Imagine That

I have a great imagination! When I was a kid the 2 little girls I played with in my neighborhood were Karen Tagner and Frances Elvington. As you know it's always hard to have three girls, one is usually left out. This was the case for me. Mrs. Tagner and Mrs Elvington were not very fond of my mother so they would take their feelings out on me. Mrs. Elvington bought Frances a beautiful doll house. One of those that you can stand up to play with. It was three stories high complete with furniture in every room. There was a little family a pet and a car in the garage.

I was so excited when Frances told me about it and couldn't wait to get home from school to play at her house with her and Karen. To my horror Mrs. Elvington decided I was not allowed in the yard where the new awesome doll house was placed. I was not nearly as cool as this doll house so Karen and Frances would play for hours together with me sitting across the street watching. In comes my imagination.

My father owned a nursery when I was growing up so there were rows and rows and rows did I mention rows of trees in our very big yard. I would play for hours in the nursery pretending I was a school teacher and the rows of trees were my students. I would talk to them and tell them to get in line or do their homework, you know all the things one would say to a shrub I mean student. I remember one day overhearing my father say to my mother “what the hell is wrong with that kid? She's out there talking to the trees again!” This explains a lot doesn't it :)

I could turn an ordinary couch into a ship on an ocean filled with sharks. I would to jump from one piece of furniture to the next so I wouldn't be eaten alive!!!

I had lots of brothers and sisters in my imaginary world and it goes without saying I was the favorite child. I also gave myself a different name. If your going to be imaginary you need to go all the way. My name was Sandy.

I wondered as I was writing this why I named myself that. I didn't even know a
Sandy. I decided to look up the meaning of that name on Google and this what I found.

Gender: Female

Origin: Greek

Meaning: Defender Of Mankind

That's a bit prophetic.

On different occasions I imagined I was a ballerina or singer. If you have ever seen me dance or sing you know what a stretch that is.

Watch any group of kids and they can be anything from a super hero to a ninja in minutes. They can be an animal, a truck, a doctor even a Snuffleupagus. Little kids have such great imaginations I think that's probably one of the reasons God loves child like faith. Children have no limits to their possibilities when they are imagining. What freedom.

Something I found when I googled. I like to Google.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagination

When children develop fantasy they play at two levels: first, they use role playing to act out what they have developed with their imagination, and at the second level they play again with their make-believe situation by acting as if what they have developed is an actual reality that already exists in narrative.

They act out what they developed like it's real.

Warning: this can be a good or bad thing depending on what you imagine. I imagined it would be a great idea to drive a car through this huge mound of snow the snow plows made. In my mind I saw the fluffy white snow softly falling all around us, kind of dancing little snowflakes one by one. NOT! We hit the gas slammed into the pile of snow and it completely covered the windshield. We could see nothing! With wipers going full speed and no visibility we almost hit a tree. Not quite what I imagined.

I still have a very active imagination although I try to think things through a little more. I think it's part of why I'm so visual and can find a jewel in just about anything.

Our imagination is from God. He obviously had a great imagination just look at some of the things He's created.

The problem is we get older and we use this powerful part of our brain less and less and sadly some people stop using it all together. When we stop imagining we stop dreaming and when we don't have dreams we become stagnant and I believe this affects our faith. We stop asking God for things we can't give ourselves. We stop believing Him for things He gave us the imagination to posses. We don't act out what we developed believing it will ever be real.

What do you imagine? What dreams are you believing God for?

For me, I imagine every generation in my family from now til Jesus returns to be serving the Lord. To one day have books that are shipped all over the world. I dream of Gena's Jewels classes being led nationwide. I see “Gem Homes” for women who are abused or rescued from human trafficking or just a place for a hurting person to rest. I want to help orphans find families.

I want to take my children to the Grand Canyon. I want my future husband to take me to Italy. I want to teleport to Africa. I want to fly and speak different languages, heck I want to cook without burning anything, imagine that!

