76 posts categorized "Prophetic"

The Unequally Yoked Marriage: A Prophetic Picture

Hi SUMites, Ann here. Bed 

Today I wanted to tell you about a vision God gave me that relates to the unequally yoked marriage. It was a vision I received a few years ago, I didn't understand it at the time, but nevertheless I wrote it down.

A week or so ago, I happened to come across this vision again -- a description of it had been sitting in my journal for years -- and all of a sudden I understood it!

So I'm going to share it with you now and I hope it encourages you:

What I saw in the vision was a double bed -- A marriage bed, like this one here.

  • On one side of the bed there was a strong wind of suction that was coming from above, a suction power upwards.
  • On the other side of the bed there were helium balloons, rising upwards with their lightness.

So far so good. But what on earth did it mean? Well, here is the interpretation which I received:

The vision of this bed represents what is going on in a SUM marriage.

The believer's situation is represented by the helium balloons; the non-believer's situation is represented by the suction wind.

The believer's situation:

The believer has filled themselves up with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus. There is a power in that, and a lightness. It naturally carries them up, up, up, into eternity, towards God, and towards all good things that the Kingdom of Heaven offers. It is a lightness within them compared to the world outside, and it makes them rise. There's nothing much they need to do, it's effortless -- it is a natural outworking of their faith.

Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27, NKJV)

The unbeliever's situation:

The unbeliever, meanwhile, also has an effortless power being exerted upon them, but it takes a different form. In their case, the power of God is on them, drawing them to him, with such power it is like a giant vacuum cleaner hose that they can barely resist: Swooosh, they're sucked up and towards him. They will have to make their choice to submit, but there is a power drawing them up, up, up ...

Scripture says, no one can come to the Father unless He draws them. 

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:44, NIV)

We need to know, then, from this vision that God is drawing them. And it is a powerful thing. 

Both of these upward movements, for us and our spouses, constitute the upward call of God in Christ Jesus that is our prize:

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14)

What vision says to me is that there is as much power on our spouses, as there is in our lives. It just looks different for us than it does for our spouse. We have His power in us, but our spouses have His power being exerted on them. The destination is the same: Eternity, represented by the upward movement. And the degree of power is the same: It is the power of the resurrection.

Ultimately, dear SUMites, this is what this vision is doing for us:

.. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places ... (Ephesians 1:17-20, NKJV).

My friends, let's pray that we can understand and believe in his power in the lives of our unbelieving spouses.

Love

Ann


The Story of the Horse and the Ox

Dear friends, Scan WWI era Unequally Yoked plowing

One of our SUMites, Susan Peterson, recently sent in the attached picture.

She said --

As my husband and I were leafing through an amazing old WWI era scrapbook, we came across this picture of the horse and the ox plowing in harness together because they were all their owner owned. BUT it made me think, "They still got the job done!"

Somehow this gave me hope in our SUM relationship.

Thanks, Susan! 


A prayer for the unequally yoked

Ann here. Figs and canaries

Whenever I'm praying for an unbelieving husband or wife, I've got a particular prayer I pray. It's this:

In the name of Jesus, I pray for [name] that --

God will set His eyes on him/her for good, and will bring them back to Him.

God will build him/her and not pull him/her down.

He will plant him/her and not pluck him/her up.

He will give him/her a heart to know Him, that He is God.

[Name] will say about God 'He is mine, and I am His'.

And he/she will return to God with his/her whole heart.

I pray this because several years ago God gave our ministry the verses from Jeremiah 24:5-7 - which contained the above words. He said that is what he is going to do for our spouses.

Every time I pray these words, then, I make a declaration of belief, and I know that I am praying in line with the heart of God.

Today, shall we all pray the above words over our spouses? Let's lift our voices to the heavens in unison!

Love you all, and I wish you a beautiful Friday.

Ann


God's Heavenly Perspective

Ann here! Palm tree

I remember God showing me once, that during my SUM I would grow, grow and grow some more. I would grow until I was so tall and spindly that I would see everything with a heavenly perspective.

He said, however, that I would cry a lot of tears as I grow. Oh yes, I have!

But, eventually, instead of seeing my circumstances from on the ground, he told me I would have helicopter vision, so that I could see the circumstance from above.

What a promise!

And yes, I would say that over the years of being in a SUM, I have had a perspective shift. Perhaps some of you have too.

This has got me thinking: I wonder if there are ways we can train ourselves to see things from God's perspective? What do you think?

Well, I do think there are a couple of things we can do to learn to see things the way God does. The first is to read his word daily. But in addition to this, another way I get into God's 'head' is to read specific parts of scripture that are heavenly. That is, I like to read parts of scripture, specifically, that take my mind into the heavenly realm.

One such passage of scripture is Ezekiel 1. 

So how about we take a look at that chapter today?

In Ezekiel 1, we find the prophet Ezekiel sitting by a riverbank with the Jewish captives who have been brought to Babylon as slaves. It is a terrible situation. There they are in the mud, or dust, of the riverbank, crying.

Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
    as we thought of Jerusalem. (Psalm 137:1, NLT)

Many, many, many tears were shed by the Jews, and I'm sure by Ezekiel also. God held those tears close to his heart, just like he remembers all the tears we shed over our SUMs.

You keep track of all my sorrows.
    You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
    You have recorded each one in your book. (Psalm 56:8, NLT)

But THEN something dramatic happens! This part is crazily exciting!! It's a clear contrast to the mud, tears, muck and dust of their desperate circumstance. Ezekiel says --

 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures ... (Ezekiel 1:4-5, NIV)

And so begins a massive vision that Ezekiel has of heavenly things. It is spectacular, wonderful, and life-changing. And this is God! SUMites, in our world, yes, we're sitting on the riverbank of our SUMs, sometimes wanting to have a good old cry, but this is the glorious truth: There is a windstorm in the heavenlies, there is glory, there is power! 

My friends, this week how about we each read Ezekiel 1 a few times? It would be a great way to remind ourselves of the heavenly realm and get that realm into our hearts.

In the meantime, has God shown you certain things about your SUM from a heavenly perspective?

Love you all!

Ann


God Confirms His Promise: Will We Believe It?

Happy Monday, friends!

Today I'm continuing the story about our SUM monument in Florida. For part one of the story, click here.

I left off where I described the fact that in Florida there is a certain house that has scriptures written on the beams. These scriptures were sent in by SUMites, as the house was being built, and now that house stands as a memorial for our ministry.

It's so cool. I love it! However, there is more to tell.

Way back in 2016, as the house was being built, we had our annual SUM community fast. And during that fast God gave the SUM community a promise. He gave it to Dineen. It was this:

SALVATION is coming to your homes. Figs and canaries

In Jeremiah 24 there is an image of a basket of good figs. These figs represent people who I am going to bring out of captivity and return to Me.

Your spouses are like those good figs. I will build and plant them. I will not tear them down or pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know me. They will be Mine; I will be theirs.

Amen.

Dineen decided to write this promise on a piece of paper, sign her name beside it, put it in a plastic baggie, and bury it under the foundation of the house.

She duly buried it with her patient husband standing by her side. What on earth did he think of all this? Well, I think our spouses eventually get used to our little faith-filled shenanigans. If he's anything like my hubby he probably didn't read what was on the paper.

Anyway, that was that. But I have not forgotten that story or that promise; and about a year ago I asked Dineen 'What was the address of the house?'

She told me, I recorded it, then forgot about it.

On New Year's Eve 2023, however, just as the new year was coming in, God reminded me of that house, and I sensed I was to look up the address on Google maps. As I did, my mouth DROPPED. OPEN. On Google maps, just below the house was the word 'Marriage Saved'!Marriage saved 2

I am not making this up.

And just beside it was the word 'Promise'.

Ok, that was amazing. And after seeing that I sat back on the couch where I was sitting and thought "God, you are here, and you are speaking about the SUM community right now through this."

