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Tom Jones sang..." Well she's all you'd ever want, She's the kind I'd like to flaunt and take to dinner. Well she always knows her place. She's got style, she's got grace, She's a winner. She's a Lady. Whoa whoa whoa, She's a Lady. Talkin' about that little lady, and the lady is mine..." https://youtu.be/V43fGInXiLE Esther. The origin Cinderella story. Song 7:8 sings "I will climb the palm tree and take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like clusters of grapes, and the fragrance of your breath like apricots." So great was her willingness to lay down her life for her people that to this day there is a celebration in her honor called Purim. From Esther 9:22 "as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor." A long time ago in a land not so far away a story played out of how the story of celebration of Purim came to be in the book of Esther. It celebrates Esther, an orphaned but oh so beautiful Jewess and her cousin, Mordecai, who raised her as his daughter. Esther was taken to King Xerxes to become part of his harem to replace the now disposed independent thinking Queen Vashti. Upon meeting Esther, King Xerxes knew that he loved her more than all others and made her his queen unknowing that his new bride carried a deep secret in her heart and that her beloved Mordecai had forbid her to reveal her true identity. She was indeed a hated and detested Jewess. Out of concern, Mordecai stood watch over her from the gates of the city each day. As every good story has to have a villain, in comes Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king who hated the Jewish people and forbid them to enter the city of the King. Haman hated Mordecai's refusal to bow and honor him from the gates and retaliated with a plea to the king "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them." Esther 3:8. King Xerxes bestowed their fate to Haman, to exterminate them at his pleasure. Alarmed, Mordecai persuaded Esther, "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:13-14 , to speak to the king to stop this upcoming massacre knowing that it was dangerous for her or anyone to approach the king without being summoned. She agreed and fasted for three days to prepare herself. And relief! He welcomed her petition and agreed to attend the banquet in his honor. Whew! And according to Esther 7:1 "So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.” Awww... true love! As she asked her husband to grant favor that she and her people would be spared of Haman's plot to kill all Jews for money, her beloved King, said "But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.” Esther 8:8 and Haman and his ten sons were subsequently executed in the manner they had set aside for Mordecai and yay! the Jews were saved. As was custom, "That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her." Esther 8:1. Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held is high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews. Esther 10:3. And to this day, Purim, a Jewish holiday, commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman and celebrates the bravery of Esther. And this is called 'Good Things Come in Threes. The glass slipper represents Esther herself and is filled with the wine of celebration. A gift filled basket is given out freely to friends and charities as well as representing the demise of Haman and his ten sons. It is enhanced by the blue for the robe given to Mordecai, first in an attempt at humiliation and finally in honor. Add in the apricots to sweeten your day as the symbol of encouragement as providing encouragement is our role as Christians. In the Bible, “encouragement” means to inspire with courage or hope, to give help, to lift a person’s confidence, or to strengthen their purpose. And oh what a purpose Esther and Mordecai had and carried out!

In Matthew 18: 2 2 He called a little child to him and placed the child among them.3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven Jesus tells us, “ whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Having faith like a child requires putting aside our will so that our opinions and misconceptions do not get in the way of trusting Christ wholeheartedly. This is The Two Empty Boats. Peter obeyed the Word of Jesus and saw a miracle! Luke 5:2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” 5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time, their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