I don't want to be like the horse on the carousel that just goes round and round never experiencing new things. I want to jump off and explore new possibilities.

I could look back on the day I was banned from the yard and be sad but I gotta tell ya every time I think of that day it still makes me giggle hearing my father say “what the hell is wrong with that kid?” I'll tell ya what's wrong with this kid I don't care what the world taught me. I want to imagine things unseen as if they were real so they will become my reality. Gena's Jewels would still be a dream if I didn't start writing.

Gems I never want to stop using my imagination. Thank you Jesus for creating such a beautiful place in our minds.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

And by the way now that I'm back to using my own name (most of the time) I looked up the meaning of it:

Gender: Female

Origin: French

Meaning: Queen

Imagine that...... 

It's Greek To Me

I'm dong a study by Ken Ham called Foundations and it's pretty eye opening. You know when I'm learning things I like to share them with you so here goes.

Gena translation of what I studied so far.

The issue we are having today in reaching the lost is we are trying to change our culture. We are supposed to preach the gospel and make disciples not change the culture.

Mark16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

We are spending time, money and effort on trying to change the symptoms of our culture instead of preaching the gospel. We want to talk about abortion, gay marriage, and religious teachings that don't honor God. What we need to be learning is what is the root of these issues. What is the foundation?

It's no different than when we talk about an individual who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, we say that's the outward symptom but what is the root of the problem.

We spend tons of money going to counselors and psychologist trying to get to the bottom of things. I know I had my own counselor bills.

I am restudying the book of Acts. I'm not going to give you all the verses but I do want to point out parts a few key ones. As always I strongly suggest you read the chapters for yourself.
Acts 2

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem,

21And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

22“Fellow Israelite, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Peter preached the gospel. He didn't talk about the social issues that were going on in the culture at the time, he didn't have to introduce who God was and the Bible says that 3000 were saved!!!

When was the last time you went to a church service and only the gospel was preached and a large number of people accepted Christ as their Savior?

Why is that?

Probably because you were in a service with a bunch of other “Greeks” who don't know anything about the Old Testament teaching of who God is and how we all got here.

Let's move on to Acts 17 where we will find Paul teaching.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship —and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.

Notice in this account Paul doesn't just preach the good news, he goes all the way back to explaining who God is. He had to teach the Greeks His Jewish background.

He could have preached that same sermon today as we too are a people with many god's. We leave services every week with people sneering and asking what we're babbling about. And just like that day, thousands aren't saved. Just some of the people become followers.

The interesting thing I learned was Peter was talking to Jews who had the same foundation. They knew the one true God so he only had to share the part of Jesus and refer to the Old Testament to back up his facts.

Today, we like Paul are teaching the Gentiles. You and me. We don't have a foundation of one true God.
Our President said in a speech he gave, “we are no longer "just" a Christian nation, but a nation of many other faiths as well.” Whether you like him or not what he said is true.
We have many faiths just like the Greeks Paul met. We can't begin the gospel at the same starting point as Peter did with the God fearing Jews. We have to go back to Genesis like Paul did when sharing with the Greeks.
Our churches are starting with Jesus and there is no foundation of who Jesus is or why we should believe in Him. We water down the word of God and make church more entertaining to attract the culture instead of teaching the culture, ourselves included, why we serve the one true God. Why is there sin? Why do we need to be saved from it? What are the facts of what your teaching? All of this in found in Genesis and knitted together throughout scripture.
We have no foundation.
Psalm 11:3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
I am so guilty of saying to my older kids, it doesn't matter how old the world is or how the earth was populated, but that's not true. It is important and that's why our kids think we have Bible stories and the world teaches “real” history. We talk about Bible characters instead of Historical figures. We read them bedtime stories then send them to school to learn World History.
Gems as always I am at the top of the guilty list in this jewel.

