Take back your TRUST and place it in the Lord.

But blessed in the man that trusts in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her life shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8

In my morning quiet time, gazing out toward the water, I remembered a command that the Lord gave me a few weeks ago. The word was TRUST.  Of course up to this point in my life and given all that has happened, I would have thought  I do trust the Lord. 

Obviously, if he gave me a command to trust him, then there must be an area in my life where I still do not trust him and therefore I needed to find out what that was. So I asked the Lord.

Lord, In what was am I not trusting you? Help me to draw nearer and where am I standing in your way?

 

This was the Holy Spirit response to me:-

Every question does not always have the answer that you want. You want to fix every pain right away so that no one goes through anything.

You are still trying to prevent their suffering. How can they abide in me if they cannot trust me?

Teach them to trust as you learn to trust ME. Rest your heart and mind and trust me with your children. 

Break covenant with the spirit of Job, That is not your life. Do not fear, I will prevail, in fact I have prevailed. Trust in me. 

With tears streaming down my face, I said thank you Father, as you teach me to trust you, teach my children to trust you as well.

My prayer,

Abba, forgive me for forming a covenant rooted in fear with the spirit of Job. 

Forgive me for passing that fear unto our children. 

I break every covenant that I formed consciously or unconsciously with that spirit and I apply the blood of Jesus between myself and every ungodly word, thought or deed and cover that sin. 

I choose to live in and by faith and not in fear. 

Lord, forgive me for exalting myself and my fears in a religious spirit. 

Nothing that I say, do or write has more power than you Abba. 

I remove my trust from myself and anyone or anything else that I have trusted in and I put my trust in you Father, your Son Jesus and your precious Holy Spirit. 

I remove my trust from money, 

I remove my trust from head knowledge, 

I remove my trust from Satan, 

I remove my trust from anything else that I may not see right now, and Abba, 

I place my trust back in your hands. 

In the name of your son Jesus I pray, Amen.

If God has brought us this far on our homeschooling journey, then we can trust him to take us the rest of the way. Moreover, we can trust him to care for our children their entire lives. He loves them more than we ever can.

Thank God for his sovereignty

Remember the sacrifice of his son Jesus

Understand what the will of the Lord is concerning you

Sing praises unto him and bless his name

Transform your mind with his word

Take Back Your Heart

The Heart

THIS POST WILL WALK YOU THROUGH TAKING BACK YOUR HEART

UNDERSTAND THAT NOTHING THAT YOU HAVE BELONGS TO YOU! 
Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Your heart does not belong to you. It belongs to GOD!

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof –
Psalm 24:1-2

You have given your heart away to several people and things…

·         Husbands/wives

·         Children

·         Parents

·         Jobs

·         Homes

·         Money

·         Cars

·         Friends

·         Pastors

·         Churches

And so on and so forth…

It was and is not yours to give away repentance is necessary

It’s time to take back your heart…

The kingdom of God works by speaking… Example Genesis 1, God spoke, HE said “LET THERE  BE…” and there  was

Open your mouth and speak…

Father God, in the name of Jesus, I repent for having given away my heart. I acknowledge that everything belongs to you and everything that I have is yours. 

I am sorry for giving away the heart that you gave me and for allowing anything and anyone to make me stray from you.

I ask for your forgiveness because I believe that Christ died on the cross for my sins, I receive my forgiveness because of HIS finished work on the cross and I thank you in Jesus name. Amen

Father, by faith in the name of Jesus I take back my heart from___________and I give it back to you, to heal and restore what was broken and stolen.

Thank you, Father, for loving me and restoring me back to a place in you.

Father God, in the name of Jesus I repent for having exalted __________into a high place above you. You alone belong on the altar of my heart and I am sorry and ask forgiveness for putting ______________ in your place. I take down___________from the high place that I have placed them on and I break up every spiritual altar that I have ever erected in Jesus name I pray AMEN.

Spend quality time with God getting to know HIM not about HIM get to KNOW HIM like HE knows you.

Read, Psalm 24, Psalm 139, Romans 8

Read as the Holy Spirit leads you.

Why Did I Do It?

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." 

