Christmas 2015

Praying that your life is enriched by the powerful reality of who Jesus is and the sweet gift of His saving grace....MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Blessings,

Dalinda

God Is Always In Control

Even though our world is in turmoil, God is always there to remind us who is in control. ✝

A beautiful reminder tonight: 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Live Life To Express Not To Impress

My oldest son and a few of his friends were inducted into the National Honor Society last night at their high school. Every chapter has different qualifications for membership based on the four pillars of National Honor Society: character, scholarship, leadership, and service . 

As the principal got up to congratulate the inductees, he made a strong point: Although it is great to achieve high GPA ratios, it is even better to achieve great character. People will remember you for your character not your grades.

True character is not in the saying, not in the boasting, but in the living. Character is walking in integrity, not while being watched, but when in our own space, when no one of apparent authority is present. True character is acknowledging and living like there is a God who is All-knowing and All-present. You want to be pleasing to God, not just every once and a while, but at all times and not just when it makes us look good.

The main point: represent God well, as best as we can. In the midst of our imperfection, we should always be trying to improve our character. And when a fly does show up in our perfume, the God- inspired aroma we give off, remove it with grace and humility and then move forward. We never know if our actions will help someone to meet Christ face-to-face when He returns. 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Below is a photo of my son and his friends. 

Why Does God Allow Trials To Blow Across Our Lives?

Same old is comfortable. Same old is familiar. Same old is easy. But....Same old doesn't challenge us. Same old doesn't change us. Same old doesn't prepare us for the greater things ahead. Same old doesn't grow us in our spiritual walk with the Lord. Same old, doesn't bless us.

I believe God allows trials in our lives to bless us. Pain means we are being loved by God enough that He is pruning us to bear fruit. We, as believers, need to recognize God's pruning as being helpful, not painful. Life is too short to miss out on God's wonderful opportunities and blessings. Life is too short to go through trials and come out empty!

Blessings,
Dalinda

God Can Reveal Himself Through Anyone

Please watch this video from my friend Andrea. Truly, God can show up in any form, at any time and through anyone.

Posted by Andrea Aiken on Saturday, September 19, 2015

Blessings,
Dalinda

Thankful For Discernment

Sometimes God places us in bad situations to show us what's most important. A lot of times, satan will use our closest friends to deceive us and pull us away from God. Because sometimes we're more concerned about what matters to us than what matters to Jesus. 

We are doing a six week study at church called, ONE. This series is about marriage from a biblical perspective and also what to look for in a perspective spouse if you are not married. We just completed our second week in this series and it's awesome! 

I am tremendously thankful for God's protection upon our family over a recent situation. 

We are to hold one another accountable when it comes to relationships that may damage our walk with Christ. 

A humble heart longs to do whatever brings honor to God, regardless of whether anyone is watching. 

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5: 6-8

Blessings,

Dalinda

Be Confident In His Design

What do you think of yourself? You may feel you are not what you are supposed to be. You spend years trying to be like other people because you feel that you are strange or unusual. 

News Alert: Feelings don't convey truth; only God's Word does that. The truth is we are all uniquely created by God for a special purpose. Be confident in His design. 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Don't Take Satan's Bait

We are to forgive and pray for our enemies and those who hurt and abuse us. (see Luke 6:35-36)

We meditate to much on what the offensive person has done to us, and we fail to realize what we are doing to ourselves when we take Satan's bait. 

Sometimes the best solution is to simply walk away. 

Just because some people are fueled by drama doesn't mean you have to attend the performance. 

Blessings,

Dalinda

New School Year, New Beginnings

As a new school year begins, it reminds me of the new challenges and new opportunities we have as parents to be Godly role models for our children. It is our God given responsibility to guide our children to make wise choices because sometimes our sweet children make some not-so-sweet choices. 

A new school year brings with it a season of change. Change can be one of the greatest sources of stress for us, but it is also where we have the most opportunity to grow and experience God in new ways. 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Kingdom Shakers

If you had cancer and you discovered the cure and you kept it and locked it in a vault and never told anyone about it, everyone else would still die from cancer. The same thing is true about the Gospel. You know the good news of Jesus Christ, but refuse to tell people and they die in there sin.

God has commanded us to share our faith with others (Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15). Don't smile and wave at people feeling good about yourself and how tolerant you are while people are heading for Hell. 

It is most evident that our country is going to hell in a hand basket because as Billy Graham quote states,

"Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone - except God." - Billy Graham

Have you tried to be a kingdom shaker for the Lord or have you been content being the peacekeeper and staying behind your safe walls?

Blessings,

Dalinda

Cloaked By Our Limitations: Part 2

Just a few days ago I found out through some testing that I am highly allergic to heavy metals and (EMF) electro magnetic fields. This is going to be a challenge for me since cell phones, computers, radio towers, etc. all have a high EMF. There are also many, many uses of heavy metals in our society today. Thankfully, there are some companies out there that make devices that can be put on cell phones, etc. to protect my body from receiving the EMF. 

