Triumphant Victorious Reminders

Triumphant Victorious Reminders Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Stevens Criswell Enclosed is an update from Tammy regarding Poppa C.O. "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalm 118:24 ~ I greet you all as Poppa C.O. would: Good Day to you, my Friends and Family. Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. This is the day the Lord has made;let us rejoice and be glad in it. I think of Poppa C.O. today as I realize that even through this difficult, painful time, his concern is with all of us. O how he reveals the heart of our God. I am encouraged to know that each of us can be like Poppa C.O. as well. How? By being in pursuit of God's heart through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Poppa's life reveals the awe he has of Almighty God and it so blesses me as I know it blesses many of you. In regards to Poppa C.O.; I received an email from Tammy (Poppa's daughter today). She wanted to update

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer." ~ Psalm 19:14 ~ "Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart." ~ Psalm 26:2 ~ "My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." ~ Psalm 84:2 ~ Have you ever craved a type of food so badly that you didn't care what time of night it was or what you were doing? I know for me that has happened, and I went out of my way to satisfy that food craving. In the same way, I am at this place in my own life where I 'crave' and 'salivate' the heart of God. I don't know how else to describe such a longing that I have never imagined could take place in my life. I am truly in this place where I know the Promises of God are awesome...BUT I crave to desire and pur

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell Inserted Heartfelt thanks from Tammy (Poppa C.O.'s daughter) "This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalm 118:24 ~ This is how Poppa starts out each devotional for the day: "Good Day to you, my Friends and Family, and Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior." "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118: 24" I sit here amazed as I have read the heartfelt encouraging words. These notes of encouragement from all of the wonderful people who have been touched by the Lord through Poppa C.O.'s life and 'Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, Online'. Today, I thought of Paul (he wrote most of the New Testament, which were letters to different churches) and the many times he was imprisoned and I wonder how many letters did he receive from the Body of Christ, when he needed

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "...if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." ~ II Chronicles 7:14 ~ (Encourage you to read all of II Chronicles..powerful)! 'If' or 'When'? I stood in the living room this morning as I let our dog our for his morning 'potty'. As I was opening the sliding glass door, I was immediately pressed to pray for our nation, reminded of what is taking place today, allowing the honoring of another god at our National Mall in our country. As I started to proclaim and remind myself of God's mighty power, I heard in my spirit, "Are you going to be a people of 'if' or 'when'?" Immediately what came to mind was the scripture verse in II Chronicles 7:14. This was a verse that my parents ha

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him." ~ II Chronicles 32:7 ~ We were in the kitchen all cooking and playing together as Tristin helped dad cook. Laughter filled the aitmosphere. Suddenly, we were interrupted by the ring of the door bell. We paused, because were not expecting anyone. Then simultaneously we looked at each other and then proceeded to the door. As I opened the door, I found that no one was there. I stepped out onto the porch and looked to see if maybe they were driving off or walked away, but found no one. With laughter, our daughter excitedly said, "I know what happened. We just got 'door bell ditched'." We said, "What?" And then we realized what she meant. Someone had rang the doorbell and ran off. Of c

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell "And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus.." ~ Acts 4:36 ~ I am in awe of Poppa C.O.'s life. He is an encourager, a man of compassion, and a man who loves Truth. I am reminded of Barnabas, which is translated Son of Encouragement. I love the impartation of the gift of God that was on Barnabas that is on Poppa C.O. Farmer. The great encourager. It goes beyond just personality of being an encourager, this reveals the heart of God that Poppa C.O. is in pursuit of. Poppa is so after the heart of God and it is revealed in his life. I truly want to make sure that it is understood that this compassion of God can not be mistaken for 'tolerance'. Compassion of God never compromises with evil. Compassion never compromises period. Tolerance of evil, guised as 'compassion' will overt

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard." ~ Isaiah 58:8 ~ I sit here thinking of a dear couple. Their names, Papa C.O. and Joy Farmer. I have not had the privilege to meet his wife, yet what I do know is that their lives are a living testimony of God's passionate love revealed in their lives of humbleness before the Lord. I sit here in my chair as my fingers strike the keys of my laptop and I wonder what this sweet couple is thinking about at this moment. The reason I am drawn to this wonder is because many of us received the news that sometime last week there was an accident in which Papa C.O. was either getting in or out of the bathtub and he fell. The fall resulted in him breaking his back. I cannot imagine this trial in my life. Yet

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell "Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." ~ Isaiah 60:1 ~ We must arise as God's light is upon us revealed in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit! The voices of the daughters are being silenced by the thoughts of failure. The voices of the daughters are being silenced by the thoughts of confusion. The voices of the daughters are being silenced by the thoughts of self-destruction. The voices of the daughters are being silenced by the thoughts of inadequacy. The voices are being paralyzed by looming guilt and shame. The voices are being silenced by pain of betrayal, the pain of sickness, the pain of death. The voices are being silenced by the fearing question of, "What if"? We must arise! Our light has come and the glory of the Lord is upon us! Why do we choose the thoughts of failure versus the thoughts that God has towards us? His