Who was that masked stranger?? Bam! Biff! Wham! Splat! That conversation ricocheted back at me and hit me like a vintage action-packed television show! What was it? There I was just minding my business and those of mine as well, lol!, thinking that I was just doing my job, and rather than receiving kudos in appreciation for my stalwart loving and concern, I was met with resistance. Well! Resistance is futile earthllng. lol But seriously, do they not yet understand that it is in the promise spoken in Romans 9:8, "That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants." The promise is about living eternally in and with Jesus and who is who and who gets what. I pondered if I should have kept my mouth shut. That was my flesh thinking. The Spirit Man in me spoke up as I replayed the scene in my thoughts as the tune "I Can See Clearly Now" played in the background. He bolstered my angst that with age comes a lot of wisdom of what does not work. I took it a step further, and I asked God about all of it. And crickets were heard. I waited. Life resumed. I waited a little more. And then! I read a question on a forum asking "is it okay to disinherit certain family members from one's will for any reason?" I pondered on this and the quote, "with great power comes great responsibility" which is widely attributed to the character Uncle Ben in comic books published by Marvel Comics featuring Spider-Man came to my mind. True. And the more one accumulates, the more power is assumed and held as control over others. Money, and possessions, are not the root of all evil. The devil is. Money, and possessions are just the tool it uses. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:14, "Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.," which gives credence to the right course of action per God's will of inheritance. But what if one child did more? But what if there was an estrangement? But what if one, or even none of them, followed God's other command coming from Ephesians 6:1, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” ? The reasonings do not matter. Why? Because as it continues in verse 4, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." And in this, I heard God's answer... Wrath? Nope. Admonition? Yes. The definition of admonition is advice or mild criticism. Asking someone to be cautious is an example of an admonition. Admonition in the bible is used in 1 Corinthians 10:11 regarding temptations, and in Ephesians 6:4 on not exasperating our children (and are not exasperation and puberty synonymous? lol) ,; and in Titus 3:10,"Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them" or basically hand them off to God and pray harder, of that which is to be administered for the correction of one who creates trouble in the church. Our homes are our first church. So speak up so they can hear you in the back and its even-Steven on the spoils of this earthly war and enjoy the other side when it comes to you. And God will sort out their conduct with a "come-to-Jesus-meeting". After all, "Romans 9:8, "That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants." My ancestors claimed their lineage for God. I am not just a cog in this holy wheel, but a willing participant. Parting thought... most know of the prodigal's son story. Little is mentioned of how his behavior affected his family... But God knows. And God dealt with it. And of course, all of mine are the best ever!! As I know yours are!! :)

This is called Windows 7, 11:58. It prophesies Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned" that through Jesus alone our sins can be forgiven and His light will shine for all to see. This was a wait and see work. Paint a little. Wait a little. Paint a little more. Wait a little more. And so on. There was to be no distinction between the sky and the ocean. And the ocean was to appear as sky. Then came the apple. "Really Lord an apple?" oh that cannot be right, show me a sign Lord, validate it please I thought. But apple apple apple... I looked up references to the apple in the Bible and there were quite a few. Not just regarding original sin but in Psalms 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, in Zechariah 2:8 ...the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. So I painted the apple. And WOW! the whole painting just popped. And then I saw the beams of light poking though the apple and out into the sky. "Where are they coming from Lord?" Then the church window presented itself. But it the light was coming through the window's stained glass cross. And then... the ahhh moment. Yes we came from sin. Yes we are His beloved. And yes... I was thinking the hands are at 11:11 but they are at 11:58 and the time grows short to be redeemed. All good things come to those who wait. Pastor Ameh Amana has indeed been a continued blessing along my walk with Jesus. Since heeding the Lord's call to be "all that I can be" He has put me in sanctuary to show me that the solitude will allow me to commune more deeply with him, that He will move me past imitation, and will not allow me to be affected by the outside influences. And yet my Lord has put thee most interesting people upon my path to enhance my learning and His teachings. Pastor A is among my favorites. When he speaks, I hear Jesus. When he speaks, I do not feel invisible. Pastor prayed on the painting 11:58 and this is what he shares . "I watched the apple and i saw that the beams of light issuing out of the apple are not of equal strength. I sense its a picture for us all as a body to teach each member of the Body of Christ to do check ups in the place of prayer perhaps there is a fruit in The Fruit of the Spirit that is shining in full strength or not at all. Galatians 5:22-26 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is  love,  joy,  peace,  long suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  gentleness,  Self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. The window in the heavens is an aperture of the spirit that bring in the surprise of Pentecost. It is an opening akin to Acts chapter 2 1-4. Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance NKJV A sound from heaven. A mighty rushing Wind. Cloven Tongues as of Fire. The Spirit poured in. Through a window orchestrated by many waiting prophecies like that in Joel 2 :28 The Whole house (CHRIST BODY) -the church- is pictured as an apple because the Fruit is superior in worth than the Force. But We need both the Fruit and the Force - the dynamic of the Spirit to sustain the outpouring of the Knowledge of the glory of the Lord revealed as the waters covers the sea. There may be imperfections in my delivery but the sense is perfect as by the Spirit. We owe this prophetic painting much prayers... Let us cry '...Oh Come ! Great Spirit Come!! '....We are waiting oh revive your Church afresh''. ~Pastor Amana, Nigeria How deep is His love? How deep is His forgiveness? All the way to eternity! Thank You JESUS!!