Bottom line is we have to learn our own history. We have to stop trying to make converts and fix social issues and start making disciples.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Gems we can't walk around saying it's Greek to me, we have to reach a culture that has no foundation so they can understand the gospel and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

I believe once we accomplish this the culture, just like me, will begin to change .

Don’t Ask Again

Have you ever had someone say that to you? Have you ever said it? When my kids were little and they would ask for something like “can I have ice-cream” and I say yes, but they ask a few minutes later. ”Can I have ice-cream” and I say yes, than a little later “can I have ice-cream” and I yell, “I said yes but if you ask me again the answer is no!”

Have you ever heard God tell you to stop asking for something?

I had it happen to me. It’s a strange phenomenon. You know you’re supposed to pray without ceasing and bring all your request before the Lord so when He told me to pretty much “shut it” I was caught off guard.

My request was for very dear friends of mine that were trying to have a second child. Gems it was so weird because I prayed faithfully, fervently, tenaciously as if I were praying for myself or one of my children. Why did I want this prayer answered so badly? Yes I was and am a good friend and do pray faithfully for my friends but I was a praying machine over this one.

I called my friend and told her what God said. I laughed when I told her she got me in trouble with our Father. I explained that I was not going to stop believing for her son but I was going to stop asking :)

The truth is I had a prayer request of my own that I desired as much as I believed they desired a child. I totally understood their plight. I went before the Lord almost daily and I knew the answer was yes. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt they would have a baby and it would be a boy. The part I was having trouble with was the waiting on God.

I remember clearly the day I went to the King again to ask for this little boy and He said “I already told you yes quit asking.”

Why was I still asking? Like I said the problem was, it wasn’t in the time frame I thought it was going to be. As if God does anything based on our agenda. When we pray an unselfish prayer for our brothers or sisters with clean motives I believe it touches our Father's heart but the bottom line is it will still be answered when He decides it's best for His kids.

It made me think of David. The Prophet Samuel comes to his house and announces he would be the next king. I don't know how old he was I'm thinking a teenager. So try and imagine this day. Picture yourself as David the night of the big announcement. He must have been like, oh yea call me king baby. He must have had trouble sleeping that night thinking he's moving to the big house tomorrow. Thoughts of finally getting out of the pasture and taking care of smelly sheep. No more harassment from his older brothers.

Can you imagine how he felt when he woke up the next day and Samuel was gone and his dad said “get back out to the pasture and take care of the sheep.” WHAT? Where's my chariot? My Castle? My servants? It was years before David became King, but the Bible doesn't say he spent that time asking over and over, can I be king? He knew the answer was yes he just had to wait on God's timing.

I was so sure this baby prayer was answered and it was specifically a boy just like we believed for. I even bought him an outfit for his mom to hang in his one day closet.

I remember every time I heard someone was pregnant at our church I would think, “Lord why isn’t it my friend?” I was happy for the person with child but sad for my prayer waiting friend.

I'm sure there were days David asked, is this the day Lord?

Part of me subconsciously felt like if this prayer wasn’t answered for my friend mine wouldn’t be either. I have no idea why I felt that way. One thing had nothing to do with the other I’m just telling you what went on in my irrational head. It was that desires of the heart verse that kept swirling in my mind.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Did He mean it? Did He mean it for me?

I have concluded that God didn't always answer prayers quickly in Bible times and He doesn't always answer quickly now. It's good to watch other people waiting on a promise from God because it encourages us when our prayer is taking a while. It's good to see people struggle through so they can encourage us when their on the other side of their answer and we are still waiting.

I remember the day I found out my friend was pregnant, I literally burst into tears. I was so excited for both her and her sweet husband. I praised the Lord that His answer had arrived. The one He gave about 5 years prior, that they would indeed have a son.

Gems he was so worth the wait. He is such a cute little boy and I know the Lord has an amazing plan for him as he does all his babies. For me, every time I see his picture posted on Face Book it encourages me. When I look at pictures of him and his family (and there's a lot of them, you know who you are :) I can't help but be filled with joy.