I've included the screenshot of Google maps here so you can see for yourself. The house is where the red marker is. If you look to its right you can see the word 'Promise' (Lily's Promise), and if you look down towards the bottom of the map you can see 'Marriage saved'.

My friends, what this does for me is leave absolutely no doubt in my mind that God has promised us salvations in marriages.

And I would argue that we should take this promise very seriously.

God does not want us to go into bitterness, pity or hopelessness in our SUMs. He wants us to walk in peace, and he wants us to trust him. What's more, he wants us to fight for these marriages and these salvations.

That's the story I wanted to tell you. Yes it's been seven years and counting since this promise was laid in the foundation of that house in Florida. BUT, let us not doubt.

My friends, I hope that encourages you. How easy do you find it to believe? Let's chat in the comments.

Ann


An Important Story for Us: The House in Florida

Dear friends, Ann here. Once upon a time

Today I'm going to share a very special story. It is a story that is important for our community. It is a story that is breathed by God's mouth.

I always try to write exactly what God wants me to write. He picks the topics. So today this is what he has picked: It is a story of a seed that was planted for us -- the SUM community -- seven years ago.

As I often say, grab a hot drink and make yourself comfy. Now I'll begin

Once Upon a Time there was a House in Florida

SUMites, did you know that there is a special house in Florida that stands as a memorial for us? Those of you who have followed this blog for years will know about it, but many of you won't, so let me tell you about it.

In 2016, this ministry was being led by Lynn Donovan and Dineen Miller. These two laid down their lives. Ministry is not easy at the best of times, let alone when you have an unbelieving spouse who is being dragged along in it and who is the topic of one's writing (Gah!!!) So, I really am grateful for the foundation that these two women laid.

But the story I'm going to tell today involves an actual foundation that Dineen laid in a house in Florida.

To begin, I'm going to start by sharing the story behind the house. Here's what Dineen shared about it on the blog in 2016:

"Roughly 26 years ago we moved away from Sarasota and family to find a better place for our growing family. At the early buddings of our careers, we couldn’t afford to buy a house. Though we loved being near our families, we didn’t see much of a future here. We moved away and lived in many places, including Switzerland for a short time.

Fast forward to the end of 2010. We (me, hubby and our girls) drove to Florida from California to spend Christmas with family. One day as I sat with my mother and my youngest daughter, we prayed a prayer that God answered so fast it made my head spin, yet would take four years to fully manifest.

I wanted to move back to Florida. My husband adamantly did not. Yet that day my mother, daughter and I prayed for God to soften my husband’s heart about moving back. Three days later hubby and I left the kids with the grandparents to run an errand and have a few minutes alone. Mike’s unusual silence told me something was on his mind. 

Suddenly he asked, “How would you feel about moving back to Florida?” 

I was so stunned I couldn’t speak a coherent word for about three minutes! Little did I know that the next four years would be filled with some tough times for us financially and would just about make me lose hope in that dream becoming a reality. Then everything “suddenly” fell into place."

So, Dineen and Mike ended up building a house. In Florida. A dream house. And that was all a nice personal miracle; but little did we know what God would do next.

Sarasota scripture

Indeed. God had an instruction. As the house was going up, the Lord asked that the SUM community write in with scriptures about his promises for our families, and Dineen was to write those scriptures by hand onto the beams of the house.

I'll interrupt here to say I can't imagine what her husband thought LOL. 

I seem to remember he did walk past one of the scriptures and muttered "Is this one of yours?" "Yep" she smiled back, and no more was said.

Funny.

Anyway, the builders duly plastered over the beams, hiding these scripture promises. There these promises sat, sealed forever, in a seemingly ordinary house, on a seemingly ordinary housing estate, in Sarasota, Florida.

And there this house proceeded to stand as a monument to SUM, for the next seven, eight years.

Oh what a delicious story this is. Wait till you hear what God asked next. Stay tuned for the next instalment on Monday.

SUMites, do you remember this story? What does it make you think of so far?

Ann


A Promise of Turnaround

Hello SUMites Turnaround

Last week we fasted.

I want to share something cool that happened right at the end of my fast: In the last five minutes. Each year something fun happens right at the end of the fast. It's as if God gives me a little 'wink'.

Your fast will look different: You'll have different things that God does for you in your fast, different ways in which he makes himself visible. 

Anyway, this one is a story for US, so here's what happened:
 
I was due to finish my fast at 6pm, and the day was drawing to a close. I had sat on the couch for much of the day and was feeling delightfully peaceful, when all of a sudden, at 5:45pm, I hear the electric gate go and a car pull in. Bryce had come home early.
 
The front door swings open with a clatter, and in bustles my husband like a whirlwind. He finds his work stressful and doesn't always come home in peace. This was one of those days. He moved around with a barrage of comments, pointing out things to complain about (e.g., you haven't closed the curtains, the house is hot), then sat down on the couch and started talking with an edge of angst in his voice, about how stressed he was about a particular situation with one of our children and how he had not been able to stop thinking about it all day.
 
I interrupted him, and I did it nicely: "Babe, I have fifteen minutes left of my fast. Can you just hold the thought, so that I can finish in peace and quiet? Then we'll talk."
 
He took it well, so off he went to the bedroom, and off I went to the bathroom floor, thanked God for the time we'd had together, and officially said "I'm ending my fast now."
 
When I came out, I headed for the couch once more, looked at the clock and it was 5:55pm. Then it happened --
 
Bryce calls out from the bedroom, "Ann? Can you help me turn this mattress around?"
 
"Sure," I say, thinking "I'm weak, but I'll do it" and off I go ....
 
Once there, we stand across the bed from each other and turn ... turn ... turn ... the mattress around. It was a heavy thing, so it took some doing. Turn. Turn. Turn.
 
I stop then, and suddenly think to myself, 'OH I'M HELPING HIM TURN THINGS AROUND'.
 
It felt symbolic.
 
It felt, in fact, like God was saying to me, "You are helping your husband turn things around; you are helping the SUMites turn things around; and I promise you that you will see turnaround in this community."
 
I know God is real, I know the power of fasting, I know he speaks, and I know that every other fast has involved a God wink in the last five minutes. Therefore, I receive this as a word from the Lord, and I take it seriously.
 
My friends, when something like this happens -- when God gives us a promise like 'turnaround' -- we must believe it. Let's not put it on the shelf and say 'Oh that's nice' then forget about it. No, we must take it seriously and say 'I'm going to believe this.'
 
That's what Abraham did, and it was counted to him as righteousness. So how about we all, in the privacy of homes today, declare out loud to the Lord, this:
 
In the name of Jesus,
I declare that there will be a turnaround in the place of my marriage.
I believe I am going to help my spouse turn things around.
And I believe that I will see other SUMites do the same.
 
And now with that said, finally on Friday I am going to tell you one very important story for our community. A story I have been wanting to tell for a couple of weeks. You will enjoy it: Catch you then.
 
Love
Ann

Don't Wanna Do This By Myself!

There's a song that goes -- Ann alone

All by myself, don't wanna be

All by myself, any more.

My friends, that's how I've felt in a SUM. I've felt it so keenly, sometimes.

Don't wanna be, by myself, any more!

Here's a photo that my church popped onto our Facebook page a while back. It's of me, all by myself, standing at the back. A married couple is in front of me. There I am worshipping, solo.

It's a cup I drink. We all have a cup to drink, of some sort or other.

Where I have felt this keenly is in ministry. It is difficult being in ministry alone, and I have found it very comforting indeed to have Lynn, who has the strength of an ox. If I had not had her, it would have been significantly more difficult. She's strong, and you need strong people alongside you.

But, yes, it is the cup that God has asked me to drink: To be in ministry as a spiritually single woman. So, I say in response to that: "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word," (Luke 1:38, NKJV). And I mean it. It's ok. 

