A few days ago I started to think about my heart's desires... one of them especially :-) He truly has given me my hearts desires as I have been seeking Him... He has taken me to where I didn't ever think I would be at. My own desires and dreams for my life were so much smaller than His! His dreams for my life are bigger... much, much bigger than what I even dared to dream of and believe for... but as I move on with Him by my side, He has put new desires into my heart, bigger and greater desires and He has given me faith to achieve those dreams. Those dreams in my heart are His dreams for my life... so, I can only achieve them with His help and guidance. Sure, I can go and try to make those things happen on my own. I can... but it will be such hard work. There is such a huge difference between "me doing it" or "God doing it through me"... huge difference! I've tried both and it is so much easier and more fun and more relaxing to allow Him to move through me and bring those dreams to pass.

When I try to do it on my own, I have to get all the great ideas and ways how to make it happen... but when I do it God's way and seek Him first, He will show me the way and He will give me all those great ideas... it is much easier and much more stress free. And I mean when I get stuck, He knows how to get me unstuck... when there is opposition, He knows how to deal with it... when the door He has told me to enter through is closed, He knows how to open it! He knows the way. The only thing I need to do is to obey. My job is to learn to listen to the quiet voice of the Lord in my heart and follow this voice.

Last week I read one of my friend's poems that so, so touched my heart. She talked about the verse in 1 Kings 19:12 that describes the voice of the Lord. Verse 11 says: "And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice."

Isn't it beautiful? "...a sound of gentle stillness... a still, small voice!" We would love to hear the Lord speak to us with a loud voice and even better if He would show us some signs and wonders too to confirm that it was Him indeed... but the Word tells us that He talks to us through gentle stillness, with a still, small voice... which is so easy to ignore... and often we do... which means that we miss Him!

That is WHY the Lord tells us to take time out of our busy day and wait for Him, seek Him through His Word, listen to Him. He doesn't shout His directions to us... He speaks into our hearts through gentle stillness... He speaks with a still, small voice. When we have not trained our spiritual ears to recognize His voice, we won't hear His warnings, His leadings... and we will miss the right road. Also it is so, so easy to start dreaming someone else's dreams. The world all around us doesn't allow people to gently dream their dreams... no, they push their dreams down everyone's throats. The media has their own ideas of a dream life and a dream home and a dream marriage and a dream career... even what a dream spouse should look like... and if we do not take enough time to learn to know the Lord, we will also be running after someone else's dreams! ...not even finding out first whether the people who live such "dream lives" are happy and fulfilled! That is why there are so many unfulfilled, unhappy, frustrated, angry people - they are running after someone else's dreams! It crushes our dreams. It kills us on the inside!

We all have dreams in our hearts, dreams planted by our Creator. He has filled our hearts with His dreams... dreams that bring us fulfillment and contentment... dreams that make our lives worth living... dreams that make us smile every morning when we wake up! He has got the good life ready for every one of us! Ephesians 2:10 says:

"For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.]"

God has a good life ready for every single one of us... a life that is perfect for our personality... life where we can use and develop our gifts and talents... a life that has the one true love by our side..... Jeremiah 29:11 says: "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Verse 12 continues to tell us HOW we enter into this good life that is ready for us: "For then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity."

It doesn't matter how far off we have strayed from the right path, from the good life... we can always get back into it if we seek the Lord... and He will release us from captivity... captivity to fear or doubt or worry or wanting to make an impression on others... whatever holds us back from being all He has called us to be! God wants us to be free. God wants us to be healthy and happy and prosperous! He desires us to live the good life! Just today I read a good title of an article: "Seek the Lord and Find Your Treasure." ... this is exactly right! When we seek Him, we will find the true treasures of our hearts. He has put those treasures ready for us and we will find them with His help.

Deuteronomy 4:1 says: "Now listen and give heed, O Israel, to the statutes and ordinances which I teach you, and do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you." God repeats the call in Jeremiah 11:4,5, saying: "Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So will you be My people, and I will be your God, that I may perform the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey." ...we need to listen to God's voice through His Word and in our hearts, then He can lead us to our Promised Land. Deuteronomy describes the Promised Land in chapter 6:10,11 as "the land with great and goodly cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant." ...God does give us the good things that someone else has prepared beforehand... not knowing they were preparing those things for those who love the Lord and listen to His voice. God has prepared good things for us and we will find them when we listen to His still, small voice in our hearts.

I have heard quite a few testimonies of how Christians have found their dream homes. They have had a clear picture of what they wanted and they asked the Lord for very specific things... only to later find out that when they prayed those dreams into the hands of the Lord and from then on started to thank the Lord for such a home... this exact dream home was started to being built. The way the Lord led each to their own home was different. Some people got a brand new home that the owners sold without ever moving into the home they had built for themselves... some people were given the home as a gift... some people bought their home with a discount price even while there were other buyers interested. God has a way to give us the dreams of our hearts. When we seek Him and listen to His guidance in our hearts, our dreams will be fulfilled.

One of the cool stories just popped into my remembrance, a story of a preacher - Bill Winston - who bought a whole shopping mall... when it wasn't even for sale... and he bought it with a huge discount. The Lord wanted him to buy the mall and He showed him the way to do it. God wants us to dream big dreams... dreams that are so big that only He can lead us to fulfill them... though those huge dreams start from the small dreams and the small steps of obedience. The Word says: "Do not despise small beginnings..." Start from where You are and move on from there... and remember: "with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment." (Luke 1:37)

Heaps of blessings to You all,

As the whole world is going more and more organic... which truly is the only way to go in order to achieve and preserve good health in our bodies... there are some real interesting home recipes around for beauty products. Although I have the purest certified organic product that I use and sell... sometimes I just can't keep myself from trying out some home made concoctions... some of which do end up in the toilet though... others I absolutely love, but as I do not mark down how much of what I use, I can't usually reproduce them exactly the way they turned out best! May be I will one day :-)

I just found some cool super easy home-made hair products for You to try out:

NATURAL HAIR-SPRAY RECIPE

Hair sprays often contain plastic and other synthetic chemicals that are less than ideal to be breathing! Fortunately, there is a homemade alternative that works!