🎶 “Rain. Rain go away. Come again another day.“ Well it did! It's raining again. Mama said that there’d be days like this and we do our best to be prepared. We buy umbrellas just in case. pocket size, purse size, back pack size, giant-who-cares size. All in protection from the elements of which we have no control. But about those umbrellas... sure they keep you covered as well a doing a fairly decent job of insulating us from the experience. Have you ever noticed people walking in the rain with an umbrella? They look at their feet! They trust their feet to take them where they need to go. Be it one step, two steps or twenty-five steps to the curb, they trust their feet that they will know when they get there! Oh but what all have they missed along the way?! How far did they go before they realized they missed out on the entire walk? And what did they miss? Flower shops exhaling things that candle makers dream of. The bakery shop window enticing the child in us with visions of a sugar land retreat. Oh the shoe store! We missed the smell and remembering the feel of new shoes! Awww and we missed having a rare personal talk with our kid as we hustled ourselves out of the rain. The group Casting Crowns sings "Praise you in the Storm and it plays in my heart as I paint this. 🎶 "I was sure by now God You would have reached down and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say “Amen” and it’s still raining As the thunder rolls I barely hear Your whisper through the rain “I’m with you”. And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away. And I’ll praise You in this storm. And I will lift my hands for You are who You are no matter where I am. And every tear I’ve cried You hold in Your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm...". My thoughts continue of the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."and even as the still waters get disturbed by rain drops, with God, rain is a blessing. It says in Acts 4:17 ”Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” He sends to you The Comforter, The Holy Spirit, to get you through the tough times and makes your joy full in the good times. T his oil is called 'Jump. I AM with you.' The only way through the storms is to praise Jesus for them. The following is a prayer to finding the only true and real counseling you seek. O Holy Spirit , I have my own expectations about what I should and should not do. I now surrender to You my ideas, my limitations, my preferences, and my goals. Fill me, Holy Spirit, with all Your supernatural gifts! Empower me to accept and grow in the supernatural life as much as the early disciples did. I want to be useful to You. I want to go where You lead me. Holy Spirit, send me forth gifted and empowered to make a difference spreading the Good News of God’s forgiving love. Come, Holy Spirit; renew me. In Jesus’ name, Amen! Enjoy the rains. Enjoy the puddles. Just enjoy. Umbrellas can be turned upside down to catch blessing after blessing after blessing. Throw down the insulator, trust Jesus, the clouds will go. The SON is peaking through wanting you to just look up. Ask! in closing, Psalms 119:18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. see you on the other side. Jump! prints & giclees available at https://www.propheticsgallery.com/store-warehouse/art_print_products/store-warehouse-061oji7-0go

Galatians 2:2 says, " I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." This is called Surrendered Faith. It's easier than you think to just let go and let God. He knows. Let the Holy Spirit show you how. Let Jesus love the fear out of you. Till the other side, then.