You may remember that I got mercury poisoning from an amalgam filing a few years ago and lost some of my vision in my right eye. I see now that this is why it wreaked so much havoc on my body. And looking back over the past three years, I also see how God used this situation to not only bring me closer to Him, but to help others see that it was God, ALL GOD, behind my success. 

GOD IS SO AWESOME!....He delights in using our limitations because He wants others to look at us and know He is the one behind our success. The great news is: If we aren't perfect, then we're in perfect position for God to use us. How awesome is that!!! 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Did You Know Satan Is Afraid Of You?

Satan is afraid of you! He knows that if you are willing to obey God completely, you'll become dangerous to him! 

The enemy often uses others to intimadate us. He wants others to make fun of us or cut us down so we feel rejected, lose our confidence, and stop trying to do anything in life, better yet anything for God. 

Don't let anyone cause you to doubt yourself or abandon the things God has called you to do. Move forward with confidence in His love for you and with a healthy love for yourself. Remember, your sense of worth is not based on how other people treat you or what they think about you. It's rooted in the fact that God created you and Jesus died to redeem you! 

Blessings,

Dalinda

The Comparison Trap

In society today, we have been trained to dislike ourselves as long as we have imperfections. We compare ourselves to others. We say to ourselves: why can't I look like her, why can't I be as smart as her, why can't I have great hair like her? 

Don't fall into the comparison trap. It gives an unrealistic view of how life should really be. Competition and comparison is a cancer that eats you alive. - Whitney Capps

We all need to accept ourselves, knowing that although we are not where we need to be, we are making progress. Jesus died for us because we have weaknesses and imperfections, and we don't have to reject ourselves because of them. -Joyce Meyer

We have to love ourselves before we can love others. If we want to demonstrate love to the world around us, we must become examples to others instead of merely following the crowd. Remember your identity; remember whose you are. ✝ 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Cloaked By Our Limitations

When I think of the vastness of God’s abilities to have much greater things going on than we can imagine, I just want to praise Him! 

Lots of exciting things have happened to my family over the past several years. God used my health issues with Mercury poisoning to lead us to open our own Whole Body Vibration business. For a year and a half, my husband and I helped many people with our business. I would never, in a million years, have imagined being a business owner. What a blessing! ✞ 

And...when my parents passed away I never thought I could or would live in their home...too many memories. But here we are, renovating their house/our new home to make new memories of our own. What an exciting adventure! ✞ 

God’s got something going on in the background; and what we see is always cloaked by our limitations. 

God is so good! 

Blessings,

Dalinda

Be Content In Who You Are

Some girls define themselves through having a boyfriend by their side. Anyone is better than no one. They are sure that they have better standing in the eyes of their friends if they have a boyfriend.

You should be content with where you are in your life and happy with yourself before committing to anyone. Although it may sound selfish to be content with who you are before you add someone else to the mix, it’s actually the reverse. If you don't love yourself, how can you expect to love someone else?

All relationships should develop from a position of strength, not insecurity. For example, there was a young couple that met through a group of friends. They immediately started dating even before they really got to know each other. Their relationship didn't last long because one person was very insecure in who they were. This caused a lot of drama in the relationship.

Too many people nowadays expect to be happy in a relationship when they aren’t even happy with themselves. In the long run, a miserable person’s inner struggle will destroy a relationship, no matter how good he or she is at hiding it.

Young people, a boyfriend/girlfriend should enhance (add value) to your life, not define it. Be content in who you are - and if a boyfriend/girlfriend turns up, it should be because he/she shares and enhances life and makes it more enjoyable.

So get on with it, what are you waiting for? Get out there and experience life. Find out who and what you are. Live life by yourself; be happy by yourself. It’s your life; make it what you want. Don’t look for someone else to do it for you, because they can’t. Only you can know who you really are.

Remember, all relationships should develop from a position of strength, not insecurity. And the best way to strengthen relationships is by putting God first. When you put Him first, everything else will fall into place.✞

Blessings,
Dalinda

Christmas Eve Service at NewSpring Church

I have debated in my heart and prayed about how to respond to articles and blogs that I have seen that present Pastor Perry Noble of NewSpring Church in Greenville, South Carolina as a false teacher and heretic. In particular, there have been blog posts made that target his teaching at the Christmas Eve service, questioning its biblical truth. I feel led to simply share our experience of the Christmas Eve service at Newspring. First, let me say that my family is not a member of Newspring Church. Until Christmas Eve of 2014, we had never heard a single sermon from Perry Noble, at least not to my knowledge. I am in no position to defend Newspring Church or Perry Noble nor am I in any position to persecute the church or its pastor. I have heard from friends that attend Newspring and have seen on facebook the praise that he receives for his sermons and teaching. I have also seen and heard the cries that this man is a heretic, false prophet and a tool of Satan. However, our goal for attending Newspring on Christmas Eve was not to see and hear Perry Noble preach and it was also not to seek out ammunition to charge this man with heresy. We went to worship and praise God for the gift of Jesus Christ.