SIMPLE SOLUTION: A friend told me about this recipe, and I’ve found it to be very impressive; it really holds hair well.

Light and Lemon Hair Spray

2 to 4 lemons

Water

Slice the lemons and cover with water in a pan. Simmer for 1 hour, adding more water as it evaporates. Let cool, then strain. Pour the lemon liquid into a pump spray bottle. Makes 2 to 3 cups

Shelf Life: About 1 week refrigerated.

Annie Berthold-Bond’s recipe

SWEET TREATMENT FOR DAMAGED HAIR

Here is a one-ingredient formula that may surprise you, but it has amazing nourishing and repairing properties for damaged hair.

SIMPLE SOLUTION: If you spent too many hours this summer in a pool, in the sun, or getting tangles from harsh salty sea air--or if you have damage from bleaching or blow-drying--this sweet solution will help restore your hair to soft, shiny, bouncy glory.

The secret is blackstrap molasses. It may sound kind of sticky and gooey to use, but it smells sweet and it will give your damaged locks a nourishing treat.

Simply massage about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of blackstrap molasses (depending on the length of your hair) into your tresses, then cover with a shower cap and allow it to set as long as possible (for an hour or even more, if you can.)

Rinse with warm water.

Inspired by Better Basics for the Home, by Annie B. Bond (Three Rivers Press, 1999).

CHLORINE DAMAGED HAIR REPAIR

If you swim frequently in a chlorinated pool, you may already know that the chemical can cause hair to become greenish. Chlorinated water also dries hair.

SIMPLE SOLUTION: While bright green hair might be a social trend, the chlorine-green hair look is far from a desired look, or so most agree.

Here is a simple homemade rinse to stop chlorine’s chemical reaction with your hair!

Wet your hair in a shower. Massage ¼ cup tomato juice into your hair and let set for a few minutes before washing as usual. (This amount of tomato juice is enough for one rinse.) Rinse the tomato juice out of your hair, and then wash as usual.

Inspired by Better Basics for the Home, by Annie B. Bond (Three Rivers Press, 1999).

DANGEROUS & CARCINOGENIC SUBSTANCES USED IN HAIR CARE PRODUCTS

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS)

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate (ALES)

Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate

Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate

Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate

Potassium Coco Hydrolysed Collagen

TEA (Triethanolamine) Lauryl Sulfate

TEA (Triethanolamine) Laureth Sulfate

Lauryl or Cocoyl Sarcosine

Disodium Oleamide Sulfosuccinate

Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate

Disodium Dioctyl Sulfosuccinate etc

PEG or Polyethylene Glycol compounds

Dimethicone

I wish you all great health and beautiful hair,

More and more of natural catastrophes are happening all over the world. On top of that there are man made catastrophes, wars, terrorism... Still, God has always had a way to protect His people no matter what was happening around them. There was a story on TV after a tsunami where a local pastor was asked why did God let this happen. He said: "This is the result of sin." ...and it is. The earth quakes under the weight of sin... and God can do nothing about it. He has warned us throughout His Word that sin always brings death. God has warned us but if we choose to not pay attention, we will get hurt... and it is not God's fault.

Still, although negative things happen all around us, God has always made a way for His people to be protected. Right before Israelites left Egypt after their slavery, many plagues hit Egypt because of their disobedience. God warned them but they did not pay attention... so destruction hit them. Although Israelites were right there, living among the Egyptians, they were protected from those plagues. God always protects those who are faithful to Him. I mean how could He protect those who do not pay attention to Him? He can't? In Exodus 12 God told the Israelites to cover their door posts with the blood of a lamb... in order for the judgment not to come to their houses.

In the New Testament, we have the blood of Christ that we can plead over our homes, planes that we travel in, hotel rooms, businesses, ministries... When we plead the blood of Christ for protection, those places will be protected. The devil can't touch the blood of Christ. It was the blood of Christ that won the perfect victory for us on the cross. So, wherever the devil sees the blood of Christ, He has to pass over. The blood of Christ is our supernatural protection. Revelation 12:11 confirms it: "And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony."

There are so, so many testimonies of God's protection through the pleading of the blood and through the utterance of Christian's testimonies and I would like to share some of them with You. I chose the first earthquake that I have ever been in... which happened in January 1994 in California... and talking about sin causing such disasters - this earthquake's epicenter was right where the center of pornography production was!

Those real-life testimonies are collected by Melanie Hemry

Thursday, January 13, 1994 - Thousand Oaks, California

Brenda Steen stepped into the sanctuary of Thousand Oaks Christian Fellowship and sighed with contentment. Although there were no services today, no loving faces and happy voices to greet her, the silent sanctuary was warm and inviting.

Brenda alongside her husband, Arland, had started this church 13 years ago. In those years, they had seen lives changed...families grow stronger in the Lord...children raised on the Word of God. Brenda sat on the steps of the altar praying, her heart rejoicing over all God had done here.

Yet even as she rejoiced, a sense of caution stirred in her heart. What is it, Lord?

In answer, she heard the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit speak the words He'd been saying repeatedly to her in recent days. Make much of the blood.

It was a phrase full of meaning for Brenda. Months before, she had listened, enthralled, as her friend, Billye Brim, had described the revelation God had given her about the blood of Jesus. When Billye taught her message at Eagle Mountain International Church, Brenda had asked for copies of the tapes and listened to them three times. Then she began the laborious task of transcribing each tape.

In December, 1993, she'd begun teaching the series each Sunday night. She was still teaching the series, but this week, for some reason, there seemed to be a fresh urgency about it. Day in and day out, the Holy Spirit kept reminding her, Make much of the blood.