Now God is my awesome father and best friend, and he has not left me without encouragement in all this. So let me tell you this rather fabulous story:

One day, about four years ago, I was sitting in my prayer room (the TV room). It was my usual morning time with God, so there I sat on the couch reading the Bible and jotting thoughts down. One thought led to another, though, and I got myself into a state. 

Now, I can do drama well, LOL.

In my bad state I slid dramatically off the couch like a slinky, onto the floor on my tummy, and started to cry. The tears ramped up, and in between hot tears I cried out to God:

WHY DO I HAVE TO DO MINISTRY ON MY OWN?

I was almost angry. It felt so unfair. I think I'd also just seen on Facebook a poster going round with profile photos of lovely couples in ministry speaking at a conference. Yet there was me, having to do it on my own.

Well, at the moment a name popped into my head:

Winnie Banov.

I didn't know who she was, but I'd seen her name float around on Christian things. So, once I'd dried my eyes and pulled myself together, I got up and looked her up. And there I discovered a beautiful story. Are you ready? It will encourage you, especially if your spouse has left the faith:

  • Winnie and her husband were itinerant ministers who were both on fire for God.
  • Then she lost her faith. She was completely missing in action and didn't want a bar of it.
  • She didn't go to church, she didn't support him, she didn't care for it. So he had to carry on in ministry, and they had a big ministry which involved a lot of travel. Brave man!
  • Everyone else in his world was part of a couple, and there he was, ministering on his own. 
  • She was to him an impossible and difficult lost cause. 
  • The only thing he could do was pray, in desperation. It went on for years.
  • He would put his hand on the wall of their bedroom on the other side of the wall (like my TV room which backs onto my bedroom), and he would pray for her while she slept.
  • One day, out of the blue, WOOSH the Holy Spirit came upon her and turned it all around. Suddenly, just like that.
  • And now they're in ministry together again.

I went to see Winnie and Georgian speak in Auckland about a year after discovering that story. I loved watching them minister together as a couple, knowing that story.

Why did God show them to me, I wonder? 

I still don't quite know; but today I am doing well with my cup. It doesn't grieve me anymore. I accept God's will and timing in my life. But I also believe - fully -- that there can be a cheeky little turnaround. And who knows what God has up his sleeve next.

My friends, which parts of SUM life do you find particularly hard to do alone? 

Lovely chatting,

Ann


You're Making Your Family Ready

Happy Friday SUMites! Ready
 
It's Friday afternoon here in New Zealand, and as I sit here winding down from my week, I wanted to share something short and sweet:
 
A couple of weeks ago I sensed the Lord tell me that 'families are being made ready'. I believe that through each of you, God is making your families 'ready' in all the ways they need to be ready: Ready for HIM.
 
SUMites, you play such a big role in that.
 
We should always be 'ready' for Him. Not sleeping, not apathetic, not lukewarm, but on the ready. Scripture says we should always be ready in case Jesus came back tomorrow. Wouldn't that be amazing if he did.
 
But it's not just us who are being made ready. We are making our families ready too.
 
There is so much growth that goes on spiritually in our families that we do not see. It is like roots that plunge deep. So much of it happens underground, out of sight, in the heavenlies and in the depths of our family members' hearts. And this I know: Our spouses cannot stay asleep spiritually when they're next to us. It's not possible. They are constantly being presented with the issue of faith, day in, day out, as they watch us live our lives during the day, and even as they share our beds at night.
 
Know this: You're doing huge things in the Kingdom to contribute to your family's 'readiness'.
 
Well, I hope that spurs you on. And have a lovely weekend!
 
Love,
Ann

The Lost Will Want Help

Hello my friends Lucie and Ann

This is the last post in my series of stories from our meet-up, what a blast it's been writing these. Well, this last story features my fellow SUMite Lucie, from Canada, who was the last one I was left with before flying home.

It had been such a wild few days together, that Lucie and I had much to reflect on. We spoke to each other about how there had been 'God moments at every turn.'

And it was against that backdrop that this final little thing happened. When I tell you about it, it might sound to you like it's not even a God thing ... But to me, it felt meaningful because it came as a kind of finale to a string of 'moments' that week. It was our final thing.

Ok, here's what happened:

Lucie and I were being looked after that final day by Jim Edwards, who has a house in Redding. Jim generously had offered to be our 'taxi driver' while were there, and looked after us beautifully --

(Thank you, Jim).

We had an errand to run: We needed to go and visit a particular lady's house. And so we parked up in a suburban neighborhood, Jim left Lucie and I in the car, and off he went to go and knock on that lady's door.

Lucie and I sat in the car; and I opened the door for some fresh air.

"Do you have pets?" Lucie suddenly asked, out of the blue.

(Funny, as I've just typed that my very own pet, Gizmo the cat, has made a beeline for me and given me a wet-nosed nudge on my leg to say hello)

"I DO!" I said, and pulled out a photo of Gizmo.

Instantly, I felt a wet-nosed nudge on my leg. And, before I could figure out what was going on, a ginormous German Shepherd dog was climbing into the car, on top of me! He was whining, panting, and drooling all over me. A big dog and a small Ann.

"Oh hello" I said, and started laughing, while also trying to avoid his lashing tongue, licks, spit and dog breath, and trying to figure out if he was fully friendly.

**

So just to recap and pause here: Lucie asks "Do you have pets?" and at the same time a dog enters the car. Isn't that a bit wild?!

**

The dog is crying. He jumps out, sniffs around on the grass, then heads back into the car. Gets out. Gets back in. Every time he comes back to us he's whimpering.

"I think he needs something," says Lucie. "I think he's upset about something."

"Could be," I said, and out I jumped. "Who does he belong to?" We looked up and down the quiet street ... The doors were all shut; the street was quiet.

"I'll knock on these people's door here, and ask them," I said. And so I did. 

I looked at the tag: The dog's name was Beau, and the man whose door I knocked on grabbed his mobile while we dialed Beau's owner's number from the tag. It turned out that he was indeed lost. His owner was visiting a house a few doors down and Beau had escaped into this strange neighborhood. 

"Come on Beau!" the man said, "Let's get you back to your owner," and off they trotted down the road to reunite Beau with his mum. As I looked at him disappearing down the road he was wagging his tail. A happy ending.

"Ahhh...." Lucie and I grinned at each other. And then we stopped and reflected: "Wasn't that weird that just as you asked me about pets, a dog climbed into the car??"

Mm....

"He was lost."

Mm. ...

"Is God symbolizing something about the lost?"

Maybe.

"Was God telling us we'll help rescue the lost?"

We mulled it over. And as we did we decided we liked the symbolism: 

The lost will want us.

The lost will come to us for help.

And we will connect the lost with their master.

And on that little quirky story, our meet-up came to an end.

My friends, it's been fun sharing the stories with you! On Monday we have a public holiday and I'm off hiking with a group of friends. So we won't have a post on the blog on Monday ... But I'll see you again later next week.

Loads of love,

Ann


The Story Behind the Pair-Shaped Promise

My friends, Pair shaped

Thank you ever so much for cheering me on with this book draft I've written. I got quite a few messages from you in the comments and privately, and do you know, that really encouraged me -- To keep going, and get the story out there.

It's Friday early evening as I type, my feet are up, my worship music is on, and now I'm settled in on my couch to tell you the story behind this book. It is rather a gorgeous story.

I wrote part one of this book way back in 2017. It was my testimony: My testimony of being an adult convert, and all that came with that. I described deeply what it meant for my marriage, but also the stunning things God did to show me he was real.

Once a week while Bryce and the boys would go out to swimming lessons I would write one chapter. Chapter by chapter over the following weeks the testimony took shape. But it had a core message that was at the crux of the book:

God had given me a specific promise. Ann Bryce 3

About my husband. And more.