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell and a testimony written from a dear friend "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." ~ Romans 8:28 ~ I received a great testimony from one of my dear friends, Holly. Her testimony revealed God's faithfulness through situations that are beyond our control and/or our ability to control! The following is her testimony: "Today my Father protected and blessed me sooooo much. I sit here tearing up to weep as I think of the situation. I had just picked up Nicholas and Bethany from school (Lindsey was in voleyball practice) and we had been home about five minutes and I decided to go out into the garage to do one five minute project that needed completing. I just had to put on one more strip of plastic floorboard around the cabinets. I measured and started to slice the plastic strip with the Exacto Kn

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." ~ 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 ~ "And don't sin by letting anger gain control over you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil." ~ Ephesians 4:26 & 27 ~ The damaging thoughts she entertained, "He doesn't love me anymore." "He will leave me." "He has no interest in me." "Where could I go?" "How would I do it on my own?" "What about the children?" As the thoughts annihilate her mind, s

"Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one]. ~ Ephesians 6:16 ~ Amplified Bible "Do not quench the (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit; do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophectic revelations not despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning]. But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast. Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it in whatever form or whatever kind it may be. And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profance things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)." ~ I Thessalonians 5:19-23 ~ Amplified Bible When we enable our sin nature or someone else's we by default disable

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice: and I know them, and they follow Me." ~ John 10:27 ~ Amplified Bible "When He has brought his own sheep outside, he walks on before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never [on any account] follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers or recognize their call." ~ John 10:4 & 5 ~ Amplified Bible As I have read the Words of Jesus in the Book of John, I am reminded of the people as He refers to them as sheep and Himself as the Shepherd. We are revealed as His people not just saying a prayer of salvation, but also by hearing, listening and following Him. To hear Him, we listen to Him and as we listen to Him, we take heed to His instruction, and with that instruction, we are to follow Him. Sounds simple. I am sure it is simple, but I

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "Thus says the Lord; Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting place? For all these things My hands has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands..." ~ Isaiah 66 ~ (Excerpt from Isaiah 66:1-2, Amplified Bible). "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell]. For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than a

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." ~ Psalm 51:10 ~ "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." ~ Psalm 139:23:24 ~ Have you ever prayed something like this? "O Lord, highlight those things in my heart that I don't even know are there." Haahaahaa...I have done so and I thank God for His love and grace through the highlighting process. One of the many areas that has been highlighted was actually quite embarrassing. I must say that I was quite shocked by my irritation with someone else's addiction to nicotine in my family. I really had this 'concern' with this person's addiction. I would justify my irritation and frustration by saying it's not healthy and all the other natural issues that come along with it

Triumphant Victorious Reminders Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "So He (Jesus) answered and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart , with all your soul , with all your strength , and with all your mind ,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.' " ~ Luke 10:27 ~ My husband and I were talking this morning and we discussed, when we say, "We love God", what is that truly based on? We asked each other, "Do I love God because of what I know what He will do for me?" "Or do I love God because of what He has already done and no matter if I ever see the 'blessings' again (which is impossible, because the blessings automatically come for this is His universal law), that I love Him for Who He is, not for what He can do for me?" When that question was posed, it led me to a conversation I had yesterday with an awesome, wise woman I know. Do I come into a relationship, church, whatever the

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written By: Teresa Criswell "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, I tell myself. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God even with my dying breath. Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When their breathing stops, they return to the earth, and in a moment all their plans come to an end." ~ Psalm 146 ~ (Excerpt from Psalm 146:1-4) What a reminder just in these few verses of why we don't place confidence in people no matter how 'powerful' we think they are. For they also 'return to the earth'. Even though it is something that I know, to be reminded of it is like a bucket of water being splashed over my head on an unbearably hot day. May we be refreshed today as we are reminded of His great provision over our lives. We must choose to place our confidence in Him and Who He is! He is The Great I Am! He Alone is so incredibly aweso

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work." ~ II Timothy 2:21 ~ "Preparation is key." This is something I heard in 2006 as I was reading about Noah, and the many other amazing accounts of people in the Bible. At the time I heard, "Preparation is key", this was the beginning of our great financial hardship. We knew we weren't financially prepared and then in 'the knowing' it hit us hard when the economy in Michigan started to make a slight downturn. Through that situation, my husband and I were starting to understand that the Word I received, so simple, yet incredibly true is that truly 'Preparation is key'. However, it is in ALL areas of our lives. And with preparation we must seek out and 'dig' in many areas of why we should be prep

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS Inspired by the Holy Spirit Written by: Teresa Criswell "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life ~ whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not." ~ Matthew 6:25-27 ~ Joyce pressed the 'total' button on the cash register and said with a smile, "Your total is $15.91." As Tom heard the total amount of his grocery bill, he opened his wallet with great hesitancy. His hands were shaking as he felt his heart beating through his hands and it had even felt as the pounding of his heart were in his ears as he felt the sweat roll down his forehead. He knew that the twenty dollar bill in his wallet was all he had to his n