Psalm 51:10

That is the question that came into my mind as I lay in the bed one night. 

It’s was after twelve a.m. and I was looking through a FaceBook home school group, that I am a part of online. As I scrolled down and read through the posts, they were one heartbreaking post after another. I read as much as I could without giving in to the disappointment in what I was seeing. Mom, after mom, after mom, complaining about what was wrong with their children, themselves and their homeschooling method of choice. That's when the question hit me and I had to stop and ask myself… WHY? Why did I start homeschooling?

Curiosity first captured my interest in homeschooling way back in about 2004. I can’t say for sure what led me to this idea, it had to be the Holy Spirit, but I remember researching and digging into how homeschooling worked. I ended up with a bunch of papers and information on homeschooling but dared not do it.  Well, as it turned out, I tried to convince a friend of mine to home school her child using the information that I had gathered but she didn't run with it, so there I was, stuck with all my homeschooling info, that I was not able to “pawn” off on her.

The truth was I was paralyzed by fear and doubt. Surely I was incapable of homeschooling my children. I was not smart enough or educated enough after all she had a bachelors degree – I didn’t.

After that mini rejection of my homeschooling idea, I tucked it away neatly in a corner, never to be remembered again, yet I remembered. As the years passed, and I started to learn the word of God, I realized that I had a duty to perform as a believer. To train up my children in the way they should go. It wouldn’t let me rest. Through years of PTA and SLT meetings and hoping for something greater than what was happening, it kept getting progressively worse.

In 2009 after years of running, trying to forget homeschooling and constant nudging from the Holy Spirit I made up my mind to home school. This time, though there was another frustration or reason for me doing so – I had NO peace.

I was frustrated with public school, the process, the pressure for books and uniforms and “things”, the changing of outfit every six months and having to figure this out for three children at a time along with a baby. I was very overwhelmed and I  had no peace. I panicked and stressed out over “school” every four to six months as the seasons changed.

It took me all of 2009 to brace myself for homeschooling the following school year. I kept putting the bug in the ear of anyone who would listen and looked to see their reactions.

The last two weeks of school pushed me over the top and there I was, September 2010 our first homeschooling year… oh boy!  In panic and fear, I braved the winds of change that were blowing my way.  I had no “money” to buy a fancy curriculum and had one not so great computer.  As we forged on into homeschooling waters, we weathered the storms of rebellion and resistant children, skeptical family members, crossed eyed church family and one very supportive first-grade teacher, who gave me as many books as she could to help jump start my journey.

Seven years later as I think about my why this is my answer:
1. I was led by the Holy Spirit to do so.
2. It is my desire to manifest the power of God in my life and the lives of my family members
3. To make known HIS ability to see me through, no matter what.
4. I strongly believe it is the best thing to do for my children.
That is my WHY.

I am grateful for the peace that homeschooling has brought me as a mother and the many, many lessons I have learned along the way.
No, it wasn’t and isn’t easy and we have a lot of drama, but God gets the glory out of it all. So before you sit and complain about your task of homeschooling, ask yourself WHY? Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of why you did it in the first place and if your motive and answer do not glorify God then I would say to you, please go back to your home school summit and ask the Lord to purify your heart and your motive for homeschooling.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Be Encouraged!

1 SAMUEL 30...and David encouraged himself in the Lord.

Sometimes on this journey, you have to encourage yourself. When you are at that place in the race where there seems to be no one cheering you on, there are no more water refreshing stops, and the finish line is some miles down the road. There are times when you just need to keep going but you can't seem to find the strength or figure out how to put one more foot in front of the other, it is during those times that you have to encourage yourself in the Lord.

In 1 Samuel 30...
It came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

David lost everything he owned, the enemy had cleaned out his camp. There were times when I felt like David, like the enemy had invaded the home schooling camp. I felt stripped of everything, no thoughts, no resources, no family, no friends, not even a voice to cry out sometimes and nothing seemed to be going my way in homeschooling.

Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: 

Now, let's look at this picture, they were all grieving together because everyone had lost all their family and possessions including David BUT David was their leader. They "expected" him to figure out what had happened and to make it right. They spoke of stoning him, the very men that fought with him in battles before and defeated great enemies together. These were the ones that were supposed to be his ride or die, the ones that God had given to him, people that David knew personally that he had helped. They were the very ones that turned on him and they spoke of stoning him.