After writing eighteen chapters, one day I heard God say "It's a wrap". Just like that. He was saying to me "Now wrap up this book, put it away somewhere, and I'll tell you when it's time to write part two."

"Should I get it published now?" I asked him.

"No. There's definitely part two," he showed me. "Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Dot dot dot .....

And so I did just that. I decided to wait. 'Part One' of The Pair-Shaped Promise sat wrapped up under my bed while I waited for my promise to come, for six whole years. I barely told anyone about it. But sometimes I would pull the manuscript out and read it as a reminder of where God had taken me, and what I was believing for next. 

Well, my friends, after six years of waiting, God said to me in February of this year, "It's time to write Part Two". He gave me about ten confirmations that this was what I needed to do.

And so I pulled my laptop to me ... And I began to write .... About how the promise was fulfilled. 

Because, my friends, the promise was fulfilled. It did come. It surely came. And I've written barely anything about it yet on the blog, so the book is a special little surprise story for you.

I find myself bouncing on the couch as I type this, in anticipation. But what I'll also say is this: 'Does God ever do things the way we expect him to?

Well, the plan is to get the manuscript proof-read next. Ian has offered to do a read-through too as he's a writer and has judged memoirs in writing competitions: What a blessing to have him. And then I'm thinking of self-publishing it.

On that note, I'd better hurry up and get it done so you can enjoy reading it. For, somehow, I feel this story will be an enjoyable one for you SUMites. You'll 'get' it. 

Well, have a lovely weekend everyone!

Ann


Standing in the Gap

Here at SUM we love, love, love prophetic words from the Lord; that is, words spoken by the Holy Spirit to one of us in our community for the edification of the rest of us.

Well, recently one of our SUMites, Libby from the UK, sent me something she had received from the Lord back in 2018 about our community. It was a set of words, and she was also inspired to draw a picture to accompany those words (the picture is included below). I hope it blesses you today and thank you to Libby for sharing.

The word was this:

Our unbelieving loved ones are here on earth and there is a huge abys between the earth and heaven (God). The dark chasm of sin separates humanity from God. The cross, representing Jesus' crucifixion, is a bridge that allows access across the divide. Without it, we could never bridge that gap, no human deeds could. Libby's drawing Nov 18

Us SUMites are 'standing in the gap' by standing on the cross. We form a human chain as we unite in prayer and intercession for the lost and unsaved. We provide a channel and are conduits for God to flow through. His love flows through us and onto the lost. This is our job and our position, to stand in the gap, and what a privileged position it is! Don't look down at the magnitude of the chasm; don't look across at the huge distance between the two sides; keep your focus on the cross of Calvary seeped in the precious blood of the lamb, shed for all the world. Remember, the cross is now empty! Our Lord is risen! The resurrection power of the cross forms the bridge, nobody on earth can get to the father, except through it (John 14:6).

Keep standing strong SUMites on the bridge, interceding for the lost until they join us and take up their rightful position. 

Amen.

Thanks again, Libby!


I Will Trust the Promise

Miles and TravisSing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion (Isaiah 12:5, NKJV)

My friends, thank you so much for sharing the joy with me last week over Miles's salvation. THANK YOU.

Last week while writing all that up, I happened to come across a 2019 blog post that I had written about how difficult I was finding it having teenagers who didn't go to church.

That blog post is here. In it I said something along these lines:

'My teenagers don't go to church right now, and that is really hard. I am stumped. I am fretful.

But God has told me not to worry. He has told me he will work it out. He's told me there will be a tipping point.'

My friends, when I wrote that I had no hope in sight of either of my children going to church or turning their hearts to God. It actually seemed so impossible it was a seemingly 'hopeless' situation.

Yet God had promised.

(Just as I typed that, the words 'I will trust the promise' came out of the song I was listening to).

So I type this again:

Yet God had promised.

It was September 2019 that I wrote that blog post. No hope was in sight.

Eighteen months later, the tipping point came. The Lord kept his promise to me: Miles suddenly signed himself up for church age 15. He did it out of the blue. There was nothing I did except pray and be there.

So now I say with full confidence: God keeps his promises.

(And once again, as I began to re-read this post and read the words 'cry out' at the top, the same words came out of the song I was listening to. Ok, God is in this post.)

The topic of promises and God keeping his promises is such a delicious one. To have a promise from God is quite an experience: You're asked to believe it, you have to align with it and keep nurturing it even when it seems the opposite is happening. And sometimes -- often -- you have to wait a long time. Decades even. But it is an experience.

Have you had a promise from God about anything in particular? Oh, how I would love to hear it. Share in the comments, or even email me if you prefer. I would love, love, love to hear about your promises.

So much love to you all today

Ann


Get Over It!


Jan BSUM family, today we have a guest post from one of our long-time SUMites, Jan Bittner. I'm so happy to hear her voice on here as she has walked a great story. So now, over to Jan: 

By Jan Bittner

“Get over it,” I felt God say to me just a month after my husband revealed he no longer believed in Jesus. I remember feeling briefly amused by God’s command before pain flooded my heart again. We’d spent a long month fighting – my husband wondered why things couldn’t just continue with this one small change, and I wondered how things could possibly continue. The pain and grief were real. My marriage felt irreparably altered. Friends, it took a long time to ‘get over it,’ and in the meantime, my marriage, my children’s hearts, and my physical health were damaged as we teetered on the edge of divorce for nearly a year.

If only I’d known then what I know now! Learning that my spiritually unequal marriage is more ‘spiritual’ than anything has changed everything.

The first evidence of this was following an argument where divorce was again discussed. I prayed, “God, please give me a verse!” I felt Him say, “2 Corinthians 2:8.” “Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.” NO, I thought, I WON’T! And then…Okay, God, if I do this, you need to bless it. I then said aloud, “I affirm my love for my husband,” and within minutes, God supernaturally replaced the rage I felt with an overwhelming love for my husband! It was so remarkable, unlike anything I ever would or could have done in my own strength, that even my husband was dumbfounded. THAT IS MY GOD!

I learned that day that when I am unable to cast out bitterness, resentment, anger, and pain that I only need to be OBEDIENT to God, and He will help me. I also learned that the physical act of speaking out an affirmation of love caused a powerful shift in my heart and the spiritual atmosphere in my home.

That scripture is one that I return to, time and again, when I feel the need to set my heart right. But it's the rest of the chapter that really settles it for me:

“Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one [he] might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. For to this end also I wrote, so that I might [c] put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. (2 Cor 2:6-11 NASB)

In this letter, Paul was talking to believers who were hurt by another believer, but I think the spiritual lesson applies equally well to our SUMs. Paul basically told the believers who were hurt, “Enough is enough, get over it! If you continue to punish this person, you will cause excessive sorrow and open doors to the schemes of Satan.”

Is it possible that holding on to offense and unforgiveness against our spouses opens the door for Satan to create havoc in our families? Though we feel hurt by them, could unforgiveness cause our spouses to experience ‘excessive sorrow,’ that may spiritually manifest as sadness or depression, a desire to spend less time together, irritability, anger issues, division, self-medicating behaviors, and more? 2 Corinthians 2 8

Jesus also warns, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14–15 NLT) That’s a sobering warning. God’s forgiveness is directly related to our forgiving others. Forgiveness is that highly regarded by God, and unforgiveness is equally prized by Satan. By forgiving those who hurt us, we not only disrupt Satan’s plans, but we also wield stronger spiritual weapons. We can either partner with our Father to fight the spiritual battle for our husband’s salvation, or we can work against Him, as Paul warns, by harboring unforgiveness. 

Further, God recently revealed a bombshell! My season of unforgiveness EXTENDED my husband’s season of unbelief! Knowing this, I repented to God and apologized to my husband for my behavior. ‘Getting over it’ CAN reap supernatural rewards!

I’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments.