We were spending Christmas week in Myrtle Beach away from our home church but wanted to worship on Christmas. So after doing some searches of local churches, we felt led to give the Myrtle Beach campus of Newspring a try. Now, some articles I have seen online claim that in this service, Perry Noble attempts to rewrite the Ten Commandments. However, this was not the message I received at all. In fact, the spirit opened my eyes to some truths about the bible that I had not noticed before or at least needed to be reminded of. I do believe that the 10 commandments were laws given to the people of Israel by God through Moses, just as I believe there are many commandments given to us throughout the old and new testaments. Jesus tells us to love one another...that one right there is enough to exclude most of us from being perfect. How many of us have those few people in our lives to whom we honestly just cant seem to show love? I know I do. But the measage I received from God was that there is more to the bible than a set of rules or commands. Am I, as a Christian, not allowed to pray a prayer that says, "Father God, fill me with the Holy Spirit today. I find myself looking on Facebook at the things my friends get to do and have. The bigger houses, the newer cars, the trendy clothes for their kids and I find myself angry and jealous that I cant afford to give these things to my family. Father, fill me with the spirit so that you can change my focus to be thankful for what you have given me and remove my anger and jealousy in Jesus name Amen." And can we not pray a prayer that says, "Father fill me with your spirit because I recognize the things in my life that have become idols. These things I place above you. My job, my family, my desire to go deer hunting or watch the NFL playoffs instead of coming to worship you. Remove these idols from a position that is above you and restore in me the desire that in all things I will worship and praise you first in Jesus name amen."

These are the promises that God opened my eyes to because if I can't pray these prayers and KNOW that God will answer them, then two things are true. One, I will fail and two, what Jesus did on the cross was a scam. Jesus died not just to forgive our sins but to free us from sin. We are a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). But if I have to rely on myself to denounce sin and worldly ways, I will fail. If it is up to me to follow the commandments of the bible then all hope is lost for me. But God promises that along with these commands, he can give us the strength and power through the holy spirit to follow his word and the example given us through the life of Jesus. That is the message I received from God through the Christmas Eve service at Newspring. That by saying yes to Jesus, we say yes to God's holy power through the spirit to live a life that glorifies him. And that is promised to me by GOD.

That is also the message that my 11 year old son Drew received that night. My son gave his heart to Jesus at that service. He didnt give it to Perry Noble or Newspring (nor was he asked to do so)....he gave it to Jesus. He prayed a prayer. I dont know what he prayed exactly because quite frankly that is a private conversation between he and his creator. But as I was praying, I felt a tug on my arm and I looked down and my son had written his name on a little name tag they had in the bulletin. He whispered to me "Mom, I said yes to Jesus." He turned and tugged on his father's sleeve and told him the same thing. He then got up and without asking any of us to go with him, he stepped out into the aisle and with a big smile on his face walked to the front and placed his name tag on a poster that said "Yes". What a bold, public profession of faith! When he came back I looked into his eyes. I saw Jesus in his eyes. Growing up in church, I have seen hundreds of people make decisions for Jesus and the ones that are truly real, you can see something in their eyes and that something is Jesus. I praise God for that. My family, all four of us, will be in heaven.

The spirit moved in that service. I can't tell you about Hebrew words or Jewish teachers or if Perry Noble wants to rewrite the bible as these articles claim. But I can tell you that in that place, on that night, the spirit moved and people were saved. For that, every christian should rejoice and for anyone to say that it wasn't God and that it wasn't real....thats the real heracy.

Be very careful who you call a false teacher. Again, I make no defense for Perry Noble because I dont have enough experience or knowledge to do so just as I dont persecute him for the same reasons. But just remember that the Bible is full of men who were different that preached the word of God. Imagine a man wearing woven camel hair, with long scraggly hair bursting into a church in the middle of a preacher's sermon shouting about the coming of the Lord. I would guess that 98% of these churches would have the volunteer security committee jump up and escort him out yet God used such a man in John the Baptist to precede the coming and announce the arrival of the King of Kings. We should be careful who we lable a heretic or false teacher and have God given assurance that our accusations are true. Otherwise, we are the enemy. We fight a battle against one of our own. I believe the military calls it friendly fire. Just be sure....

As for me, I will rejoice in the fact that the Lord knocked...and my son answered and I thank God that my son heard HIS message and responded to HIM. I am also thankful that we were led to attend the Newspring service. Had we not, that decision may not have ever been made. Had we said "No God.....I want to go to another church because I have heard from other people that their preacher is not a man of God" my son's salvation would have been placed in jeopardy. I apologize to no one for following where God leads me.

Blessings,
Dalinda