What do you do when the enemy is sitting in the camp looking you in the eye? What do you do when the very ones you expected to help you, were cutting you down with their negative words?

When I look back into 2010, I remember the fear and the dread of "What were people going to say? What were they going to think about me homeschooling my children? Even worse than that, what if I failed? I had no idea what I was doing. I did not have a big plan and a blue print laid out for the road to success in homeschooling. 

Yeah, there were blogs to read and articles to consider but every situation was different and what worked for one was not necessarily working for me. When I told family the "big news" there was no support, there were secret counsel of doubt and discouragement and it became evident eventually when we would gather at family gatherings.  

I acted defensively about homeschooling and made a decision to not "share" it with anyone lest I become discouraged and quit.

"...but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.8 And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

As I sought the wisdom and counsel of the Lord like David did, onward I forged day after day. The days turned into months and the months turned into years and before I knew it, six years had passed. There were many days of, Lord I can't and he would say, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. 

Some days it was, I am tired and he would say, my grace is sufficient for you, for in your weakness I AM strong. I would scrape myself up off the floor rejoicing in another small yet significant victory and I would go to the computer and find exactly what I needed in order to move forward.

So today, as I look back, it's been six years and the two oldest are getting ready to jump a hurdle, finishing high school. Of course the enemy is trying to infiltrate the camp and discourage them and myself but Jesus is at the center of it all.  

I choose to encourage myself in the Lord like David did. I look back only to see how far the Lord has brought me, not to stay there and mourn over days gone by, but to rejoice and give thanks and praise because I AM an over comer through Christ according to HIS word, John 16:33. He has overcome the world, and I am in HIM (CHRIST) and He (CHRIST) is in the Father, and as HE (CHRIST)is in heaven, so am I on this earth.

This word today is to encourage you and in doing so, encourage myself. Six years ago in 2010 I started this homeschooling journey with my family. There were many hopeless looking days and failure seemed eminent. There were mornings spent crying on the floor in my room, searching, for answers and solutions, listening for someone to tell me, it's OK to quit. OH how I wanted to quit so many times. It felt good, it seemed like a good idea but it was not God. 

You see, God is not a quitter, he never quit on us, we just drift away from him sometimes but HE never leaves us. So now, as we start this new school year, I want to encourage you no matter what leg of your journey you may be on, BE ENCOURAGED and encourage yourself in the lord. 

As necessary as mankind is in helping us in this world, Jehovah Jireh is our ultimate source of help, provision and encouragement when we need it. He is the one who can touch the heart of man and give them a desire to help you. If we would allow him to direct our help, and stop "expecting " certain people to help us, then we would be less discouraged. David "expected" the men in his camp to support him during this tragic time. 

Sometimes, we "expect" the children to do better, sometimes we "expect" our spouses to do better, sometimes we even "expect" ourselves to do better but we can't and they can't, not without GOD. The Lord did not allow the people around David to help him, in fact, he allowed them to turn their backs on him so that David would learn to turn to GOD.

Psalms 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him.

Are you turning to God first in everything for your home schooling journey?  Are you trying to figure things out on your own? Are you expecting someone else to help you and they are not? Are you allowing others to influence your move forward or are you allowing GOD to order your steps? 

Today before you take another step, this is your examination time. Ask yourself, WHO IS DRIVING MY HOMESCHOOLING SHIP? If your answer is not truthfully "God" right off the bat, then you need to go back to the drawing board, like David did. Go back to the ultimate source and cry out to HIM and inquire of him as to what your next move should be. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.

BE ENCOURAGED BUT MOST OF ALL, ENCOURAGE YOURSELF IN THE LORD!

Religion or Relationship?

‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. (Matthew 15:8)

I woke up one morning and these words were in my spirit. Religion or relationship? 

As I pondered the words in my heart, I began to evaluate my own self and my children to find out what we have been studying. You see, like myself, my children have been in church for approximately seven years and in those years we learned a multitude of traditions and rituals but as my children got older and I looked at them, it was becoming harder and harder for them to do what I was expecting them to do. 