The bottom line on this lesson was “don’t ask me again” meant believe now. Believe when others seem to be getting their answer and you aren’t. Believe when others are telling you not to. Believe when you are telling yourself desires are for others not for you. Believe and quit asking when you know the answer is yes and start preparing for your request.

Unlike me in the above example, God would not change His answer just because I was driving him crazy asking for ice-cream and wanting it now!!!!

Thank you Lord for answered prayer and perfect timing.

Be Strong Not Hardhearted

I have had many experiences in my life that have made me strong and have also made me choose not to be hardhearted. As you know I have been married and divorced twice so the biggest challenge for me was not joining the “I hate men club.”

Here are some of my many life examples.

From the time I was 19 to present age of 51 I have moved 22 times. This does not count the many times I moved growing up and no, I have never been in the military. 7 of those moves I was married. 15 of the moves I did as a single parent. Some of the moves with 2 children and some with 4. It takes a very strong woman to do all that moving, emotionally and physically.

I remember one move I had all four kids and we were moving from Volusia County to Lake County. I had already done all the packing pretty much alone and on moving day I had a few adults show up but mostly me and the kids. I rented a 22 foot truck and my friend Linda and I went to pick it up and it had a standard transmission! I just assumed it would be an automatic and no one ever asked if I could drive a stick. My first thought was why didn't the man ask if I needed an automatic when he took the reservation?

My friend asked me with a look of fear in her eyes what we were going to do. I laughed and said “drive it baby!” It was the last truck they had, I had no choice. We laughed as I was backing this thing up and grinding gears down the highway.

On this particular move I had a piano I was giving away. The people getting it were told they would have to pick it up, as you know a piano is pretty heavy. So here we are a bunch of kids and women loading this monster truck and up pulls a group of men from the local church to pick up the piano. I got so excited because I thought for sure they would help us load a few of our heavy things too. BUT they didn't, they took the piano without even asking if we needed help and were gone. I knew they saw my sorry moving crew and could not believe they didn't even ask if we needed help. Gems there were about 10 men there to lift that piano, if they helped we could have had that truck loaded in no time at all.

It took a strong woman to finish the job and not get hard hardhearted at yet another experience of men not helping in my life.

Now my work experience.

I have worked on a hot dog truck in New York, sold clothes, insurance for State Farm and Allstate. I have worked on assembly lines for various factories and worked for Siemens. I have sold Title Insurance and worked for printing companies. I have cleaned houses and sold houses. I have been through abortion and served as a founding member of a crisis pregnancy center. I have an insurance license, a real estate license, I'm a notary and a licensed Pastor.

It takes a strong woman to hold down so many jobs and change careers like some people change outfits. It takes a strong woman not to get hard hardhearted at having to care for a family on her own emotionally, physically and financially. It takes a strong woman that knows every new job requires learning new tasks and starting at the bottom, again.

I have worked the same jobs as single men and was paid less for it because I was a woman. Even though I was a single woman raising a family. This is not a political jewel Gems it's a testimony of my heart. These things all caused me to be strong but I'm not going to lie they also began to cause a hardness in my heart toward men that I battled with often.

I was surrounded by single moms and most of them were in the I hate men club I mentioned. They would trash men pretty much any time they were speaking. I was raising 2 boys and was not going to have them listen to that kind of talk. I never wanted them to think they were some how responsible or worse yet would end up in the same category. It was a constant decision to be strong and keep my heart in check at the same time.

This of course affected my relationships with men. I had to be really tough in order to perform some of my jobs. No time for crying or dealing with sick kids or hormonal issues if you know what I mean. I wasn't in the “boys club” nor did I want to be so it always felt like a struggle. The same men that were attracted to me romantically because I was strong soon found me unattractive because I was too strong. Where was the line? I had no idea. Not that I dated much. I didn't have much free time.

This was an actual schedule I held down for moths.

