The Holy Spirit is our Advocate. The Amplified Version goes on to also call Him our Helper, Comforter, Intercessor, Counselor, Strengthener and Standby. He is sent by the Father to remind us of what He has said, and what we have heard, read, learned and experienced. In this crazy world, it is far too easy to get off track and lose our focus. We need ‘The Great Reminder’ every day to renew our minds, refresh our memories and keep us going in the right direction. He is our GPS, our Compass, our Guide. One thing I have noticed about my GPS… It only takes me to the right place if I listen, and so it is with the Holy Spirit. 🤔💭👂🏼🕊❣️

This verse jumped out at me like a wild animal in a forest…partly because of the new series we are in at our church on prayer and fasting, and partly because of our current Women’s Bible Study on the Holy Spirit.

So what struck me most were the first few words, “After they prayed…” It was ‘after’ they prayed that the Holy Spirit shook the place where the disciples were, and it was ‘after’ they prayed that they spoke the Word of the God boldly. I have to believe God was already there, but He showed up vividly after His people cried out to Him in prayer, almost as if they were finally welcoming Him into the conversation with a sincere desire to align their hearts with His.

It makes me think of what it is like to be parents who are waiting in the living room for their teenage child to quit shutting them out, to open their bedroom door and actually sit down and talk about the issues at hand…to stop rebelling, trying to do everything their own way, and to start listening and understanding his or her parents’ hearts for them. Sometimes those parents wait years, sometimes God does too.

He is always just a prayer away, just a breath away…but He waits. And once we come out of our room, our rebellion, our ‘do it my way’ kind of thinking and talk to Him with a humble and open heart, there is no end to what He can do. He can shake our world and give us incredible boldness to serve Him in new ways, sometimes to speak His truths more boldly than we ever thought we could.

As His Holy Spirit takes control, His Word abounds, and we get the incredible privilege of being His vessels, His conduits as it were. He knows who will be watching or listening — whether it is one or 1,000 — and He knows exactly what they need to see or hear through us… through anyone who will pray and seek Him fully. Bottom line, when we pray, God listens, God guides and God does miraculous things through feeble, broken, needy human beings.

For me, prayer is a very humbling place where God straightens me out and aligns my heart to His so that I, His beloved daughter, can step away from myself — my own selfish desires and rebellious ways — and into His will, empowered to do His work, His way and in His time, all by the power of the Holy Spirit. How thankful I am today and always for our Great Three-in-One God… Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 🙌🏻❤️✝️😊

©️Celebrate His Love 2022

Sunday is such a blessed day when we have the wonderful privilege of being together with other believers to corporately worship the LORD and proclaim His unfailing love to HIM and each other! It never ceases to amaze me how corporate worship is a total reset for my thoughts, attitude, intent…my unchallenged, unexplainable feelings that I don’t understand…for absolutely everything. According to John 10:10, the enemy strives to steal our joy, annihilate our faith and destroy all hope. But he CANNOT stand against our praises because GOD, who is the final Authority, inhabits the praises of His people! (Psalms 22:3) So, if GOD is in the midst of us when we praise Him, we have nothing to fear because perfect love casts out all fear…and who doesn’t need that!!!?!!! Bottom line, we desperately need to praise Him on Sunday (and every other day), praise Him in the morning, praise Him at night, praise Him in the valley, praise Him on the mountain, praise Him when we feel like it, and especially when we don’t! Yes, let’s praise the LORD, make some music and proclaim His unfailing love! And as we do, just watch, just wait, you’ll see…there is victory on the horizon!! 🌅🙌🏻✝️❤️🕊😄

Staying connected to the LORD in a world, where HE is certainly not the main focal point of everyday life, can be difficult at best. However, it is vital to the survival of our faith, trust, hope, joy, peace and fruitfulness as believers to remain in Him, to abide under His wings — under the shelter of the Almighty — to abide in His strength, His promises…yes, in His Word. For truly, without Him we can do nothing, but we ‘can’ do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil. 4:13) As we abide in Him, we will not only survive, we can thrive! 🙌🏻✝️❣️🥰