We were taught the traditions of men, jumping and dancing and spinning around in church and shouting and praising and so we happily adapted to those teachings. Now my children seem so disconnected from all theses things. Even when they were in church it was becoming progressively harder for them to do certain things that were 'expected' of them. Pretty soon, I started looking at them like the church would look at anyone who was standing in the midst of all the 'praising' but was not moving a muscle, "Oh they must have a spirit on them." or "They are really disconnected from God." And so I found myself in the "judgment seat", judging, convicting and crucifying my children because they were not obeying the "LAWS" of church going. 

Now don't get me wrong I love to praise and worship the Lord, but my worship cannot be turned on and off by some organ player and choir director. My worship comes from within and is directed by the move of the Holy Spirit who lives within me and therefore it is not confined to fifteen minutes on a Sunday morning or on cue by the worship leader. So as I was freed from the traditions of men, It was my desire to free my children as well. 

In our morning bible study time I have been led by the Lord to become intentional with teaching them the characteristics of "relationship"  as opposed to the traditions of men found in "religion." I stopped pressuring them to get into what was known as "praise mode" because one should not be made to worship, but worship should be cultivated through time spent with the Lord and reading and receiving HIS word - only then, will worship be manifested as the product of relationship with CHRIST. 

When we have illuminated the characteristics of a true relationship spiritually with Christ, then it becomes easier for us to cultivate healthy and long lasting, genuine relationships with other human beings. Remember, everything that we see on this earth is just a shadow of what has already taken place in the spirit realm. Therefore, if you see legalism and religion in your earthly life commitments, then it's only a reflection on the legalistic religious interaction you are having with GOD. 

‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. (Matthew 15:8)

And in vain they worship Me, 
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.(Matthew 15:9)

What are you teaching God's children, RELIGION OR RELATIONSHIP?

Do you see the signs?

John 20: ³⁰ And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: ³¹ But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

When I started this "home schooling" blog, I was determined to make it as good as the other blogs out there. This was going to be one of those top notch blogs that gives you all the perfect schedules for homeschooling. 

This blog was going to have every important link that you needed and it was going to surely bring you success in your homeschooling. This blog was going to be another fabulous blog with all the right pictures and all the right words and millions were going to love it and it would let the world know how awesome and capable God was, and how wonderful it was homeschooling my five children. This blog set out to be phenomenal.

The more I struggled to make my writing "fit in" the more it stuck out. I felt like Saul before he became Paul. I felt the Holy Spirit asking me why was I kicking against HIM. The more I struggled to make this blog mimic some other blog that I had seen, the more it would take on it's own shape and form. I decided to allow the Holy Spirit to lead me. I don't blog every day, but as I am led by the Holy Spirit, I write. 

I see the church mourning Jesus as if He were still dead and as they mourn the dead, its as if they have forgotten that He rose from the dead and gave us back the power that the devil stole from us. HE sent HIS HOLY SPIRIT to help us to live in HIM and through HIM - but it seems, we have forgotten.

So no, this blog might not bring you the success in the area of homeschooling that you might have expected but it can and will bring you to a clearer understanding of the power that comes with having a relationship with Jesus the Christ, Son of the living God.

As the home schooling days go by, I see several signs.  I look at the different signs and I can tell what is in the atmosphere. I cried out to the Holy Spirit, "Let me see your power, I need to see you power working." As the days went by, I started seeing things that I had not been able to see before. 

The teaching that had become so hard and such a struggle, suddenly started flowing and as I looked around I saw routines being followed for bed time. 

During the day I saw work being completed in a timely manner. Then as I looked a little deeper, I saw peace flowing over my home, I heard less arguing and fussing, I saw more working together and I heard more laughter - and that's when I realized, all these things were signs. 

I saw the signs that told me the peace of God was upon my children, I saw the sign that told me the Holy Spirit reigned over my home.

I saw the sing that reminded me to rest as HE works in me and through me. I saw the sign that told me, HE calmed the storm in my heart, that HE healed a place that was broken, that HE restored that which had been taken away and that HE has given back all that was stolen from me. 

