Friday, December 26, 2008

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].

(Philippians 4:13 - Amplified Bible)

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

To borrow a line from a new song by Melissa Ethridge, I believe we can do it all and do it well.

In Christ there is no difference between any of us so it is also true that we are one if we are in Christ.

I can not pilot a jet but there are those who can that are in Christ therefore I do...

Every time that witty, highly intelligent, anointed, teacher that I admire is in the pulpit, so am I.

For me to do what the jet pilot or Bishop Swilley does would take a miracle similar to the Virgin birth of Christ.

I also know that with God all things are possible.

JB

Anonymous said...

No matter what comes my way, responsibility, trials, or overwhelming blessing; I know that the anointing of the Christ Spirit from the One who holds all the power and authority of the universe, empowers and authorizes me, comforts and counsels me, in and through it all.

Phil. 4:13 Caldwell version

Anonymous said...

From Ralph Waldo Emerson...

In every man's mind, some images, words, and facts remain,
without effort on his part to imprint them, which others forget, and
afterwards these illustrate to him important laws. All our progress
is an unfolding, like the vegetable bud. You have first an instinct,
then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud, and
fruit.
Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no
reason. It is vain to hurry it. By trusting it to the end, it shall
ripen into truth, and you shall know why you believe.

Mark 4:28-First the blade, then the ear, then the corn

Keep unfolding the TRUTH Bishop!

peacemaker said...

JB...I agree. There is no difference between any of us because of the fact of our(ALL humanities)oneness in the Christ, the total, unconditional, all-inclusive, love of God.
Christmas may have passed, but the joy of this season goes on forever.

This is the great promise of God: that the happiness that filled so many hearts yesterday will fill even more lives tomorrow. And that peace and joy. which is Christmas, will reign forever -- and is available to EVERY soul, now and always. These are glad tidings.
This is the good news: that Christ is born every day, in us, and manifested through us, and because of that, strength is given to each person through eternity. God lives through everyone. It doesn't matter what religion you belong to. Love is what makes us One.

I love your insights to Bishop's great postings.

Peace, and Happy New Year
PM

Unknown said...

A retrospective on the first four posts: JB, you call to mind the Dr. Chironna prophecy to CITN to "trust that the pilot knows how to fly the plane".
Nancy, you confirm the remembering and the trusting to fruition of it.
Pastor Dennis, you re-phrased it and retold the end result--overwhelming blessing.
And peacemaker, wrapping it all up in the hope of the manifestation of the Christ!

And as I press "publish"... The Prayer shuffled on...

Lisa said...

Season of miracles, 3 weeks ago we recieved the call on thur Dec 4 we had to be in China by the 11th to get our son. I called the travel agent to book flights and hotels for our stay only to learn there was only 1 flight left and the tickets would be close to $10,000 for Mark and I to fly there and bring Zac back home. The flight booked before I could get back to the agent. We didn't have $10,000 for flights nor did we have that much for the entire trip. Didn't even have clothes or a bed for Zac when he got home. I was paniced and scared and not really trusting God if we didn't get Zac on that day we'd have to pay double the adoption fees to China. 20 minutes later the agent calls me and says you won't believe this but I just booked you flights on a S. Korean airline you'll land Christmas eve and the tickets are only $4200 for all 3 of you. Miracle 1. We had to drive 3 hours to Chicago for our flight and leave our car. An ice storm had started hours before we were to leave. That ice storm turned to rain until we left the airport that night. I was very very sick with a sinus infection high fever etc.... when we left on the plane. I was able to sleep 12 of the 14 hour flight to South Korea and survived when I thought I would meet Jesus in the air! When we arrived in China I was still sick with a high fever and to get through immigration you could not have a fever cough etc... they take your temp to get into the country, I looked at Mark and said OK I may end up being quarenteened so be prepared. They didn't detect I was sick and boy was I. The next morning when I woke up I felt better than I had in years I was healed completely. We were told we'd have to pay an extra $2000 to Zacs county for his adoption. We didn't have it, 3 other families had to pay it. We were not asked to. Zac speaks an ancient dialect of Cantonese and no one understood a word he said once we left his orphanage. He heard me praying in the spirit and understood every word I was saying and starting talking to me while I prayed. When he was losing it I'd pray in the spirit he understood and calmed down. Ice and snow storms hit here at home power was out for days all around us, Our house was fine. Chicago airport was canceling flights on Christmas eve and we didn't think we'd make it home to Zoe and Zeb for Christmas. We landed after flying around lake michigan for hours, We made it home after several long hours of driving and battling snow and ice on Christmas morning. My babies awoke Christmas morning to a new big brother and a mom and dad they hadn't seen in 17 days.
Just a few of the many miracles that have occured to us to get Zac home.
I can't wait until next year! It is going to be so wonderful and messy and joyful filled with the laughter of 3 little miracles given to me. I pray you all see miracles now and in the comming new year!!!!! I am so glad to be home! I Love China and held a white tiger and went to the Temple of Heaven with my friend who is a Buddist. It is such a wonderful ancient culture with an awesome history, but it is so wonderful to kiss the ground of my home sweet home!!!!!
Happy New Year!!!