I was living in Mt. Dora. I would get up at O dark thirty, get a toddler and kindergartner ready for their day and myself ready for work. I would drive my teenage daughter to school in Deltona which was a 45 min. drive. She had to be at school by 6:45 A.M. I would then drive my youngest son to his school then take my baby to the baby sitter. I would then go to work in Lake Helen which was another 20 min. drive and be there by 8:30. I was a manager of a sales floor of about 20 men and women and would sell advertising with a 90% rejection level for 8 hours.

I would then pick up each child at their designated spot. At least 3 times a week, after school and work I would spend hours on the soccer field watching my oldest daughter play with the the two younger ones in tow. They had more dinners than they should have sitting on bleachers. I then drove the 45 min. drive back to Mount Dora to begin it all again. It was dark when I left and dark when I got home. It took a strong woman to do all of this!!

Honestly Gems I look back and know it was only by the grace of God that it happened every day. I have always made a point of giving God the praise for my strength.

I was going through a second divorce, getting fired at church, a child in and out of jail, my oldest daughter moving out her senior year of high school, dealing with a horrible boss daily at my sales job and still raising 2 small children. This my Gems was a strong woman with the beginnings of an underlying hard heart!

I have always done ministry during all these times for both men and women and thought I had my hardheartedness in check. I didn't really respect men but I didn't hate them or try to kill them so I thought I was doing pretty good. But as you know, just when you think your doing good the Lord wants you to do better.

I attended a retreat a couple of years ago and had an encounter with the Lord I will never forget. If you know me at all you know I love the Lord with all my heart so it came as a surprise when the Lord told me I didn't totally love Him. I understood a little how Peter must have felt when the Lord asked him if he really loved Him.

I was like what are you talking about Lord? You have seen my life I have always tried to stay faithful to you and give you praise in the good and bad times. Why would you ask me this?

The Lord tenderly told me I couldn't love Him completely until I loved His children. All of His children, this included men.

My head began to swim for a minute, I was confused and hurt. Like I said I wasn't mean to men and I helped them as often as I could so what was the problem?

The Lord told me I may not have had a hard heart but I definitely had a wall around my heart that kept me from truly loving men. God told me I needed to forgive all of them and believe in men again. I needed to give man kind a second chance and see the best in them. To cheer them on and encourage them to be the mighty holy men of God he designed them to be.

WHY ME????? Had I not sacrificed enough? Yes I made bad decisions and was dealing with the outcome of those decisions but I had been taken advantage of so many times and lied to so many more. Why did I have to let my guard down. Did I mention I hadn't killed any of them or gone out of my way to hurt men? What's the problem here? How could I believe in men? They still weren't doing their part! Believe what?

As the Lord always does, He let's me have my tantrum and then lovingly explains things to me.

He said again “Gena, in order for you to truly love me you have to love my boys. I have always been there for you and I am sorry for what you have had to endure by the very ones I created to care for you But now is the time to truly forgive and move on.”

It may not sound very profound to you as you read this but trust me it was. I was on my face before the Lord asking Him to make my heart tender toward his boys, to help me love them the way I love my own children.

I'm not talking about romantic relationships here I'm talking about loving our brothers with the strong heart of God.

Gems I didn't realize it but there was a part of me that felt like if I totally forgave men for what I went through it some how nullified all my heart break,that I wouldn't be validated for all the things I endured. God showed me that He has seen my life from beginning to end and HE validates everything I have committed to Him. Hearing Him say this to me broke off the chains of unforgiveness. I hope that makes sense to you.

I'm not going to say it's been easy. I have to decide each time it comes us again, each time I'm let down by man I have to remember to do what my Father says. Forgive so you can be forgiven.

Mark ll:25-26 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in Heaven may forgive you your sins. 

I have not met the husband God has for me yet but I know I will one day. I also know that God has been preparing my heart so I will be able to love and respect him in a way that will honor our God. I also know he will love me like Christ loved the church, that he will be willing to die for me.

This kind of love can only come from a heart that is strong and not hard!