I saw peace in the midst of the storm, I saw confidence in the midst of challenges, I saw hope and light in the midst of despair and darkness. I saw the signs. 

So I blog, not to replicate other blogs, not to produce the typical homeschooling blog that I thought I was going to do. But I blog to show the SIGNS of the POWER of the Holy Spirit at work, in me, in my home, in my children, in my husband, in my marriage, in the Kingdom Of God that is within me, in everything I do. 

Thank you Abba, Father for allowing me to see the signs. 

The Holy Spirit is not written in a curriculum to be followed like routine, HE is the power that lies within me, because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, so as you look at yourself and your busy home school schedules, tell me, what signs do you see? 

Do you see signs of REST in the Holy Spirit or do you see the tell tale signs of stress from the pressures of the world.

 
John 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Experiencing the SWORD

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

As the homeschooling days roll along sometimes discouragement sets in. Some days, the children are downright zoned out and other days, everything is right on target. Well yesterday I was having one of my own melt down days and suddenly, all I could see was everything wrong. So I picked up my notebook and bible and was going into some quiet time. Just then my husband beckoned me to watch a movie with him about a book that he had just finished reading to the children. I resisted for a minute. I had other things to do, but I sat down with him and we started watching the movie. It was awesome, the story of Ruby Bridges.

Needless to say, after I saw the perseverance and dexterity in that mom in the movie, I was worse off than I was before. I fussed the children into their beds because I was upset with myself and couldn't wait to be alone with my self. I was planning a party, so that I can whine and cry and beat my self up for how incapable I was. Boy oh boy, that's a lot of "I" but yes, as I swooped down on the floor in front of my room door, I don't know why there, I started crying and writing  in my book. I wrote about the horrible and incapable person that I was, (comparing myself to the mom in the movie, who seemed to have it all together). I started telling Jesus how incompetent I was and I started listing all the things that were wrong with me and the way I was doing things, I highlighted all my short comings and was asking Jesus to help me.
HE allowed me to vent for a few seconds and as I was about to have the pity party of all pity parties and just completely melt down I realized something.

I recognized that two different things were happening to me at the same time. My flesh was weeping, and criticizing but as I wrote on the pages all the negative things about myself, my spirit was singing, "Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord, I just want to thank you Lord"  I stopped writing as I heard the singing in my spirit and I started singing. As I picked up the pen again, I was reminded about the power that is in the name of Jesus and that it was not used only to cast out demons and bad spirits but it is also used to claim all the blessings to which we are entitled, through Jesus' finished work on the cross. I started claiming my blessings and every good thing that the Word says about me. When I was done, I realized what had happened, the Word had been made manifest in my life once again.  "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.                                                                                                          
 It happened so fast and I was truly overwhelmed. I had just experienced the separation of my soul and spirit and it was awesome. I got up off that floor and celebrated the victory - not yet seeing the manifestations of the things I confessed but already knowing that greater is HE that is in me than he that is in the world. In other words, the Holy Spirit that dwells in me is greater than the physical body that I dwell in.OH! Glory be to God. I am loving this season of my life.

So today, I have learned a life lesson that I can share with my children as we continue to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and watch as all other things are added unto us. The Holy Spirit is our helper and a present help in times of trouble.
I got up off that floor, strong and empowered and I opened my mouth and confessed out loud all that was written on that paper and I receive it in the mighty, powerful, capable, ever living name of JESUS the Christ.
THANK YOU LORD, Thank You Lord, I just want to thank You Lord. 

Joy

"...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5

I looked at the clock, it said 1:34 a.m. as I rubbed sleepy eyes on my way back from the bathroom. I have kept a vigil all night and now it seemed like daylight would never come. I looked at my baby sleeping but not so soundly I could see the discomfort in her breathing but one verse kept resounding in my spirit. "Weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning." I knew that if I could just, if we could just make it through the night, she would be okay.

Somehow it seems like the biggest struggles takes place late in the midnight hour. I kept holding onto the knowledge that Jesus died for her healing and we were already seeing tremendous progress. Her breathing had regulated to a more relaxed pace and the mucus that was so stubborn started moving. As she coughed the mucus would come out and it brought relief for her and myself. I kept on thanking God for her healing and the next look at the clock was 3:00 a.m. She got up and I carried her to the bathroom. Between sleep and wake she said, "Mommy can I please get some grapes?" I laughed and told her she would get it in the morning. Before, she was not eating or drinking any thing much. This was progress.