Prompted by the Lord, Brenda began to pray, her words echoing through the sanctuary. "Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over this building...."

Sunday, January 16, 1994

Pastor Brenda Steen stepped to the podium to preach. Tonight's message would be "The Blood of the Passover Lamb: The Protecting Power of the Blood."

"I taught a great deal from Exodus 12," Brenda explains, "about how the Israelites were instructed to take a lamb for each household. The head of the household dipped the hyssop branch in the blood and applied it to the door post. They weren't to leave the house till morning. In other words, they were to stay under the blood.

"Verse 23 says that when the Lord saw the blood, He wouldn't allow the destroyer to come into their house and strike them. I reminded the congregation how saints in years past used that same principle to pray a line of protection around their property by pleading the blood of Jesus."

"Satan, the destroyer, is hard at work in the earth today," Brenda declared. "Sometimes the destruction he brings takes the form of natural catastrophes. But if we will by faith apply the blood, those catastrophes will not touch us!"

"After the sermon, we were directed by the Holy Spirit to take Communion," Arland says. "Instead of taking it as a congregation, the head of each household led the Communion for their own family, praying a blood line of protection over each family member and their property."

That night before the service was over, Brenda Steen said something the members of Thousand Oaks Christian Fellowship would never forget. She said it didn't matter that they lived in California. It didn't even matter if they lived right over a fault-line. "Your family is safe because the blood of Jesus has been applied to your household. A blood line has been drawn...."

Monday, January 17, 1994, 4:31 a.m.

In the darkest hour of the night, while Southern California slept, a previously unknown fault-line erupted, changing the course of lives and the course of geology forever. The earthquake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, producing a power so great it pushed two mountain ranges higher and closer together, and depressed the valley between them by four inches.

Sixty-one people perished due to the earthquake as megastructures collapsed and highways broke apart like toy building blocks. Original estimates placed the cost of the destruction somewhere between $15 billion and $30 billion. It may prove to be the most costly natural disaster in the nation's history.

Those who survived the earthquake faced a myriad of problems: homelessness...isolation...loss of electricity...loss of water...broken gas lines...fires...and, in the weeks to come, 2,000 aftershocks, some measuring as high as 5.5 on the Richter scale.

Thousand Oaks, Calif., was declared a national disaster area. But the members of Thousand Oaks Christian Fellowship made a different declaration. For, when the earthquake was over, each one of them had a story of victory to tell....

"Nothing Was Broken!"

Stuart Schlosser awoke to the shaking and rolling that could only mean one thing - earthquake! "My first thought was that we had nothing to worry about because the night before we'd prayed for a blood line around the house. But as I bolted out of bed, I heard my children praying a blood covering over my business. My business! I hadn't even thought about it."

At 9:30 that morning, Stuart left home to try and make his way to his Subway Shop located in Northridge. He didn't know then that Northridge sat over the epicenter of the earthquake. He didn't know that a scant mile and a half from his business, one whole floor of the Northridge Meadows Apartments had collapsed, killing 16 people. He didn't know that the University of California at Northridge science building - across the street from his business - had burned and half the dormitories had been destroyed.

"There was a strange glow in the sky," Stuart recalls, "and parts of the expressway were missing. Squad cars surrounded the exit I always took to work.

"All the windows were gone in the Kentucky Fried Chicken near my shop," Stuart recalls. "Every other window was missing from the shopping center. The doors to businesses next to mine were tilted and broken. Then I pulled up to the Subway Shop. Every window was intact. The doors were intact. Inside, bread racks had moved and food had fallen off the shelves in the refrigerator. A couple of ceiling tiles had fallen.

"Nothing was broken. Not a mirror, not a dish. I didn't even lose one light bulb."

"There Was No Fear!"

Keith Wengler's shift at UPS began that morning at 4:30. Keith was standing next to the conveyor belt waiting for packages when the earthquake exploded underneath him.

Panic-stricken people ran in every direction. Some rushed for the door while others hid under the belt. The building shook with a deafening roar. Outside, trucks clanked together. Keith had lived through earthquakes before, but without question this was the worst he'd ever experienced.

In spite of the turmoil around him, Keith could think of only one thing. My family! What's happening at home?

"Just as suddenly as that thought flashed through my mind," Keith says, "I remembered the blood. I prayed for my family. There was no fear. None, whatsoever. I drove home in peace."

When he arrived, Keith found his house and family safe and secure. Although the earth beneath them had trembled and shaken violently, it had succeeded only in moving one picture and knocking over the teddy bear collection that belonged to Keith's wife, Leigha.

"Everything was perfectly intact," Leigha says. "We were protected by the blood!"

"...An Angel Set My Home Down!"

"I woke up at 4:31 a.m.," recalls Jennifer Clark. "My waterbed was thrown up off the floor and half of my mobile home was in the air. I screamed, 'In the Name of Jesus, I pray the blood of Jesus over my children, myself and my house!"

Instantly, the house settled back in place.

"Then I heard my little daughter, Christina, shout, 'I plead a blood ring around this whole park!

"The next morning, I saw indentations in a perfect line marking where the trailer had lifted on one end and wrinkled the metal. I believe when I prayed, an angel set my home back down."

Fifty to 90 percent of all homes in mobile home parks were devastated. Yet, in Jennifer Clark's mobile home park, only three were lost. Jennifer believes that those three were damaged first, but all the others were protected by the blood of the Lamb and the word of Christina's testimony.

God Hath Remembered

Aftershocks and violent crime continued to rock the area for weeks after the first quake. Yet even though the danger wore on, the power of the blood didn't wear out. On January 26, nine days after the earthquake, Larry and Suzi Fox discovered that fact for themselves.

The Fox house was quiet as Suzi turned out the lights and prepared for bed that night. She didn't expect Larry home from work until late. As the general manager of a restaurant - the only one in its chain that had remained open since the quake - he had been extremely busy in recent days.