Childlike Faith

Childlike Faith

There is something so refreshing about talking to a new believer or a believer who has kept their child like faith.

Jewel Confession #797:

I have always had a grown up attitude about the following verses:
Ephesians 5:21-28 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
My problem with these verses has been just that, mine. It was from my jaded point of reference that these verses brought hurt instead of health. 
Years ago when I was married my ex-husband and I were going to marriage counselors, many counselors. After we had been to one for a while my ex would say they liked me better than him and he wouldn’t go anymore.
Of course they liked me betterJ There have only been 2 people that didn’t like me. One was a girl in high school; we had a crush on the same guy. The other was a woman who hadn’t actually met me and obviously didn’t know how awesome I was.  As you can see I have a realistic outlook on life (wink wink)
Ok so I finally sarcastically tell my ex-husband that he needs to find the next counselor and go to him or her a few times and when he’s sure they like him I will come too. He settled on a retired Baptist Preacher who also did marriage counseling. Now I’m not gonna lie I already had an attitude before I even walked in the room to meet this guy. The first thing I said was “if you’re gonna give me the submit to your husband crap I’m outa here.”
Every time that verse came up in a church service I would wiggle in my seat as it had a negative feel to it for me. Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you done the wiggle?
OK so fast forward 100 years. I’m sitting on the bed talking to my youngest daughter Jessica and we are getting ready to read the Bible and she tells me that Ephesians 5 is her favorite book. I hadn’t put the two together yet and asked her to read it out loud to me. I about fell off the bed when she started reading. I’m thinking this is your favorite book? Where did I go wrong?
As Jessica began to read the verses with her own tone and sentiment it was like they were brand new. She smiled as she read like she was reading a love story. When she finished she looked at me with the sweetest face and said isn’t that beautiful mom?
I was baffled because it was beautiful. I asked her to explain to me why she thought that and she said it was so romantic the picture of a man loving his wife so much he would die for her. That he could cleanse her by washing her with the word of God and make her holy, radiant and without blemish. To know your husband would take care of you the way Jesus does. That you could feel safe and secure and be one with your husband, why wouldn’t a woman respect her husband?
Hearing her speak and knowing she “got” what the Bible was saying was truly a beautiful moment for me. I will never hear those verses the same negative way again.
The next thing happened just yesterday. When I got home from work Jessica told me she was picked to preach to the leaders of her youth group. I was so excited for her I asked her to get her notes and preach it to me.
The question the leader asked, that she was to preach about, was why do people pray things they don’t believe God will do?
Jessica thought that was a dumb question. She answered; no one would do that, who would pray to God thinking He won’t answer?
Did that hit you as hard as it hit me? How many times have I prayed hoping God would answer or prayed thinking there’s not a chance He’s going to answer. How many hope prayers have I prayed instead of faith prayers?
Yes Gems, hearing the voice of childlike faith was very refreshing, a bit convicting but definitely refreshing.
Mark 10:15-16 truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Why do you think Jesus said this? Why did He bless them for it?
I think one reason is kids believe anything and will ask for anything expecting to get it. I have heard kids ask for a new bike, a car, even a pony.  My grandsons have no problem asking me for things every time they see me!
Can we go to the park, Disney, the moon? Lucas, my 7 yr. old grandson has already told me he’s going to the moon. They ask expecting me to say yes. They will even ask someone else’s mom or dad for things if you’re not available.  Children need you for EVERYTHING!
I was thinking the other day when my grown children came home again for a while. When they moved in they appeared stress free. No worries of will mom have enough money to take care of all of us? Will there be enough food or places to sleep? Will she be able to pay the rent while we’re here? They just moved in expecting to be taken care of. I’m not slamming my kids they do a lot for me I’m just using this example. The Lord told me this is how we should live our whole life. Just knowing our dad will take care of everything we need giving us anything we ask for that’s in our best interest plus gifts we don’t need or most times deserve.
It’s humbling being dependent on someone else. Over the years I have had people live with me but how I felt helping was quite different to how I felt when I had to live with someone. We become very proud and don’t take much needed help at times because we don’t want to appear weak or needy. That pride goes against everything Jesus teaches about our relationship with Him.
Matthew 18:4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Gems I hope this jewel reminded you as much as this experience reminded me to go back to a childlike faith. Let’s encourage one another to experience needing and receiving everything from our Lord.
I’m going to make a point to start looking at myself as a child when I speak to my Father.  Let’s welcome one another into this kind of romantic family and know in doing so we are welcoming in our sweet Jesus.
Matthew 18:5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
Lord can I have a ……?

