October 30, 2010, "Praises to You O Lord!"

Triumphant Victorious Reminders

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

Written by: Teresa Criswell

O God! I must declare, broadcast, and make known how magnificently awesome You are!

For I am redeemed by You and I must say so!

Your glorious splendor, displayed with Your ever constant power

as the billowing waves of the ocean bow down in awe of You.

In unison the beautiful, majestic mountains; jagged in great strength,

adore You Mighty God revealing beautiful glimpses of Your eternally amazing power!

The waves stand in glorious awe as they applaud Your glory,

the melody of Your creation sing of Your eternal provisions.

When we forsake others, You are the God who does not forsake.

When we walk from The Truth, You are Still Truth.

When orphaned and abandoned, You are still the Father to the fatherless

and the mother to the motherless,

for You are not man that You should ever lie!

Your loving embrace is like a calming balm that soothes my soul.

Glorious God! Glorious King! Glorious Father! Glorious Lover!

To You I am overwhelmed by such Majesty.

I love you Lord, thank You for Your Redemption that has saved me from myself.

My soul feasts on the praises of You My Everlasting, Yesterday, Today and Forever God!

I love You my God and King!

Love your daughter,

Teresa

Scripture References:

Psalm 107:2

Hebrews 13:5

Psalm 68:5

Numbers 23:19

Hebrews 13:8

October 25, 2010, "Ears as the Tongue, The Mind as The Stomach"

Triumphant Victorious Reminders

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

Written By: Teresa Criswell

"Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge."

~ Proverbs 23:12 ~

Standing in front of the mirror, I thought of her.

A beautiful Puerto Rican woman who works at the corner dry cleaners and whom I have been able to pray with.

This woman is overwhelmed by life and life's circumstances...on top of it all, she speaks of hopelessness only intensifying the hardships taking place in her life. Her son's father died from cancer a year ago. Just a few months ago her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Her son is overtaken by fear that his mom will soon be diagnosed; and in that fear, totaled her vehicle. She is now without a vehicle and borrows her oldest son's vehicle until she saves up enough to buy another vehicle.

The fear of loss, fear of 'what if', fear of "what will be?" She surrounds herself with negativity, negative thoughts, negative everything. She is surrounded by the natural and has secluded herself from the cheerleaders of life and in this realization, as I looked into the mirror, Compassion overwhelmed me as I was compelled to pray.

As I prayed for her, I received a visual or an analogy:

The ear is like the tongue and our mind is like our stomach.

Our mind will receive and digest whatever we feed it ~ our ears will crave whatever it is use to hearing.

What do my ears crave?

For what my ears hear, is what my mind will receive.

What my mind receives and digests will come out of my mouth which reveals my heart.

As the heart is revealed, is my heart of belief or unbelief towards my Awesome God?

We need to fill our minds with the Word. The Word is not a few collective letters making up a word that we call The Word...it is The Person...The Only Jesus Christ!

A great man of God, Roger Richter reminded us on Sunday with God's Glorious Triumphant Victory upon Whom we get to call upon and whom we receive our Salvation from and in Him we must work out our Salvation daily with fear and trembling! When Jesus said as recorded in John 14:6, "I Am The Way, The Truth and The Life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me"...it was a statement that made all of creation tremble with great reverential fear!

Jesus is the Way, The Truth, and The Life!

Jesus isn't showing us a path, or a bunch of facts or a way to live when He made this statement. He revealed that The Way, The Truth and The Life are Him!!!!! The Way, The Truth and The Life are A/The Person, Jesus Christ! So powerful!!!!! Hallelujah to the Great I Am! Hallelujah to the Resurrection and The Life! Hallelujah for He is Who He Says He is! He is Faith! He is God! He is Plan A and that plan will NEVER FAIL!!!!

October 18, 2010, "My Strength, My personal bravery and my invincible army"

Triumphant Victorious Reminders

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

Written by: Teresa Criswell

In the beginning of chapter 3 of Habakkuk it says, "A Prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to wild, enthusiastic, and triumphant music." I love this...set to wild, enthusiastic, and triumphant music. As you read the last three verses in chapter 3, with great, powerful enthusiasm shout and declare the following:

"Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines,

[though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food,

though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are cattle in the stalls.

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will exult in the [victorious]God of my salvation!

The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering or responsibility]."

All I can say is, I am in awe that our Awesome God declared by Habakkuk that God was His Strength, his personal bravery and invincible army"...this God Habakkuk served is the same God I serve today through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit

Our God is the Same God...never changing...never caught by surprise...never moved by our circumstances; however, our circumstances are moved in fear of Who He is...our Majestic, Holy, Awesome, Never Changing God!