At 11 p.m., Suzi made her usual bedtime check on Chelsea, their 2-year-old. Walking into the bedroom, she was surprised to see Chelsea's wide eyes staring back at her.

How strange. Chelsea isn't usually awake at this time of night. Her spirit suddenly alert, Suzi sensed the warning of the Holy Spirit. Something's wrong. Larry is in trouble!

"Chelsea," she said, "we need to pray for Daddy." Without hesitation, Suzi prayed the blood of Jesus over Larry and called forth angels to protect him. Then she picked up her Bible and prayed Psalm 91, "Father, I thank You that Larry abides under the shadow of the Almighty...."

At 11:15 p.m., Larry was working quietly in his office at the restaurant, finishing up the day's accounts. The restaurant doors were locked, both safes closed and secured for the night.

Suddenly, Larry's office door crashed to the floor as two gunmen stormed in upon him. "Get to the floor!" screamed one of them, holding a pistol to Larry's head.

"Let's kill 'em now!" shouted the other as he shoved two of Larry's co-workers into his office at gunpoint.

Larry lay on the floor with an astounding sense of peace. Praying in tongues under his breath, he listened to the gunmen with calm - until he heard them say something that sent chills down his spine.

"We'll put them in the freezer," one gunman said.

"Oh God, not the freezer!" Larry knew their walk-in freezer was equipped with an internal mechanism allowing the door to be unlocked from the inside. But that mechanism had been broken in the earthquake.

"There were two safes visible," Larry explains. "Most of the money was in the upper safe, but they acted like they couldn't see that one. They told me to open the lower safe."

Larry crawled to the safe and opened it, trying to anticipate their next move. Shockingly enough, there was no "next move." The gunmen simply grabbed the money and left, leaving Larry and the cooks completely unharmed.

Six days after the robbery, Suzi Fox gave birth to their second child - a son. They named him Zachary, which means, God hath remembered.

"The Lord Made a Difference."

Although each story of victory is precious, what is most striking about the experiences of those at Thousand Oaks Christian Fellowship is their consistency. These are not isolated incidents. The testimonies reported here could be repeated by every member of Thousand Oaks Christian Fellowship for not one of them lost a life or lost a home in the earthquake or its aftermath.

Perhaps even more importantly, they didn't lose the peace and security in their families. Unlike the thousands of California children who were so shaken by the earthquake that they required psychiatric help, many of the children from the Steens' church ended up more confident in God's protection than ever before.

"When the time of calamity came to the land of Egypt during Moses' day, the Lord made a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites," Arland says. "As time moves forward in these last days, there'll be earthquakes, famines, wars and rumors of wars. But, there will always be a difference between the world and the Church."

That difference will be the blood of Jesus. And it will stand firm even when the earth itself shakes with uncertainty. The members of Thousand Oaks Christian Fellowship are rock-solid sure about that.

I love such testiomonies! I pray they were a blessing to You too :-)

Many blessings to You all,

Hey, there is huge power in our words! We speak words and those words determine what is happening in the spiritual realm around us. We can't see it, but we actually WEAR what we SWEAR! When I worked on cruise ships... gosh, believe it or not, but I swore worse than a sailor. My roommate was a tomboy Dutch girl... and in the end even she told me that I was swearing far too much. My favorite swear word was "bloody"... which in the end was in each of my sentence. I wonder what my spiritual garment looked like back then?!?! One thing I can say, I got more and more sick when I was on the boats... until I just had to leave. At the time I did not put the two and two together, but now I am sure it was my own words that got me more and more sick! Those swear words got into my inward being and did havoc there! ...and my health started to steadily deteriorate.

Very soon after leaving the ships I dedicated my life to the Lord. I did not even think about having to quit swearing. It just disappeared. One day I noticed that I did not use one single swear word. They were gone from my life.

Psalm 104:2 says: "[You are the One] Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment." God has a garment of light... and so do we when we are His! We might not see it in the natural, but it is clearly seen in the spiritual realm. Devils and demons see clearly our garment of light. They know also that their influence is very much limited due to our garment of light.

We clothe ourselves with this garment of light through our words. When we stay in the Word of God, speaking the promises of God over our lives, our garment of light becomes more bright and covers greater area around us. When we speak the Word of God over our lives... and then at times speak some sickness and disease and some poverty and lack over our lives, there are holes in our garment of light... which are openings to the enemy. Our garment of light is intact when we agree with God's promises and won't speak any negativity over our lives.

It is so, so important to fill our hearts/spirits with the Word of God for otherwise we will get negativity into our hearts from all around us. Then when an emergency comes... and hey, there might be an emergency situation... during which very often our mind goes completely blank and only our heart/spirit is actively involved... so whatever is in our hearts comes out of our mouths and settles the situation.

My friend had an incident when she and her husband were driving on an ice road (we have ice roads between islands in winter) and suddenly their car completely lost control and started spinning. She was really grounded in the Word of God and the first words that came out of her mouth were Jesus help us! The moment she shouted those words, the car came to an abrupt halt. She said that it seemed like someone was standing in front of the car, stopping it.

But think, if she had not shouted out the name of Jesus that is the name above every name in heaven and earth and under the earth... but had shouted out something like "damn". The car sure would not have stopped and they probably would have ended up in a serious accident. It is a serious matter what we fill our hearts with, for in an emergency situation when our minds get disengaged, what is in our hearts comes out of our mouths, settling the matter.