The next glance at the clock ushered in 5:40 a.m. and I was glad. As I glanced over to her, the knowledge that we had made it through the night and the joy that came in the morning was overwhelming - but more than that, Gods word had proven itself true once again. You see, there were many nights that my family had spent out side in the freezing cold, rushing one or the other to the hospital because they had "symptoms " of one thing or the other - but my God is a healer and HE healed my babies.

His word remains true no matter what it looks like and even when it feels really bad, His word reigns over every other word. Ah...the spoken word, it becomes the written word, which becomes the manifested word. That's life in the Kingdom of God. Thank you Abba Father, thank you Jesus, Amen.

Peace 2

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Today's Life Lesson was nothing short of amazing. I taught a little bit of grammar earlier on in the day but by the end of the day my "grammar" would turn out to be the lesson of the day -  the words that came out of my mouth was teaching a lesson that would last a lifetime.

My baby girl Azariah, started coughing a few days ago. As I listened to this mucus build up on her chest and her watery eyes running, the sniffling and the discomfort, I went into normal "mommy" mode - prayers, honey, lime,garlic, soup, juice and crackers. The more I gave her the worse it seemed to get. The more I prayed and declared the more she coughed. I realized that the battle was deeper than I thought. As the day went by, a little bit of questioning and second thought started creeping in and I was inquiring of the Lord what to do. I felt myself becoming overwhelmed as my baby kept on coughing.

I slowed down for a minute and I as I was doing the dishes at the sink, I started thanking Jesus and just giving HIM praise. I sat beside her and explained to her, that she was healed and that all she had to do was thank Jesus for her healing. As she pushed past the discomfort in her chest and the mucus in her nose, she started murmuring the words, "Thank you Jesus, thank you for my healing". I told her, it doesn't matter what it looks like or feel like, it's a lie and Jesus already paid the price for her healing. She pressed on with confidence, "Thank you Jesus for my healing." her little voice whispered.

I went outside to get diapers and as I was approaching the pharmacy, I had a thought forming in my head. As soon as the thought started forming, the Holy Spirit counteracted it with these words "I bore all your sickness and diseases". It was at that moment I experienced the peace which passes all understanding and I knew my baby was going to be all right. I continued into the store giving thanks and praises to God. "Thank you Abba Father", I said, "Thank you Jesus". I started nailing every sickness and disease to the cross, I took it off my baby and nailed it on the cross where the finished work of Jesus bore all our iniquities, all our sickness and all our diseases.

The thought in my head was - Lord, why don't you put this sickness on me, take it off of her and put it on me. That thought was trying to put me in the place of Jesus but the Holy Spirit taught me that it was not for me to bare and that Jesus bore all our diseases already and that healing was complete as long as I believed she is healed. Wow, what peace filled my heart and mind and all I could do was praise. I did not have to carry the burden.

So I started out teaching about different types of words, and learned that the words that I spoke had enormous power and the Holy Spirit kept my mouth from speaking something that was not in the will of God for my life. I am truly grateful for lessons learned today.

As I am typing this, the children are watching the story of Joseph and I can her my baby girl singing along, she has peace as well - all my  children shall be taught by the lord and great shall be the peace of my children. (Isaiah 54:13) This is the promise of the Lord and the inheritance of the children of God. I am grateful.

Peace...

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Today as I am writing, I'm reflecting on an incident that took place in my home and it forced me to give deep thought to my reaction. My nephew came to spend a day with his grandma and our children. My husband and I were away for the weekend and grandma baby sat. On our return home, every thing seemed to have gone okay and then, the tricks of the enemy that took place over the weekend, slowly unraveled. By night fall I found out that I had a broken laptop thanks to my nephew, over exposure that was uncouth for a ten year old to demonstrate and language that was certainly not permitted in our home by the said visitor.  Boy oh boy, it seemed that all the rest and relaxation of the past three days was wiped out in one swipe and we had the video to prove all of this.  All at once fear overcame me and I reacted. It was loud and harsh and my two were made to understand once and for all, what was totally unacceptable in our home - but so was my behavior.

