No Stone Unturned - Joni Ames

I received this via email today and found it very encouraging. So I wanted to share it with you. I pray you'll find it encouraging as well today as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

NO STONE UNTURNED
(A Resurrection Sunday poem)
- Joni Ames JONIAMES@aol.com

So many stumbling blocks I found
Upon the path I trod
It seemed I walked an endless road
As I cried out to God

"Oh Lord, My God, are you not there?"
I said to Him one day
"Do you not see me standing here
Or hear the prayers I pray?"

"Father, where are all the things
You promised once to me?
Where are the things I had faith for?
Where is my victory?"

"Patience, child," I heard Him say
"Endure now to the end
Remember I am on your side
And I call you My friend"

"Did I not spare three men of God
From furnace and from flame?
Do you not know I care for you
For whom I'll do the same?"

"Did I not shut the lion's jaws
For Daniel in the den?
Do you think I don't care for you
But only for those men?"

"I told you, have faith as a grain
Of mustard seed and see
That, as you speak, a mountain moves
And falls into the sea"

"These, the things you see today
Shall pass and fade away
And you SHALL see my victory
And answers as you pray"

"Wait for just a little more
Your answers are at hand
Do not quit - it's almost time
For victory in your land"

"I'm not slack as some men are
For I'm Almighty, True
And I SHALL bring EACH thing to pass
That I have promised you"

"Remember, My Son had to die
And see the depths of hell
But then He rose to victory
And there was praise to tell"

"It seemed that death had taken Him
No future to be found
But those three days, I worked, unseen,
And captives were un-bound"

"Know I do the same for you
I quiet now each fear
Know I hear each prayer you breathe
And count your every tear"

"See that stone upon the tomb?
It stands, but not for long
For soon, each plan will drop in place
Right where it should belong"

"Do not fear now as you see
That all your life is churned
But watch and see all stones removed -
I leave NO stone un-turned" "

The stones or stumbling blocks you see
Are nothing now to ME
For soon, yours too, will roll away
And YOU'll have VICTORY!"

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Happy Resurrection Sunday!
Love in Jesus,
Joni Ames

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Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep Joni's website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
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Joni Ames P.O. Box 99Elkview, WV 25071E-Mail: JoniAmes@aol.comMain Website: http://www.joniames.org Prophetic Newsletter Archives/Web site: http://www.joniames.net

Horton Hears a Who & Abortion

My daughter has been looking forward to going to see the new Dr. Seuss movie which came out in theaters today - Horton Hears a Who. Work is crazy right now with quarter end, but I'm hoping to be able to take her to see this in a few days.

I was surprised to see an email this week from Bound4Life endorsing this movie. Curious I visited their Mercy Seat Blog to see what this was all about. As I read the post about the movie - All Whos Who Have Blood That is Red - I felt the Lord confirming what they were saying.

I strongly suggest you take the time to read this blog posting and then take time to see the movie. My daugther is six and although I haven't given her all the details as to exactly what abortion is, I have talked to her about it. I wear a Life Band, a red wristband with the word LIFE stamped on it. She asked me what is was and I explained to her that there are people who are deceived by the enemy (satan) and don't realize that babies are alive and precious to God when they are in their mommy's tummies. Sometimes people make bad decisions and these babies are killed before they are born. The band I wear is to remind me to pray for these babies and their mommies and to realize that we are ALL precious to and loved by the Lord.

She now asks to pray for these little babies and I believe her prayers are precious and beautiful to the Lord. I truly believe the Lord is calling out to this nation, to the world. One of the things He is calling out to us is how precious Life is. Changing the laws is not going to change abortion - only changed hearts are going to make a difference. I agree the Lord very well may be using this movie to start speaking to us about how precious Life really is.

A person's a person, no matter how small!

I ask that you read this posting and ask the Lord to show you His heart in this area. Please pray for this nation and ask the Lord to begin to move in all our hearts regarding this issue.

“Jesus, I plead Your Blood over my sins and the sins of my nation.

God, end abortion and send revival to America.”

Bound4Life

Dark, yet Lovely

In my last post I had written about how understanding the grace of God in my life also requires me to truly see myself without His grace. At the end I had included a verse from Song of Solomon.

Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of
Kedar,
like the tents curtains of Solomon
~Song of Solomon 1:5

I wanted to give some background regarding this verse.

The woman describes herself as dark, yet lovely and the compares herself to the tents of Kedar and the tent curtains of Solomon’s temple. These describe our outward life (our flesh) and our inner life (God’s Glory in our life).

Tents of Kedar – this describes our flesh, our outward life of darkness. This is our natural tendency as humans to sin. The tents of Kedar to which she is referring, were made from the hides of wild goats and provided shelter for shepards. They were often discolored and black because they were exposed to the weather/climate of the area for extended periods of time. These tents represent the darkness she sees in herself – the outward condition of her life, which is filled with sin and failure.

Tent Curtains of Solomon – In the holy place of the temple there were bright white curtains that were known as the Curtains of Solomon. They could not been seen from the outer court and therefore were hidden from the common people. Only the priests saw them. These curtains represent the beauty that is within her (within us) that only God can see. This beauty is the Glory of God in our lives.

This is why she (and we) are dark, yet lovely.

In the study I am doing right now, it lists four reasons why we are beautiful and lovely to God in the midst of being spiritually immature.

1. We possess the gift of righteousness (2 Corinthian 5:21). He sees us as lovely because of the work of righteousness that He has done in us, not because of anything we have or have not done. We are clothed in his garment of salvation and His robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10)

2. When we were reborn in Him, He gave us a willing spirit. God knows that we are fallable, He is drawn not towards what we do for Him, so much as He is drawn to our hearts that say “Yes” to Him. This “Yes” in our hearts will come before any true outward changes are apparent. This willing heart is the work of the Holy Spirit within us (Psalm 51:12)

3. God’s nature/personality. God’s passion for us, how He sees us is totally determined by His nature, His personality. As parents we understand what unconditional love is towards our children. The difference with God though is that even when He is disciplining us, He is loving us fully. He is able to show us all His emotions towards us equally, not withholding one over another. God is love and therefore His view of us in based on this love.

4. We are beautiful to God because of our identity. Who are we? We are the Bride of Christ! It is absolutely certain that our destiny is to be adorned, embraced and enthroned as the Bride of Christ. This alone makes us absolutely beautiful! We need to learn to realize our identity is not in what we do for a living or even what our ministry is. Our identity is in Christ and who we are in Him, the Bride!