Sometimes again it takes years and years of building the garment of curse around us and then when a disaster suddenly attacks, God can't help us. We have taken a long, long time to carefully build the garment of curse around us and it rules over us. It is like the story of a man who talked since his childhood that he was not going to live to be 40... and guess what, he did not live to be 40. I find that a lot of people actually have some kind of vision or knowing that they are going to die young. I had it too... until I found out that it was a very common lie of the devil. When he can make us believe his lie, he can make sure we die young. This man who talked that he was not going to live to be 40 was a Christian. No one told him that it was a lie of the devil... so, he continued to believe it. So, when he was finally in a coma, Kenneth Hagin was called in to pray for the man. He prayed, but he kept sensing that something was wrong. He asked the Lord what was wrong and He showed him that this man had set the spiritual laws in motion years ago, "calling those things that be not as though they were" (Romans 4:17) and no prayer of another person was able to reverse what he had prophesied over his own life. Had he been conscious, he could have broken the power of his own words, but he was unconscious... and he died. I know other similar stories...but I won't get into them at this time.

God's Word has power. We can literally build a strong wall of protection around us when we take time to do it. One of the very, very best protection and healing promises is Psalm 91. When we take time to pray it over our lives and the lives of our family members, it builds a wall of protection around us. Then when an emergency comes, there is a spiritual law already set in motion to protect us. This is the Psalm that has kept hundreds of thousands of soldiers safe in war. I know stories about the whole villages of women praying during the war over their husbands the Psalm 91 and they all came back home safe.

Chaplain and captain of the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, N.Y. Al Downing says: "Each night at 8 o'clock, we prayed Psalm 91 for the protection of our troops and soon we stopped seeing our people killed in action. Before we started these prayers, we were sustaining as many as four to five casualties each week. After we started praying Psalm 91, they ceased. We didn't have any more casualties."

This is the reality. I remember when my own good friend's brother was in Iraq a few years ago and we prayed the Psalm 91 over him every day, he said that every night other men came back to the base with their helicopters being full of bullet holes while his helicopter had almost no holes in it. It was the supernatural protection of God that surrounded his helicopter. No bullets could go through it.

I know other stories of US troops praying Psalm 91 over themselves daily... and all coming back from Iraq safely. It is vital to us at this time to build the powerful protection of the Lord around ourselves and our families. We do not see it in the natural, but in the spirit realm we are like in a bubble.

Another story comes to my mind about 9/11. Dan and Ann Stratton's church in New York, was right next to those twin towers. As the Lord had put it on Dan's heart to teach about the supernatural protection and Psalm 91 to his congregation, he had taught it for months before the disaster. He had also put on Dan's heart to pray for New York. Dan did not know why, but every morning he woke up earlier and prayed for New York. When the disaster suddenly hit, not one single person was lost from his large congregation... and I believe many more were protected because of his prayers. There was a man from his congregation, Jim, who was in the office during the accident. He got out after the first plane had hit the building. He wanted to stay to help someone, but the Lord told him to immediately run into the subway. Jim hesitated, but then ran and it was the last moment before the next plane hit the other building. There are so many testimonies of believers being in a safe place when the planes hit the twin towers, believers who were supposed to be in those buildings or close to them. Like one of their congregation was not in the office because her neighbor had asked her to receive a furniture delivery for them as they could not have been at home themselves. Another man's daughter had asked for a very specific sandwich for lunch and he went out of his way to get it...

God can protect us when we have taken the time to build the hedge of protection around us through His Word. Literally no harm can touch us then for the Psalm says: "For [then He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that fly by day, nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday." ...by the way, there are a lot of "sudden"s in the Bible... predicting that a lot of disasters will attack suddenly... and then we do not have the time to grab our Bible and start praying the Psalm of protection over us... we need to have this Truth so in our hearts that in an emergency, this is the first thing that comes out!

There is a funny story about a lady who was attacked at night and the very first thing that came to her mind was: "I am covered with His feathers!" which she shouted out to her attacker... and to her great surprise he turned and ran. She was surprised, but I bet that man actually saw the angels with her and feared for his life.

The Psalm continues: "A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked. Because YOU HAVE MADE the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, there shall NO EVIL befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent." ...it might get that bad that a thousand falls at one side of us and ten thousand falls at the other side of us... but IT SHALL NOT COME NEAR US. Yes, we might see a disaster happening... but because we have taken the time to learn to be in the presence of the Lord... to hide in the secret place, which I can imagine is like a bubble in the spirit, we will be untouched by evil.

I remember years ago the Lord gave me a vision. I saw myself in a bubble with the Lord. When I kept my eyes on Him, I was safe, no arrows of evil were able to touch me as the bubble around me was intact... but as soon as I started to look around me and be moved by what was happening around me, thus allowing fear to overtake me, the evil arrows were able to penetrate through my bubble and harm me. It goes right along with this Psalm for the Psalm begins by telling us how we keep the bubble of protection intact all around us: "He who DWELLS in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will SAY of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! For THEN He will deliver you...."

It is completely up to us to MAKE the Lord our Refuge and our Fortress, our Protection. We do it by filling our hearts and our mouths with His promises of protection so that no matter what happens around us, we won't be moved. Verse 14 says: "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness - trusts and relies on Me, KNOWING I will never forsake him, no, never]." ...we have to KNOW in our hearts that no matter what, He will never forsake us, no, never... this knowing makes us safe... and this knowing only comes through spending time with Him. Going to church does not make us safe. This verse says that we are safe when we put our love on Him. The Bible does not say that we show our love for God by going to church. Bible says that those who obey God, love God. Our protection, just like all other blessings of God depend on our obedience. Isaiah 1:19,20 confirms it:

"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." God can't protect us when we refuse His help and rebel... thus we will be devoured by the sword when destruction comes. But if we obey, we will be protected. God can keep us from places that are unsafe when we are led by His Spirit, obeying the Spirit's instructions.