Angel Without A Face

I got a word from the Lord for a friend of mine recently and gave it to him with excitement. It was directions actually regarding a situation he was in. When I saw him a few days later I asked if he did what the Lord asked and he said no. I was really shocked! I couldn't believe he didn't listen to God's word. As soon as I said it the Holy Spirit reminded me that the entire Bible is His word and I don't listen to it all the time either. UGH!

That's the thing about God He isn't interested in talking to you about one of His other kids. His response to me questioning someone else's decision is, it's none ya.

He wants us to concentrate on our own stuff. I find it's easier and less painful to focus on others don't you?

He reminded me I need to remember what my face reflects when I'm in sin. That if I want to be blessed I need to listen to what the word tells me.

James 1:23-25 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

We need to remember what we look like.

I think one of the reasons for this is when we focus on ourselves it opens us up to be used for others. If I really see my true reflection with it all it's flaws it makes me more sensitive to others and less judgmental. It also makes me more grateful to God that He loves me in spite of myself.

In a way these times of being used by God could be considered Angel times. A time when we go beyond our earthly feelings and allow the Lord to connect our Spirit with someone else's and minister to them.

For example last week I was walking into a church and there's a stair case leading to the entrance with stairs on both sides and they meet in the middle. I was walking up one side and there was a young man walking up the other side. I felt a quickening in my Spirit as soon as I saw him and said good morning.

He was about 23 maybe 6'1 wearing baggy jeans, tank top and a white hat. Kinda that bad boy don't mess with me look. He didn't make eye contact with me or respond to my cheerie hello.

I continued inside and found a place to sit. It was pretty crowded so there were people standing in random spots. Who do you think ended up standing next to my chair? You guessed it my no eye contact friend. I felt this immediate connection to him even though he still did not acknowledge my existence. I watched him for a while as he was praising our sweet Jesus and could feel a heaviness in his heart. I knew the Lord wanted me to hug him but I didn't want to disturb his time with the God, so I waited. A few minutes later I knew it was time. I got up and tapped his shoulder, he opened his eyes and I told him the Lord wanted me to hug him and asked if it would be OK. He said yes and proceeded to lay his head on my shoulder. I held his head like I would a small boy and asked his name. I then began praying for him what the Holy Spirit gave me to say and this young man just sobbed right there in my arms. I could cry as I write this it was such a tender moment.

I had a similar experience a few other times. Once I was at a party sitting on a bar stool minding my own business and this young girl, funny she was about 23 also, walked over to me, laid her head on my chest and just hugged me.

If It weren't a spirit moment it would have been an uncomfortable amount of time but again the Lord was allowing me to be one of His ministering angels.

The thing about being an angel is you have to be faceless. What I mean is at that moment it has nothing to do with you. It's not Gena they are drawn to it's Jesus in Gena. It is at these times I feel the closest to Jesus. It just pure, raw love.

Gems I want to encourage you to give others a break and focus on your stuff. Be courageous! Allow God to use you as an angel to someone in your world. Forget what you look like, be faceless and fearless and be a ministering angel to a hurting person.

I want to share a poem a dear friend of mine wrote.

