CSA) .
 
Returning to my original introduction regarding the need for discernment versus suspicion, we have to be very wise and make sure that our hearts are right as we begin to walk out these very difficult times of exposure as well as needing to be vocal.
 
There are victims among us who have not said anything for years about the things that took place in back rooms or offices or church buildings, camps or cars. For some reason, people run to suspicion and say, “Why are you now just beginning to talk about this? Why did you wait so long? What do you want out of this?”  
 
In legal terms when someone speaks out immediately about sexual abuse or harm done,the term is called “Outcry”.
They “cry out”, they “tell”.
 
When someone takes awhile to be able to process abuse, especially children (male, and female!) or young vulnerable teenagers or women who have been abused in the past, and have been threatened to remain silent or paid off to be quiet, and are easily preyed upon by those who are able to spot vulnerability, it takes them longer, and healthy unpacking and dialog frees them to tell. This must be tenderly and wisely handled with a skilled CHRISTIAN trauma counselor who works in these areas of sexual, church or cult abuse, or child abuse.
 
The term for this, when someone takes so long or doesn’t remember everything that happened (because they’ve been threatened and they have shut it out), this is called “Delayed Outcry.”
 
With the proper counseling and the proper police reporting involved, then there becomes an investigation or a forensic investigation that listens to and  reviews documents, the stories or events, does the investigating, looks at any kind of proof which could be documents, notes, texts, emails, pictures, clothing, the location or rooms these things happened in. Then, they begin to question and cross examine those who are being accused.
 
Yes! There have been people who have lied and set others up for something they never did. Or, they lured people into getting them to be involved in nefarious behaviors, use of drugs, alcohol, inappropriate touching, looking at unsafe objects, videos or pictures, and then turn around and use it to project onto that individual in order to hide their own very Addictive sicknesses.
 
Here’s the Honest Deal.
When there are wolves operating the pulpits, we don’t say, “well they were once a really nice sheep so we have to be nice to them!” A wolf is a wolf! A wolf puts on a mask like a sheep and can appear saintly and beautiful and tell sad, well oiled stories about themselves to make themselves look like they’re repentant over something “small” that they may struggle over and then everyone feels like, “what a lovely, humble soul!”
They can con, they can cry, they can preach, they can look compassionate. They can talk a good line, they can be very convincing.
But, if they have been predators, touching children, often touching women, touching men, plagiarizing, mishandling funds for their own purposes and lavish living...
…These are wolves.
 
We have to call them for what they are. They thrive on building their egos and are very convincing in order build their own empires, claiming that it was the Lord giving them all the blessings.  
 
2 Corinthians 11:13-14 addresses this so strongly!
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light!”
 
Friends, Discernment is at an all-time low
and the Lord is bringing it to the forefront.
 
The Spirit of God is saying to you and saying to me, “cultivate develop and train yourself to be discerning and to test everything!”
This means school boards, politicians, those in the pulpit, those in other ministries and any other position of authority.
Some of the slickest and most well promoted people are often those of who have charming, manipulative narcissistic traits and harm many in their wake.
 
The posture of power, inflated titles, fake tears, swiftly changing of trends and movements that claim it’s “THE thing” God is doing, are lures to draw crowds, train people to trust the speakers to hear from God for them ( but not fully train the audience to discern and judge.)
 
Oh the wretched and unbelievably twisted things I have heard behind the doors of Pastoral counseling!
Oh the ugly and extremely uncomfortable things I’ve witnessed in Green rooms before live “Christian” broadcasts.
Oh the unbelievably huge complex and disgusting competition that goes on among ministries and Christian organizations, when monetary policies are used as a way to enrich those at the top.
 
If There’s Anything I’d Scream From the Rooftops Today
It Would Be,
“Cultivate and Learn Discernment!”  
Be sober! Be wise!
Be accountable!”  
Oh Lord Jesus! Mature your people. Teach them to hear your voice. 
 
I would like to share a statement from a wonderful man of God who is a seasoned Husband, Father, Pastor, Speaker, and Author.
His name is Tim Challies.
He shares these very potent and deep words.
 
“With discernment comes division.  
A person who seeks to be discerning must be willing to suffer the effects of this division.
It will divide not only the believer from the unbeliever, but it may even divide a discerning believer from one who is undiscerning.
It will separate the mature from the immature and the naïve from the prudent.”
 
SO well said!
 
In my closing out of this podcast today, I would like to share a few potent words from Dr. Diane Langberg who has worked in multicultural and many international settings were abuse and tragedy of every kind, (those imagined and those that you cannot imagine that have taken place).
She works as a specialist among those who have been traumatized by Church abuse in its many forms. She is a wise Senior woman who I greatly admire and have learned much from.
As I share her statements in closing, allow them to speak to the deeper part of you where the Lord is developing discernment and greater awareness.
 
Diane says,
“Many of us have confused the church system with Jesus Christ; they are not the same.
There are wolves among the sheep, tares among the wheat.
Jesus called humans that looked good on the outside, white-washed tombs full of stink. My work has taught me that many poor sheep have followed a blind guide, a gifted wolf, and landed in a pit.
No so-called Christian system is truly God’s work unless it “fleshes out” his character. Toleration of sin, pretense, and crookedness do not reveal the character of God, even if they bear his name.
Arrogance is never godly.
Covering up sin is never godly.
Abuse of power is never godly.
Shepherds who feed on sheep are abusive.
Leadership that preserves and protects the system, rather than the people, turns the house of God into a safe place for predators.
Those who come to feed on God himself then find themselves being the main course instead.
 
We have failed to protect leaders from their own bondage to self-deception and sin. Exposure brings hope, for it brings the cancer to the light.
To hide sin by cover-up or silent complicity is spiritual abuse.
It is a failure to love the perpetrator. Demise of a system—even a spiritual system—is not the worst that can happen!
We must acknowledge and tell the truth about these things.
Great damage is being done to God’s sheep, in his name.
He weeps over such leaders and the sheep they harm.
Be watchful.
Recognize coercive and manipulative behavior.
Call it by its right name when someone in power uses spiritual words and ideas to silence, control, and intimidate.
Be discerning about those who hold power—including yourself.
Do not be deceived. 
May we, with Daniel, call out to God: “O Lord, hear! O Lord forgive. O Lord listen and act. For your own sake do not delay, because your church and your people are called by your name.”(Dan. 9:19).
Source:  https://erlc.com/resource/when-the-sheep-are-preyed-upon/
 
Finally, I would like to say these words.
Trauma can leave people feeling shattered and alone.
But through our faith, we discover that God’s love is unwavering and His healing touch can mend even the deepest wounds.
 
Let’s remember that we are not defined by our pain,
But by the Grace that lifts us up,
and leads us toward restoration.
 
If you find yourself carrying the weight of trauma, know that you are not alone on this journey.
For those of you who may be trembling with fear or who have experienced any kind of abuse.
For those of you, how are trembling and fear, because you know you have done something and have hidden it from others or have protected others who you know have done harmful, evil things, the word of God says to confess your faults to one another to confess your sins so that you may be clean, freed, and that you may be forgiven.
To those of you who have been abused, don’t be afraid to find a safe, godly, skilled trauma counselor who will be able to help you be freed from the prisons of shame, control, and intimidation within, so that you can walk in the light of grace and freedom and know that your Father in heaven has rescued you from those that harm.
To help you in your journey, I have included a link where you can quickly locate or begin to research a Christian counselor who is skilled and able to help you with whatever specific area that you may need to have help with.
https://tinyurl.com/5h4zfc9u
 
Let's pray together before we end this time together.
Heavenly Father,
May everyone who knows your mercy keep putting their trust in you, for they can count on you for help no matter what.
O Lord, you will never, no, never, neglect those who come to you."
-Psalms 9:10
Heavenly Father, in the face of fear and uncertainty, I call upon your strength to fill those who are listening to, or who are reading this message, fill them with courage.
When the wounds of traumatic experiences seem too deep to overcome, remind them that you are the ever-present help in times of trouble.
Grant them the bravery to face their fears head-on, knowing that you go in front of them, leading them into a future, free from the shackles of the past.
Thank you for being our fortress and our deliverer. With you by their side, They will not be afraid. Amen.
 
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!
"2025"
"THE MESSENGER"  -  Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
 
If you would be so kind to assist Mary by helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website, video messages and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service in ministry with Spirit-led offerings 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 80614USA 
 
Or feel free to use or send a tax-deductible gift with
 
Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow 
Under the name of - Mary Lindow - His Beloved Ministries 
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!
 
To Learn More About Steve and Mary 
Click this Picture!
👇🏽
👆🏽
Do You Need Prayer?
Click the picture to send a request!
 

VIDEOS AND INSPIRATION FOR TOUGH TIMES

 
Hello dear friends and those of you that listen to my podcast! 
This is a new presentation that I have created and the podcast is going to send you over to links that you can see there in the site that are going to introduce you to four (4) new, small, video presentations that I have been working on producing in order to use these as ways to encourage those who have an interest in the Lord, or those who are fearful, those who need to pray for our nation and more! 
 
These are just enough to get people to relax, calm down, and listen and pray! And! They are there to encourage YOU! 
 
They are there to share. 
They are there to bring visual context and audio context to things that people are struggling with right now, so if you want to head on over to those and just click the pictures below, click any picture for something that you have interest or,  listen to each of these! 
 
Of course you can watch and listen, and you can copy the links and embed them. 
Send them in emails and share them! 
That’s what this is about! 
 
The Lord said to go out into all of the world and preach the good news, the Gospel, and that means the good news of Jesus Christ, that he is here to help us and to keep us from being afraid!
 
If we are afraid we can come to him. 
He teaches us how to pray and how not to be anxious, and teaches us how to stand strong under the shadow of his wing!
 
You know, I have four consistent supporters, and I bless you! 
I’ve told you that if things would begin to increase just a little bit I would be able to create some videos, and so I had another $150 come in an offering and of course, I have to pay to park these projects somewhere. You can’t just create them. You have to park them on a site that processes, stores and compresses video. 
So! THANK YOU to that individual (you know who you are) for helping me, because this is also preaching the gospel!
 
Now folks!
Just ⬇️SCROLL DOWN ⬇️
and CLICK one or two of those different videos 
and enjoy the beautiful music, the beautiful graphics, 
the words, the voiceover 
and 
I hope they encourage you today!
 
Have a wonderful, wonderful, day
and be blessed in knowing that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
 
➡️ My website also is available to watch and listen to these videos 
if you just prefer to go watch them all in one location! ⬅️
 
You can go to 
www.marylindow.com 
Click the word VIDEO in the menu bar! 
 
What To Do In A World Filled With Fear?
⬆️ (CLICK PICTURE TO WATCH VIDEO)
Be encouraged and be fired up with this 1 min 50 second video about standing strong in a sea of lies and deception! Most people are feeling the shift and tension of world events increasing daily and lies are becoming a national phenomenon! Standing for truth doesn’t come easy. People might consider us hopelessly old-school, blind, or call us fools. But in reality, to stand on and advocate for truth is one of the most loving things we can do—because it actually calls people to live in line with reality, and to warn them away from building on falsehoods that sooner or later, will crumble beneath them.
 
PRAYER: It’s More Than Words
⬆️(CLICK PICTURE TO WATCH VIDEO)
The Spirit of God desires not only that we seek Him but that we actually find Him! The humbling of our soul and learning to pray - these are not simply spiritual disciplines or mechanical things we do for the sake of revival. They are heart preparations. The invitation from the Lord to seek His face is not to be taken lightly;  in fact, it is a lifestyle!
 
Prayer For God’s Defense
⬆️(CLICK PICTURE TO WATCH VIDEO)
When you feel the pressures of life and injustice surrounding you,
where do you turn for help, for comfort, for hope?
 
⬆️(CLICK PICTURE TO WATCH VIDEO)
Anxiety And Fear Have An Antidote
Whether we are mourning, or fearful, at a loss or are experiencing grief,
HOPE has a name…
 
Thank you, and I’ll talk to you soon!
Goodbye for now.
Mary Lindow 
 
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, podcast, and Video production 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!
 

"TRAUMATIC TIMES AND TRUTH TELLERS"

By Mary Lindow
 
Today’s podcast is going to be discussing a subject that a lot of people avoid because they honestly just don’t know how to approach it or, they are afraid to approach it.
Somehow people think that people like myself who have been serving in ministry to the Body of Christ for many, many years, and who are called by the Lord to operate or flow in a prophetic ministry as well, do this 40 hours a week. And, of course, people do expect you to be on call and ready to deliver a clear and concise word from the Lord, without considering the fact that you are not just simply a prophet or a teacher/minister, but you are also a human being who lives and breathes and moves and feels.
 
BEING IN MINISTRY ON ANY LEVEL IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF HEART and truly should not be something to be considered or pursued by those who are looking for a platform for fame or to hold power over others. It is a call to hear the voice of the Lord, to study his word and to always be ready to give a good report of what he has promised or what he is requiring of his people.
So having said that, I am echoing the words and most likely also the thoughts of many disappointed and disillusioned believers right now.
I read a wonderful devotional last week from the Bible app. and it so resonated with where things are right now in our world.
It said, 
“If we are paying attention, we will see a lot of “off” around us. I bet you have noticed things that appeared unjust. Cracks in the façade that show injustice is real.
People hurt. Bullies winning.
The right action is left undone or the wrong action brings harm.
When we pay attention, we have to acknowledge this world is gut-wrenchingly broken.”
 
Many of us will read a description of mistreatment and nod along from experience, memories bringing a fire to our chest. Others hear words about injustice, and it all feels distant. The deep desire to downplay evil stirs, perhaps even subconsciously.
Reading Habakkuk beckons us to acknowledge a foundational principle God reveals through Old Testament prophets—you have to see the evil. We must look around at what is happening in the world and see it for what it is.”
 
THE BIBLE PAINTS THE PROPHETS AS THOSE WHO JOLT US AWAKE AND FORCE US TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT SUCH THINGS.
 
They are the watchmen signaling with waving arms, often to people wanting to look away.
“Look up and see the evil done against others”, the prophets said.
See the impact of your own choices on the vulnerable.
See the disobedience of God’s people.
 
GOD SEES THE WAYS WE’VE GOTTEN THINGS SUPER WRONG FRIENDS, and he’s coming to do something about it.
Get ready. We might not be paying attention, but he is.
 
It would be easy for some of us—and beneficial at times—to look away from the wrong done around us. We much prefer the aesthetics that way. Yet, there are consequences to indifference. We should not be surprised by discipline from the Lord if we choose not to pay attention to the discrepancy between our community’s actions and God’s righteous standard, just as the prophets warned in Israel.
 
FOR OVER 16 YEARS STEVE AND I HAVE ALSO BEEN INVOLVED AS PASTORAL COUNSELORS. Now, some individuals say that all pastors can give pastoral counseling to people. It’s a little different than that. Some people go to school and study psychology, which is the study of the mind, and how to understand the psyche of people and help them. This is a secular approach, and there have been good results and helping people resolve conflicts and often mental illness issues as well as addressing dementia and Alzheimer’s problems and more.
 
Pastoral counseling is where the Bible is the foundation, the Scriptures are the foundation of what you use as a basis to advise and counsel and hopefully help restore people. You also do have to take study courses and apply different techniques in counseling that assist you in being able to assess and discern, as well as understand some issues of mental health in order to be integral in your approach. Steve and I were supervised for over 15 years by a doctor of psychology, who was a strong believer, and we both took courses from different Christian counseling associations and college courses in order to broaden our ability to help people. We also had a brick-and-mortar counseling group with a dear friend, our friend who was the doctor of psychology and the practice supervisor for three years in our local area.
 
WE SAW THE LORD TRANSFORM, marriages, families, young people, and drug addicts, as well as dealing with many abused believers who had come out of almost cult-like, churches, or who were involved in environments and churches where they could not talk about abuse going on with the staff. Many in ministry callings came to us to share their hearts and gained helpful counsel as well.
 
LITERALLY A FEW WEEKS BEFORE COVID LOCKDOWNS BEGAN, our landlord who was also a believer let us know that he was going to sell his portion of the medical unit building that we were renting from him, and the Lord had begun to speak to Steve and I about the timing of where we were supposed to head into more private work as pastoral counselors and as mentors within that same timeframe. The state of Colorado had begun to dictate what licensed counselors were permitted to address, absolutely mandating that they were not permitted to talk about any kind of therapy, that assisted those with “different sexual lifestyles” if they wanted to be transformed or helped.
 
Steve and I strictly operate as Ordained ministers so we do not have to bow our knee to the dictates of a corrupt government licensure program.  We still have to follow confidentiality laws as well as report any kind of devastating child abuse that we may hear in our counseling sessions, but it is all done ethically and legally, and with grace. When the lockdowns began the majority of our work took place over the phone or occasional zoom sessions. With great sadness our dear sister and friend and Counseling Center Supervisor Dr. Muskie, passed into heaven, due to complications with WuhanCovid19.
 