"For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock." (Psalm 27:5)

Many, many blessings to You all,

"When Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord's altar, where He had knelt with hands stretched toward heaven. And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice saying, Blessed be the Lord, Who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good promise which He promised through Moses His servant. May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His precepts which He commanded our fathers... That all the earth's people may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. Let your hearts therefore be blameless and wholly true to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as today." (1 Kings 8:54-59,60,61)

I think it is beautiful how the greatest man on the face of the earth kneels down to His Lord, submitting to Him, knowing that greatest boldness starts from knees... knowing that without His God he would not be much nor accomplish much. Salomon knew that his greatness, his wisdom and his wealth came all from Him... this reminds me of one of my absolute favorite band's songs that says: "If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel. On your knees, boy!" ...yes, it is the U2. Powerful lyrics... deep truth! We change the world on our knees.

May You all be greatly blessed... and no, I can't say it enough - thank You so, so, so much for Your care and for Your prayers during this stressful and trying time for our country!

I do not wish to take attention off from the Mothers' Day, so I have posted the latest news of what is happening in Estonia at this link:

http://searchwarp.com/swa211650.htm
You are welcome to visit and read the news!

I want to thank each and every one of You who took the events in Estonia to heart and prayed for our country! Please do know that each of Your prayers moved things in the spirit realm! Each of Your prayers had power. I am deeply and humbly grateful to know that there are so many people who care! Thank You!

Many, many blessings to You all,

Mothers' day is knocking on the door and so I decided to share with You a Guilt-Free Cake recipe. I've never been much of a cook. All I prepare is really, really simple... and as much as possible healthy! So, I've created a recipe of a really simple and really guilt-free cake... guilt-free because it really is healthy... and I promise it tastes really good too. So here it is:

You need:

6 Omega-3 eggs

6 Tablespoonfuls of finely ground barley flour (or some other whole meal flour)

8 Tablespoonfuls or unrefined organic sugar (unrefined sugar has no crystals, it is smooth and lovely). If You are going to use ordinary sugar of partly refined sugar, use 6 tablespoonfuls

600 gr of dried apricots

Green tea

Brew a cup of strong green tea. Cut the apricots into small pieces and let them sit in the green tea for about an hour. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees of Celsius or 356 degrees of Fahrenheit. Whip the egg whites. Whip the egg yolks and the sugar. Gradually add the flour to the egg yolks and sugar. Finally mix all the ingredients together, but do not whip. Stir gently with a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture into a cake pan and put into the oven. Bake the cake for about 35 minutes. Do check whether it is completely ready before removing from the oven.

This cake is wonderful when served hot. You can serve it with whipped cream... like my mom likes it. She sure adds more sweet stuff whenever she can.

I have also prepared an article - Barley - Food of the Gladiators for You on my website's Articles page. Come, visit and find out why I choose to use barley flour above others.

I wish all of You who are mothers, a wonderful Mothers' Day... and to all of You, may You have a great time blessing and pampering Your mother this Mothers' Day! I sure am gonna shower my precious mom with all the love I have. Someone said so beautifully: Mothers are angels in training! ...they sure are one of the greatest gifts in life!

Eve

Body-Mind-Spirit Health, Fitness & Beauty in Organic Way

Dear Friends, I want each of You to know that Your prayers have made a difference in what is happening in Estonia. Literally each of Your prayer has been a weapon against the plans of the enemy. Russia actually counted on European Union to call Estonia to order, to disapprove of Estonia's actions... well, one has to try to figure out what they could find to disapprove of... but instead EU has condemned Russia's actions. No, Russians have not given up, they think they can and will form an independent Russian state in Estonia... funny that they shout "Russia, Russia" in the streets but have no desire to go back there. They know very well that their lives there would not be anything compared to what they have here.

Physically our enemy is Russia. Physically we would have absolutely no hope of fighting and winning our enemy... for it is hundreds of times greater than we are. But from the Bible we know that our real enemy... an invisible enemy is the devil. Ephesians 6:12 says: "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere." So, as Christians we do not fight against Russia nor do we hate Russians... we are fighting against our invisible enemy. 2 Corinthians 10:3,4 declares: "For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds."

Before we can fight our battles, we will always have to identify our real enemy. Only then can we successfully win our battles. It is absolutely senseless for a tiny Estonia to start fighting physically against the humongous Russia. We would have no hope whatsoever. Thank God we know who is our real enemy and we will fight against him... well, Christians do... the world has still to discover it!

Lately I heard Gloria Copeland say something that really clicked. She said that as she has heard so many testimonies of the heads of governments promising wonderful things before they were elected into the office... but then suddenly, after election, they had like blinders on, they forgot of all their promises and oftentimes did (still do) things that are dangerous for their country and nation. She said that suddenly she realized that the moment a government is elected, the evil powers are released to work on them and thwart the plans of God... hmmmm... makes sense to me! We as Christians are called to pray for our government. (1 Timothy 2:1-4) They need prayer big time!

The Body of Christ here is completely turning to God for help. We are also standing in the gap, repenting for our own selfishness and pride... and repenting for the sins of our country. I am learning a lot about spiritual authority. God started to really bring this subject up in my life again a few months ago. He does prepare us for the things to come. This Word comes up again and again:

"God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you." (James 4:6-8)

One thing that I have truly learned is that we cannot stand against the devil when we have not first humbled ourselves before God. If we try to stand against the devil and his schemes before submitting to God... we would be fighting in our flesh against the spiritual enemy who is thousands of years old and knows really well how to oppress a fragile human soul. He would beat us up in no time! ...and we would turn in defeat. That is WHY we need to turn from pride and self reliance and thinking that we can do it on our own. The truth is, we can't. We are living in a battlefield, all of us... whether it is just a spiritual battlefield or it is also a physical battlefield... but we are all living in a battlefield. John 10:10 declares clearly that the devil's plan with each human being is to "steal and to kill and to destroy"... and he uses spiritual weapons against us... so, we too need to rise up in spiritual power.