My name is Janice Bittner, and I’ve been married to my husband for 20 years. We have two children, 19 and 15, and live in Virginia. I found the Spiritually Unequal Marriage ministry in 2014, and I am so honored to be a guest writer. I pray my story encourages you as much as the SUM ministry has blessed me.


Know Your Worth to Your Families

Happy Friday everyone! Bible and coffee

I had something happen on Wednesday that felt like God's way of saying to us: 'Know your worth to your families, SUMites.'

Know your worth to your families.

It was nice to get this, it felt like a real encouragement from God for our community. So here's what happened:

I've been recently choosing to sit and read the Bible in the morning at my dining table in the middle of the family clatter, while they're all getting ready for work and school.

The morning routine looks something like this: Bryce potters in the kitchen, Miles - age 17 -- sits at a breakfast bench on his phone while his Dad makes his breakfast, and I sit at the dining table reading my Bible.

There's the radio on, it's noisy, and I get interrupted.... But I've decided to do this as it must be a STRONG thing for a mum to sit reading her Bible in the middle of her family. She soaks in God's words, absorbs those words, and surely light emanates out from that. What's more, I want Miles to see it.

Now that he's a teenager it's one of the remaining things I can do.

Well ...

There I was, reading the book of Proverbs. And I had just read this verse here:

Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,

But a prudent wife is from the Lord.

(Proverbs 19:14)

I stopped at that, and reflected as I have done before with that passage. "A prudent spouse is worth rubies," I thought. And JUST as I thought that Bryce came out of the kitchen and over to me where I was sitting, stood over me, and smiled nicely:

"You're really dedicated to that aren't you?" gesturing at my Bible. Ann B Miles 2

Then --

"Why do you do it?" 

"I love it!" I said, beaming quite naturally. Not self-conscious this time. "It's like health to me. I love looking at all the linkages between things in the Bible."

"Even in the Old Testament?" he said, scanning the page and seeing it was Proverbs.

"Yep."

"Oh look, you've got markings on it too... You write things on it?"

At this point he was bending down and peering over my shoulder at my Bible.

"Yeah... I do!"

Then he went back to the kitchen.

And I was left thinking 'How cool was that, just as I was reflecting on the fact a prudent spouse is from the Lord, my husband comes over and notices.'

Be encouraged SUMites. I just felt that was a little God moment to show that we are a gift from the Lord, an inheritance to our families, and what we're doing is worth more all the riches the world could give, really; it's worth more than rubies.

Love to you all,

Ann


You're the Person Chosen to Move Your Family Forward

Dear SUMites Titanic

It's Ann here, and today I want to share a word that God has given me for us all. So, settle in for a nice read and be encouraged by this one.

It's honestly such a blessing when we hear God's voice for this community. Sometimes he gives a word to one of us writers. Other times he gives it to someone else in our community to pass on to us. But however it comes, when he gives us a word of encouragement -- which he does periodically -- it always makes me see how intensely he hovers over those of us in spiritually mismatched homes.

So with that said, I hope the following word helps you along. It's this:

Dear SUMite, you are the person who He has chosen to move your family forward.

Then he showed me this:

Your family and mine are not in a place of stagnation. This is an ever-evolving, ever-moving, ever-changing situation.

His timing is not the same as our timing. A milli-second for him is like a year for us. Family

So yes, we have to wait patiently, and watch what looks to us to be an extremely slow process. We are waiting for the one, for the two, for the three. But he is moving.

The effort of moving our whole family towards him, towards eternity, is like the process of turning around a gigantic boat. Think of the Titanic, and how slowly it would have to turn if the captain wanted to turn it 180 degrees. Think of the power needed but also the patience.

So it is with our family: It's a mammoth effort and it takes time to turn their direction completely.

They will get there, he is at the helm, and you are the person whom he has chosen to partner with him for this purpose.

So we must confidently declare the following: "I believe that God is moving my family forward."

Amen, SUMites! Be encouraged, stand strong all over again, make that statement of faith today, and just keep going! There is power in our words and power in prayer, so if you feel like doing so pop a note in the comments to say 'I believe God is moving my family forward'. I will stand with you in that declaration of faith and pray for you and your family.

With love,

Ann


'Water off The Otter', by Barb Twigg

Friends, today we have a treat: Barb Twigg, one of our long-standing community members is sharing a word with us. So without further ado, I will hand over to her:

***

I’m in school….with the Holy Spirit! I’ve not graduated, He keeps teaching me. I’m almost embarrassed to say why has it taken me so long to get all this?  I’m not embarrassed, that’s negative talk and I don’t partner with the dark side ever! But why has it taken me so long to understand these verses? I’m certainly not saying I 100% fully understand but I’m starting to get it now. Barb Twigg

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ‭(Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭3‬-‭8‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬)

"Who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" -- That’s it right there! We have a body, we have a soul and we ARE spirit. Once we said yes to Jesus Christ as our Savior our born-again status was awakened in our spirit. We are now spirit to Spirit with the Triune God! Our minds are now “set on the Spirit”. 

Here’s how I walked this out last week. All of the sudden my husband started having bursts of anger. Now, I was going to complete that sentence with “towards me” but after a second outburst the Holy Spirit got my attention. Let me back up here. These last few years I’ve been repenting…A LOT! And that’s such a good thing because repentance means to turn from. It’s not just a “sorry I won’t do this again.”  No, it’s “forgive me I don’t like this part of my flesh, change me from the inside out!”  One of my areas of repentance has been don’t be offended and overreact. I felt the Holy Spirit is teaching me when I’m offended and overreact I’m trusting in my pride, which is another repentance area, and not trusting the truth. And we know who the truth is! Jesus! 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭NASB1995)‬‬

Getting back to the outburst. When it happened the second time I grumbled to the Lord. “You clearly see what he’s doing. He’s not treating me with….etc”. You know what I’m talking about! But in that instance I had a thought:

“Let it roll off your back like water off the Otter. I’ll deal with him.”

HA! Say what? The Holy Spirit just shut my mouth and train of thought with that statement. “Water off the Otter” would’ve never come out of my mouth so I know it was Him. I laughed and told Him that’s pretty good! I continued the conversation because I really didn’t want to be treated poorly or be the one in the line of fire because of what he was apparently dealing with! I got the indication to take authority over this anger that entered my husband. So I did! I called it out, bound it up and forbid the spirit of anger to come around US!  Next day I was reading a devo and the Bible verse was:

To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion–to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit–that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭3‬ ‭AMPC).

Oil of joy illuminated off the page. I got up and blessed olive oil, rubbed it in my hands and anointed all things husband! I blessed him as I went through his areas. Knowing that God our Father hears me and sees my husband. I was expectant for the anger to be gone and it was! No more bursts. I figured out a possible cause with my flesh mind but more importantly my spirit was listening and receiving from the Holy Spirit. I needed to love him through this. It wasn’t personal.

My lesson was don’t react so quickly and take up immediate offense. That’s probably just good marital advice regardless! But instead ask the Holy Spirit what’s going on? We walk in the spirit so that should be my first reaction not offense which is from the flesh. The end of the Romans verse says those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Boom! There it is. I want to please God first! Now don’t get me wrong here. It’s not all fixed and now I know better and won’t do that again. No No! It takes practice. Just like working out your salvation, working on your relationship with Christ, your spouse, your kids! It takes practice to walk in the Spirit.  I’m a willing vessel and God gets all the glory! Are you a willing vessel?

Water off the Otter!

Be blessed,

Barb

Barb Twigg is wife to Rick of 33 years. They live in sunny south Florida and are enjoying retirement. She was born to teach and encourage.   The Lord led her to the book Winning Him Without Words and she found her beloved SUMites! She loves to encourage in the Lord and operates in the gift of faith. If you have doubt, she’ll lead you to belief! She’s always willing to learn from the Holy Spirit and God's Word then teach it to others. She is active in her church and community to reach the lost and walk out her God given assignments. 