When You Counsel People, The Number One Thing
That Needs To Be Absolutely Evident Is That You Are Willing
To NOT Look At Everyone From A Lens Of What YOU Know,
But Rather From The Lens Of God’s Compassion, As Well As
Leaning In To The Discernment Of The Holy Spirit.
 
The majority of the people I work with are women who have been in abusive environments with either husbands, abusive parents or/siblings and with people in ministry environments (and I’m telling you there are many sexual predators who prey upon women right in church buildings!) as well as working with professional women who are pressured by men and women in their work environments.
 
There are also a lot of women who are very sensual, who get attention by teasing men hoping to cause them to fall. It’s a real deal! And they don’t just go after pastors. They will go after any man in a local body or church or work environment to get the attention that they hunger for when they missed out on being parented properly, or if they feel that something sensual makes them get the attention they need to feel loved. This often happens when there has been sexual abuse in their lives.
 
Pastoral counseling is based on getting to the root of the problem according to what the word of God says, and for a believer the importance of it is that we are willing to face the root cause of what causes us to be traumatized, bitter, secretive, or lie.
 
ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS TO COUNSEL IS A PERSON WITH AN EXTREMELY HARD, WOUNDED HEART, OR WHO IS EMBITTERED. No matter how much you try to show them the way and soften the pathway for them with the grace of God, there is often a back lash that always has a reason to explain why they are hurt, why they are hard, and why they choose to stay stuck in a hard place.
In Matthew 13:15 Jesus says:
“For the heart of this people has become hard,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.”
 
It is a humbling thing to admit that you are stuck or that you are in a hard place, or that you are dominant and mean and cruel to people because you are bitter over tough life circumstances that have happened to you, and so you put up a wall to protect yourself.
 
I have met Christians who justify the fact that they can bully and name call and yes, often swear at other people when they think they are trying to help them or advise them. They often get angry when they are confronted about their bad bullying behavior towards their children. If you ever hear a believer say something like “my child is a jerk”, or “you’re a little brat”, or “stop whining and get up or I’m going to give you something to cry about”, you can tell that there’s verbal abuse going on in their home.
 
Verbal abuse isn’t just cussing at someone although it is verbal abuse for sure! Verbal abuse is considered shaming, humiliating, paralyzing, and dominating over someone else verbally to the point that they are caused to emotionally shut down in fear. Unfortunately, I hear in the confines and confidential pouring out of hearts in my counseling sessions many who have been yelled at with scripture verses and shamed over not being perfect and obedient to God.  This is called spiritual abuse.
 
Picking out specific Bible verses, and using them as a battering ram, or a knife that stabs into the heart of someone to get them to “obey" or to get them to “submit”, is absolutely vicious behavior and it is abusive. There’s no godly virtue in posturing to be a big shot, or to appear to be the person who can control a room with snarky snide remarks or a bunch of advice that everyone is forced to listen to.
 
This is called "insolent pride" in the Bible, and we always take that biblical view, but in the natural if you were studying a psychological viewpoint, this is called narcissism.
 
Proverbs 21:24 states
“Proud,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names, 

He who acts with insolent pride
 
 
INSOLENT PRIDE CREATES A SCOFFING, ARROGANT “KNOW IT ALL” ENVIRONMENT, where there is no ability to ever address the deep-rooted issue of control and abuse in a human being and how they use it towards others to posture. The need for power and control becomes “out of control”! But underneath that simmering rage there is someone who needs to keep everything tightly organized and under their thumb in order that no one finds about out the secret part of them that is either weak, wounded, or has done something they should not do to harm others.
 
WHY AM I SHARING THIS?
Well, we are living in a time where narcissism is actually applauded and stroked as a point of near genius! Insolent pride and verbal domination have become the way of communication in most social media groups.  And, unfortunately it takes place in a lot of texting where people can say cruel or snarky things behind the protection of a telephone screen and slander others in one mass social media post or text! But to say it face-to-face and see the pain in someone’s face by the words they’ve spoken is a different thing isn’t it? And the other party suddenly being painted as a “rotten person” never gets a chance to tell the side of their story that may actually be the truth.
 
Every day we come across people who need to hear a kind word, who need to be lead to a place where they can get help or truth, or just simply be treated with a level of empathy.  And, every day we come across people who may be predators, verbal abusers, spiritual abusers, and have no conscience about how they treat people.
 
IT IS ABSOLUTELY TIME FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST AGAIN TO READDRESS THE ISSUE, FOR THE NEED FOR EXTREME DISCERNMENT. Everything that the enemy could throw at us and our children is on full display right now, and if we dumb down safety and sexuality, safety and what our children watch on television or other tech devices, safety and what WE as adults watch, we simply embrace the narrative of the world, and we move away from scriptural goodness into a place that pollutes the ability to have good discernment.
 
When we don’t allow accountability to come into our lives, whether it be with a good and wise counselor, or with a group of trusted friends who are not going to take your information and spread it far and wide, we leave ourselves open to a secretive fantasy world, or a secret world of torment.
 
What do you do when you’re anxious or sad or depressed or fearful over the way your husband treats you or the way your wife beats you down verbally?
 
What do you do when you are at a stalemate because a spouse refuses to forgive or move forward into hearing the truth about some of the things they have done to get locked into bad behavior and resentment?
 
What do you do when you have a child that suddenly has become addicted to video games and it’s moved up into their adult life and they have no friends because their world is all in front of a screen?
 
What do you do when you know that a minister or a member of a staff in a church or a CEO of your corporation is secretly sexually preying upon individuals in their offices, and you could lose your job, because you know?
 
THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE HARD TO ADDRESS,
BUT MUST BE ADDRESSED!
 
The world is feeling a tremendous amount of being unsettled right now by the great upset of realizing how easy it is to be controlled by a few tyrants, and yet people will cower and go about in denial, instead of learning how to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
 
I have worked with many brave women, who have prayed and fasted and done everything they possibly can to help work on their marriages, but their spouses have chosen to hunker down and gaslight and punish. No matter what approach is taken they become more verbally violent and are determined to blame everyone else.
 
Is this easy to talk about? Absolutely not!
But when you are scripturally based not only as a minister, but also as a pastoral counselor, you must bring truth into the light and help people become free from abusive environments and often “self abusive” environments.  You must above all have confidentiality and trust level that they know will not be breached. Most pastoral counselors work on a sliding scale fee in order to keep their rates low for those who are working hard, sometimes two and three jobs, or a wife who has limited income because her husband tightly holds the reins of the finances.
 
WHEN YOU’RE A PASTORAL COUNSELOR, IT IS DONE OUT OF THE PASSION FOR CHRIST and therefore money and income are not the foremost driving purpose for your work. But, there must be an investment and a fee from those who are in counseling, or people tend to not take it seriously.
It needs to be considered per individual and what they are capable of handling. I often tell people their counseling is much more important than the two or three times weekly custom cup of coffee at their local coffee shop, or perhaps snacks in their afternoon candy bar routine. It really isn’t a sacrifice when you start doing the work to get yourself whole and healthy.
It becomes a lifetime investment.
 
Pastoral counseling is definitely a calling and not to be simply a moneymaker. However, many individuals still expect hours and hours of free counseling time, and rarely invest much into changing their lives if there isn’t some kind of financial accountability for them. Of course if you attend a local church and there is a counseling pastor on staff, that’s what they are there for! If you regularly go to that fellowship and support them, usually there is an option or opportunity for you to see a counselor on staff for no fee. But having experienced some of this in the past, I also know that people tend to jump from counselor to counselor or, Pastor to Pastor if they don’t want to deal with the root cause of their problems, and it can cause friction in a local body if there’s not respect for the position and the role the pastoral counselor is assigned to, by the Lord. Basically they want someone to justify what they are doing, and their bad behaviors.
 
I URGE YOU TO ASK THE LORD TO WALK THE CORRIDORS OF YOUR HEART. Are there things in your life that you dominate and hold over others as scriptural and “legalistic absolutes” and they have become nearly abusive because you refuse to listen to someone else’s heart on the matter?
 
One thing that I have often observed is that people become very hard and hardened because they want to win an argument, or something that has helped and changed them, becomes a law for them to use against others.
 
Now, before others think I’m going to lighten my approach to the Bible, understand this. The word of God is perfect and enlightens the soul. It brings truth to a matter and it does not waver.
 
Of course, there are absolutes in the Scriptures that God will not deviate from no matter how many people try to dilute or maneuver around them. But if we use a hammer and verbal abuse and shame and scripture to “scorch people” in order to prove a point, or to advise them then we are also biblically unsound and abusive.
 
FIRST CORINTHIANS INSTRUCTS US SO CLEARLY THAT LOVE IS WHAT?
It is patient.
It is kind.
It is not boastful, it is not arrogant, and it is not self-serving.
 
When the Lord said, come to me, all of you who are heavy, laden, weighed down and burdened, and I will give you rest, he meant that, because he knows we get heavy laden and burdened and weighed down, either by our own destructive behaviors and sins, or by the destructive behaviors and actions and sins of others.
 
There is also nothing more painful than when someone is in pain or sorrowful or going through a great loss or trauma, and another individual shouts, “get over it, move on”, or cracks jokes about the person in pain.
 
Yes, you will be around people who are chronically in pain or depressed, and it takes patience. It takes guidance, and it takes kindness to either help direct them to help, or gently tell them that you are not the person that is able to help them at this time, but that you will stop and pray for them right now. 
You see, it takes humility.
 
Although there is a lot of reading material produced that uses the term “tough love” and a lot of books about boundaries that we can study, remember, if you’re coming from a scriptural perspective the ultimate goal of God is a Redemptive moment or a restoration if possible.
 
BOUNDARIES ARE NOT TO BE HUGE CEMENT WALLS WITH BARBED WIRE AT THE TOP BLOCKING OUT EVEN THE SUN.
 
Boundaries as a believer are there for when there is a conflict or a disagreement or a different viewpoint with another person. It’s a  "time out" to go and think about it, to pray about it, check your own heart and see if there’s something that would bring about a form of reconciliation.  And then, you try to come together and discuss the issue.
You can agree to disagree and not banish people!
 
Imagine how much Jesus disagrees with a lot of how we behave and yet he doesn’t banish us! He continues to wait for us to come out of our corners of hiding or corners of denial, and meet him again in dialogue until light comes and hope and help, bring a different perspective on our pathway of life.
 
I have worked with people through phone counseling sessions from many different places in the United States, and I have seen them grieve and open up and trust me with the deepest of their painful sorrows and things that are unbelievably sometimes even unbearable to mention. Slowly, but surely, a foundation of nurture and truth combined begins to chip away at the lie that they have believed and feel viewed as something no longer valuable or useful, or that they are worthy of value and are not to be abused!
 
For instance, if a young girl has been used and trafficked by a parent for most of their childhood and up into their high school years, once they awaken to this later in life, there is no way that anyone can accuse them of “choosing” to not face it!
 
There comes a time where the light of God shines brightly on the pain and the sorrow, and they need to be led out into a place where they can express the grief, the anguish and the huge loss of childhood innocence, and yet be brought to a safe place before the face of God, through strategic dialog, planning, or behavioral changes. Gently addressing the people that they affiliate, with until they see the light and the kindness of God. Until they can see themselves as the original creation God had planned them to be.
 
NOW, DON’T GET ME WRONG.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE WHEN THE LORD OPENS DOORS FOR ME TO SPEAK AND MINISTER, and if so called to, I to do operate in the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom when I am involved in these environments.  It is hard work to study and prepare in prayer for when you are assigned these opportunities to speak and minister publicly. But, this behind-the-scenes work of mentoring and pastorally, biblically guide people with counsel, is one of the hardest things that I think I’ve ever done, and yet the most joyful and rewarding when you see the lights come on and the light enter and the chains of the enemy become literal paper and fall away. The person finds the joy and laughter and finds that God has a glorious plan for them.
 
Sometimes it can be a rather rapid process, but the majority of times it is a steady, consistent work, until they find their wings and fly. Every time I work with someone I think about how long it takes for Jesus to help us to find our way, and he often narrows the path of our relationships and friendships in order for us to not only be safe, but to also be on a pathway that is not crowded by those who choose to not do the work that God is asking them to do, in order to be transformed.
 
If we look at the parable where the seed falls on the ground, there are those who will stay stony hearted and will not take in water. They will not receive nourishment. They choose not to grow, and the sad thing is that their seed is pecked up on my other predators.
 
I CAN TELL YOU HONESTLY THAT ALL OF THE PROPHETIC WORDS SPOKEN OVER YOUR LIFE DO NOT CHANGE
THE HARD WORK IT TAKES TO GET YOUR LIFE ON A PATH WHERE THEY CAN COME TO PASS.
 
The Lord is so good to give us future promises, but with those there’s a requirement for action.
Don’t wait until things are so bad and you have a minefield of heartache and debris left in your wake that you have to now clean up.
Don’t be afraid to ask for the help that you need, and find someone whom you can work with and feel safe with, and get on with allowing God to create a new clean heart and renew a right spirit within you.
 
If you have addictions to pornography or addictions to drugs or any other thing that causes you to feel driven towards it, the Lord wants to offer you freedom and restore you to a place of peace and no longer walking in fear.
 
The greatest counselor that we can have is the Holy Spirit; the scripture says the Holy Spirit is a counselor.
Now, many people say, “Well!  I can hear from the Lord for myself, and I will let the Holy Spirit counsel me!”
The problem with that statement is that if we are already in trouble, or we are hiding something, or we have been abused and beat down, we can often dismiss the deep inner voice of the Lord telling us that we need to talk to others and be accountable and get help. Often the Holy Spirit will gently say to someone,  “Go talk to so-and-so or go talk to your pastor or go talk to a counselor or a close friend, who is wise”. Yet pride or fear keeps us paralyzed and afraid to move forward.
 
EVERYONE SOMEWHERE IN THEIR FAMILY OR IN THEIR LIFE EXPERIENCES HURT, AND PAIN AND TRAUMA. Unfortunately, this is the nature of fallen man and the Earth is riddled with devastation because of it. But in John 10:10, Jesus himself said, “I have come that you might have life to the fullest!” He said that you MIGHT have life to the fullest! And the first part of that verse is, “but Satan comes to rob to steal to kill and destroy”. This is what happens to people in life when they are abused and traumatized! 
 
Jesus offers a hand to us saying come to me all of you, who are very weary and heavy laden, heavy burdened, and I will give you rest so that you might have life to the fullest.
 
One of the simplest ways you can find help is to simply look in your area for a Christian counselor, and you can even ask for specifics and details. Those who are really dedicated to the call of God as pastoral counselors spend as much time in prayer and preparation before there counseling session, as they do IN the counseling session.
 
The word of God ultimately has the answers that we need, and the pathway that will guide us out of darkness into the light.
 
I AM IMPRESSED TO SHARE THIS PODCAST SPECIFICALLY
BECAUSE I KNOW THERE ARE THOSE OF YOU
THAT ARE LISTENING WHO ARE CRYING OUT FOR GOD
TO SHOW YOU WHERE TO GO OR WHAT TO DO ABOUT
SOME OF THE SITUATIONS YOU FIND YOURSELF IN.
 
He wants you to know it is not wrong to seek help and that counseling is not of the devil!
 
After all the scripture in Isaiah calls, Jesus, The Mighty Counselor! And again he speaks of the Holy Spirit as being our advocate, or one of our counselors, because they are in themselves three in one with the Father. But, the Lord gives the spirit of counsel and wisdom, and insight to those who are called to help others out of dark places.
 
Don’t hesitate!
Call someone, research someone in your area, or if you have a pastor or individual who is skilled in your church to help you deal with the specific kind of trauma upset you are dealing with, make an appointment and step forward. Not all pastors are skilled or qualified to help people who have been through traumatic sexual abuse issues, or who are dealing with parents who have dementia and Alzheimer’s. But, they can certainly pray with you and help also to direct you to the proper resource.
 
JESUS WANTS US TO FIND A PLACE OF PEACE AND REST IN HIM. His ultimate is to bring us peace and to draw us close to him.
 
If there’s anyone who has ever shamed you by telling you that, seeing a counselor is weak or shows that you don’t trust the Lord, just understand that that individual is also hiding something, or is extremely bound up in the fear of being led astray.
 
Some counselors are not a good fit and so you go to a different one! There have been times when I have worked with individuals and I have to lovingly let them know that I am not a good fit for their situation, or it becomes overlapped into situations where there needs to be another specialist who can better help them walk out an area where they’re stuck, and they need a Focused, Skilled individual to help them unpack, and unburden the deep pain that they are in.
 
THE SCRIPTURE SAYS HE WHOM THE SON SETS FREE IS FREE INDEED.
My prayer for those that are listening today is that you will open your heart to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help you to take the steps forward that you might need to deal with whatever it is that you are suffering over.
 
If you have been verbally abused by bullies in the church or those that may even say that they have some form of counseling skill, but they verbally abuse or shame or use harsh language in order to shock you, this was not the way God planned it. Try again!
 
Step forward one more time and ask the Lord to open the door for you to the right counselor. He will do it, and he will help you be free from pain, the hiding of abuse as a child, the difficulty of dealing with addicted or angry adult children, and those that are prodigal parents, or prodigal children.
 