When we have a known sin in our lives and we try to stand up against the devil, we will fail... for we have not humbled before God which means that we can't rise up in God's power. We can use the name of Jesus against him but until we repent and turn from sin, he is still at us. Sure, God is merciful and He doesn't condemn us to hell for having this little sin in our lives... when we die we still go to heaven... but we will not have the power and authority to speak the word and change things. We have no spiritual authority without first submitting to God by admitting that He is right and we are wrong. We can't expect to live the way we want and then expect Him to move powerfully on our behalf. It is pride... and God sets Himself against the proud... for where there is pride, there is a foothold to the devil. He fell through his pride... and so will we.

Hey, I am getting it! I mean I am starting to understand WHY nations have had to first repent of their sins before they have been able to ask God to fight their battles! It is the same with individuals. If we expect God to fight our battles... which He is more than happy to do, we will have to repent first which means not just feeling sorry for our sins but really turning from our sins. All our battles and struggles are first in the spiritual realm and then only do they manifest in the physical realm. We will have to first fight the battles in the spiritual realm. Whether we are Christians or not, all of our enemy is the devil. I mean, he doesn't care whether people worship him or not, he still has the same final plan with every soul - to kill and to destroy. We do not fight with our natural weapons against him. We fight with the name that is above every single name and at Whose name every knee shall bow in heaven and earth and under the earth, the name of Jesus Christ Who won the perfect victory over the devil on the cross. When we declare His name, we declare His victory... we declare that we are not on our own, God Himself is backing us up. Colossians 2:15 says that "[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross]." Christ through His death and resurrection broke all the power of the devil over us. He no longer has power over us, we have power over him in Christ. The only power he has over Christians is the power we ourselves give to him through our pride and not trusting His Word.

Colossians 2:10 says: "And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]." We all are filled with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit Who is the Head of all rule and authority. We have God's own power within us when we are first submitted to Him. Sin in our lives gives a foothold to the devil and greatly weakens God's power in us. The word "ECCLESIA" means RULING BODY... the church was originally a ruling body in a country. We need to rise up again and rule over situations and circumstances that are not right. We have been given the Name, the power and the authority. Think about it, Jesus Christ's name is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come." (Ephesians 1:21)... no one else's name will ever be exalted above His name. No one else's name will bring us victory over the power of the evil one. Every time we use His name, the enemy is reminded of the perfect victory that Christ won for each human being on the cross... and he will have to back off.

One thing we can be sure of, unless we know that we are right in God's sight only through the blood of Christ shed on our behalf, we will allow the devil to come and accuse us of multitude of sins, especially our past sins... but we will have to know that our past sins are all paid for and under the blood of Christ, completely forgotten by God. He has promised us in Colossians 2:13,14: "And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross." So, one thing is sure, if we have submitted to God: "Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit." NO condemnation! Perfect victory in Christ!

I think it is a time for the whole body of Christ all over the world to step out of our comfort zone. A lot of negative things are happening because we have been so comfortable and have not stepped out, using the authority given to us. I think it is time to change. We sure have no choice over here IF we want God to fight our battles... which we do. We are shaken out of our comfort zones... we are becoming alive! Hey, some shaking is not that bad after all! Our faith is becoming alive! We are not just going about our own daily business, we are becoming alive as a united body of Christ! Wow! And You know what, we will win and this victory is not just the victory of our little country, this is the victory of the whole body of Christ... for this victory will only come through our united prayers. Thank You all for Your prayers! They ARE changing things! It doesn't matter in what part of the world we are, we ARE ONE BODY and we change things through our united faith, bringing Glory to God! Wow! God is Good!

Heaps upon heaps of blessings to You all,

With a deeply grateful heart,

Dear Friends, I want each of You to know that Your prayers have made a difference in what is happening in Estonia. Literally each of Your prayer has been a weapon against the plans of the enemy. Russia actually counted on European Union to call Estonia to order, to disapprove of Estonia's actions... well, one has to try to figure out what they could find to disapprove of... but instead EU has condemned Russia's actions. No, Russians have not given up, they think they can and will form an independent Russian state in Estonia... funny that they shout "Russia, Russia" in the streets but have no desire to go back there. They know very well that their lives there would not be anything compared to what they have here.

Physically our enemy is Russia. Physically we would have absolutely no hope of fighting and winning our enemy... for it is hundreds of times greater than we are. But from the Bible we know that our real enemy... an invisible enemy is the devil. Ephesians 6:12 says: "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere." So, as Christians we do not fight against Russia nor do we hate Russians... we are fighting against our invisible enemy. 2 Corinthians 10:3,4 declares: "For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds."

Before we can fight our battles, we will always have to identify our real enemy. Only then can we successfully win our battles. It is absolutely senseless for a tiny Estonia to start fighting physically against the humongous Russia. We would have no hope whatsoever. Thank God we know who is our real enemy and we will fight against him... well, Christians do... the world has still to discover it!

Lately I heard Gloria Copeland say something that really clicked. She said that as she has heard so many testimonies of the heads of governments promising wonderful things before they were elected into the office... but then suddenly, after election, they had like blinders on, they forgot of all their promises and oftentimes did (still do) things that are dangerous for their country and nation. She said that suddenly she realized that the moment a government is elected, the evil powers are released to work on them and thwart the plans of God... hmmmm... makes sense to me! We as Christians are called to pray for our government. (1 Timothy 2:1-4) They need prayer big time!

The Body of Christ here is completely turning to God for help. We are also standing in the gap, repenting for our own selfishness and pride... and repenting for the sins of our country. I am learning a lot about spiritual authority. God started to really bring this subject up in my life again a few months ago. He does prepare us for the things to come. This Word comes up again and again:

"God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you." (James 4:6-8)

One thing that I have truly learned is that we cannot stand against the devil when we have not first humbled ourselves before God. If we try to stand against the devil and his schemes before submitting to God... we would be fighting in our flesh against the spiritual enemy who is thousands of years old and knows really well how to oppress a fragile human soul. He would beat us up in no time! ...and we would turn in defeat. That is WHY we need to turn from pride and self reliance and thinking that we can do it on our own. The truth is, we can't. We are living in a battlefield, all of us... whether it is just a spiritual battlefield or it is also a physical battlefield... but we are all living in a battlefield. John 10:10 declares clearly that the devil's plan with each human being is to "steal and to kill and to destroy"... and he uses spiritual weapons against us... so, we too need to rise up in spiritual power.