The Two Visitors, Part Three

How fun is the story of the two visitors at my door! Front door 2

The two visitors, part one

The two visitors, part two

We left off where the two visitors had prayed for me, and as they did so they got visions and words for me from the Lord. 

WOW.

Now, anyone can say to us "I've had xyz word from the Lord for you", and we don't automatically have to receive what they say. It is our job to choose whether a particular word resonates with us or not. Some people will be speaking accurately from the Spirit of God, some will not.

So there is a caution there. However, the gift of prophecy is a very real thing in the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:10, Acts 21:9), and when someone has genuinely heard God for you and speaks a word from his heart, man is it a blessing!

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith (Romans 12:6, NIV)

Anyway, in this case with these unusual visitors in my living room, I already had a sense their words were going to be from the Holy Spirit. And what followed resonated with me 100%. You'll see why.

The girl begins. After sitting a while and praying for me, she says:

"The Lord says, don't worry about your sons. At all."

Well, I hadn't even told her I had two sons! So that blew me away right there and then.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34, NIV).

Dear SUMites, do we hear this? Let it sink in and let's receive it: We must not worry about our children. Of course, we must care, and contend for them in prayer, but we must still have peace. There is no place for fear in our lives. Strangers 3

Amen.

The girl continued: --

"Ann, there are many, many people behind you on the path. You have a responsibility to keep standing in your faith and keep walking this path, because it will make all the difference to them. You standing in your place of authority will impact so many people."

She said --

"Yes, it's hard being a Christian, but you just have to keep standing."

I nodded. I needed that. I actually needed the conviction of that, because as I said in my earlier post I had been struggling.

And now we come to my favorite bit, a part that made me burst out laughing. The boy said this: --

Ann, I've got a really crazy vision of you. I see it in cartoon form, which is funny. I see you sitting on a desert island. You're all by yourself, and you're sitting under a lone palm tree. There's rain and miserable conditions on this island, but you yourself are doing ok, you're actually quite cheerful. Spaceship

I opened one eye to peek at him, thinking "Ok........ I'm listening ... what's next?" Then I squeezed my eyes shut again.

He continued --

And then SUDDENLY a spaceship comes down at top speed, picks you up and whisks you away! Just like that. God is going to swoop in and change your circumstance.

At that I burst out laughing. But then I became serious. Yes, that palm tree scene rang true.

My SUM circumstance IS the desert island. I have learnt to be content. I have got the point of being quite cheerful in it. I wasn't always like that -- Actually, I was a basket case a few years ago -- But 'coping' and 'fine' is the point I've got to.

Still, it is a desert island, there are battering conditions, and I am by my lonesome.

Well, the spaceship suggests that there's a change of scene coming. Right then!

And you know what, my friends? That's exactly what I've been hearing God about for the last 3.5 years: That there is going to be a change of scene for me of some sort, sometime. I won't always be sitting on this desert island.

And when that change of scene happens, I'll write about it. And I'll pull out this blog post to say 'See, God told us!'

Well, I hope you liked that story. Have you had an experience where you've been given a prophetic word by someone? Oh how I'd love to hear that if you feel like sharing.

So much love to you,

Ann


The Two Visitors, Part Two

My friends, Front door 2

I'm so glad you loved the two visitors randomly knocking on my door in the middle of a cyclone. If you missed part one of that story, it's here. 

Before I carry on, I need to tell you where Bryce was at this point. We had a national emergency going on in New Zealand, there was a cyclone raging outside and the government had told us all to stay at home.

This meant that Bryce was home. He was working in the shed in the back garden and could have come in at any moment to find these two sitting on my couch. 

In addition, my son Miles (age 16) was home, upstairs in his room.

So, there we were: Me and these two strangers, with Bryce and Miles also in the house. And now we continue:

It turns out the boy visitor was from California, he had a full-on American accent. And so I tell him I have been to California, to Temecula, specifically.

Now, some of you might remember that the reason I went to Temecula was that we had a SUM conference in 2019 there. It was where Lynn was living at the time. 

"I used to go to church in Temecula," says the boy. Temecula is some 10,500 km from where he and I are sitting at that moment.  Strangers 3

I look down at his hands and see that some of his fingernails are painted gold. Was he an angel? It was just so crazy.

I don't actually think he was an angel as I got his phone number later, but he might as well have been.

He continued --

"I went to a church called Providence Church," he said. "In Temecula. It's a Presbyterian church."

Hmm, I went. I didn't even register that properly.

After talking for quite some time, I said "Shall we pray for each other? I would LOVE to pray for you!"

Yes, yes, they were keen. And at this point I can say that if Bryce had walked in on me praying with two strangers in the living room he would have found that really weird. But for some reason I was ignoring that.

So we pray. You know, often when praying with others there's a pressure to speak too quickly but on this occasion it wasn't like that. We took it in turns to focus on each of the three of us. We lingered, sat in silence, lifted the person to God and listened for his heart. Then we spoke for five or ten minutes what we felt God was saying. 

As the boy and the girl together prayed for me, they prophesied over me. They got visions and words for me. God, where did you get these two????

I'll share that part in my next post. But first I need to come back to this: Temecula.

After two and half hours the visitors left. Bryce was still in the shed having missed all the action. Miles was still upstairs. Once they'd gone, it occurred to me to look up the church the boy had mentioned, Providence Church. As I typed it into my phone up popped a road called Pauba Road. 'Oh!' I thought. 'That's where we had the SUM Summit!' 

And THEN, my friends, my eyes nearly popped out of my head at what I saw next: Providence Church meets in Linfield School, which is the very school that we had our last SUM conference in.

WHAT???

Take a moment for that to sink in, and I'll recap: Linfield school

I was feeling spiritually lacklustre. A random visitor turns up at my house in a cyclone. He has gold nailpolish on. He proceeds to tell me he used to go to church in Linfield School, and I find out that's where we held our last SUM conference. All of a sudden I can tell you I am no longer lack-lustre. God is here.

My friends, that story is a gift for us. God wants us to know he's in our community, he was all over that last conference in 2019, he is all over our upcoming one in September, and he adores us, his SUM Nation. Lynfield School 2

Honestly, I feel like blowing trumpets, but instead I celebrate by sharing a little picture of SUMites sitting in the sunshine at Linfield School, on that day way over in Temecula in 2019. 

As for what those two visitors prophesied over me, oh wow that's a whole other bottle of wine. Stay tuned for that on Monday.

God is real. God is good.

Ann


Two Visitors Appeared at My Door Yesterday ....

My friends, I am interrupting the series on church because something really crazy happened yesterday. Settle in for a good story! Front door 2

OK:

The last two weeks, I have had an unusual spiritual battle. I've been wrestling with a weird spiritual weariness I've not had before.

Now, I'm normally bouncy when it comes to God. I'm completely ruined for him, and I hope with every fiber of my being that I stay HIS for the rest of my life.

Amen!

BUT the last two or three weeks I've struggled with a weird lack-lustre. God has felt like a distant 'fact', rather than a vibrant presence. I've struggled to read the Bible, which is unusual. And, this past Sunday I felt like I couldn't be bothered going to church. That's no good, is it, when I'm writing a series on that very topic!? Uggh, no fun. And a bit freaky. It's especially difficult to have something like that happen when you know you have a community to keep writing for.

Anyway, my response was this: I have to just keep going. I know that Christians sometimes experience dry patches. I also know that God does not promise that we will always feel his presence, even though he is surely there. So I determined to do that: Keep going. I made a deliberate point to keep reading the word, keep showing up for time with God in the morning, and get prayer for the issue from a couple of people.

Have you been there too? I know a few of us have. It's been a strangely difficult couple of weeks, and that's the backstory to what happened yesterday. 

Now for yesterday:

I was standing in the kitchen. My house was a little untidy, I was in my most unflattering clothes, and my hair hadn't been brushed yet even though it was lunchtime. We have a cyclone going on here in New Zealand, which you might have seen on the news, so I did have an excuse: I was settled in for a full home day while the wind and rain roared outside.