Jesus has a plan and helping us to hand things over to him in his care when we’ve done all that we know we can possibly do, and we have apologized or repented for actions on our part.
 
Remember, nothing is impossible with God.
I have seen him turn situations around that seemed absolutely impossible! He can help us to stand firm in our faith and not hide in order to be people pleasers, or to cower under the pressure of abusive treatment.
 
OUR NATURAL HUMAN RESPONSE TO SHAME IS TO HIDE.
We hide from each other and hide from God.
This has been the case since Creation. The Bible describes how the first human beings responded to God when they had sinned and were ashamed:  “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8).
 
FRIENDS, HIDING KEEPS US FROM HEALING.
Let’s all aim to be a compassionate, courageous community of believers. A community in which we support each other as we choose healing over hiding.
Let’s support each other as we ask God to grow, to change and heal us.
 
Let Me Lift You Up To The Father In Prayer Right Now:
Father, I thank you for those that are listening to this podcast today. I know it’s not an easy one and certainly not as stimulating and supernatural or as exciting as some, but it IS a supernatural work that you do when you bring us to a place of releasing pain and telling the truth about what has happened to us, or where we have done something to harm someone else.
 
Lord, I know you’re doing a great cleansing work and that you are starting with the body of Christ, bringing your judgment and your truth, and your light.
 
Lord, you said the days are coming when we will worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, we can’t fully worship you when we’re not truthful with you, if we’re hiding and if we’re cloaking, so I pray that anyone listening today. Father anyone who is afraid. I pray that you tell them that fear is holding them back and that you would guide them literally by the hand and direct them to the proper counselor, to someone who has the wisdom to help unlock the pain, the history, the stories and the trauma that has happened to them, in war, in family, in abuse in school or a job. With an abusive Pastor, with an abusive Sunday school teacher.
 
The list goes on and on and you know every one of these events.
So Father I ask that those that are hearing this message will take courage. You will GIVE them the courage to step out and ask for help and I know you will do it.
 
You will help them if they will simply step out, and I thank you for hearing this prayer from my heart for them, in Jesus name.
 
 
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
 
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X0b4EOoOzHFtDNYJun0d

"CALM AND CRISIS" - Spiritual Insight For Today's Troubled Times

By Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit
 
JEREMIAH WAS KNOWN AS THE 'WEEPING PROPHET’. 
Some say he was called at the age of 17. 
 
He was called to reprove a crumbling nation. The Israelite nation. 
Unfortunately for them they didn’t listen to him. But during his day, people were so hardened by sin that they neither believed God nor feared him. They seem to find Jeremiah's constant warning of judgment overbearing and frankly, annoying.
 
IT'S THE SAME WITH US NOW. 
Those that hear our warning find us obnoxious! 
But as believers we are supposed to follow God's instructions to warn a lost and dying world of upcoming judgment. Even though most are not listening, we still have to persevere in courageously speaking truth in order to rescue some from the terrible judgment that will inevitably come. If we are so easily discouraged at fighting the rude behavior of our peers what are we going to do, when we are confronted by demons? 
 
The LORD rebukes Jeremiah for his impatience in Jeremiah 12:5 saying, 
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace [where you feel secure], Then how will you do among the lions in the flooded jungle thicket beside the Jordan?”
 
If we are distraught when we can't make a car payment, what will we do when we lose our job?
If the footmen weary you what will the horses do?
 
If we are distressed at the terrorism going on overseas, what will we do when it’s in our own neighborhoods? Because it already is!
If the footmen weary you what will the horses do?
 
If we are overwhelmed with the work we have now, what will we do when a double or triple portion is required of us? 
If the footmen weary you what will the horses do?
 
GOD IS REMINDING JEREMIAH (AND US)
THAT THERE IS MUCH MORE TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT
THAN WHAT WE’RE COMPLAINING ABOUT.
 
THERE IS SOMETHING AHEAD OF US IN THIS SEASON MY FRIENDS
THAT ARE OF MORE CONCERN THAN PETTY GRIEVANCES AGAINST THOSE
WHO SEEM TO BE BETTER OFF OR LIVE EASIER THAN WE DO. 
 
God is telling Jeremiah “ If you are not able to encounter lesser dangers, how will you be able to overcome greater ones?” 
Jesus said to us in John 16: 33, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! Take Courage! I have overcome the world.”
 
IT’S NATURAL THAT OUR HARDEST DAYS AND MOST DIFFICULT TRIALS ARE AHEAD OF US, NOT BEHIND US. If you are worried and in great upset about these things, what are you going to do when you are forced to face extremely difficult trials and troubles that are most certainly just around the bend?
 
Matthew Henry said, “The faith even of strong believers may sometimes be sorely shaken and ready to fail them. There will be storms that will try the firmest anchors.” Now, Isn’t that the truth? 
 
JEREMIAH WAS CONSUMED WITH GRIEF ABOUT THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED in Anathoth when just in a short time He would be beaten in Jerusalem by order of the priest Pashhur (instead of worrying about the prosperity of heathens in Anathoth, he was about to be severely punished by a priest in Jerusalem). 
 
Let's take a sneak peek of what is in store for Jeremiah:
“He had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple.” Jer. 20:2
 
GOD SAW THIS COMING WHEN JEREMIAH WAS CRYING ABOUT
THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED!
 
If Jeremiah had known what was going to happen ahead of him, He wouldn't have wasted time complaining about the men of Ana Thoth. Jeremiah was concerned about something insignificant when something greater needed his attention. 
And, His own family was secretly conspiring against him — they spoke well of him to his face but were trying to incite a mob against him behind his back. They seemed to be friendly but they were really his enemies.
 
God's Faithful Servants Shouldn't Think It Strange
That Their Enemies Are In Their Own Family,
Some Living Under Their Own Roof.
 
Jesus told us in Matthew 10:34-35 
“For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.”
 
SO FRIENDS, IF THE FOOTMEN WEARY YOU WHAT WILL THE HORSES DO? 
I know I keep repeating the statement because it’s what the Holy Spirit would have me consistently say so that you hear the challenge and that you are strengthened to stand up and be courageous, now!
 
GOD'S ANSWER TO JEREMIAH WAS TO BE ABSOLUTELY DETERMINED TO STAY SOLID AND IMMOVABLE IN HIS WALK WITH GOD, because there were bigger trials ahead of him that needed his attention. But God does let him know what will happen to Israel and her enemies. Although God punishes Israel by allowing her enemies to overtake the land, God would not let her enemies sacrilegiously use that land which belongs to Israel. Even their land is blessed!
“But after I uproot them, I WILL AGAIN HAVE COMPASSION and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country.” (Jeremiah 12:15)
 
God will again deliver his people from their enemies by uprooting them just as he did when they were suffering in Egypt. 
 
GOD SHOWS THAT EVEN HIS ENEMIES MAY RECEIVE COMPASSION AND GRACE.
“And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, 'As surely as the LORD lives' even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal – then they will be established among my people.” (V.16)
 
GOD'S EXPECTATION IS PLAIN. 
If Israel's enemies would pay homage to God the way they did for Baal, (a dead and dumb idol) if they could humble themselves to follow the God of Israel instead of teaching Israel to follow idols they would be rewarded, but if not...
“'But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,' declares the LORD” (v. 17)
 
GOD'S CALL AND PLAN AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR US CAN BE SUMMED UP IN 
I CORINTHIANS 16:13 
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” 
 
OUR GREATEST DIFFICULTIES ARE AHEAD OF US, NOT BEHIND US.
(If our troubles were always behind us, we would never grow as a Christian.) 
We mustn’t waste time complaining about petty things. 
Quickly put on your helmet, take up your sword and shield, tighten your armor and get ready! Get ready to run with the horses!
 
God offers Jeremiah a beautifully wise word picture for him to consider. 
He essentially asks Jeremiah, “If footmen weary you, what will the horses do?” 
 
PAUL REFERRED TO LIFE AS A RACE. 
Makes sense, after all, it has a beginning, middle, and a strong determination to finish strong. It requires endurance, patience, devotion and a resolution to finish strong. At the end of his life Paul said, “I have finished the race.” And referring to Jeremiah's race God is saying: If running with others on foot, when everything is equal, what are you going to do when they are given horses?
 
In this verse the prophet Jeremiah has been complaining about his persecutors. God Divinely answers, and warns Jeremiah about his impatience, and then tells him that harder trials are in store for him. 
What? More distressing times? 
 
We all have had the experience of how in our lives, there are long stretches of uneventful days, and then, generally without warning, some crisis is sprung on us, which demands quite a different set of gifts to cope with it. Our monsoons in Colorado generally come without any warning from a falling barometer.
 
WE CAN AT ANY MOMENT BE CONFRONTED WITH SOME HARD DUTY,
WHICH WILL EXHAUST OUR ENERGY.
 
We may at any moment be plunged in some huge calamity and the quiet course of our lives for years suddenly is interrupted with fierce storms and devastating fallout. 
 
WE WON’T ALWAYS HAVE THE EASY FOOT RACE WITH FOOTMEN. 
There will some times come a call to strain our muscles to keep up with the gallop of the cavalry. We will have to struggle to keep our feet in the rising waters of difficultly, and must not expect to have a continual leisurely life in ‘a land of peace.’
 
With the power of Jesus in our spirits we shall never have to attempt 
a duty that we are not first strengthened by Him to take on. 
And we never have to face a danger in which He won’t defend us. 
 
With His life in us we will be ready for the long hours of uneventful, unexciting duties, and for the short spurts that make precise calls on each of us to respond to. We ‘WILL run and not be weary; we will walk and not faint.’ 
 
As I finish this podcast I’d like to share what Oswald Chambers said about patience during the time of great difficulty and when the world is filled with uprising.  It is so powerful and quite comforting.
 
THE DUTY OF PATIENCE – by Oswald Chambers
"Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10).
Jesus says we are to keep the word of His patience. There are so many things in this life that it seems much better to be impatient about. 
The best picture to explain this is that of an archer: 
He pulls the bowstring further and further away from his bow with the arrow solidly fixed in its slot, then, when it is adjusted, with his eye on the target he lets it fly. 
The Christian's life is like that. God is the archer. 
He takes the saint like a bow which He stretches, and we get to a certain point and say,” I can't stand any more, I can't stand this test of patience any longer," but God goes on stretching. 
He is not aiming at OUR TARGET mark, but at His own, and the patience of the saints is that we hold on until He lets the arrow fly straight to His goal." 
 
Are you ready for a time of strengthening to come into your life? 
The Lord promises that a dramatic transformation will take place in us when we abandon our agenda and open ourselves to His plan for us. 
 
We can see this so clearly in the life of Saul before he had become the Apostle Paul. 
Saul had been intent upon his own evil strategy to persecute Christians. Then came his life-changing encounter with Jesus, when he asked the most important question of all in Acts 9:6: 
“Lord, what do YOU want me to do?”
 
FRIEND! ARE YOU READY TO ASK THE LORD THAT SAME QUESTION? 
Are you ready to give up your own fruitless designs in return for God’s better plan?
 
LET’S PRAY THAT TOGETHER NOW.
Lord Jesus, I have been moving forward persistently with my own thoughts and plans.
I have been intent upon seeing those accomplished.
Now I see that despite my good intentions, my plans may not be in line with Yours.
Right now, I humble myself before You. 
I take this moment to ask, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” 
In Your presence, I place my agenda on the shelf, and I open my heart and my hands to Your plans and purposes.
I belong to You, Lord. Please forgive me for any stubbornness that may have captivated me. 
I pull down that stronghold right now—any thought that needs to be taken captive to the obedience of Christ. 
I place my future in Your hands, Lord Jesus. 
Have Your way—and only Your way—in my life. Amen.
 
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"  - "THE ADVOCATE OF HOPE" - 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 1253Denver, Colorado 80614USA 
Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with
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Under the name of - Mary Lindow
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!
 
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LIFE - DISTRESS - ABUSE - AND PERSECUTION

By Mary Lindow 
 
WE LIVE IN A CORRUPT WORLD and therefore, have the “effects and affects” of that corruption ever influencing, ever tainting and ever wooing the flesh. 
Let’s look at the definition of a key word I am going to use in this crucial message. Plumbline: a tool that consists of a small, heavy object attached to a string or rope and that is used especially to see if something (such as a wall) is perfectly vertical or in alignment)  
 
A plumbline is a simple but accurate tool used for determining whether or not something is perfectly vertical or upright. The Lord also used, and uses, a "plumbline," His Word, to determine how upright His people truly are in His sight.
How upright they think they are, or how upright they proclaim themselves to be, means nothing to God.
 "Behold, I WILL set a plumbline in the midst of My people".  -Amos 7:7 
 
A PLUMBLINE SET OUT BY THE HAND OF GOD IS ONE THAT WE CAN ANCHOR OUR HEARTS TO. 
It will always, always, ALWAYS, direct us to the truth in a matter; even if it requires pain, loss, persecution and perhaps death in areas we feel we may well have rights to. 
It will also be a shield, a balm, a comfort and a teacher to those who will yield to the directive positioning of the Master. 
 “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumbline.” 
-Isaiah 28:17 
 
I am by far not an expert on the subject of plumblines and righteousness, so take what I say in the light of one who at time gropes like a child in the dark, ever reaching for the hand of the ONE to lead me into a safe place filled with His Hope, His Mercy, His Light and Life.
 
LIFE – DISTRESS - AND PERSECUTION 
I have found that in my life, distress and persecution do not feel like God’s care being poured out on me. My heart is not immediately drawn to thanksgiving and gratefulness for the faithfulness of God on display as I cling to the battered pieces that look like potential “rafts” of hope, only to find out that many of them have gaping holes or slow leaks in them. 
Rather, it feels like yet another hurt is being permanently woven into my tattered and war-torn soul. It seems as if another mound of questions are piling up and just waiting for an answer and a true solid REAL anchor of hope. 
 
Dr. Diane Langberg, a Courageous, brilliant, humble servant of God and Counselor has deeply impressed me and my approach to caring for and ministering to others. She spoke the following words boldly regarding pain, abuse, and the suffering of traumatic events.
Quoting Dr. Langberg,
"In the midst of the trauma and suffering I have also seen the work of the Redeemer. He fills his people with his life and in ordinary ways, little by little; they bring his hope and healing to a ruined world. Traumatized and caregiver alike are transformed. He works both ways as they bend together to bring his redemption to the ravages of evil. I know this to be true for he has done so in me.
I have learned many lessons over the years. I have listened to countless tragedies. Of one thing I am certain: unless we are gripped by the truths of the Cross of Christ in our own hearts and lives, the hope and power of the Cross will not pass from us to others. We cannot give what we do not have.  May love and obedience to the Son of Man so govern our personal lives that he can through us bring his life to this ruined planet." (End of quote)
 
I CAN REALLY CONNECT TO THE WRITER OF PSALM 42 
He said “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” It’s at those very times that the words of the Savior are so important. When we are down and in turmoil. 
But, how do we connect the dots between what we know is true about God’s faithfulness and what our hearts feel? When flipped and flung around by the waves, weary from crying and when no answer seems at hand, what IS the answer? 
When my circumstances show many foes and tyrants rising up against me and my heart is prone to wander and fear, what hope is there of peace? 
When my feelings start controlling my thoughts, how can I rest in God’s promises? 
 
AT THIS POINT… I HEAR THE “GASPS”,  and perhaps shocked comments of a few who are amazed that someone who "appears" to walk so fervently and intimately with the Lord would have such difficulties! 
Well! Guess what?
I do struggle, I do hurt, and yes I do doubt when I have been side swiped or “rammed” by skilled cons and those who, although may have the appearance of godliness and offered friendship or fellowship, end up having private and evil agendas behind their well placed and planned schemes.
And boy oh boy! Those skilled players know the wicked art of wounding the heart and causing people to reel in pain! 
 
BUT, THERE IS ONE WHO FULLY SEES IT ALL 
The main skill in the issue of dealing with life as a spiritual person, is to know how to handle yourself when things not only crush and grind your heart, but what to do with the anguish and toll of their aftermath. 
We have to get ourselves into a place where we hear clearly again. 
We need have to address ourselves, preach to ourselves, and ask questions about ourselves. 
We must say to our soul: "Why are you cast down –Why are you so anxious and lacking in peace?" 
We must urge ourselves, and say ‘Hope in God’ – instead of remaining in this paralyzed, aching state!” 
 
AND THEN WE MUST TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER
We must go on to remind ourselves just “Who" God is, and what God is, and what God has done, and what God has promised that he Himself said that He would do. 
Having done that we can stand up and sing out strongly, defying the torment of the soul, and resist other people’s wicked tongues and arrogance, and refuse to go along with the devil and the whole world, and say: ‘Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” 
 
The hope and promise of the fairness of God’s justice when dealing with the hurtful things and presumptions of others gives me the confidence to know that God will never turn away from me in my need. No matter how they seem to prosper in the short term, wicked men and women will ultimately pay for their sins, in this life or the next. Jesus died to meet my greatest hardships and sorrows for me, and I need to preach this to myself every day.
 