I am reminded to echo these words to my God and declare His Awesome Strength and Who He is in the midst of unstable ground...He is my fortress and strength, my help in trouble!

Every moment of the day in this time frame called 'life' we have opportunities come at us moment by moment..will we allow these challenges to become opportunities to rejoice in the Lord? Will we exalt His glorious triumphant name? Let us shout with the victory of praise and adoration for our God! Let us remind our souls, our minds, our wills and our emotions how Great our God is. He is and He wants to be our very present help every moment in our lives! He is God and He is more than worthy to be praised!

Let our lives exclaim the beautiful, liberating news of Jesus Christ! May our words follow our actions...may we be people who walk out what we believe according to the beautiful Word of God! May we hold our head up high...may our actions declare that we are the Redeemed of the Lord who say that we are Redeemed! Hallelujah! No one wants to share in our downcast countenance; they want the glory of the Lord to shine upon them...may we be the vessels that expose God's glorious light, revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit of God in our own lives!

"Father God, you are Glorious! Jesus! You are my Salvation! Hallelujah to You the Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah, the Bright and Morning Star! You are King of kings and Lord of lords! You are the Alpha and The Omega, the Beginning and The End! You are not a man that you should ever lie! Father, I thank you for Your eternal gift of Salvation revealed by Jesus Christ, Your Son! You are Glorious King, Majestic and overflowing in Splendor and Power! You are greatly to be praised! Lord my whole heart and mind cannot imagine your indescribable glory. The seemingly insignificant captures your heart and you are pleased to bestow your powerful glory upon our lives! O God! You be praised, You be glorified! For You are praised and glorified no matter if I join the chorus...yet, I desire to join in the praise and the declarations of You my Awesome God; for if we don't praise you the rocks will! I can't have an object of any kind replacing my voice of triumphant declarations of who You are! I love you Lord! You are more than worthy to be praised! You are Worthy!"

In The Mighty, Majestic, Holy, Awesome name of Jesus

~ Amen!

Scripture References:

Psalm 46:1

Psalm 31:7-9

Psalm 107:2

Numbers 6:23-26

Reminder from October 10 & 11, 2009, "But WAIT"

TRIUMPHANT VICTORIOUS REMINDERS

Inspired by the Holy Spirit
Written By: Teresa Criswell

"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
~ Romans 8:37 ~

Victimized.
Defeated.
Failed.
Downsized.
Annihilated.
Overwhelmed.

Everyone of these adjectives in some way describe how circumstances have effected us, are effecting us or will effect us.

What do these words represent? For me, the two words that come to mind is GREAT LOSS!

When we are victimized we feel violation of innocence stripped with great violence as dignity is lost in the debris of overwhelming sadness.

When we are defeated it looks as though victory has escaped us.
When we have failed, the lack of success attempts to strip us of our significant purpose.
When the position we have worked in is downsized, our identity along with loss of employment feels as though we are done for.
When we are annihilated and overwhelmed the feeling of being destroyed is paralyzing.

BUT WAIT!

When we are victimized, and feel defeated, feeling like failures we must press on past the feelings and remember we are enabled through Jesus Christ. We must not become a 'volunteer' of the victimization, defeat or failure. We must rise up in our given place through Christ Jesus and that is as conquering victors! We must rise up and out of the ashes with God's powerful, mighty hand of deliverance, as He delivers us into His beauty, restoration and significance over who we are.

As we begin to know Who He is, we will begin to learn who we truly are in Him!

You may ask, "How do I begin to know Who He is?" For me personally, I have to preach to myself. I go to the beginning. I become overwhelmed by the God I serve as great awe overcomes me.

I become overwhelmed by this Awesome God and shout,

"Wow! You are The God of Adam!

Adam walked with You and fellowshipped with You!

Adam was able to see Your face!

You are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

You are The God of Moses!

You are The God of Joshua and Caleb!

You are The God of Gideon!

You are the God of Haddasau who became Queen Esther!

You are the God of Boaz and Ruth who birthed forth Obed,

who became the father of Jesse who became the father of David!

Woooooo!!! You are The God of Hannah who could not bear children, yet through her womb came one of the greatest prophets, Samuel.!

You are The God of David who Samuel anointed with oil as David was chosen by God to become King.

From David's generational line came the King of kings and The Lord of lords..JESUS!

Almighty God, I get to be called Your daughter; for YOU are my Father through Jesus Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit!"

The more I proclaim these thoughts of AWE, the More it becomes a great equipping over 'self' defeat. I start to see through the eyes of faith and no longer through the eyes of fear. This is more than self affirmation. Even in self affirmation, and it can go a long way, it still has limits, especially in comparison to the limitless God who wants His ability to explode through ours!