I texted a friend, "I am having a weird time ... feeling spiritual lacklustre." The friend texted back, "I'm praying for you." And no sooner had that message arrived than there was a knock at the door. Two people stood there who I'd never seen in my life: A boy and a girl in their early twenties.

Two knights in shining armor.

"We're here the prayer meeting!" they said.

"Prayer meeting?" I paused for a minute. "Ohhh! Yes, I WAS going to have a prayer meeting today, but cancelled it because of the cyclone."

I then hugged them both as if it was the most natural thing to wrap my arms around two strangers and said "COME IN!"

(Side note: I have no idea how these two found that there was to be a prayer meeting at my house.) 

Having hugged them I said, "Sit down. Let me just go and comb my hair .. and then I will be back." My hair definitely needed a taming before I sat down in front of these two again.

Two minutes later, with duly neatened hair, I plonked myself down in front of them, and we started to talk ...

Me and two strangers. This could be awkward? No, it wasn't. Strangers 3

We proceeded to talk .... about GOD. We talked about fiery things. The boy was 23, a traveler from California. The girl was 20, an Aucklander who lives an hour away from me. We connected deeply. We talked about what we were each wrestling with and hearing from God. In fact, I began to share quite a lot of my heart with them.

At this point I started to feel completely refreshed, like 'This is just what I need right now,' and 'How is it I can talk to these two like I've known them forever?' 

The effect these two were having on me they might as well have been angels.

It got better though....

The boy was from California. "California?" I said, "I've been there. Actually, I work on a ministry for Christians married to non-Christians, and that ministry was set up by a lady who lives in California."

And this is where it got particularly interesting, but I've gone on too long now, so will continue this story on Friday.... Be sure to tune in because this next part is a goody. Till next time!

Ann


We Made a Memorial Before God

By Ann Hutchison Memorial

On Monday of this week, I rose early while everyone else slept, opened my Bible to where I'd left off the day before and began to read. I was still thinking a lot about the fast we'd just been through.

I happened to be in the book of Exodus and, as I was reading, suddenly I saw a piece of glitter sitting on a verse I had just got to. It sparkled like a shard of light, glinting. It was next to the word 'Memorial'.

"Ooh... !" I thought, excited, and strained further to see whether it could be, could be, a speck of gold dust. Of course, the more realistic explanation is that it was a piece of glitter from a Christmas decoration, but we had just fasted.

Well, as soon as I noticed it, it instantly disappeared! I had not touched the page at all, blown on it, or done anything to make it move. Where did it go? It had been a definite chink of brightness, and now it was gone. I strained and looked some more, but nope it was gone. Exodus 30

I concluded then that I had seen it in the spirit. I had no problem believing that. And then I sat back and went 'WOW'. Wow. I stared into the distance for a minute, thinking Was that because we just fasted? Then I decided I need to go back to look properly at the verse in question: Exodus 30:16. Where in the verse was the sparkle located, and why did I see it there? In other words, what was God wanting to show me?

Ok, so let's look at this verse. I'm game! It sure is a tucked-away little part of scripture. In fact, if I hadn't seen the sparkle next to it I would have skimmed over this part of the Israelites' story.

The verse is part of a passage where the Israelites each give a sum of money to the Lord, while in the wilderness. It is a specified amount: half a shekel.

The purpose of the money was so that the people wouldn't be touched by a plague. That money would be an offering to the Lord. In other words, like our fast, their offering afforded them protection.

Well, that was the very topic I wrote about on Monday. So that was interesting. But verse 16, where I saw the sparkle, then built on that:

"And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves." (Exodus 30:16, NKJV)

The sparkle was next to the word 'memorial', so this stood out to me. 

What's more, I noticed that I had previously scribbled a note in the margin, about another place in scripture where a 'memorial' to the Lord is mentioned. That place was Acts 10:4, where we see a Roman Centurion, Cornelius, who has been faithful to God. An angel appears to him and says:

"Cornelius! ... Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God." (Acts 10:4, NKJV)

My friends, I believe that God is taking us on a little journey this week to say well done for this fast, and to show us what it's done.

On Monday we talked about how the fast afforded us protection. That was a beautiful thing to know, and though we may never see on earth what that means exactly for our lives, I believe it and receive that word.

And now today it seems God is saying that our corporate fast came up as a memorial before him. What is a memorial? My dictionary tells me that it's something that preserves the memory of anything, serves to keep in remembrance.

It is that God remembers what we've done and will remember this for the rest of our earthly lives. We remember it too. We have put ourselves into God's remembrance.

That is such a simple, but new thought for me in relation to these corporate fasts. It thrills me!

Well, SUMites, wasn't it good fasting together! Let's see if God has anything else to share with us by Friday... And I close with this scripture, which seems relevant:

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him (Malachi 3:16, NKJV)

Love you all,

Ann


A Tasty Revelation About Our Recent Fast

By Ann Hutchison

Hi SUM family, Bread

We finished our fast on Friday, and WOW what an effort. I talked to a few of you over the week and know it was a special time for many of you.

I'm going to linger on this topic of fasting a little longer, if you don't mind. What did our fast do?

Personally, as a little wink from God, I've sometimes found that something happens in the last hour of our corporate fast. In one of our first fasts, for example, I walked into the bedroom in the very last hour to find Bryce lying on the bed reading a Christian book!!! 

It's as if God was saying "Yes, your fast did something in the Heavenlies. Be assured."

This year, however, nothing happened in the last hour, and I wondered... Would God show me anything about the fast? Well, roll around Saturday morning and I had a cool thing happen. That morning, I rose early. The whole house was quiet, I wrapped myself up in my cosy robe and stood in the kitchen making coffee, ready for some time with God. 

As I did so, I checked email and saw that I'd received an email from a ministry friend. The title was "Sorry, weekend note that could not wait." This man did not know I'd/we'd been fasting.

He had not wanted to disturb me on the weekend but said that he felt like a baker who had just produced a fresh warm loaf of bread and it had to be delivered NOW. As in, the Holy Spirit was prompting him to write.

Well, that was fun, as I'd been fasting for a week and now it seemed God was sending me a loaf of steaming warm bread as if to say "I'm giving you a word now in response to your hunger." Awesome!!

For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things (Psalm 107:9, NIV)

So, what was in the email? What was the loaf of steaming warm bread that God wanted to deliver to me so urgently in the form of words? Well, wouldn't you know it: The email was about fasting!

I reiterate, my friend did not know I was fasting, but in this email he had been led to tell me about a difficult fast he'd done, and how there was evidence that fast protected him from later attacks by the enemy. The crux of the email was that fasting had afforded him protection. 

Because of the timing and content of this email, I believe it was a word from God for us. And I think what God wants us to know is that our fast has afforded us protection. It might be protection we never see with our earthly eyes or understand, of course, so perhaps we just have to know it's there.

I personally had never given much thought of that outcome of fasting -- protection -- but what a great reason to fast.

It's always important to check everything against scripture, of course. And there is an example in the Bible of a corporate fast bringing protection. It's in the book of Esther, where Queen Esther asked the Jews in her city to fast for protection, and that protection does come following their fast:

Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish! (Esther 4:16, NKJV)

So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. (Esther, 5:2, NKJV)

So, our word to take to heart and believe today is this: Our SUM corporate fast has afforded us protection. There is a massive battle in our lives. That we know. And in some form or other the Lord has decreed, "Do not touch, do not touch, my anointed." I thank him for that.

SUMites, I have another insight about our fast too that I received this morning in my prayer time. So I will share that on Wednesday. 

In the meantime, would you like to share anything else about how your fast went?

Ann


I Declare the Surgeon Won't Find the Cancer!