Sitting back in reflection of my behavior, I saw the manifestation of fear - the Holy Spirit gently reminded me, "I did not give you the spirit of fear but of love and of power and of a sound mind". Boy oh boy! I totally blew it. Now I had to search out the source of this fear.
What I found was, deep within, was a little girl that was so afraid because no one came to help her and so fear grew up with her.  Then, I saw the woman who overcame the odds but still lived with the fear that now it may happen to her children - that was the woman who reacted in anger and frustration.
As my teacher, the Holy Spirit continued to guide me, I remembered the promise that my Heavenly Father made to me in Isaiah 54:13, "...all your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children..." The peace which passes all understanding, that is also for me. The peace that my savior Jesus gave to me, not as the world gives... and that peace comes from the fact that I am counted in the beloved and so are you. Being counted in the beloved resounds in a deep love that cannot be described but can only be experience personally.

Today as you continue to train up Gods children walk in the peace that comes from above. Don't allow the trials of life to overtake you - and as I am doing now, release your self and your children from the grip of fear and cling to the unconditional peaceful love of our Father.

Today I decree and declare that I fear not because the perfect love of my heavenly Father casts out fear because fear involves torment and in Christ there is no torment but peace like a river. I cast off the spirit of fear and I clothe myself in the spirit of peace, love, joy and righteousness and power in the Holy Spirit. I will not pass on the spirit of fear to my children because they also are counted in the beloved and abide in the shadow of the almighty in Jesus name Amen!

I sat down with my two in prayer and repentance, forgiving and asking for forgiveness, receiving then giving  love unconditional from above, as I hugged my babies there is peace that all is well in the name of Jesus. Life lessons were learned and hurdles were overcome. One computer broken but a breakthrough was reached from paralyzing fear. Thank you Abba Father, You continue to love and nurture me and I am truly grateful.

1 John 4:18 
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Not conformation...only transformation

...and do not be conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind...Romans 12:2

The flesh or my carnal mind keep pressing on me to make this blog like every other blog about homeschooling but I can't by the grace of God, and because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, I, nor this blog will not be conformed to this world and the traditional forms of homeschooling blogs but we are being transformed by the renewing of of minds and in the process, we hope to help to renew your mind.

In writing about homeschooling I have tried to keep it on "school" but I have come to realize that I cannot tell about our school experiences.You see in the midst of "schooling" I found LIFE! I found out that "Training up my children in the way they should go had little or nothing to do with a "curriculum" as we know it. I found out that living was our classroom and the Holy Spirit is our teacher. Its been three years and I have struggled to bring some sort of ritualistic order to what we call homeschooling and as I fought and fought against life in the spirit I found myself more and more frustrated and buried in guilt. It was that same feeling I had when my children were in public school, as I daily walked my children to school and then sat in the parent teachers room and watched and the masses going through the ritual of what was deemed an absolute must -- go to school and learn.

I stepped out on faith that September of 2010 because my heart couldn't take it any more. So now here I am and again, my spirit is pushed against the grain. You see, the academics is of no value if it is not structured or geared toward building up the kingdom of God. "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and loose his own soul? (Mark 8:36). Slow down for one minute and think about the souls of millions of our babies at stake as we feed them into the treadmill of the world to be processed and conformed to life in the kingdom of darkness.

We are earnest Christians, determined to give our children the best, we continue to march to the beat of the enemy as we ignore the Holy Spirit's prompting to go against the grain and flow with the Spirit of our Father. Daily we ignore or forget the instructions given to us by Paul as he wrote from the Roman prison " I beseech you brethren...be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2) If our minds are renewed, then our children's minds will be renewed as well.

As my family and I continue in our "life lessons" I am learning more and more to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He teaches me, to train them up, and as He teaches them to live for Him. How great is our God. Thank you Abba, Father. (Proverbs 22:6, Isaiah 54:13) "Train up a child in the way they should go...all your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children..."
Amen.

BE ENCOURAGED!