The satanic influencers have always been here and more than eager to grab the attention our curiosity compels us to give to it. In the movies, in music, in the church, in the schools, in the government, and on occasion, to close for our comfort. And even on ships. On our much-needed time out, my beloved and I encountered, aboard an idyllic cruise, more of satan's influencers. It wasn't what they said, for they said nothing. They used words on their clothing to promote their feelings. The words were angry, insulting, offensive, and ready to pull the trigger on those who don't know better. Yes, I saw them. Yes, I looked at them. And I felt the hair-trigger ready to spring. And I went to my neutralizer, the Holy Spirit, and let Him rise up in me. And then! I looked UPON them. I saw pain. I saw disappointment. I saw, "look at me, look at me, look at me, PLEASE?!" And I did. To those the Father pointed out, I was led to not say a single word other than to be the first to make eye contact and to say "hi!" with just a grin. I thought great! Easy enough! Woohoo! Easy lesson. It was easy, to just be me, just walking through with Jesus. And do you know what happened?? The first time the eye contact took them by surprise but they returned the "hi!". And as I began to see them more often, the greetings got easier and small grins turned to bigger grins. Wariness was still there but the shell had been cracked. Yep, I saw first hand Jesus seeking the 1 in 99 in action and all I had to do was keep my opinionated thoughts to myself. While it wasn't easy for me to see the human behind the mask, God used my willingness to be a vessel to shine His light as a good, good God who loves all of us. Was I to go into this unaccompanied and unawares? Nope! I knowingly walked with angels as well. And knowing this was a big deal!! By saying nothing, I angered the enemy to the nth degree. It threw darts at me of my worst fears. In my sleep it tortured me with horriffic dreams. Yes I prayed for protection. Yes I prayed the shed blood of Jesus over me and mine. Yes I prayed for as many as I could to thwart evils attempt to overthrow the mission. It got so bad that I began drowning in the "what-if's" and it was awful!! Evil tried to go all out and convince me of impending doom and death and to quit being nice to its hostages. And then I prayed for just me. For Jesus to love on just me. And He asked me to send a note to my friends. Linda, a truly mighty no-nonsense warrior responded back by sentencing this assault to Jesus Himself. And just like that, the torture all stopped. The interactions with a particular hostage became more frequent and at last it came with a friend. And I saw a crack in the mask caused by the Love of God. The lesson was to be a vessel. Not a preacher, or a judge, or a teacher, or anything but only me, just a vessel. Just to show up so that Our Father who pursues all lost sheep can use us in circumstances by divine design to cause them look up and see Him. Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, saying, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd”, John 10:16–17). Then in verses 27–29 He says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Because we all matter to Father. And being of the 99? Are we relegated to the plight of the oldest child syndrome, steadfast and stalwart requiring little but always responsible? Nope!!! We get all the perks of being the teacher's pet.

As we pulled out of our garage to embark on a 12 day road trip, we stopped and prayed for Gods blessings and to be kept in His pocket of safety (as my mom had taught me) on the road, in the stores, on the ship, and on our adventures. He heard. He provided. When we were driving we would notice that we were indeed in a space pocket. When we were in a line, or queue, we would notice there was a space pocket around us. It never ceased. It never failed. It was crazy cool! He honored our request per His promise in Psalm 46, “God is our safe place and our strength. He is always our help when we are in trouble. 2 So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into the center of the sea, 3 and even if its waters go wild with storm and the mountains shake with its action.” Thank you Jesus!! Where you go, we go.

From Ezekiel 16:11 "I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen." What a perfect verse describing a most beautiful Italian woman who commissioned me to create white hydrangeas for her. ...when you walk in a dream but you know you're not dreaming signore. Scusami, but you see...that's amore! Vita Bella! sings Dean Martin and yes she lives a beautiful life filled with love. As always, I prayed before starting and I was intrigued by the long strand of black pearls I saw and learned that they are a symbol of hope in healing wounded hearts. Hovering over it was a diamond encrusted butterfly brooch hovering in the early morning mist symbolizing the essence of emergence. And this one’s ruby body evoking the vitality, life, passion and fire she pours into her gardens and creating the Italian cibo d'amore, food of love, the manna for so many. How fitting and appropriate. Here is the 24x36 oil called Radiate. For she who radiates the truest sense of "feed my people". This woman loves as she lives as in John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." And the circles? Hebrews 1:14 “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Yes they sure are! And I was shown that she is surrounded by them. As birds of a feather flock together so goes it with the Lords agents. Linda’s home embodies and evokes her welcoming heart and no one leaves hungry. Not in mind, body or soul. Blessings and what a joy this was. Dio e buono! Yes God is good!

And then there is Art BEYOND the canvas at my Art on the Outskirts by Denise R Dahlheimer Art_On_The_Outskirts Studio 😀 I wanted a multipurpose folding table and I had the idea to create a crate lid. I like it!

Preacher Ryan LeStrange asked... I pondered and agreeably answered "thats right. so when it was suggested I paint pretty picture’s instead of what I see as a seer to get more likes… I decided deep calls to deep and paint what I am shown. God likes my pics on His fridge 😊 And it was a good lesson in recalling why I am here❤️" It was a good lesson! I rarely paint the sought after "pretty" because thats not my path or my job. Granted it would be a boon to my ego to have the likes, the loves, and the wows but what I get instead is the trueness of the meaning of DEEP CALLS TO DEEP. But when the ego reigns, the Holy Spirit wanes. Yep, my art, like my blog, is for those who have more than a minute to spare to join me in seeking Him with the word in Psalm 42, the psalmist expresses the fact that his soul was in deep need of God. The psalmist calls out from his place of profound need for the unfathomable greatness of God. A deep need calls for a deep remedy. I have such a deep need. It was a wonderful, wonderful lesson and I am in deep gratitude of it. And my feelings survived.