His power is greater than my weariness and suffering. 
The comforting and instruction that comes from simply running to feed upon His word instead of the toxic poison of the replaying of trauma reminds me that what Jesus has done is strong enough for my soul to rejoice in and to be set into a place where it can rest and regroup, gaining a healthy perspective about what to give out to others and what is simply…
…. To be enjoyed by the Lord Himself. 
 
THE NATURAL IMPULSES OF MANKIND ARE SINFUL AND DECEITFUL! 
Human willpower alone will never be able to change this. 
We need God's help to truly change our hearts. 
REMEMBER. You cannot change the heart of anyone else either. 
If you try to, you will feel the bite of stinging venom or be laughed out of a room. Only the power of the conviction of the Holy Spirit can permeate and get around the jam-packed hardhearted egos of the self sufficient and bitter. 
Jeremiah 17:9 says that the human heart is deceitful in all things and is even beyond cure!
 
We must be cautious and wise in reproving and warning such types of people about their bad behaviors and wicked actions where there seems to be no appearance or hope of change and where there is danger of experiencing great and heart wrecking retaliation and slander. 
 
THESE TYPES TRAMPLE THE WARNINGS AND URGING FOR REPENTANCE  and humbling of the heart under their feet, and turn again and slash at you, despising the warnings that are “tearfully and fearfully” given, and often hurt the persons who give them, either by words or deeds. 
 
"Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. 
Don't throw your pearls to pigs! 
They will trample the pearls, 
then turn and attack you.” 
-Matthew 7:6 
 
“GIVE ME THE FACTS MA’AM JUST THE FACTS”
I remember that phrase from a TV show called “Dragnet”. The detective would not allow the details of the case to be skewed by any assumptions or pontificating from those he interviewed. He stoically and firmly demanded only the facts. 
And so, here are the “facts” about the heart of a good man or woman.
1.) The good man or woman:
 Brings good things out of the good stored up in his/her heart.
 
And the facts about an evil man or woman. 
 
2.) The evil man/woman,
 Brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his/her heart.
For out of the overflow of his or her heart his or her mouth speaks.
-Luke 6:45 
 
THE FRAILTY, BRIEFNESS, AND INSECURITY OF LIFE 
The frailty, briefness, and insecurity of life should hold down the vanity and presumptuous confidence of all of our projects and boasting about future greatness and bragging rights! We are always to depend on the will and leading of God. 
 
OUR TIMES ARE NOT IN OUR OWN HANDS, BUT ARE INSTEAD IN THE TIMING OF GOD. Our heads may be filled with cares and plans for ourselves, or our families, or our friends; but Divine intervention often throws our plans into bewilderment. All we have in mind, and all we do, should be with a humble and deep dependence on God.
It is foolish, and it is hurtful, to boast of trendy “latest happening” things and prospective projects, and it will bring great disappointment and will prove destructive to relationships and meaningful help to others in the end. 
 
“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. 
These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” 
-1 John 2:16
 
LISTEN KINDLY - BEFORE SPEAKING YOUR THOUGHTS 
People don't need a lecture on the meaning of suffering or to have a barrage of scriptures “machine-gunned” at them as a reprimand for sharing their moment of grief or struggle! (Especially when their hearts are breaking, weary of the battle and if they are fatigued.)
Job could have done without some of the self-righteous answers that came from his “well-meaning” friends. All of the answers could have even been true, but Job didn't need to hear any of them. 
He needed their love, not their value judgments. 
In fact, it appears as if God judged THEM for trying to offer simple solutions to things that were beyond their comprehension. They had never walked in the loss he was in anguish over. 
 
WHEN WE SUFFER UNJUSTLY WE HAVE A MAJOR CHOICE TO MAKE
How will we respond? We can feel sorry for ourselves (and understandably so, for a while), become bitter and cynical, get drawn into a war of words, or even become mixed up in a major conflict.
On the other hand, we can take our suffering to the cross and allow our pain to draw us into a deeper place of understanding of what Jesus went though in his sufferings.
This does not remove the pain, but does help us to know what to do with our hurt. 
 
THIS IS THE 'FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS (Philippians 3:10), one of the gateways to closeness with God and the release of his power in our lives. The weight of heartbreak shared with a loving friend cuts it in half. When the burden is shared with many friends, we can cope with almost anything.
We never feel more revitalized than when a friend loves us enough to walk with us in our pain. Not lecture us. 
 
The apostle Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth: 
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God". -1 Corinthians 1.3-4 
 
SOMETIMES GOD GETS INVOLVED WITH DIRECT MIRACLES, 
Giving supernatural strength to those in need. But for the most part, he depends on us, his people, to do his work in the world. We love each other, work for healing, and suffer with those who suffer. 
The next time you see a friend who is suffering, Jesus may just invite you to be the warm embrace! We comfort each other with the comfort we have received in Christ. And when we do, we become the Body of Christ and he receives the glory! 
 
THE BIBLE IS CLEAR! 
We are to bear one another's burdens. 
We are to comfort others as Christ has given comfort to us. 
Your hard time becomes my hard time. 
We join hands in the journey. 
When you succeed, I succeed. 
When you suffer, I suffer. But we do it together. We share it together. 
And we do it, not so much in our wisdom or our words, but in our availability, our understanding, and through our presence. 
 
THAT'S WHAT FELLOWSHIP IS ALL ABOUT! 
But not “bland” fellowship.
It is CHRISTIAN fellowship. It is the business of burden bearing.
Authentic CHRISTIAN fellowship says that when you need me . . . I'll be there.
Support in suffering is at the core of what it means to share life together in Christ. The word for "comfort” is the same root word as the name Jesus used to describe one of the functions of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Paraclete). “I will be a comforter, one who comes alongside to give help.” And so as God comes alongside you, now you are able to come alongside another. As the Comforter is at work within you, so you also can be of comfort to those around you. 
 
WE ARE CALLED TO BEAR ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS. 
To mourn with those who mourn.
To be a follower of Jesus means to come alongside people who are hurting and find ways to help them walk even through the valley of the shadow of death. We are called to do this, as the word of God and care of God is shared with the intention of stirring, plowing up hardened hearts, creating a place for repentance and challenging saints to hope again.  I know and believe that as we learn again as believers, to care, to truly listen and to hope fully again, that the sweet and heavy weight of HIS Glory will be made known and will manifest in unfettered and uncontrolled waves of worship and spontaneous adoration of the King of Heaven. 
 
MY FRIENDS IN CHRIST…
…LISTEN TO THESE NEXT WORDS I SHARE WITH YOU VERY CAREFULLY.
 
Toleration of sin, pretense, and crookedness do not reveal the character of God, even if they bear his name.
Arrogance is never godly.
Covering up sin is never godly.
Abuse of power is never godly.
Shepherds who feed on sheep are abusive.
Leadership that preserves and protects the system, rather than the people, turns the house of God into a safe place for predators.
Exposure brings hope, because it brings the cancer to the light.
To hide sin by cover-up or silent complicity is spiritual abuse.
 
HE REALLY DOES KNOW WHAT HE WANTS
Let's focus on bowing low and seeking His heart and plans in what matters to Him.
Indeed, HE is the Plumbline.
Jesus demonstrated in the flesh what a human being is to be like who bears God's image. He pursued the vulnerable, protected the little ones, and poured out compassion on the least of these.
Any dismissal of abuse, any baptizing of evil, any cover-up or denial is nothing like Him.
Any discarding of the least of these or trampling of the vulnerable is an assault on God Himself—no matter the spiritual words used as an excuse.
 
AGAIN, I will share another phenomenal insight from Dr. DIANE LANGBERG regarding this matter.
She said these words in an article;
“You see, this Jesus had a passion for redeeming.
For those who have been abused, and are suffering from its debilitating aftereffects, listen hard.
There is hope for you-hope for healing and transformation. I know;
I come to you from the frontlines and have seen it happen countless times.
It takes courage, hard work, and there is no quick fix.
Such redemption was Jesus' master passion.
This God came to seek and redeem what has been lost. We must acknowledge and tell the truth about these things.
Great damage is being done to God’s sheep, in his name.
He weeps over such leaders and the sheep they harm.
Be watchful.
Recognize coercive and manipulative behavior.
CALL IT BY ITS RIGHT NAME WHEN SOMEONE IN POWER USES SPIRITUAL WORDS AND IDEAS TO SILENCE, CONTROL, AND INTIMIDATE.
Be discerning about those who hold power—including yourself.
Do not be deceived. 
May we, with Daniel, call out to God:
“O Lord, hear! O Lord forgive. O Lord listen and act.
For your own sake do not delay, because your church and your people are called by your name” (Dan. 9:19).
 
 
SO FRIEND. WHAT HAVE YOU LOST?
Your voice?
The truth, drowned out by lies?
Your life and its vibrancy, its strength, its giftedness?
Your hope?
God has said He is making all things new... and that includes you.
Devastation is, bit by bit, redeem-able. I know. I have had a front-row seat to God's redemptive power in my life, and for the record, one of the people He has done redemptive work in, is me.
My work with victims in ministry as well as teaching in schools has revealed to me who God is. Evil can be transformed in the life in which it occurred. That work is also redemptive in the one who walks alongside the broken vessel. Evil is then twice crushed.
May the Church of Jesus Christ repent of her pursuit of human externals and bend down, listen, and walk alongside trauma, abuse, racism, hatred, and a blind eye as did her Lord.  In doing so, we will bring joy to the heart of the Father.
 
I’D LIKE YOU TO PRAY WITH ME BECAUSE RIGHT NOW,
I am sure that this touched several hearts, and maybe even made some fear come into some of you who are hiding things or who have abused others, and it’s time to come clean.
It’s time to get the help that you need.
 
So, I’d like to pray with all of you listening today.  I ask you to stop and be still.
Position your heart before the Lord as we bring this to him.
 
Prayer 
God, I ask in Jesus' name, that you comfort, strengthen and encourage all who are hurting deeply right now and are going through so much pain and heartache. 
Don't allow them to give up in the heat of the battle. 
Let them feel your arms wrapping around them and your love overflowing and filling them up. Lord, I will pray often and I know that you will hear my voice, even when I speak to You in my silent thoughts. 
To You, I am crying out and my prayers are now before You. 
Father, I give to You my problems, I do not want them. 
Father, please restore them to You. I know that you have compassion for your children. Father, show them your ways and teach them your paths. Lead them in your truth and teach them you are the God of our salvation and on you we will wait. 
Protect them from the evils of this life and guide them through all of their days. Father, thank You for hearing my prayer Father and for considering and for having compassion on all who hear and read these words, and all who hurt, in this troubled world we live in. 
Keep them in the center of Your love. 
In Jesus’ Name~ Amen 
 
I KNOW THAT THIS WAS MOST LIKELY A DIFFICULT AND PROBABLY PAINFUL PODCAST FOR SOME OF YOU,
BUT IT’S A FREEING PODCAST.
 
It brings out into the light the reality that we need to speak up when we see harm being done and we need to get help when we have been harmed so that the stopping of the sorrow when the grief in the trauma can begin and a new pathway can be created in our lives. I
 
I look forward to sharing my next podcast with you! I do want to thank those you are so kind and so gracious.
I have a few very faithful individuals who do support and partner with me to produce these podcasts and I want to let you know I’m always amazed at how many places these go to, because I don’t really do a lot of promoting!
They just get picked up by other podcast groups and it goes out all across the world, so somewhere in this, the Holy Spirit is using it to glorify the name of Jesus, and for that I am so grateful that he would find something in me that is worthy of sharing.
So, thank you again to those of you who help me.
 
I look forward to being with all of you again and in the meantime, stand firm, call upon the name of the Lord, and tell the truth, in Jesus name.
Goodbye for now!
 
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed provided that complete article, podcast link and website information for Mary Lindow is included.
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IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR STORMS ”IMMANUEL” IS WITH US! - We Are Not Alone!

The World Is Whirling In Many Storms Right Now!
It’s Crazy Out There, And Dark!
And yet, we all have those things that we are personally raging war against as well.
Maybe You’re In A Storm Right Now.
Maybe it’s a storm named divorce.
Maybe it’s a storm called money, or loss of a career.
Maybe it’s friendship. Maybe loneliness.
Maybe grief or addictions. Kids, in-laws, friends.
Maybe it’s a storm called cancer.
 
Sometimes We Wonder Where Is God In The Midst Of Our Struggles.
Why is God allowing this to happen? We usually don’t understand, (even if we’re the culprit, it still doesn’t seem fair or right.) Yet God is there. His name “Immanuel” means, God WITH us.
In Matthew: 1:23 it says,
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us.”
That’s our theme.
It’s really believing and trusting that God is with us.
With that in mind, I want to look at a passage from Acts 27.
 
As Paul Was Being Transported To Rome,
The Focus Was On A Storm On The Ship Paul Was On.
 
There was this massive storm at sea. The storm went on and on and on.
The crew was so terrified that they threw cargo overboard, believing they were about to die.
In Acts 27:20, Luke tells us;
“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days,
and no small tempest lay on us,
all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.”
 
When We Read, No Small Tempest Lay On Us;
Luke Is Telling Us This Was A Massive, Raging Storm!
It wasn’t just a rainstorm, the wind was blowing, the skies were dark day and night; they couldn’t even see the sky.
The storm was raging, and I wonder how many of us would use that phrase for what we’ve been going through?
The storm - won’t - stop.
 
Do you see the end of that verse?
It said, “All hope of being saved was abandoned”.
They gave up all hope of being saved! That’s terrible!
 
Have You Been There? Have You Given Up All Hope?
It’s the finances that are killing you and you see no hope.
Maybe there’s a wedge between you and your spouse and you can’t see any hope.
Maybe it was the diagnosis.
Maybe you can’t see yourself with a mate.
Maybe it’s a job, it’s the kids, it’s getting older and more dependent.
Whatever it is . . . and just like those sailors, you’ve given up all hope!
 
The storm continues to rage and in verse 21 we read,
“Since they had been without food for a long time,
Paul stood up among them and said,
“Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete
and incurred this injury and loss.”
 
I love Paul!
But right here, I don’t think I would want to hear what he said!
Kind of an “I told you so!”
“You should have taken my advice. You wouldn’t have lost all of this property.
If you had just listened to my advice, you wouldn't be in the middle of this storm.
 
Why Were They In The Storm?
They were in the storm because it was their fault.
They made a decision to go out when it’s not the best time to sail.
It was risky from the start.
Spiritual warfare is real and sometimes, yes, it is Satan.
But this situation was on them; they couldn’t blame Satan as much as they may have wanted to.
 
We Don’t Like To Admit It, But Sometimes It's Our Own Fault.
Sometimes you over-indulged and you spent too much money, or you said something you shouldn’t have said and now you’re in the middle of the storm.
You procrastinated and now you’re paying for it.
You said yes, when you knew you should have said no!
You dated someone everyone said not to date, and now there’s lots of hurt and you’re in the middle of the storm and you can’t blame anyone else.
 
Maybe That's Why They Gave Up Hope - - - They Knew It Was Their Fault.
I think we may find it easier to believe God can get us out of a storm He called us to, than it is for God to get me out of a storm we created.
Does that make sense?
 
Maybe It’s The Captain’s Fault.
You’re just a sailor and you didn’t have a say in it. You heard Paul, but you believed the captain and now through no fault of your own, you’re in the middle of the storm.
 
Have You Have Ever Been In The Middle Of A Storm And It Wasn't Your Fault?
Your parents divorced and you thought it was about you.
The company made poor business decisions, which impacted you.
Someone gave you their word and you believed them.
Whatever it was, you were the victim.
You’re in the middle of the storm and you’re giving up hope!
Now, Paul says in verse 22 - -
“Yet now I urge you to take heart,
 for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.”
 
Literally, Paul is calling them to have a positive spirit, to have good courage.
He is reassuring them there will be no loss of life.
 
How Many Of Us Need To Hear That?
Be Of Good Courage.
That’s a theme throughout the Bible. Remember what God told Joshua in chapter 1 verse 9;
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous!
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
 
Be of good courage! Be courageous.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.
Don’t be defeated. Don’t give up hope!
WHY?
 
Because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!
That’s news we need to hold onto! It’s great news when we’re giving up hope!!
 
Then in verse 23 Paul said - - -
“For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God
to whom I belong and whom I worship.”
 
Talk About A Powerful Statement From Paul!
You're in the boat in a raging storm and an angel stands beside you! I wonder what some were thinking.
 
I Truly Believe There Are Angels All Around Us.
There are angels where you are right now ministering to you.
I really do believe that. I believe the spiritual world, when we get there some day, is going to totally blow us away with what’s going on.
 
Imagine That You're In The Middle Of A Storm And The Presence Of God Is With You In This Moment. You have no idea all the different ways God is with you. He could be with you as an angel. His Spirit is with you. Jesus is with you! God is not bound by time; He’s with you yesterday, today and forever. He is listening to your prayers. He’s interceding on your behalf to the Father!
 