By Ann Hutchison

A few years ago, I was witness to a miracle that will stay with me forever. I tell quite a few people about this miracle as it's truly remarkable. Jess and Ann 3

I have a good friend called Jess. She lives close to me in Auckland, we met at the church I used to attend, and she reads this blog sometimes. She's my age, well a teeny bit younger, and has three young kids.

One day Jess came to a church evening event looking devastated. She'd been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 

Her kids were preschool and primary school age at the time, and she was in her thirties. You can imagine.

I'm not sure what the prognosis was - She knows I'm writing this, I'll have to ask her -- but she needed surgery. She had already had a biopsy that had revealed it was cancer, and now this surgery was to cut it out. Naturally, she was completely traumatized.

Our pastor, Cam, had a particular love for encouraging people to pray for healing in our church. So, one Sunday shortly after Jess had been diagnosed, he gathered a few people together while they were chatting after the service, and said, "Let's pray for Jess."

The group gathered around and prayed for her. 

As they prayed, Cam said this: "Jess, I pray that when the doctors open up your throat, they will take the thyroid out, cut it up, not find any cancer, and be confused ."

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven (Matthew 18:19, ESV).

Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:20)

We always prayed beautiful prayers in that church, and there were big hearts of love for Jess amongst those who gathered around her. And that was that. She went home and duly awaited the operation.

The time came for Jess's operation. She's like me, she hates medical procedures, and so this was dreadful on the highest scale of dreadfulness. I don't know how she coped, actually; well, she told me she didn't.

The doctors put her under, opened up her throat, and removed the thyroid. Jess sleepily came to, and went home. Then it was time for her follow-up meeting to find out what the doctors had discovered.

The doctor frowned as Jess entered the room and sat down in front of him. "Umm.. We took the thyroid out, cut it up and couldn’t find any cancer. We were thoroughly confused.” 

!!!

Sorry what?? Jess nearly fell off her chair. Was she hearing things right? Yes she was. The surgeon told her later that he had a pathologist meeting board discuss her case along with others that needed reviewing and they compared the before and after slide to make sure there was no mistake. They had more than one pathologist identify that the first slide showed cancer so they had no choice but to remove the thyroid but the second slide showed nothing.  

So, Jess was discharged from any further treatment and declared completely cancer free. Say what??

She now has a wicked battle scar across her whole throat, from left to right, to prove what she went through. She wears that scar with pride and tells the story to people. Some love the story, some reject it, some even get offended by it. But this is my friend, and I know it to be true.

Praise God, is all I can say!

Jesus, name above all names.

Ann


That Difficult-to-Tame Tongue

By Ann Hutchison  Tongue

"I have a husband at home, and he's not a Christian." I was standing opposite a man at church whom I'd never met. "It's all a bit new to us this whole church thing," I said, munching away on a biscuit. My companion nodded sympathetically.

It was a couple of years into my spiritual mismatch in marriage, and I was in full SUM-pain-mode, talking far too much about it to anyone who would listen. Yak yak yak, I continued, telling this man all about the situation, and how hard it was.

A short time after that God whispered to me, "Ann do you realize what you did there?" And he showed me something:

He gave me a vision of a view that you would see if you held a piece of paper up between your two eyes and then looked at the view using both eyes. Perhaps you could try it now to see what I mean? What you see with a piece of paper between your eyes is two different things at the same time, and a blur -- - Your eyes do not work together.

God explained the vision to me:

"Ann, what you've done in speaking those words about your husband to another person is construct a spiritual barrier in your marriage. By putting that barrier in place with your tongue, you have prevented Bryce from seeing spiritual truth jointly with you. Watch every word you speak about him from now on. Only speak life, not death. Then, if you do that, you will eventually see as one." Declaration Sep 1

I put my head in my hands and groaned. And I believe that as I repented that barrier dissolved. Thank God for Jesus, and the power of his restoration. Still, I learnt a serious lesson.

That vision was so instructive for me, in fact, that from then on I watched every single word I spoke about Bryce, and militantly so.

Every. single. word. My prayer is this: Lord, let my tongue promote health!

I wanted to share that story because last week in our study of the Book of James we reached the famous passage on the untamable tongue:

We put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:3-8, NKJV).

In that study Lynn shared a true story: There was a man whose way of hearing God was that he would sometimes see things in the spirit realm with his natural eyes. He was having an argument with his wife one day, spoke some thoughtless words to her that labelled her in some way, and as he did he saw a cut appear on her face as a result of his words. That's how stark this thing is. Ann and Bryce

In our marriages, this means that we have the power to speak life or death over our spouse. We want to bring life to them -- We're desperate for that -- so we need to put our tongues into the right kind of action. 

Instead of a cut on the face, I wonder what kind of visual it would be if we used words of blessing over someone. God showed me once that when I bless people with my words, it's like rainbows come out of my mouth and hit those people. I like that image!

So these days, instead of referring to someone -- anyone -- as 'atheist', 'not a Christian', 'narcissistic', 'addicted to xyz', or any other kind of label, I'll stop and think quite carefully about what I say. For that little tongue of mine is a powerful little thing.

How easy or difficult do you find it to watch the words you speak about your spouse?   

Love you all,

Ann


Jehovah Perazim: Breakthrough Power Within You

Hello, dear friends, it's Ann here. Break the power within you

Last week we talked about life with the Holy Spirit. I so enjoyed those conversations.

Well, this week I want to share a couple of simple stories -- one today and one on Friday -- to describe something the Holy Spirit did on an otherwise ordinary day. In each story there is a truth for us SUMites to take away.

Are you sitting comfortably? Ok, here we go:

A few years ago, I was fast asleep in bed when I suddenly woke to feel a jolt of explosive power break out of me. KAPOW!!!  It felt like shards of diamonds had just exploded from within my innermost depths.

POW!

It was the descriptiveness of it that struck me. The sense I had was definitely of shards of diamonds. Precious stuff.

Why did I experience that, and what was God trying to say? I wasn't sure.

A few weeks later, however, he whispered this: Ann, that power was the breakthrough power within you that you carry. It will break out of you and change people and circumstances around you.

Amazing. What's more, I know that word wasn't just for me: It's for our community. For you carry the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, and I know that many of you stoke your relationship with God so fervently that this power will shift things around you eventually.

How I love this on-fire community of ours!

Christians use the word 'breakthrough' quite often to describe a change in circumstances, or even an inner change that they've been waiting for and praying for. As far as I'm aware it's not a term that's obvious in the Bible, but I do believe it's in there. Sometimes these terms catch on because a Spirit-led believer has experienced it and talked about it. 

So, where is breakthrough in the Bible? Well, I think a few tucked-away places.

First, the book of Micah describes a situation where the power of God is so great that breakthrough will occur --

He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them, the LORD at their head (Micah 2:13, ESV).

Second, there's a little scripture in the story of King David where David experiences a victory and declares God the Lord of breakthrough:

And David came to Baal-Perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-Perazim. (2 Samuel 5:20, ESV)

Reading that, I actually feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as I type. That tells me God is breathing on this concept for us. Perhaps we can linger there a moment. 

Jehovah Perazim, you are the Lord of breakthrough.

And finally, there's a curious story in the book of Genesis, where Judah's daughter-in-law Tamar carries twins, and during the birth one twin miraculously breaks through out of her womb:

When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez. (Genesis 38:27-29, ESV)

Perez means the same as Perazim: Breakthrough. That baby, who broke through miraculously, ended up being the ancestor of Jesus. Breakthrough was in the DNA of Jesus and it's in ours too.

What do we do with all this? I think we are to just know about it. That is, we're to know that's what we carry, even if we can't see it with our natural eyes. What's more, we'll carry more of it the more time we spend with him. And, those around us will be changed by that, including our families.

We have the God of breakthrough intimately with us.

Whew, what a thought. Do you have any thoughts to share in the comments? I'll see you there.

Love,

Ann