River Depths 9

My friend, Karen challenged me to speak about the seven colors of the rainbow and the seven Spirits of God. I’ve been swimming in this for a month now. I found a couple of websites that make these correlations. http://www.nhccministries.com/uploads/2/3/1/9/23197588/7_spiritsian_c..pdf The Spirit of the Lord is red: mandates us for position.  The Spirit of Wisdom is orange: equips us for position.  Spirit of Understanding is yellow: authorizes us for position.  Spirit of Counsel is green; prepares us for position.  Spirit of Might is blue: reveals us for position.  Spirit of Knowledge is indigo: empowers us for position.  And the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord is violet, or purple: brings accountability for position.   The following website agrees with the above and gives a nice illustration using a menorah.   7 Colors of the Rainbow and the 7 Spirits of God ‣ (tdr-thedreamroom.com) "ISAIAH 11:1-2 THERE SHALL COME FORTH A ROD FROM THE STEM OF ...

I keep seeing this phrase, "God doesn't give you any more than you can handle." I know it is meant to comfort, but it bothers me. It bothers me a lot. Not sure where I learned it from, but I grew up with the mentality that God was in control and He has a good reason for everything that happens in your life – that He will not give you anything you can't handle. On the surface, it seems comforting. Assuring you that you are strong and can handle it. But there came a time when that mentality almost destroyed me. Bear with me while I tell you my story. A couple of years before my youngest was born, my husband and I went through a very rough period. We didn't have jobs; we had two babies to feed, and the stress we were under was tearing us apart. I was prone to depression back then anyway, and it got to a point that I could take it no longer. I had been taught that God was in control. He was only allowing me to go through what I was going through to teach me a le...

Your life is like a road. All roads need repairs. If it’s just a little pothole or a crack, a little bit of sticky stuff and some rocks will do the job. But sometimes it needs extensive repairs and sometimes it needs to be widened. During those times, it may seem that God is stripping you of everything. Those hard and fast things you have always depended on will be demolished. Tons of rocks will be thrown on you and smashed into your soul. You may even find your life going in a direction you never expected. But after what seems like an eternity, you will see God establish new pavement that will bless others and help them get to where they need to go in a jiffy!

  Confession: Grampa Tom is a Scrooge.  OK, I can't blame him. He grew up in a large farm family. My father-in-love was a fantastic worker but had no business sense. They lived hand to mouth and every penny earned from the farm usually went out the door as soon as it came in at harvest. By December, money was always tight and the pressure to provide gifts for 9 kids always caused a lot of fights between his parents. Not only that, but many of those kids had December birthdays. Christmas for my husband was always a time of great stress.  On the contrary, Christmas in my family was always a joyous occasion that my upper-middle-class parents were comfortably able to afford. My expectations and my husband's dread of the season created some stress between us in the beginning, but when we went through the farm depression of the early 80s, things got serious. My overwhelming desire to give came into full clash with his insistence that we absolutely could not afford Christmas. I ...

M iracles happen today. There are those out there that claim miracles ceased with the completion of the New Testament, but I know better. I have experienced some significant ones myself.   I’d like to share a few with you. When I was young, I got yeast infections often. Back then, you had to get a prescription for yeast infection creams. When I was pregnant with my youngest son, I developed a yeast infection on a Friday night and by Sunday morning I was so miserable, that I really thought about driving to the emergency room instead of church. But I decided to tough it out until Monday morning because emergency room visits are expensive. At church, during the song portion of the service, I turned toward the back where the doors were. I watched Jesus come in. I was aware that I was seeing in the spirit realm, but it was as real as the physical realm I was standing in. He came up to me and gave me a hug. I was very aware of who He was so I slid down on my knees. He put his hand on m...