When we have a known sin in our lives and we try to stand up against the devil, we will fail... for we have not humbled before God which means that we can't rise up in God's power. We can use the name of Jesus against him but until we repent and turn from sin, he is still at us. Sure, God is merciful and He doesn't condemn us to hell for having this little sin in our lives... when we die we still go to heaven... but we will not have the power and authority to speak the word and change things. We have no spiritual authority without first submitting to God by admitting that He is right and we are wrong. We can't expect to live the way we want and then expect Him to move powerfully on our behalf. It is pride... and God sets Himself against the proud... for where there is pride, there is a foothold to the devil. He fell through his pride... and so will we.

Hey, I am getting it! I mean I am starting to understand WHY nations have had to first repent of their sins before they have been able to ask God to fight their battles! It is the same with individuals. If we expect God to fight our battles... which He is more than happy to do, we will have to repent first which means not just feeling sorry for our sins but really turning from our sins. All our battles and struggles are first in the spiritual realm and then only do they manifest in the physical realm. We will have to first fight the battles in the spiritual realm. Whether we are Christians or not, all of our enemy is the devil. I mean, he doesn't care whether people worship him or not, he still has the same final plan with every soul - to kill and to destroy. We do not fight with our natural weapons against him. We fight with the name that is above every single name and at Whose name every knee shall bow in heaven and earth and under the earth, the name of Jesus Christ Who won the perfect victory over the devil on the cross. When we declare His name, we declare His victory... we declare that we are not on our own, God Himself is backing us up. Colossians 2:15 says that "[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross]." Christ through His death and resurrection broke all the power of the devil over us. He no longer has power over us, we have power over him in Christ. The only power he has over Christians is the power we ourselves give to him through our pride and not trusting His Word.

Colossians 2:10 says: "And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]." We all are filled with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit Who is the Head of all rule and authority. We have God's own power within us when we are first submitted to Him. Sin in our lives gives a foothold to the devil and greatly weakens God's power in us. The word "ECCLESIA" means RULING BODY... the church was originally a ruling body in a country. We need to rise up again and rule over situations and circumstances that are not right. We have been given the Name, the power and the authority. Think about it, Jesus Christ's name is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come." (Ephesians 1:21)... no one else's name will ever be exalted above His name. No one else's name will bring us victory over the power of the evil one. Every time we use His name, the enemy is reminded of the perfect victory that Christ won for each human being on the cross... and he will have to back off.

One thing we can be sure of, unless we know that we are right in God's sight only through the blood of Christ shed on our behalf, we will allow the devil to come and accuse us of multitude of sins, especially our past sins... but we will have to know that our past sins are all paid for and under the blood of Christ, completely forgotten by God. He has promised us in Colossians 2:13,14: "And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross." So, one thing is sure, if we have submitted to God: "Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit." NO condemnation! Perfect victory in Christ!

I think it is a time for the whole body of Christ all over the world to step out of our comfort zone. A lot of negative things are happening because we have been so comfortable and have not stepped out, using the authority given to us. I think it is time to change. We sure have no choice over here IF we want God to fight our battles... which we do. We are shaken out of our comfort zones... we are becoming alive! Hey, some shaking is not that bad after all! Our faith is becoming alive! We are not just going about our own daily business, we are becoming alive as a united body of Christ! Wow! And You know what, we will win and this victory is not just the victory of our little country, this is the victory of the whole body of Christ... for this victory will only come through our united prayers. Thank You all for Your prayers! They ARE changing things! It doesn't matter in what part of the world we are, we ARE ONE BODY and we change things through our united faith, bringing Glory to God! Wow! God is Good!

Heaps upon heaps of blessings to You all,

With a deeply grateful heart,

Eve

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Here is a short report of what is happening:

* Today Estonia's ambassador in Moscow was physically attacked by demonstrators who have been surrounding Estonian Embassy in Moscow since last Friday. Those demonstrating are actually getting paid to do that.... gosh it sounds like a fairy tale but it is not. Also Swedish Ambassador's car, visiting Estonian Embassy, was physically attacked today in Moscow.

* Russian channels are portraying the happenings in Estonia the way it suits them... which reminds me of the soviet times when we in Tallinn were able to watch Finnish news and Soviet news... two sets of news that greatly differed from one another. So Russian people are being told a completely different story.

* Estonian computer systems, especially government and other important establishments' servers are being attacked from Russia. Russian president Putin's office in Kremlin has been identified as one of the attackers. There is a Russian website with instructions of how to attack Estonian servers and a whole list of the most important servers to be attacked.

* This is the time for Estonian government and people to stand in unity... but unfortunately the party that did not win the elections but came second, is refusing to cooperate and is still in agreement with Russian government, demanding the present government to step down. They are coming out with new sets of accusations against the government daily.

Those news are from Estonian news channels.

I know that there are other countries and other nations that are having it worse than us. It feels like what do we have to whine about!? And believe me, we are not whining nor are we feeling sorry for ourselves. ...just one thought: don't ever take Your freedom for granted. We have been a free country for 18 years and we too had forgotten all about being under soviet rule... something that we are being reminded of again. If You can't find many things to be grateful about and give thanks for, give thanks for Your freedom. It is precious.

The Bible predicts that times are getting worse all over the world. We have turned away from under God's protection, believing that we can live better without His love, wisdom, protection and guidance, but in the end we will pay the price. Though, when we know God intimately, it does give us the peace and the strength that carry us through even really hard times.

"But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head." (Psalm 3:3)

Many, many blessings to You all,

Eve

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