We Have No Idea How God Is With Us At All Times, Even In The Storms.
It’s what Paul told Timothy - - -
“At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me,
But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me.” - 2 Timothy 4
 
Isn’t that great? The Lord stood by me and strengthened me.
The Lord didn’t leave me; the Lord didn’t fail me nor forsake me.
He’s with me, at my side, and He is with you at your side, and He's giving you strength.
 
NEVER LET THE PRESENCE OF A STORM
CAUSE YOU TO DOUBT THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
 
Following Jesus doesn't mean bad days won't happen.
That's bad theology to think that it does.
Jesus said that in John 16:33,
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
 
You will have trouble, but Jesus promises us He will be with us and on top of that, He has overcome the world.
That means Jesus is the victor!
We have our victory in Jesus.
 
We Can't Control What People Do To Us.
But, we can control what we believe and where we put our faith, put our trust. 
My faith is in the One who created the wind and the waves. I have faith in God that what He says will come to pass. What He says will happen - - - will happen.
 
Who Is God?
In Psalm 46:1-3, the psalmist tells us,
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(That means right now!)
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”
 
Don’t You Love That?
In the midst of our storms, God is our hiding place.
He is our refuge and our strength.
He is always ready, willing and able to help us in times of trouble.
 
Why? Because He is with us.
 
Who is He?
He is Immanuel.
He is God with us.
Because He is with us, we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken, (it’s sure shaking right now!) and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, even though the seas roar and rage, and the mountains tremble.
If we lose our job, if the relationship falls apart, if the economy gets shaky,
I still will not be afraid.
Why? Because He is with me.
Because He will never leave us. Because He will never forsake us.
Because He is what we need.
Because He is our safety. He is our strength. He is our comforter.
He is our redeemer. He is our righteousness. He is our friend.
Because He is a rock. He is the living bread, the bread of life.
He is the living water that satisfies our souls.
He is the gate through which we can enter.
He is the good shepherd.
He is our comforter and peace.
 
PEACE IS NOT FOUND IN THE ABSENCE OF A STORM.
PEACE IS FOUND IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS, AND HE IS WITH US.
 
That’s why you never let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God.
True peace is not found in the absence of trials and storms.
That's a part of life.
 
True peace is found in the Presence of Immanuel.
God WITH us.
 
Let’s pray,
Heavenly Father, we see the world in turmoil, we see the storms on the horizon. Wherever we turn, it seems as if darkness is attempting to encroach and suffocate the goodness in the earth.
But Lord, you have people filled with your Spirit, you have your own set apart and called and planned for this very storm and time.
Lord, those that are listening to me, many of them like myself are asking questions like, “what more can I do”?
It seems as a governmental policies are thrown aside and treachery wins the day. It seems as if there are family members who refuse to speak to one another because of either different political views, or they’ve been forced into doing things that they didn’t want to do and they said “no”. Father we know all these things are being heard from you in our prayers and we ask that you help us to be like Paul, that we wait upon the strengthening of your angels that come around us.  You yourself were sent a strengthening angel in the garden of Gethsemane that ministered to you so that you could fulfill the ultimate call upon your life, to spare us from damnation and a place of great darkness for eternity.
Teach us your way oh God!
Teach us to trust you with all of our heart.  
Those places that have become weak or frightened, or perhaps presumptuous, Father, we want to be on an equal plain of humility before your throne, that you can call upon us, call us up at any time, that we might stand and face the storm in the courage of knowing that every place in which our foot has tread, you have given it to us.
We will be strong and courageous, and we will not be afraid.
We thank you Jesus so much for being there, we thank you, Father for the presence of your Holy Spirit. We can lift our hands and close our eyes and lift our hands and begin to call upon your name, and peace falls on us, and that thick Presence, knowing that you are in the midst of us. The world does not have that! The wicked never taste that kind of full belonging and peace, and we thank you for it.
Father I ask those that are listening today, if there’s anyone who’s afraid, if there’s anyone going through a really hard thing, Father I ask that your Presence would reassure them, that your grace your mercy would overshadow them right now and carry them to the place they need to be whatever it would be Father, relationships, finances, harm in family situations, physical abuse, perhaps a difficult medical diagnoses. I would ask that you would show them, let them know beyond any doubt there you are there and that you are not leaving them, that you will get them though the storm. 
Thank you Father for hearing my prayer in Jesus' loving, mighty and glorious name.
 
I Hope You Enjoyed Today’s Podcast!  I enjoyed sharing it with you.
My next podcasts are going to be in regard  to some things that I’ve been sitting on, now maybe two or, two and a half years. Sometimes you must wait until you have a peace and full release to share specific supernatural things you have experienced and that you have proof of.  
One thing I will be sharing is in regard to the State of Colorado.
Things that are now beginning to take place and I believe the word is to address this, but I believe it also is a national word. I have several things that the Lord has given me to share now as we are presently in a different time.
I encourage you to listen and then pray about it and pray for your nation.
We are in a difficult time. This is nothing but repeat of history over and over again, but I do know that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord himself will raise a standare up against him.
I say goodbye to you for now and thank you for listening!
Rest Child, Rest in my Peace, Rest in my Peace, Child. Rest.
 
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
 
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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!
 

”THIS CURRENT SEASON OF DIVINE TENSION” - PULLED AND TESTED - STRETCHED AND RESTRAINED

By the Holy Spirit through Mary Lindow
 
"Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, 
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, 
though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him."
Ecclesiastes 8:5-6
 
NOTE: At the end of this podcast there is a short spontaneous song of the Lord that was recorded in a small studio several years ago. There were other wonderful and gifted percussionists and musicians joining in as the Holy Spirit moved through us all and gave me the beautiful melody and orchestral keyboard accompaniment. My hope is that it will stir your heart to worship and be even hungrier for the Presence of the Lord in your life.
In all of our lives as believers, we face times and settings where there is a feeling of being pulled and tested, stretched, and restrained. Often, during these excruciating events, those who avoid personal character development tend to give unrestrained advice, spiritualized platitudes, and often, trumped up words of so-called prophetic inspiration to help us not suffer so!
As we begin to see the Lord's plan in all of this we also come to understand that if we are not first hearing His voice, His heart, His word in the matters that are straining us, nothing any man or woman says can bring the ultimate light of clarity and release! 

 
WINTER SPRING SUMMER AND FALL
 
We all face seasons of change that correspond much like the four seasons we observe yearly. Nothing is more surprising than to have an interruption of what we presume to be what is "normal" for an earthly expectation, in one of those seasons.
When a sudden ice snow storm blows in unexpected in the late spring in the Colorado fruit growing regions and encrusts the tender blooms on fruit trees and garden plants, we are devastated by the loss of not only the blooms, but also the fruit it could have produced. It appears as if there has been a cruel storm sent to cause crop failure.
 
WHAT IS THIS CURRENT SEASON OF DIVINE TENSION ALL ABOUT?
For many who are hearing or reading this message, you feel as if you have experienced a "Crop failure," perhaps several, and just can’t take one more aching disappointment. Many hearts have passed their tender agonies to me on paper, in emails, texts, and through the telephone.
 
ANGUISH HAS ITS OWN PERFUME 
I too have heard the whispers of the voices of darkness try to entice, with wearisome words of worry, paranoia and doubting!
"Give up!" they say! "What good is this time of shaking doing?"
"What possible good can come out of believing that there is something occurring that will bring a fresh advancement when all seems to have stalled or strained?”
And yet, another set of voices would tempt with words of esteem whispering;
"Make it happen! 
Proclaim mighty deeds and things to come with fervor, flair and well-honed words of impact!
Use it or lose it!
Promote, push, and publish! It is all yours for the taking!"
 
BOTH OF THESE VOICES COME FROM THE SUBTLETIES OF THE SOUL AND WELL OILED SPIRITUAL VOICES TRAINED BY THE PRINCE OF LIES AND FLESHLY IMPULSE.
 
But.
In the midst of these strains and attempts to distract comes a clear undeniable "Divine Tension" that pulls and stretches the heart of the humbled believer.
It calls simply, firmly, and does not lack a depth of confidence and direction.
This “Presence” causes a clash with all that seems to be "the way of man" and will not relent.
 
THE EARTH IS IN TURMOIL

It doesn't take much to understand that the earth is in upheaval, rivalry, and chaos wherever we look. There is a tangible and penetrating "tension" in the events we are seeing unfold every day. Parallel to this explosion of pure evil and lulling to sleep of many, there is a Divine Course being laid out for those who have come to the end of them.
 
ETERNITY IS IN THE SIGHTS OF THOSE LOOKING TO A KINGDOM YET UNSEEN.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been preparing a bride. 
This is done only through the shaping tools of heavenly choice.
The chisel and hammer have been at times brutal and unflinching, yet, when the soft hand of The Almighty begins to apply the oil of polishing, He does it with His own hand as well.
He makes it beautiful in His own timing, even though the “Divine Tension” seems as if it might cause us to "snap" under the pressure of His hand, smoothing away the roughness of our thoughts and soul's intentions.
 
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
Yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
 
HEARING, REFINING, HEEDING
 
The King of all Glory is training those who have been thrust on the altar of fire to hear from Him as one who strains to catch the song of a bird in distant meadow.
It takes the "spiritual ear" and training it to identify even the slightest note or sound, however distant, and to learn to silence the sounds and voices of distraction until the  "honing in" on the sound, the glorious sound of peace, finally directs and sustains us with all that we hear.
And then, having drunk deeply of the Voice of the Beloved and Divine Counselor, quickly, without mental filing way of instructions or overthinking, we move and heed His mapping out of plans for this appointed time.
 
RISING FROM THE ASHES OF THE REFINING OF GOD

So! Unto those who hear this word from heaven, claiming you are one of Heaven's very own, know that you are being formed and fashioned into sober, clean containers, prepared for infilling.
My Spirit will fall upon those who are not seeking to lay claim to My voice, but instead HEED My voice and SEEK My face. 
They shall be examples of purity in My Kingdom and will not strive among the self-promoting and “wordy". The broken will be safe in the arms of these who have passed through the current season of being pulled and tested, stretched and restrained and they will restore the devastated.
My "faithful hearts" will not be compelled to build agendas for Me and My Presence, because I will BE the Presence that creates the Manifestations of Glory and Might in the earth, without the fanfares of men.
YOU HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO DESPERATION IN ORDER THAT I MIGHT RESTORE YOU TO INSPIRED LIVING, IN FULL FELLOWSHIP WITH ME.
Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim freedom for the captives
And release from darkness for the prisoners,
To proclaim the year of the Lords’ favor
And the day of vengeance of our God,
To comfort all who mourn, 
And provide for those who grieve in Zion
To bestow on them a crown of beauty
Instead of ashes, the oil of gladness,
Instead of mourning,
And a garment of praise, Instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
A planting of the LORD
For the display of his glory and splendor.
 
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 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 with Clergy Financial Advantage.
THANK YOU! 💟
 
 

“FIRST A REVIEW - BEFORE THE NEW” - A Prophetic Journey and Prophetic Insights

THIS MESSAGE WILL CONFIRM MANY OF THE THINGS
THAT YOU HAVE STARTED TO SEE COME TO PASS
 
I’d like to welcome you to my podcast today with a greeting to those who are listening and who were wondering where is the podcast that I had promised regarding a very intense, vivid, open vision, that I had from the Lord (that I had said I was going to share with you the following week) from my last podcast.
 
AS I BEGAN TO PREPARE FOR THAT, I JUST COULD NOT GET IT TO COME TOGETHER, and I was striving and I was fighting it. So I got quiet before the Lord and asked him what I was to do. As I was in prayer, I had the impression from the Lord that there was something that I needed to prepare. He began to remind me that I had not done a review of the year 2022. Now, I usually do this midyear, after I’ve had a word at the beginning of the year from the Lord, or, that year that we are in.
 
AS I BEGAN TO PREPARE AND LOOK AT THAT WORD,  I realized that it was in fact, something that I needed to use as a springboard to share what the Lord had given me in the vision.
And then the word came to me from the Lord,
“First A Review Before The New”.
 
The Lord was letting me know that there was a little bit of reviewing, and again, sometimes we need to look at what the Lord has spoken to us previously and check our hearts, and also see if we have obeyed him, or if there is something we missed before we can really get a full handle on what he is trying to say to us currently.
I’M GOING TO REVIEW THAT WITH YOU FIRST, AND, ALSO THE LORD BROUGHT BACK TO ME A VERY STRONG WORD THAT I HAD IN THE YEAR OF 2016.   IT WAS TITLED  "THE GREAT COMING WHIRLWIND" AND IT WAS A PROPHETIC INSIGHT FROM THE LORD.
 
WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT WHIRLWIND RIGHT NOW,
SO THE WORD HAS TAKEN TIME TO DEVELOP AND TO PROCESS
AND TO COME TO PASS.
 
I had several of you comment to me that this for some reason, struck a chord with you and that you were deeply moved, especially one of my good friends who is a pastor in St. Louis Missouri, a pastor by the name of Harry Schroeder, who said the seemed to really, stand out to him, so thank you Harry for letting me know back then that the Lord did hold on to something in peoples hearts with this.
That is the second part of the review that the Lord would have me share again, in order to make sure that we have listened or “listen to” what the Holy Spirit has said, and what he is saying to his churches.
 
THIS WILL CONFIRM TO MANY OF THE THINGS THAT YOU HAVE BEGUN SEE COME TO PASS, but needed a reference point to remind you, that you had heard from the Lord, or that what I’m sharing with you as confirmation, for the things that you have been questioning and wanting to somehow have answers to.
 
BEFORE WE BEGIN, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY HELLO TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN SINGAPORE. I have noticed that many of you are listening to the podcast, and I feel like the Lord would help me encourage you to not be afraid at this time, to be bold and courageous in sharing the love of Christ.
I KEEP HAVING THE NAME OF SOMEONE BY THE NAME OF “TING” WHICH IS SPELLED  - T  I  N  G -  being impressed upon my heart by the Lord. 
This name, (I think it’s a female) but the Lord just simply said. “Tell Ting that you have been called to be an evangelist to your nation, and that the Lord wants you to be bold and courageous, and he wants you to know that if you open wide your mouth, he will fill it with the words that will begin to change hearts. Start with a small gathering in your home and begin to just lovingly share, as with dear friends, your own story. You don’t need to make it a big loud story, nor do you need to perform. Simply say,  “I want to tell you the story of what has changed my life”.  The Lord is going to enter that room with his Holy Spirit Presence, and hearts are going to be tenderly touched, as you boldly and courageously share.  Jeremiah 1:8-9 and 10 say,  “Be not afraid of their faces for I am with you to deliver you says the Lord, then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said to me, “behold I’ve put my words in your mouth.
See! I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and pull down and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build and to plant.”
 
THE TITLE OF THIS PODCAST IS CALLED,
“A REVIEW BEFORE THE NEW” OR, “A RE-view” BEFORE THE NEW.
In 2022 I had a word for the Lord for that year, and I’m going to share with you “in review”, the prophetic word from the Spirit of God, that is most important and a kind of an introductory for what we’re about to enjoy next podcast regarding this vision that I had.
I believe the vision is right where we are literally moving into right now, in the world, in the Body of Christ, and literally all over the globe.
 
The prophetic word from the Spirit of God was/is called,
“FOR THOSE FACING THE NARROWING PATH”, (2022)
The word said this;
“Darker and broader and louder come the shouts of world to draw you into its intricate webs.
These webs of deceit are spun with silken tongues and 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 narrowing way.
 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 Light.
That Light is Me, and you will soon know Me in a different way than you have in past years and seasons.
My one warning to many is that they cannot argue that the path is “too narrow”. 
What mankind might call “rigid” 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.
“The path of those who do right is straight and smooth. I, who am upright, make the way of the righteous level.” -Isaiah 26:7
 
“The Narrowing” has begun to increase, and the love for it 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!
Are you afraid that I might be ridiculed?
Or, are you more concerned for your image and patterns before men? 
 
“Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, But test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.”
-I Thessalonians 5:19-21
 
Choose the “Narrowing Way”.  For I, Am there. 
Choose the pathway of “rightness” with me, even when others scoff at your “narrow mindedness”.
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, to Me.
 
“THE GREAT COMING WHIRLWIND”
 
By the Holy Spirit through Mary Lindow
 
“The LORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great,  And he never lets the guilty go unpunished. 
He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.” -Nahum 1:3 
 
We Are In High-Pressured Days That Seem As If Everything Around Us
Is In A Great Whirlwind.
The noise coming from the media, the weather patterns, the sounds of war, the sounds of people crying out for “Justice” and the sounds of people crying out because they feel like there's been too much “In-justice”.
 
The Lord Would Like To Speak These Words In This Hour To Those That Have Ears To Hear. 
I know there are many prophetic words being ushered into the media outlets by so many people and many have been spoken out in meetings and conferences.  I wish that I could tell you that every single voice you're listening to and every promise that is being made to you regarding great wealth, great promotion, and great open doors are accurate. But deep down inside of your spirit-man, there is something stirring that you cannot explain. It's that knowing that something is coming, that something has begun out there in the world that we cannot see, but that we know in the spirit.
 