Lise said...

Lisa,
WOW!!!
Doesn't God just ROCK?!?!?!

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Wow, Lisa...I was waiting to hear from you because I remember you said you were due in Christmas Eve, so thanks for the report...first of all, Congratulations...secondly, praise God for the favor!

In the Catholic church a Priest or a Bishop or some authority has to be called in to judge whether or not an occurence can be deemed a bona fide miracle...so, as your cyber-Pastor, and the Bishop of this blog, I hereby certify that you have experienced an actual, supernatural Christmas miracle! Be it so known to all who read this...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

occurRence

Lisa said...

Elle Yes God does ROCK!!!!!! Bish how cool that my miracles are now Bona fide!!!!! These are just the 1st of many when it comes to these kids. I felt all the prayers of everyone here and they worked in BIG ways!!!!!

dgm2007 said...

Its the day after Christmas.. Family time=little or no internet access.. I just checked out the facebook fan page and were up to 27 fans.. thats awesome I have only spread the word through this blog and with some friends.. so yay!Cant wait for our new years service!
peace and love

Anonymous said...

This Christmas has been a Christmas of Miracles.
One story I'll leave alone that happened on Christmas day for it belongs to another church member.

This one is our story...
Starting the new year my husband is being put back to part time on his main job because the site he's at shuts down come 2009. He is being relocated into another site. He thought he would really have to climb the ladder once again to resume a full time position but he is only one step away. Our prayer is that that step comes quickly. The best part is that he works another part time job in the area where he has been moved to. No more long drives from one job to another. Yea & Praise The Lord.

I feel 2009 will be a step into a new dimension. We are going to be able to witness miracles unlike any we have ever seen in our lifetime. We are going to be able to share His love with others. No matter what the economy says. We will be able not only take care of our own but we will also be a light to those who need a helping hand.
The Lord Provides

Don't worry about the future for the future hasn't been written yet.

Don't worry about the past for it is history.

Don't worry about now for He is holding it in place for you.

His miracles are many.

Don't let fear take away your miracle.
Your words and your actions depend on how you allow Him to work a miracle in your life.

This year plan on being a miracle
And see that miracles happen when you are the miracle.

He's working through you.

Erik said...

Lisa,

Praise God!!! Blessing upon blessings. Miracle indeed.

Supercalifragelisticexpbealodocious !!

Anonymous said...

Lisa, yor Christmas miracle is more than inspiring. It brings to mind many miracle stories that I've heard about in world travel connected with a mission of Love.

I add my faith to your family for many blessed years to come and this event will often bring to your remembrance the power that you have through your oneness with Love.

Thank you for sharing that beautiful testimony.

PM, thanks for seeing beyond the if when I wrote ...we are one if we are in Christ.

Your expression, ...the fact of our (All humanities) oneness in the Christ... is more in line with the way I have grown to see my neighbors (All of them) whom I love in the Christ.

The habitual tag of including only those who have acknowledged Christ in the same way as I have shows there is still much that needs to be refined in me. My way to Love through Jesus the Christ works well for me and I believe will work for anyone. There is a far greater way than my way though and that is the Way, Truth and Life that covers all by that same gift to all that comes from Love and is recieved more on an individual basis but also includes every corporate approach that teaches its adherents to seek for and embrace Love. To what degree one can know Love that does not seek that One True God is outside my comprehension but I know that all things are possible with Love.

The miracle expressed by Lisa is for me proof that Love operates outside the conventional idea of a single view.

So many of my posts, being mostly a thought in part, may lead others to view me as being nearly agnostic or even atheistic at times. The truth is that I am an atheist when it comes to embracing any god other than Love. There is a great testimony in me that would rule out any notion another person might have concerning what kind of Love it is that I am calling my God but it is a long and uneccessary tale that is not comforting to many. It is sufficient to say that God is Love no matter what anyone's view of Love is. That Love forgives and refines me and you every moment of our earth lives.

I am completely tuned in to miracles and see them every day.

JB

Lisa said...