I came across this read in Quora and agree with not the original statement but the rebuttal!! Spot on! Do spirits or ghosts ever follow people home? If so, how do they do it? First answered. ..." In my opinion…I was working in the old Northwood Cemetery when I spotted a tombstone off by itself, 1864. I told it that it looked lonely all by itself, and it should come home with me, because I had a ghost in my house that I got along with.On the ride home after work, there was something cold sitting on the center console of the van, and sure enough, I had another ghost in the house.When I moved, they came with me, so I am never alone." Signed, the mad scientist. This person has been duped. Denise ---------------------------------------------------------------- REBUTTAL BY SAM Mndza ·on Dec 18 "I'll comment on this from two prospectives, as a Native raised in the medicine ways (member of the intertribal *traditional ceremonial community) and now as a reformed Christian.My people were here before Sci-fi channel ghost hunters were regurgitating superstitions born from early 1900s literature and TV shows like the twilight zone. Most of what Americans believe about the spirit world is a combination of creative writing and movie/TV production and church tradition. There's some cultural lore sprinkled in there as well, but not much. But before that, our people had been interacting with and developed ceremonial processes to address the reality of the spirit world. Our grandfather's knew the inherent danger of this world and went through great ceremonial lengths to guard against these spirit beings that were NOT human. Unlike the American in 2022, the Miwok, Lakota, the Chumash and Apache (hi!) knew there were at least three worlds that interacted with one another. A place where the spirit-beings came from/are, a place where the human spirit went in death and Earth, with different levels within those realms. We also knew there was a Creator, or God over all the creation. Now, take my cousins for instance, the Diné (Navajo). They believed that nothing of a dead man's spirit remained on earth when going into the spirit world accept the “unnatural things" like hate, sickness or jealousy, essentially leaving a demonic energy on earth that was not that person, just a shadow of sorts. The person's personality, love, mind, very being crossed over and was not called on again, as this was a great injustice. Everything belonging to that person was burned accordingly or “offered up" for that person. The CA Miwok believe its a moral good to honor your relatives, being careful not to speak their name soon after their death out of reverence for their crossing, again it being an injustice to try to bring them back. Ceremonies, usually sweat lodge and roundhouse, are done to heal hearts, to grow in strength and to suffer/sacrifice and pray, not for the dead but for your community, the living. To purge yourself of bad medicine so you can live with integrity and be useful to your community. Now, to give an example of how the the tribal community guards against the spirit world, a qualified community elected “door man" who has been trained, who has fasted the four days and nights no food or water, who lives with integrity, usually one who has risen to the higher stages of spiritual roles, he sits at the sweat lodge “door" or the “east gate". Armed with an eagle fan or clapper sick, whatever, it's his job to not allow people or spiritual entities from entering in from the outside world which would harm ceremonial participants. I've only seen this actually take place one time in 20 years of ceremony, where my elder asked an entity who they were, and verbally denied entrance. I could hear pacing outside the sweat lodge, vaguely see the shadow moving outside and listened to my elder create a barrier with prayer, song. In a nutshell, our people never believed the dead spiritually remained with us as ghosts. Not traditionally anyways. The spirits with us, are not human, and they must be guarded against, not sought out and can have devastating consequences once in someone's life uncontrolled. Western Witchcraft and new age practices are therefore exclusively banned from all real native ceremonies and communities, no one practicing such things is welcome to attend ceremony. “Making medicine" or spells, divination, incantations or the misuse of smoke offerings are extreme offenses because they are very harmful. It's something Natives never did.Now it was easy for me, once I heard the gospel and read with my own eyes the Word, to accept the gospel message, to know the Christ, repent, be baptized and make Jesus Lord over my life but that's another story. What is the biblical position about the spiritual, where people go when they die and what happens when we interact with them. Well, it wasn't surprising to find out that the word of God, the Christian Bible, conveyed truths that shocked me initially. They we're similar, if not in alignment with what the native people believe pre-america. That people die, and they cross and pass over a fixed gulf and are sent into the presence of a holy God or sent away into a different realm, hell. Natives didn't have the Gospel, Jesus later came to make that atonement for ALL and the gospel would eventually reach people like me but God had revealed himself to us prior, creation testified of the Creator and through ceremony and living holy we had to reconcile ourselves to him, like the Jew in the old testament law. Now we have the Gospel, and each man is called to repent, believe in Christ to be saved from death and be reconciled to him. What does the Bible specifically say about the dead? They're gone. It's appointed for men to die, then the judgment. The beauty of having Christ is that even though you deserve death because you are very unclean and sinful, his blood makes you clean. His perfect obedience, his righteousness, not your righteousness, is accredited to you and therefore there is no judgment. You go into the presence of God for all eternity redeemed. Now, the soul that rejects Christ. They die here but live. Your mind, your personality, YOU live. You physically die, then the judgment. Because there's no atonement for you, you must account for your unchanged heart, your sin, your life. You stand under the law, guilty and are put out from the presence of God, your Creator for eternity. People, human spirits, do not remain lost in limbo and don't sit on dash boards or couches or eat dinner with you. No matter how romantic and charming that is in the western mind. The dead are gone.Ghosts, spirits, entities that we may interact with here on earth are one thing and one thing only. They're inhuman spirit beings the Bible refers to as elohim. They were created in the beginning, fell with Satan to earth (Satan is not in hell, he's on the earth) and have one purpose until the judgement, to wage war on the people and image bearers of God. To steal away faith and belief in God, to keep man out of a right relationship with God, to destroy your flesh and lead us away into bondage, depravity and ultimately judgment. They thrive on our sin, work for our destruction and we suffer immensely because of it. They create religions, spiritual lies, practices and things that cause man to do idolatry and defile themselves. Look around our society, there's no love, it's full of perversion of the mind, sickness of the body and violence. We're seeing our neighbors being “handed over to a reprobate mind" where because of our rebellion and sin we're having the spiritual e-brakes taken off, our consciousness is being muted and we're exchanging everything that is good for bad, sweet for sour and prayer for drunkenness/intoxication. So, I can only say this. You don't have ghosts in your home. You have a broken heart and you're trying to fill that void with demons, not ghosts. Not a poltergeist, haunting or human spirit but even worse, very real entities that want to lead you away from the God who made you and put you in bondage. You don't need them, you need God. I've changed my whole life, I can't imagine waking up one day now and not having my heart just overfilled with the love and joy of knowing Christ, the living God who chose me before the foundation of the world to be his, and who made me a new thing. I'll watch for comments if you feel like reaching out. Don't exchange the living for the dead, you don't belong with the dead. Take a breath, fill your lungs and realize a God made you and that your very breath is a blessing because it's not yours, it's the breath of God breathed into you. And live." I love the smart ones!! Denise