We Are In A Time Like None Other On And In The Earth. 
But, we do have reference points to go to that tell of similar warnings and events that took place in the past. We can remember when Lot chose to go for the things that were more pleasing to his flesh and where he would have more abundant provision and opportunity for business trade, but in the end he was stuck in the city where there was nothing but illicit sex, graft, stealing and robbing, and eventually total desolation and demolition. Even as the Lord provided a way of escape, his wife still had the smell, the stench of the worldly life in her heart, and she turned around to look one more time, fondly, over her shoulder, at the home that she dreaded to leave behind.
 
Look At The Days Of Noah When He Was Mocked And Laughed At. He did not build that famous ark in a month! No! It took a long, long period of time to build the ark out in the middle of nowhere!   A simple study of the Bible text shows that the time from when God told Noah to build the ark, till the rain fell was no longer than about 75 years.
And yet he obeyed God. If we read carefully, it says that the Lord himself drew the animals to the ark. First, it is necessary to note that Noah was not told to gather the animals. He was commanded only to build the Ark, large enough for all the animals, and simply receive the animals when they arrived. "And of every living thing of all flesh, . . . two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive" (Genesis 6:19-20).
 
I Want To Encourage All Of You To Understand Clearly
That There Is A Whirlwind Coming.
In Jeremiah 23:19 God is talking about a whirlwind that He has sent—a violent windstorm. The false prophets have said, "No bad is coming" (verse 17). God says, "Do they ever listen to me? I've said, 'I'm sending a whirlwind, and it's going to fall on the heads of the wicked.' How dare they say that everything is going to be okay!”?
What is coming is bigger and broader and wider and more destructive than anything else that we have ever seen.
I don't know if it's a nuclear war!
I don't know if it's bizarre weather patterns!
And I don't know if it's not just a whirlwind of new kinds of ideas being foisted upon mankind.
 
What I Do Know Is This. 
There are people who are aware in the spirit that the only stronghold in place right now, a place of immunity and safety, is in prayer and in surrendering to all that the Lord is asking of them.
Many of you are stretched beyond the point that no one can understand. Their financial resources have been given and given again to help others, and yet their own supply seems to be dwindling. There are those who have poured into the lives of others, poured into businesses, poured into mentoring and training others, and yet it appears as if when they reach out there's nothing left in the pantry for them. 
 
The Lord Wants Those Of You Who Have Been Giving, Giving, Giving
- To Check Your Hearts One More Time.
If HE told you to give and to serve and to sacrifice, then you can be guaranteed one thing. He does not withhold from those who have been faithful.
“But this I say, He which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. - 2 Corinthians 9:6 
"And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity." -2 Corinthians 9:10
 
I want to encourage you right now in the spirit to understand the time that we are in, is a time when nothing is making sense when trying to apply the past patterns and methods or, the natural way of living. 
 
It's Going To Take A Determined, Dogged, Supernatural Approach
To Understand The Seasons The Days And The Times.
God already understands all of this, but He is not going to communicate to people who will then try to communicate it in natural terms to those who don't have ears to hear. He's going to communicate truth and wisdom to those were willing to allow their own hearts to go into the fire of refining and changing the way that they have done things in the past.
 
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”
-Psalm 111:10
 
DIFFICULTIES REQUIRE NEW STRATEGIES.
Hard times require sober minds and the determination not to be towed under by destruction and despair.
 
We Are Not To Be Focusing On The Noise In The Whirlwind Around Us In This World, even though it sure does draw our attention from the left and the right! We are to instead, focus on a specific path, a narrowing of vision and a “one direction” place.
 
 And what exactly does that all mean?
It means that we are to seek the Face of the Father. 
And I mean seek and to seek, and to seek again. Continually.
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.”
-1 Chronicles 16:11 
 
WE HAVE GOT TO BREAK DOWN THOSE THINGS
THAT ARE HOLDING BACK THE MOVE OF GOD
IN ALL DENOMINATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. 
 
It will only come by Seeking His Face,
Seeing His Heart for people
And 
Hearing His Plans for them, and for us!
Oh how the Father wants to bring a fresh move of his presence through His word and through His glorious goodness and mercy!
 
HE IS GOING TO BRING CORRECTION TO ALL DENOMINATIONS 
All walks that claim to have Jesus Christ as the head of the faith! So many smugly think that because they have been charisma tics or that they have been “spirit-filled” they have a higher attained level of wisdom and discernment! This is nothing but plain arrogance. If anything, there should be a more refined level of humility and thankfulness for the fact that we have access through the gifts to flow in the fruits of the Spirit.
 
“The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled).” -Isaiah 2:12
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD SAY THESE WORDS TO US TODAY
“Yes, the winds are blowing and they are harsh winds and some are absolutely destructive winds! Everything that does not stand under the power of my word and is not anchored in Me shall be shifted and blown and shaken, and at times the winds of drastic change will draw away the dross from the wheat.
I am sifting and shaking, and shaking and sifting again and again until my people understand they do not live in a time where making demands and commands to Me operate well.
I am looking for a people who will bow low enough before Me and get quiet and seek My will, MY WILL for planet earth! This world is fading away quickly and mankind is corrupted each day more and more to go the way of the flesh.
YOU MUST PUT AWAY THE NOISE!  You must put away the noise in your life and enter into the place were in the center of the storm is the eye. 
MY EYE is upon the righteous, My eye is upon those that are fruitful and faithful, and fruitful to Me may be different than fruitful to you!
 You cannot serve two masters, yet many have tried to justify the shutting away of My convicting voice when I have told them to go back and make right the situations where they have done grievous damage to others who are supposedly their family members in Christ.
If you cannot repent and get relationships right in the Kingdom now, I cannot use you to forge new relationships in the future in My Kingdom. If you have bitterness, anger and jealousy in your heart, it will manifest with shaming and name-calling, as well as condescending and destroying another's capability to serve me well.
The days of selfish ambition and immaturity are closely coming to an end. My light, My life, My word and My ways are perfect! 
I will not deviate from My plan for the Kingdom of God in the earth. I am looking for a people who will not listen to the accusation of others nor slander and destroy their brother and sisters because of another's opinion, or perhaps because they themselves were brought a loving correction or warning and instead, turned around and shamed the messenger.
I see you all and I am fully aware of the things that have been done in My name to hide behind selfish ambition. A judgment time is coming! 
Know this. I am about to expose those who abuse the gifts, abuse their titles and abuse the finances that I have deemed for the kingdom and I'm going to bring their names to the forefront to save their souls!
Yes, the whirlwinds may blow, and the storms and winds will be continuing to cycle and swirl. But I'm looking for those who are willing to stay in the center of My Eye, where there is quiet and there is calm and there is discernment, direction and wisdom for these devastating days.
To those in the center of My Eye, I will pour out a wisdom beyond mankind's understanding and they will rise up and have the words that will bring direction, correction, and light into dark places.
The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, But he overthrows the words of the traitor. -Proverbs 22:12
"For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths." -Proverbs 5:21
Stand prepared, for I'm doing this thing regardless of whether man is ready or not.
I am that I Am and I will have my way in the earth, says the Lord of Hosts.
For this is what the high and exalted One says-- He who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” -Isaiah 57:15 
 
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed, as long as the complete message and all websites and information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You! Copyright © 2016 – 2021 - 2022
" THE MESSENGER "  - Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
If you have been impressed by the Holy Spirit to 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 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!
 
 
 
 

”HARDSHIP - HURT AND HOPE” - Jesus Understands Suffering and Fear

I KNOW SUFFERING IS EXHAUSTING AND PAIN HURTS! That is why it is called pain and suffering. If there were an escape a person of great wisdom and insight would have done it already!
By Mary Lindow
SUFFERING AND SORROW ARE A PART OF LIFE
Knowing this, however, doesn’t make it any easier to cope when you find yourself in the midst of the deepest, darkest trials of faith, and mentally anguish and strain.
Don’t you wish Christianity could make you exempt from suffering? That would be great, but as most of us have learned, following our faith doesn’t give us a free ride.
We catch as much trouble as unbelievers—often more.
The difference, of course, is that we can turn to Jesus when things go wrong. Unbelievers might argue that we’re only turning to our imagination, but we know better.
At some time in your life, however, suffering will hit you so hard that you won’t be able to do any of those things, and that dark time will probably visit you more than once.
“Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.”
Psalm 112:4
 
WE ALL WANT THINGS WE DON’T GET.
Maybe it’s a person you’re sure would make a perfect spouse, and the relationship crumbles apart. Maybe it’s a better job or promotion, and you don’t make the cut. Or it might be a goal you poured your time and energy into, and it doesn’t come to pass or others sabotage it all.All of us have prayed for the recovery of loved ones who were ill, but they died anyway.
It takes real spiritual maturity to stay faithful when things go wrong, but severing our relationship with God punishes us, not him. It’s self-destructive behavior that can put us on the path to a miserable life. The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) teaches us that God always wants us to come back to him.
Whether your problem is discouragement, illness or aging, sometimes all you have left is Jesus.
When you’re angry and bitter, you can still cling to Jesus in the midst of your tears. You can grab onto him and refuse to let go until he brings you through it. You’ll find, to your surprise that he holds on to you even tighter than you hold on to him.
 
JESUS UNDERSTANDS SORROW
He knows about being hurt. He remembers the terrible moment on the cross when his Father was forced to abandon him, because he was filthy from taking on our sins. Jesus won’t let you go.
And as you age and start down the path from this life to the next, Jesus will take your hand to guide you. He appreciates all that you have done for him through the years, but what he has always wanted most is your love.
So there you are in the middle of one of life’s train-wrecks-dazed, wounded, wondering what shoe-or bomb-will be dropping next, and up walks Job’s comforters.
We all remember Job from the Bible. A rich, powerful man, a great father and good in every way was Job.
Then, in a series of overlapping upheavals, he lost everything and everybody except his wife-who turned out to be a whole lot less than sympathetic in her changed status.
Battered Job ends up sitting alone on a pile of dirt, scratching his boil-covered body with some broken pottery.
 
WE CAN IDENTIFY WITH POOR JOB.
Life drags us through some tough times of loss that make us feel every bit like Job. Caught in a vortex of pain, and wondering if we’ll ever make it to safety.
And, boy, do we recognize Job’s so-called friends who showed up to by all accounts offer support and comfort. As they sat with Job in his misery, they took turns playing a self-centered, self-righteous, can-you-top-this game of knowing for certain that every bit of Job ‘s disaster had to be his own fault or a lack of trust in God. They weren’t sure how or why because Job seemed so decent, but deep down, they insisted, he just couldn’t be all he pretended to be.
 
THIS IS FAMILIAR TERRITORY
You get fired, and friends smirk knowingly when you try to explain the political nature of the event. Your child gets into difficulty-well; you know the kind of comfort you’ll get from friends about that. (It probably started sometime during potty training.)
Yet others try to “help” you with what I call “prayer lecturing.” While praying “for and with you” they let you (and God) know just how lucky you should be to even have running water, had a meal that day and more! Not really comforting in any way, and very very short on compassion.
Yet, from the story, it’s clear that Job was completely innocent.
Dreadful things do happen to completely innocent people, good people.Because of their opinion of Job’s guilt, history has bestowed his friends- (and their current replicas) – the label, “Job’s comforters.”So-called friends who add to a suffering person’s anguish by piling on false charges of blame and guilt and harsh reprimand for daring to show sadness or agony.
You may never have met anybody like Job, but you’ve met his comforters on more than one occasion. They seem to be everywhere.
 
WE CAN CHARGE SOME OF IT OFF TO JEALOUSY
Job had everything a person could dream of wanting-and then some-so jealousy was never more than a stone’s throw away. The green-eyed monster is a little more subtle with people living everyday, typical lives, but jealousy doesn’t need much ground to take root and grow with vigor.
 
WE DON’T WANT TO ADMIT BAD THINGS MAY HAPPEN TO US!
If bad things happen to people who don’t deserve them, they could happen to anybody, including me. If I don’t want bad things to happen to me, (who does?), I have to persuade myself and everybody around me that the victim’s actions caused the problem. If blame can be assigned, then I’ll be safe as long as I’m good.
In other words, if I can claim that the cause of your problem is something you do that I don’t do, then what happened to you can’t happen to me. There is, of course, no logic to this, but it brings some shaky comfort to frightened hearts.We see this thinking at work when people stare numbly at adversity and ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” Sometimes the answer is, “nothing.”
 
HAVE YOU EVER ASKED YOURSELF "WHY ME?"
And it doesn’t have to be bad; you could be excited from something wonderful. Most often then not, I ask myself this after something I am looking forward to goes wrong.
Even at times when something goes wrong I lay awake at night and my thoughts wonder to what previously occurred. I am sure everyone does it at times, wishing for another try or chance.
You may lay awake thinking about your suffering, part of life’s suffering is misery’s shadow persisting/hanging on; not only do you suffer but you have to think about suffering.
I can’t prove this with statistics or find it any book I know of, yet I would say that more people either come to the faith or fall away because of this reason above all; the disturbance of suffering.
YOU SEE GOD USES TIMES OF SUFFERING…
...TO TEACH AND GROW US.
If you allow yourself to recount your sufferings, did you not learn more about faith while suffering then any other time? It has been said that; “Blessings are God’s whispers, he speaks in our conscience, but shouts to us in our suffering.”
“O my Comforter in sorrow,
My heart is faint within me.”
Jeremiah 8:18
Suffering becomes the only way to realize our hollow spiritual self. Pain is unmasked, and every person knows when something is not right when they are hurting. Pain insists upon being attended to.
So when you travel down this line of thought you come to the idea, why do I or someone else suffer when others don’t?
 
I KNOW SUFFERING IS EXHAUSTING AND PAIN HURTS
That is why it is called pain and suffering. If there were an escape a person of great wisdom and insight would have done it already. Yet Discipleship demands such trials to compel us towards renewal.
Read Hebrews 2:10
“God, for whom and through whom everything was made,
chose to bring many children into glory.
And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering,
a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”
The real question is what to do when life has just punched us a good one, and Job’s comforters show up at our door.
Nobody says we have to let them in.
And certainly nobody says we have to entertain them.
And, most positively, nobody says we have to believe them.
“For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives,
So also through Christ our comfort overflows.”2 Corinthians 1:5
We can sort out the who’s-to-blame-for-what after we get some solid ground under our feet and a little energy back into our lives.
But we still won’t want Job’s comforters anywhere around us…
...We will want people who care.
"Compassion"
To me not to be kind is evil of the mind.
No need to pray or preach,
Let us our children teach with every fond caress,
Pity and gentleness:
So in the end may we God’s Kingdom cause to be.
Author - R.W. Service
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”He Will Speak - He Will Comfort And He Will Show You What Is True” - Why Are There So Many Delays? - Prophetic Encouragement

I HAVE AN UNUSUAL STIRRING IN MY SPIRIT FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT AS I WRITE THIS MESSAGE.
The Lord is revealing a sound in the earth coming from the hearts and deep cries of so many of His people right now. 
By Mary Lindow
 
I HAVE AN UNUSUAL STIRRING IN MY SPIRIT FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT AS I WRITE THIS MESSAGE.
The Lord is revealing a sound in the earth coming from the hearts and deep cries of so many of His people right now.  Perhaps it might even be yours as you read. There is a cry of hunger for His sure, safe presence in difficult times and in changing times.
 
A NEED FOR “QUIET”
The world and it's voices of influence, humanistic subtleties, and constant technology and it's sounds bring about an overload of weariness to all people, and there is a greater need for a place of rest for the warriors of truth who are very aware of the pressures that have not stopped mounting for many years now.  
THERE IS MUCH TREACHERY OCCURRING IN THE EVIL PLANS OF DARKNESS AND THE PEOPLE HELD CAPTIVE BY IT THESE DAYS!
It can bring a real sense of despair, broken-heartedness and shock when you encounter this type of thing and when it attempts to destroy your hope and confidence in what the Lord Jesus has set you apart for to express in His Power and in His name.
 
WHY OH WHY ALL THE DELAYS?
I don't know fully why it seems as if good people who are sincere and pure hearted seem to go through more persecution and repeated difficulty than those who seem to be the ones perpetuating the majority of it!!
  
SO MANY RIGHT NOW ARE NEARLY AT THEIR WITS END WAITING FOR GOD TO RELIEVE THEM OF SORROW, DISILLUSIONMENT AND BATTLE FATIGUE!
 
“My soul faints with longing for your rescue,
But I have put my hope in your word.”
Psalm 119:81
 
FEAR NOT! THE ENCOURAGER HEARS YOU!
“You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
You encourage them, and you listen to their cry.”
Psalm 10:17
 
WHAT IS THIS VERSE SAYING TO YOU AND I RIGHT NOW?
It is saying that the Lord Himself will encourage us!
That is why we must continue to fight for that place of Divine “refuge!”
 
That “get away from it all” place of craving and longing for His comfort.
He knows our hurt, our loneliness, our scorched and heart torn issues! He understands how agonizing and bled out we can get when it seems as if battle after battle we begin to wonder if something might be wrong with us!
 