JB, I agree God is LOVE pure and simple LOVE. I didn't understand how profound the statement that Jesus said The greatest command I leave with you is to LOVE one another, until last thur when I went to the Temple on White cloud Mtn and posted about it on my blog. Boy did I get some scripture shouted at me via email. I realised just what Jesus and Bishop have and are teaching. It is out of fear intolerance of difference and selfishness that we judge and say ours is the only way to live. If we don't understand a call in someone elses life or a belief in someone elses life we injure and critisize that person. How easy it is to take the easy way and hate instead of taking the time to see and to LOVE. God our creator took the time to see us in LOVE with all our flaws and said Oh I just LOVE you anyway. He Gave us his SON so that we would be covered in that LOVE if we so choose to embrace HIM. This last year has been the greatest journey of Faith in my life. GOD told me a year ago to adopt this little boy and no one understood our decision to do step out broke buried in adoption debt for our other 2 children in a bad economy and this child has many medical things that we knew needed taken care of. This year our plumbing all broke, our vehicle was totaled, my daughter had some kidney problems, my son went through 5 artificail feet, my husband took 4 pay cuts at work, and yet God made a way for all the ransomes to be paid all the clearances to paid, the travel to be taken care of, our other 2 children to be cared for, our bills to be covered. We are still getting hate mail about our wanting to raise and LOVE the children of the world. How can we not help the helpless? Was it easy to walk this journey NO. Did I wonder how GOD would pull it off yep. Was it worth it OH YES. Will we do it again? In a heartbeat! Zoe has started in on her desire for a sister, when a friend heard this she said Oh come on Lisa this is enough your house is turning into little China and you need to stop. Well Little China it may be or who knows GOD may have a little united nations planned for this family, but it is not for me to decide he pays the ransome I just say yes I can do that through Christ who strengthens me. GOD is LOVE and We can be LOVE too if we take the time to see the value GOD sees in all things no matter what it looks like.
Sorry if this doesn't make much sense I haven't slept since leaving China. Zac is not sleeping or eating so mommy gets to stay up all day and night and it does something to the brain cells!!!!!! It's cool though because we are bonding through the fire and we'll come out the end mother and son.
Love to you all and thanks again for the LOVE and not the cracks of you need to stop LOVING.

peacemaker said...

JB,
I understand completely what you are expressing.
For me, God has become more real and definitely more personal the further away from the traditional view of God "up there" I've traveled. But, I still have great respect for my traditional upbringing and do not under any circumstances consider my current paradigm the right one.

Interesting you said you could be misunderstood as atheist or agnostic. I believe the wisdom and revelation you impart here concerning Love, the Christ, and total acceptance could not be seen as coming from anywhere else but your total faith in the Energy we call God. I can see, however, those who still choose to see God through a pinhole not comprehending the Vastness you so eloquently and frequently speak of.

Upon reading your next statement, “The truth is I am an atheist when it comes to embracing any god other than Love”, I totally agree with and I have expressed a similar thought as well. If the god of my “theism” has to include attributes such as wrath, judgment, punishment, separation, prejudice, favoritism, or complete sovereignty, then I would have to call myself an a-theist. This god, in my view, is a mythical god created by various cultures for various reasons and is in opposition to the “Father” Jesus taught of or the God as “Love” verses of 1John. It’s easy to understand how early church teachers such as Marcion could not reconcile the two personalities as the same god, thereby coming to the conclusion there must be two separate gods. That teaching, however, branded him as a heretic by the more closed-minded of his day.

Like you, Jesus was and still is, my door. My ideas and concepts about him and his purpose may have evolved somewhat, but he was, is, and always will be the “perfect” manifestation of the Christ. It was in my unquenchable desire to know him that I began this journey of enlightenment. But I know others are on their own evolutionary path as well and their journey began from a completely different paradigm.
I used to believe God was my destination and the only way to reach Him was through Jesus. Then, I embraced the idea that All rivers ran into the Great Sea. Now, I no longer perceive God as a destination at all. He is the space in which my life lives, and moves, and has it’s being. He is the path(s) I journey upon seeking for answers. He is the Journey itself.
But at the most foundational level of everything, God is Love--Love for my neighbors and for myself.

Much Peace,
PM

Donald said...

Erik, I was looking forward to being in service tomorrow and then visiting with you in your home, but due to some unforseen obstacles, I must postpone that engagement until a later date.
Please accept my apologies for accepting your invitation and then having to cancel.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Grace is your voice Peacemaker.

Apologies for the delay. Today has been busy for me.

I can not express my views any more clearly than you have and yes, my understanding of Who the Christ is, Jesus and otherwise, is much greater than it has ever been. Much of this is because you and I are true seekers that pray in ernest believing that we will recieve what we ask of the Father/Creator/Love. Our journey has led us to be influenced by an anointed teacher who is also a seeker who recieves according to his great measure of faith.

There are many people who need a Greek version of a Zues like god but there is so much more to the truth of Who and/or What God is. You are right PM when you say that God is the journey. that is just as true as saying that God is Love.

There is so much to say that I feel compeled to write a book about it. You are a true friend and brother, PM. Peace onward!

Lisa, I somehow feel drawn to come fix the plumbing or what ever else needs it for you and your husband and family. That would be a sweet road trip for me. I am actually in a position that makes such an idea possible. My time would be pro bono of course. I am serious on my offer and can be reached at jwbrumlow@comcast.net if you need help in maintenance logistics. It will be an honor to serve with the two of you.

JB

PattiL007 said...

Wow...the Love that pours out of here...sometimes, it just takes my breath away...thank you all for sharing your visions of Love with me.

Blessings Blog Fam!

Son of Zadok said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Update The site I spoke about eariler is now shut down. My husband doesn't start at his new site till Thurs.
Thank You Jesus that he still has the job.
Please keep him in prayer.
The switch is being hard on him going from full time for a company he's worked for for around 10years to going back to part time.
Please pray that the full time position opens quickly.
Thank You....

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Good stuff, people...thanks...