I was led to read a blog by Ron Lindemann where he said “We have both the privilege and command to be carriers of the light in our corner of the world. We can hardly predict how God might use the witness we have to offer others, but we have been warned not to keep our light hidden.” We are warned… WARNED! To not hide Jesus to be used for our own personal use only. NOW!! Lets skip to the good part 😀 There is so much need to be loved for our unique selves. There is so much need to be unique. There is so much need to be seen. Be the light. John 5: 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. He said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” Matthew 5:16. That’d be His light in us, not our own. But can you imagine the wattage of combining the Light of God with the talents He blessed us with ?!! Whoa!! Beam me up Lord!! If you are talking against “the other side” of any topic, you dim the light. If you “cannot get past” a look or a style, you dim the light.

God gets my attention anyway He can. Symbols, dreams, that still small voice, songs, others, and so on. Whatever it takes to keep me on the path. The other day I was beyond frustrated with a repeating dilemma that I was sick and tired of and just wanted to run away from. Du put his hand on my head and prayed for God to bless the situation. As he prayed I heard music playing in my thoughts yes but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. It was so soft and low that I had to focus hard to hear it. It was the chorus in the song by Dido called White Flag… 🎶 “I will go down with this ship And I won't put my hands up and surrender There will be no white flag above my door I'm in love and always will be” Yes… for all eternity. Thank you Jesus that with you in me I will not surrender for I’m in love with my life, my people, my path and always will be.