“Hope delayed makes the heart sick,
But when dreams come true, there is life and joy.”
Proverbs 13:12 (NAT)
 
NOTHING CAN SATISFY DRY LIPS LIKE WATER!
We are in a time where no persons opinions, no one’s books, no one’s TV shows are going to satisfy that craving, that need for a thirst quenching drink of companionship with God.
We long to hear words from someone that tell us everything is going to be all right! That our children will be safe, our homes protected, our basic needs provided! And yet! Nothing “out there” satisfies us fully!
  
YOU SEE DEAR BELOVED ONE… 
…The season of great hunger for the simple walk with Jesus has blossomed!
Only time spent with him like a dear, dear friend will fill the gaping ache you have.  He will speak, He will comfort and He will show you what is true and what is false in the days ahead if you will return to that PLACE of companionship with Him. Away from the opinions of men and the noise of this life. 
 
“Every word you give me is a miracle word-how could I help but obey? Break open your words, let the light shine out, and let ordinary people see the meaning.
Mouth open and panting, I wanted your commands more than anything.
Turn my way, look kindly on me, as you always do to those who personally love you.”
Psalm 119:129-131 (The Message)
 
~ A PROPHETIC WHISPER TO YOUR HEART FROM THE SAVIOR ~
“ To know of my ways, you must know ME!
To Know Me, you must spend time with ME.
To spend time with Me, you must purpose, to put aside the lists of things you have to do, before you can spend time with Me.”
“Order you days first in My Presence, and watch the desires of your heart be fulfilled.  Man and his counsel will always fall short of the full truth of My Wisdom. I have blueprints and a Master plan for so many things yet to build upon in your life.” 
“Come. Let us talk again together.”
 
“You are the temple, the house of My Holy Spirit. I desire to build you up in spiritual strength as you walk in prayer conversations with me. “I will fulfill your longing for peace and direction as you step up again into a heavenly trust and rest.”
“People will change, man will fail you, friends will turn, if they are not seeking My Voice above the clamor of the day. And you My child will fail others, if you listen to your own voice of reason and intelligence.  As you turn to Me, you will see My compassion poured out upon you and you will then have My power of pure godly compassion and Wisdom driven grace to pour out on others.”
“I too, long for you as well!  Seek Me-with all of your heart, your longings, your heartaches, your dreams. And I will be there with arms of strength to rescue you from Despair.”
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
-Jeremiah 29:13
 
“The LORD is good to those, whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.”
-Lamentations 3:25
  
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for Mary Lindow is included.

Thank You!
Copyright © 2021
"THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow

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"Can God Spread A Table In The Desert?"

By Mary Lindow through the Holy SpiritIf you ask the true "heart determined" believers in Christ today just what it is that they need now more than ever, it would be totally answered by the very raw words; “I am in a state of real Desperation For God's Help!”HERE IS THE SPIRITUAL INSIGHT THAT THE LORD WOULD HAVE ME SHARE WITH YOU.In the past few years many have seemingly "gotten" all that they thought they wanted. Lots of new stuff, bigger houses, hefty stock increases, and for some, that "greatly awaited moment" of climbing the mountain to the top of the heap to be "up there with the big dogs." Their inner thoughts exclaimed, "I am now someone that folks finally appreciate and take notice of!"AND NOW... SUDDENLY! THE BOTTOM HAS FALLEN OUT OF MANY OF THESE EXCITING MOMENTS!Friends are scattering, you struggle to get your bearings. Telephones and emails and fax machines fall silent. NOBODY wants to identify with YOUR pain or loss. It just MIGHT rub off on them! Or better yet, it might even expose their slippery slope at the moment!
WE ARE IN THE HOTTEST REFINERS FIRE TO DATE!People are winding up in anger, disbelief and frustration over this "unfair" season the Bride of Christ is in! It just isn't fair! We have been so good! We have laid down everything! 
Why oh why are WE being singled out? I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. ~ Psalm. 69:3 I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, 
I dissolve my couch with my tears. 
~ Psalm. 6:6Does this sound like you right now?EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE TESTED SOMETIME!The strongest impression I have received from the Father about the condition of His Bride is this. When things are going "fabulously" for her, when all of heaven is blessing, she wants to keep it that way! If she is not in a place of great humility and thankfulness for what the Lord is doing, she tends to assume that, "It’s about time folks knew just how long I've been waiting for them to see just how great this church, or ministry or intellectual skill I've been soooo blessed with is!"Then comes the attitude that we have to keep it allotted to only a few "real winners" like ourselves, and we become exclusive and look for only high rollers to run with. And then. AGAIN comes the TEST. Persecution comes, mug slinging, attacks on personal integrity, character assassination, and again the fiery trial.........of our soul.TO REMOVE IMPURITIES - GOD USES A HOT FURNACE!These trials as if by fire are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, 
it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day 
when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. ~ I Peter chapter 1: 7HOW ARE YOU DOING?The Lord is working the Bride overtime right now to deal with selfish ambition, personal comfort, and any other areas of personal agenda or presumption. Some of the pain you are experiencing is due to the disobedience of those in the Body of Christ around you! They resist the hand of God and react against you in retaliation toward God bringing correction or exposure to their secret lifestyle of personal gain or need for power!WE ARE NOT ALONE!For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, 
so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. Heb. 12:3 Admit it! It is hard to not lose heart right now! 
The world is in a tailspin and lukewarm Christians are showing their true colors! It's time to deal with this! It is NOT going to go away!AGONY IS MORE SEVERE WHEN IT IS "ENHANCED" BY TREACHERY!Jesus went thorough it. Stephen went through it and so did hundreds of others! 
AND it hurts, and disillusions, and causes us to be so very, very weary!THE MOVE FROM WEAK TO STRONG IS COMING!"When?" ...You may ask. “Can God spread a table in the desert?” Psalm 78.19Here are a few things the Lord would require: 1. To gain strength we must relinquish our power or control over what we think of others. 
We will be judged by the way we judge others when they struggle. Pious and lofty lectures are not the Kingdom language of healing and restoration. Loving-kindness and Mercy reveal the heart of godly maturity in a believer when dealing with the sorrows and anguish of others.“Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, Or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs To a heavy heart.”Proverbs 25:202. Reach out in kindness to those under fire. Encourage them to stand. Encourage them to seek the Lord. Bless them and don't talk about them when they struggle! "The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple." Isaiah 50:4 3 3. Get still. Stop organizing, planning, and pushing ahead into oblivion! 
    God really does have a plan! 
“Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord, Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become cynical. “Is. 40:30 -31 4. TRUST FOR A MOMENT!It's all about trusting God in the end. Oh yes it is! 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 5 The Lord is producing endurance 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 1:12THE FATHER IS URGING US TO RUN TO HIM, TO CLING TO HIM!He is there! Even in the fog of struggle, loss, anxiety, and also in seeming success. He wants us to be desperate for Him and rely wholly on His voice. To make all of our decisions based on His plan for the whole earth! Seek Him. Lean into His Voice. Elevate grace and mercy……And lower your own opinion of yourself and your abilities to “lecture” others into healing or restoration. WALK SOBERLY IF YOU ARE LIVING IN ABUNDANCE AT THIS TIME, ON ANY LEVEL. Keep the vigil of prayer you are keeping for others well lit by the reflecting memories of past times, when you yourself needed the Merciful Hand of God to lift you from agony and redeem your life from the pit.Let us be so devoted to the “One” who lavished and spilled out all He had, that we might repeat His actions, and in so doing, bring His Glory to it’s fullest measure and depth.Mercy…. Endures.Forever.“Then will the lame leap like a deer, And the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness And streams in the desert.”Isaiah 35:6***************************************** Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed provided that complete source, podcast link  and website information for Mary Lindow is included. Thank You Copyright © 2020 " THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow www.marylindow.comwww.globalprayerrooms.com  
http://marylindow.podbean.com/mobile/

THE DAYS OF TRANSFORMATION - "FROM FRAGILE TO FERVENT"

 
 
By Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit
If you would ask the true "heart determined" believer in Christ today just what it is that they need now more than ever, it would be totally answered by the very raw words;
“I am need to have full clarity of mind and a fearless trust in the knowledge of how much God loves me.”
 
WE ARE IN ONE HOT REFINERS FIRE!
People are winding up in anger, disbelief and frustration over this "Unfair" season the Bride of Christ is in! It just isn't fair! We have been so good! We have laid down everything!
Why oh why are WE being singled out?
“I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.”
~ Psalm. 69:3
 
“ I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim,
I dissolve my couch with my tears.
~ Psalm. 6:6
Does this sound like you right now?
 
EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE TESTED SOMETIME!
The strongest impression I have received from the Father about the condition of His Bride is this. When things are going "fabulously" for her, when all of heaven is blessing, she wants to keep it that way! If she is not in a place of great humility and thankfulness for what the Lord is doing, she tends to assume that, “It’s about time folks knew just how long I've been waiting for them to see just how great this church, or ministry or intellectual skill I've been soooo blessed with is!”
 
Then comes the attitude that we have to keep it allotted to only a few “real winners” like ourselves, and we become exclusive and look for only high rollers to run with.
And then. AGAIN comes the TEST.
Persecution comes, mug slinging, attacks on personal integrity, character assassination, and again the fiery trial.........of our soul.
 
TO REMOVE IMPURITIES - GOD USES A HOT OVEN!
These trials as if by fire are only to test our faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold-- and our faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.
“So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” ~ I Peter chapter 1: 7
 
HOW ARE YOU DOING?
The Lord is working the Bride overtime right now to deal with selfish ambition, personal comfort, and any other areas of personal agenda or presumption.
YES! Presumption.
We as Christians have often presumed that because we are Christians…
…we should never experience severe sorrow, grief, loss, or devastation.
This “fairy tale” stems from a huge level of denial and total self focus. It is also a very Western culture mindset.
 
A dear friend of mine who went to China and who was visiting a Chinese underground church group, had a reality check that shook her to the core of her faith.
She thought that she was coming to this group to “help and bless them.”
When they asked her what could they pray for the church in American about in order to bless them she was flummoxed! Her reply was, “We came to see how we might help you! ” How can we pray for you?”
The response back was, “Pray that we would not be fearful or silent about the gospel of Jesus we share when the authorities beat us or imprison us. Pray that we remain strong enough physically to endure the persecution we receive and not fear what man may do to us.”
SOBERING ISN’T IT!
When others around us are going through loss, trauma, or heart breaking circumstances, sadly, many believers turn away in disgust or even more disturbing, display an arrogant attitude of thinking they are more blessed by God because their lives are not so complex or “shattered” as those around them who must have done SOMETHING wrong to bring these things upon themselves.
Regrettably, some of the pain some saints are experiencing is due to the disobedience of those in the Body of Christ around them! They resist the hand of God and react against others in retaliation toward God bringing correction or exposure to their secret lifestyle of personal gain or need for power!
 
WE ARE NOT ALONE!
“For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners
against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”
Heb. 12:3
 
Admit it! It is hard to not lose heart right now!
The world is in a tailspin and lukewarm Christians are showing their true colors! It's time to deal with this! It is NOT going to go away!
AGONY IS MORE SEVERE WHEN IT IS "ENHANCED" BY BETRAYAL!
Jesus went through it. Stephen went through it and so did hundreds of others! AND it hurts, and disillusions, and causes us to be so very very weary!
 
“You will be delivered up and betrayed even by parents and
brothers and relatives and friends, and [some] of you they will
put to death.
Luke 21:16
 
THE TRANSFORMATION FROM FRAGILE …
…TO FERVENT IS COMING!
“When?” You may ask…..
For my determined purpose is that I may know Him. That I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers, and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death, in the hope…
… That if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead even while in the body.
Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own.
I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do, it is my one aspiration, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
_Philippians 3:10-14 (Amplified Bible)
 
HERE ARE A FEW THINGS THE LORD WOULD REQUIRE:
1.) To gain HIS strength, we must relinquish our power or control
over what we think of others. We will be judged by the way we
judge others when they struggle. Pious and lofty lectures are not
the Kingdom language of healing and restoration. Loving-
kindness and Mercy reveal the heart of godly maturity in a
believer when dealing with the sorrows and anguish of others.
“Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day,
Or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs
To a heavy heart.”
Proverbs 25:20
 
2.) Reach out in kindness to those under fire.
Encourage them to stand. Encourage them to seek the Lord.
Bless them and don't talk about them when they struggle!
"The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens me morning by morning,
He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple."
Isaiah 50:4 3
 
3.) Get still. Stop organizing, planning, and pushing ahead into
oblivion! God really does have a plan!
“Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord, Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become cynical. “
Is. 40:30 -31
 
4.) TRUST FOR A MOMENT!
It's all about trusting God in the end. Oh yes it is!
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 5
 
THE LORD IS PRODUCING ENDURANCE 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.
He is there! Even in the fog of struggle, loss, anxiety, and also in seeming success.
He wants us to be desperate for Him and rely wholly on His voice.
To make all of our decisions based on His plan for the whole earth!
 
Seek Him.
Lean into His Voice.
Elevate Grace and Mercy…
…And lower your own opinion of yourself and your abilities to
“lecture” others into healing or restoration.
 
WALK SOBERLY IF YOU ARE LIVING IN ABUNDANCE AT THIS TIME, ON ANY LEVEL.
Keep the vigil of prayer you are keeping for others well lit by the reflecting memories of past times when you yourself needed the Merciful Hand of God to lift you from agony and redeem your life from the pit.
 
Let us be so devoted to the “One” who lavished and spilled out all He had, that we might repeat His actions, and in so doing, bring His Glory to it’s fullest measure and depth.
His Mercy….
…Endures.
Forever.
 
“Then will the lame leap like a deer,  And the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness,  And streams in the desert.”
Isaiah 35:6
*****************************************
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed provided that complete source, podcast and website information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You
Copyright © 2019 " THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com
http://marylindow.podbean.com/mobile/

"Tuning In To Listen - Tuning Out Trends" What Exactly IS God Saying In The Middle Of Difficulties, Loss and Adjustment?

By Mary Lindow
As I sit here in the outdoors this evening enjoying an unusually cool and brilliantly moonlit sky, I am stirred to speak openly and transparently about the things that God is not only dealing with in my personal journey with him, but also some of the trends and presumptions that occur in the world of “Christendom” when it appears and feels as if the Father God is far off and seemingly unresponsive to the cries of those desperate for relief and merciful compassion.
Through his own personal agony, King David came to a new understanding of what it really was that God required from man.
ENMESHED INTO DECEPTION 
God is not interested in our outward sacrifices or "offerings."
This does not necessarily mean that God never requires outward forms of worship or expression or observances. Many lines of Scripture prove that at times he does. But it does mean that these are not the things that he requires first. If our religious practices contain nothing more than outward actions and performance, then God takes no pleasure in them.
God always looks underneath what goes on outwardly, and looks to the motives and the attitude of the heart. What does he look for there?
 David tells us in Psalm 51:16 -17
“For you delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; you find no pleasure in burnt offering. 
The sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.” 
 
BROKEN AND CONTRITE
These are not common words to our ears these days! 
Just what does it mean when God asks that we have a broken spirit?
 Does he want us to be beaten down and humiliated? 
I am sure that this is not his plan. So? What IS a broken spirit? 
It is an “inner self” that has come totally to the end of it-self. It makes no claims, and offers no arguments. All independence, all self-will, self-promotion, all self-righteousness have been pruned away.
Such a spirit simply turns and trusts completely upon God, not trusting in his own skill, merit, popularity, or ability to influence. This one who has willingly allowed the disciplining of his soul knows that he or she must only trust in God and his unrelenting mercy.
If we will ALLOW Him to guide us, HE knows how to produce this brokenness of spirit in each of us. Just remember, he treats us as individuals. And he would never abuse our individuality. He uses just the right amount of intensity needed to accomplish his desires, that we would relinquish our mistrust in his plan and fully step into total abandonment, willingly accepting his plan.
“For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” 
-Lamentations 3:33
 
AFFLICTION IS ALSO KNOWN AS - “DISCIPLINE” 
If there was ever a man who had to face affliction also known as “discipline” - it was David. I am amazed that he never became bitter. He even admitted that it did him good! God allows us to come under afflictions/discipline, not because he is mad at us, nor because he has rejected us. It is actually a demonstration of his faithfulness.
When he sees us taking a wrong turn that will lead to our own harm and damage, he allows difficulty and affliction/discipline to turn us back to the way that leads to peace and blessing.
When I say affliction, I am not accusing God of bringing about harsh and devastating blows in order to knock us down and break our arms in the process.
No! No! No!
In Psalm 119:67, 71, 75 it says:
 "I used to wander off until you disciplined me;
 but now I closely follow your word.
My suffering was good for me,
for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.
I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair. 

You disciplined me because I needed it.
 
WHEN WE ARE "THROWN A CURVEBALL" 
How do we respond when we are "thrown a curveball" and everything we carefully planned out and prepared for suddenly takes a turn we did not expect?
David did not view afflictions/disciplines as disaster. He saw it as a form of correction - something to adjust his life. He was saying, “Before I was afflicted/disciplined I went astray and I suffered for it. Now I've learned my lesson! It pays to obey your word!”
 