Cry my little Angel, but don't be blue

The Lord God has a place for you

Life doesn't make sense, you can try and try

sometimes it just feels good to cry

look over your shoulder, an angel is waiting

just reach out for her, she's there for the taking

love is all around, it's in the air

take a deep breath, don't just stare

By F. Kalemeris

Random Thoughts

I was cleaning up my kitchen this morning and was about to throw away some old bread when the thought popped in my head to throw it outside to the birds. I walked out to my patio and threw it into the grass and proceeded to water my plants. As I was standing there the following verse popped into my head:
Luke 12:22-24 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
 I started thinking about the bread I had thrown on the grass and the Lord said to me “I have chosen to use you today to feed my birds.” Right after that I heard a noise and turned my head to see what it was and there looking me straight in the eye was the bird in the above picture. Honestly when he was standing straight up we were almost eye to eye. You can't really see it but in his beak is a piece of the bread I had thrown. I grabbed my phone took his picture and said to my breakfast guest “your welcome.”
I began to meditate on the verse and how God takes care of all His creation and on this day He allowed me to feed one of His own. It got me thinking about how much more important we are to Him than the beautiful wild life He has created.
I started thinking about the times the Lord has allowed me to feed His children. On Tuesday nights I help with the Soup Kitchen, in the past I helped bring food to the Women and Men's shelters in Leesburg. I remember one time I had so much food that was given to me and my family the Lord told me to drive into a neighborhood of lower income houses and He would tell me which house to stop at. It was a small white house with black shutters and lawn ornaments in the front yard, I remember that because my daughter hates lart (lawn art.) The Lord said stop here and give this family food. I pulled into the drive way walked up and knocked on the door not really knowing what I would say. An elderly gentlemen opened the door and I said “Hi I'm Gena and the Lord told me to bring you some food.” He was a Christian too and he just smiled the biggest smile and acted as if he had been waiting for me to show up. True story!
I don't tell you these stories for you to think I'm so great but to remind you of how Great Our God is! When He said He would feed us, He meant it. Just a random thought.
What is it about the ocean? We can sit on the shore for hours gazing into the ocean, even at night with no activity going on. No whales spewing water or dolphins doing acrobats, just the crashing of the waves and the mighty sounds of uncontrollable water. What draws up to water? Perhaps it's our souls understanding of baptism.
Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
I have only had the honor of baptizing one person so far, my beautiful spiritual daughter Debbie. It was such a numbing feeling, that's how my feet felt in the freezing water.  Seriously, I was so honored that Debbie would allow me to baptize her.
Baptism is an important decision we make to follow in Christ footsteps to die to self and be raised to eternal life with Jesus. I remember it vividly and will treasure that experience forever. Maybe the ocean beckons us to ask the same thing the eunuch in the Bible asked “why shouldn't I be baptized? Acts 8:36,38 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
Again, perhaps it's the things that are stirred in our Spirit, a feeling of peace and wholeness that our soul knows very well. The commitment of baptism that conjoins us with Jesus himself.
Just a random thought.
The same could be said of fire. I was at a fund raiser recently and when it got dark the guys decided to have a bonfire. How do I know it was the guys decision? Well they made a mound of pallets about 10 feet high which caused the flames to shoot up about 20 feet, you had to sit about a block away to enjoy it. OK that's an exaggeration but it was a pretty big fire. As the fire burned more and more people gathered around it to watch it's dancing flames myself included. Have you ever noticed how mesmerizing it is to watch a fire? I asked the Lord what is it about fire we find so intriguing? The answer I got was, "maybe it's because that was the way I first chose to show myself to you.
" Exodus 3:1-5 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Exodus 13:21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Maybe subconsciously our Spirit is communing with God when we gaze upon a fire. When we behold the beauty of it's dancing flames and the more the air hits it the more it spreads and consumes everything it touches. The way it burns debris yet brings new life to what's underneath the earth. Maybe we yearn for that kind of consuming fire.  
Hebrews 12:29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
 Maybe these are all just random thoughts or maybe they are a way of the Holy Spirit sending us thoughts. I'm going with the latter, you can choose for yourself.