ARE YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF DIFFICULTY, LOSS, OR AN ADJUSTMENT? 
May I caution you? Don't fight back! And whatever you do, do not argue with God! Admit that God is dealing with you and allowing an affliction/a disciplining, a difficulty or disappointment, to address major issues of stubbornness, lazy spirituality, dependence upon others for water from the word, and more than often - a sour and willful independence that does not like accountability in every area.
 
ASK HIM, "WHAT IS IT THAT YOU ARE DOING?" 
“God? Am I off the pathway that you have planned and have willfully gone my own way?”
The Lord is seeking, looking, longing for you to turn away from things that are harmful and to bring you back to things that are in his purpose and plan.
If we are willing to learn from these afflictions/disciplines, there will come a time when we will indeed look back with gratitude for the things we have learned and matured in.
My dear friends, we were not created to serve ourselves or to meet our own needs. Whatever we need, the Lord will see to it that we get it, as we move along the pathway that he has chosen. You may be asking the question, “Why is it so hard for me to hear from the Lord at first when it comes to difficult issues and decisions?”
We must understand we cannot instantly “unlearn” what we have lived our entire life.
We must as the Scripture says be "transformed" from who we are to what we want to be.
We need to understand with our whole heart that we were intended to be godly in every way. In our relationships with others, and above all, in our relationship with God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. If one is out of order then both will be.
But! As a dear brother in the Lord by the name of Larry Reese says, 
“We are not to fear the passing of time or fear that we are wasting time by spending time with the Lord, searching out his word, and being still in his presence.
You will never lose anything by doing these things!”
 
TRENDS, BLOGS, AND COMMENTS
It's no secret that social media has become quite a form of communication! One of the problems that can occur when “listening” to trends, blogs, and commentary from others is that sources quoted and information gathered might well be skewed to interject thoughts and opinions into the minds of those who never think for themselves.
Believers in Christ are not to be uninformed, but they are to be wise about what they “ingest and digest” when it comes to the lifestyle of a Christian.
Do not rely upon the wisdom of men to help you to ultimately reach the destiny that God himself paid the price for. He is not an ego- driven maniac looking for his entourage of followers to validate his importance!
He "paid it forward" so that we would have the opportunity to walk upon a pathway, although narrow, that leads to purposeful living and a fruitful reaping of productivity that will only advance us into further opportunities to speak of hope and a purpose for others.
 
BEWARE OF FALSE HUMILITY AND UNDERTONES OF DISDAIN 
If there were one thing that sickens the heart of God it would be underhanded and slippery craftiness oozing from those who resist the full aspect of allowing God to create in them a clean and contrite heart.
It always amazes me how individuals that need notoriety and a place of “mystical” influence seem to be able to cunningly discredit good and godly saints around them who have perhaps lovingly warned them about deceptive practices or micro-management control issues, knowing that they risk the loss of relationship when doing so.
It is as if these individuals secretly feel entitled to sidestep the issue of preferring your brother or sister, and humbly listening to their insights and observances.
Equally amazing, are those who listen to only one side of a conflict or disagreement, and then spiritualize-away the facts that harm or discord has happened.
And so, the Lord allows the difficulties and afflictions to come and expose the areas of favoritism, embracing the “new and exciting”… 
…Rather than the narrow and at times - dry pathway to mature godliness.
 
 There will always be among us, those claiming to have “THE” word of the hour, the “message of the forefathers”, and on and on the platitudes and justifications are listed to justify the mocking and putting down of the simple and unique message of self-abandonment.
 
LISTEN FOR THE SOUND OF MERCY 
Listen to the “tone” in the voice of those addressing the crowd, the congregation, or perhaps a small study group. False humility has a highly "honeyed" pitch of barely restrained condescension, laced with heavy doses of unsolicited advice and counsel.
Rarely will individuals who have an exaggerated view of their own importance allow others to warmly and intimately engage in transparent communication and dialogue regarding the unique and yet equal calling and gifting of each child of God. 
 
NOW IS THE TIME -- THE TIME IS NOW! 
These words have been spoken out from the Lord over the lives of many who seemingly can hardly lift their heads due to delays, betrayals, losses, and a deep, deep internal anguish. It seems as if God sees greater fruitfulness when we are at the bottom of the proverbial "barrel"!
Those who are forever wishfully proclaiming that the “bad times are over and good times are ahead” are sadly attempting to override the ache of the soul when it longs to return to the comfort zone of self indulgence.
“But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless!” -Jeremiah 7:8
Know this. To avoid the chastening and bruising of our souls is a guarantee that not only will you cause devastating and brutal pain to others, but also most importantly, you shall grieve the Holy Spirit.
I ENCOURAGE THOSE OF YOU READING AND LISTENING,
TO TEST THE FRUIT OF THOSE WHO CLAIM TO HAVE
A SPECIAL AND MYSTICAL "IN" WITH THE LORD.
 
The Lord is not one who neither “excludes” nor leaves the broken out in the cold, nor does he invite into his inner courts of wisdom and revelation, those who would use it to their own personal advantage or fame.
 
IT IS TIME. NOW IS THE TIME! THE TIME IS NOW!
It is time to face the chastening of the Lord in the light of the purpose he has behind it. Growing up and maturing finally in the things he has been dutifully prodding you to do for a long time now.
 
PROCRASTINATION  FELLOWSHIPS WITH SLOTHFUL AND SLOPPY APPROACHES
 TO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH MANKIND.
 
For once and for all make the decision to not blame-shift or deflect onto others what God is dealing with in the wickedness of your own soul.
Now is the time to be willing to lose your life, to be afflicted -- yes even to the point of having the Lord remove and expose those who have become disobedient, self-promoting, and abusive in the circles you walk within.
 “SEE TO IT that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8
 
OPEN YOUR EARS 
The Lord is speaking! Listen!
He has wisdom to impart to you that may well save and instruct others who might fall into foolish behavior. It is not about your comfort, your "wants" nor even your dignity! It’s about a willingness to be the servant of the Savior, and to emulate His example.
He Is Speaking....
...But are we listening?
“The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
To know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning, Wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”
Isaiah 50:4
 
Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed as long as that complete source,
website and podcast information
for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank You
Copyright © 2019 THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com
http://marylindow.podbean.com/mobile/
Your Gracious Support and Donations Are So Very Helpful And Assist Mary In Publishing Her Teaching Podcasts, Blog Materials and soon coming "Mentoring Moments" Video teachings.
THANK YOU!
Please go to PAYPAL to donate or support this blog: 
Donate to the tax deductible ministry name of: 
paypal.me/mlindow    (His Beloved Ministries Inc.) 
or You Can Mail a Check or Cashiers Check to: 
 
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United States
 

"A Place At the Table"- A Promise For Those who Feel Displaced And Broken Hearted

 
By Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit

Preface:
The Lord was tremendously intense with me about the preparation and study that went along with the prophetic insights and words intermingled with this message. I would like to encourage you to read it all thoroughly and to not only skim through it quickly.
This is an hour when the Word and the Spirit are being brought together to demonstrate the ultimate power of Christ!
In His Shadow, Mary 
 
 "A PLACE AT THE TABLE"
A PROMISE FOR THE DISPLACED AND BROKEN HEARTED"
A Prophetic Insight
By Mary Lindow
 
"Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons. 
Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate endlessly at the
King’s table, even though he was crippled in both feet."
- 2 Samuel 9 vs. 11b-13
 
Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy and completed, to perfect her by the washing with water through the word, and to establish her to himself as an exultant church, without imperfection or wrinkle or any other defect, but holy and guiltless.
After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church for we are members of his body. This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5: 25b 32
MEPHIBOSHETH: MEANING "ONE WHO SUFFERS SHAME"
The name was a joining by two members of the family of Saul - his son and his grandson. Let's look at this man Mephibosheth.
His life is a picture of a life of disaster, disappointment, and anxiety.
You think you have troubles?
In reading the story we already know that Mephibosheth is motherless and fatherless, because he is under the care of a nurse.
2 Samuel 4:4 also says that at the age of five his father, Jonathan, David's best friend, was killed in battle along with Jonathan's father, King Saul. To add injury to insult, we are told that when Mephibosheth's nurse heard the news of the murder of Jonathan and Saul, she panicked as she ran from harm's way. And in her running, the nurse dropped the child - causing him to become crippled. So the baby prince who was in the line of succession to the throne became a crippled beggar living as an orphan in hiding.
What should have been a life of wealth became a life of misery, tragedy and heartbreak. While his family was being assassinated, murdered, and banished, his future, as a king would never be fulfilled.
AND MORE THAN THAT, MEPHIBOSHETH WAS PERMANENTLY SCARRED!
We can relate to Mephibosheth's being a victim of sad circumstance. Perhaps you can even testify to being victimized by other's mistakes for yourself. Like Mephibosheth who trusted his nurse, some of us can relate to being dropped by those in whom we've placed our trust.
We're living crippled lives because a person in whom we loved and gave our hearts to...has dropped us.
JUST LIKE MEPHIBOSHETH WE KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE DROPPED BY SOMEONE OR SOMETHING THAT WE'VE TRUSTED.
Our lives are still suffering from the crippling effects of those disappointments. Everyone has been "dropped" in some way. And if you haven't, you will be. Some are still so proud in heart that they never admit to any weakness and therefore shame those around them who stumble their way to the cross of redemption.
It's no wonder that we are afraid to trust againbecause we've been lied to or used as scapegoats for the escape of others who hide their sins and egos behind loud opinions about how others should behave or...might have done better in the way they have handled the things that have happened in their life's journey!
MANY ARE AFRAID TO TAKE CHANCES BECAUSE OF PAST FAILURES.
Many more are afraid to follow their heart because the plain idea of making one more mistake sends shivers through them. We can't handle another anguish. Sometimes it feels as though we are hanging on by a fine thread.
If God is a merciful God, we wonder when we're going to start seeing the mercy. Our words echo the psalmist as our soul cries out,
"Lord, have mercy on me!" "Have mercy on me, Lord"
BUT THE THING IS, THERE IS MERCY...  ...IF YOU WILL SEE IT.
If you will allow that mercy to saturate your soul. If you'll see that you have an important role to play in that mercy. In fact, "mercy" is really the only reason that you and I are existing today, whether you know that or not.
You are here today because at some level - consciously or subconsciously - you know that God has been and is merciful to you and you are expressing your appreciation for that mercy. You are here today because you know that despite the hurts that have been inflicted upon you, you want to trust, you want to go on, and you want to find hope.
THE TRUTH IS THAT THERE IS BOTH A BIT OF MEPHIBOSHETH AND 
A BIT OF KING DAVID IN ALL OF US.
And, perhaps a bit of King Saul's fear of the loss of power, position, and need for control and honor. That is, we have been hurt, but we have also been healed.
We have been helped, and we also have opportunity to help others. We really have received mercy, and we can offer mercy as well.
WHEN MEPHIBOSHETH WAS CALLED INTO DAVID'S PRESENCE, HE WAS TERRIFIED!
Why shouldn't he be? As the grandson of dead King Saul, Mephibosheth was an heir to the throne that David now possessed. So his first thought was that the king would kill him because he might see him as a threat.
Secondly, Mephibosheth has experienced little in his life that would make him believe that something good could happen to him, so he expected injury. His own words were, "What is your servant that you should look ona dead dog such as I?"
Then King David sent and brought him out of the house: Mephibosheth must have been terrified when messengers from David knocked at his door and demanded that he come with them to see the king. In the back of his mind he must have constantly anticipated the day when David would do as other kings did and murder every possible enemy to his throne.
UP TO THIS POINT MEPHIBOSHETH AND DAVID NEVER HAD A RELATIONSHIP AND IT WAS BECAUSE MEPHIBOSHETH WANTED IT THAT WAY.
HE AVOIDED DAVID OUT OF UNFOUNDED FEARS. BUT DAVID REMOVES THE FEARS OF MEPHIBOSHETH.
Verses (7-8) So David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually."
Then Mephibosheth bowed himself, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?
Mephibosheth didn't feel worthy of such generosity. He considered himself a dead dog, meaning a worthless and insignificant person.
All the years of hiding from the king and Living in fear and poverty made Mephibosheth thinks of himself as Worthless.
THE OFFER OF MERCY
David didn't want to add to Mephibosheth's Misery. David offered mercy.
Mephibosheth - in his amazement and skepticism - is restored.
No, he didn't retrieve the ability to walk. Mephibosheth's weakness did not vanish. The end of the scripture is clear about that. "He was crippled in both feet."
But he was given a place at the table of the king.
This goes far beyond giving Mephibosheth what was rightly his!
THE HONOR OF A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE KING
David gave Mephibosheth the honor of a close relationship withthe king. The miserable, unfair, undeserved events of his past didn't change. But he was re-established within the kingdom and given an opportunity to live out the rest of his life with dignity.
Because David - the King - was merciful.
 
DAVID KNOWS THAT HE HAS BEEN AN OBJECT OF GOD'S MERCY IN HIS LIFE.
That he has already been delivered from extreme circumstances and from ...his own unpredictable behavior.
David is merciful, because he has received mercy - a melody that will continue throughout David's entire life, even when David didn't deserve mercy. And - on another level - David knows that, as he acts as the status of king - also by God's anointing, and not his own skill - that he must model the mercy of God within the kingdom.
BLEMISHES OF THE "CRIPPLED" BRIDE
Just like in Ephesians 5 are the blemishes of the "crippled" bride...she is much like Mephibosheth.
Hiding, fearful! And....the King of our souls, Jesus...restores and cleanses us...brings us to His table as His Bride, and covers our lameness, our disfigurement underneath the linens of the bridegroom's table where no one dare point out our imperfections.
We are perfected BY His Mercy! David knew that human beings and a society that exist without forgiveness and mercy are already doomed to self-destruction by their bitter doubt.
JESUS DIED FOR THIS VERY REASON. SO THAT WE MIGHT MODEL HIS KIND OF GUTSY FORGIVENESS AND MERCY.
AND SO THE STORY FALLS TO US AS EMERGING LEADERS IN THE KING'S KINGDOM!
We who are like Mephibosheth who have been injured by dreadful circumstances and by careless people; and we who are like David, have the opportunity to be instruments of mercy.
We who are like Mephibosheth and David who have received mercy; and we who must decide if we will live lives of resentment because of prejudiced facts or ...live lives of gratitude because of undeserved and unexpected mercy.   The story falls now to us.
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE. 
AS WE HAVE BEEN VICTIMIZED,
WE HAVE ALSO BEEN DELIVERED.
Remember, David - the King - had to decide if his kingdom would be one of dread or grace. David had to decide if his realm was going to be established on grounds of vengeance or the refinement of mercy. In being an instrument of grace, David is setting the stage for his great, great, great grandson Jesus, who will be the ultimate expression of mercy to all of us.
In the entire history of humanity no one was more misunderstood or viciously abused than David's ultimate successor, Jesus. Yet no person was ever more merciful.
AS HEIRS OF DAVID AND CHRIST IT IS NOW UP TO US TO PUT INTO PRACTICE THE VERY TREASURE THAT DAVID HONORED IN THIS STORY.
Loyalty, respect, unwavering love, and the well being of others.
Like David did for Mephibosheth, God has honored and blessedus with the promise of eternal life, inviting us to dine at His table, in His kingdom eternally. Also, God does this, not because of any goodness upon our part, but "because of Jesus."
THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY 
AND WHY WE ARE PART OF THE BRIDE OF JESUS CHRIST.
WE ARE HERE BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN BROKEN.
And because He has restored - and is restoring - US by His mercy, He invites us to His table, we MUST look around to see who else needs a place at the table, on His behalf! Not out of our great "earned reputations" or past accomplishments! No!
We as models of the Fatherly and Motherly compassion of a heavenly King invite others, to the table of "covering" and honor. We bring mercy, expressed with "tender hearts."
The best person to want to be like is not always the strongest or the best looking!! When we become like Mephibosheth, we can truly understand mercy and grace.
BEING LIKE MEPHIBOSHETH MEANS:
Realizing that the king sought me out.
Understanding what I deserved from the king.
Acknowledging the ones who brought me to the king.
Humbling myself in the sight of the king.
Rejoicing in the words of the king.
Accepting the provision of the king.
Adjusting my life to the requests of the king.
Psalm 51:12
Restore to me again the joy of your salvation,
And make me willing to obey you.
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed provided that complete article, podcast link and website information for Mary Lindow is included. Thank You!
Copyright © 2019 " THE MESSENGER "
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com
www.marylindow.podbean.com
Your Gracious Support and Donations Are So Very Helpful  And Assist Mary In Publishing Her Teaching Podcasts and Blog Materials.THANK YOU!Please go to PAYPAL to donate 
or support this blog:
Donate to the tax deductible ministry name of: paypal.me/mlindow (His Beloved Ministries Inc.) or 
You Can Mail a Check or Cashiers Check to:
His Beloved Ministries INC PO Box 1253 Eastlake CO 80614 United States