God's lavishing, immovable, unshakeable, indescribable, incredible, matchless power and love over us being revealed through the Conqueror Himself..Jesus Christ made available to us by the power of the Holy Spirit is when Psalm 91 comes ALIVE! "A thousand may fall by my side and ten thousand at my right hand BUT it shall not come near me." Wooooooooo!!!!!

Let us no longer say, "I desire to, BUT..." Let us start doing it and saying, "I feel overwhelmed, BUT GOD..." I must moment by moment be in awe of 'Who He IS and was and will forever be!!!!

Let us be strengthened today by the strength provided within us. This strength is not provided because of who we are...but BECAUSE OF OUR GREAT PROVIDER AND WHO HE IS BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT!

This is provided when we accept the gift of salvation through JESUS CHRIST, following through with baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit so that we are enabled to disciple others by God's Word to do the same (John 1, Acts 2:1-39). We truly do not know the eternally, awesome impact of salvation provided through Jesus Christ as He did the Will of the Father when we say, "YES" to Him! Salvation was not provided so that we could selfishly received 'Fire Insurance'...Salvation through Jesus was, is and always will be provided to live a victorious life in Him as the redeemed of the Lord say so (Psalm 107:2)...so we must also express it through our hands and feet yielding to the Holy Spirit of God as we see the infinite impact on others around us for His glory and His honor!

As the shouts of defeat try to play with our minds....may we shout back with the voice of Triumph who has delivered us...JESUS! We must not relinquish the power over to the enemy who has already lost! He lost at that place called Calvary being defeated as Jesus Christ shed His perfect Blood, and RESURRECTED; conquering death, hell and the grave!

I must remind my circumstances that they are conquered...as I do this, I must start living the reminder as I am more than a conqueror through Jesus who loves you and me (Romans 8:37).

October 7, 2010, "Abundance revealed in the midst of lack"

Triumphant Victorious Reminders

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

Written by: Teresa Criswell

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus."

~ Philippians 4:19 ~

"Why is this happening?" "Lord, we need the finances now, all we see is lack."

What if you were told after knowing you owed over$30,000 to a hospital that after reviewing everything, the balance due was $0.00.

If you asked me what I would do, I would say, "I would jump up and down, pray, pee my pants, shout..." But guess what, I sat in the chair as I heard the words proceed out of his mouth and couldn't do anything. My mind was saying with a shout, "Thank you Lord", yet it was as though I was non responsive. I desperately wanted to cry to show my gratitude, but nothing was coming out. All I could say was, "Sir, I want to make sure I heard you correctly, are you saying this is a possibility? Or are you saying that this is what it is?" He said, "This is what I am telling you, you owe $0.00, I am the head of this financial department, and you owe nothing because of the lack of finances that came in for the month of surgery, this has made you eligible for assistance. As a matter of fact, you will be receiving a letter from me in the next few days showing that you have been approved for assistance." He kept talking, but it was as though I heard, "Rururu, rururu, ruru, ruru"...you know like the teacher in Charlie Brown?

I am beyond touched, amazed and so deeply effected by God's outcome. After hearing, "You owe $0.00", I still feel somewhat numb throughout my whole chest area. It's one thing to hear a testimony of God like this, but to be on the receiving end? It is nothing short of amazing!

First and foremost, I thank my Heavenly Father, who has also been as a husband providing provision for our family when it seemed like we wouldn't make it financially; He proved Himself as Provider, yet again.

Then to all of you who have prayed on our behalf to the Lord God Almighty; especially the prayers of our parents my mom and dad and my mother in love and her whole church family...our family in Jesus Christ. We are beyond appreciative...more than anything, I am appreciative to my Savior, my Redeemer, my Jesus, and gratefully my Brother who makes intercession on our behalf to the Father God.

I am reminded as I look back; what we saw as 'lack', the power of God's abundance was revealed. I love the beautiful reminder in Philippians 4:19, that our needs are provided according to His riches and glory in Christ; not according to mans riches and own glory.

Father, You long to be trusted. You long for me to have confidence in You and only You! My understanding reveals lack all over the place; but when I trust You and acknowledge You, the love of who You are reveals Your abundance in ALL things; beyond my crazy, off the wall imagination; you blow that away for eternity! I thank You Lord for who You are! You are amazing God; and I declare your goodness, greatly humbled by Your majesty and beautiful splendor! Thank You Father for Your Holy Spirit who is with me and guides me into ALL truth, because of The Truth, Jesus Christ. I love You Lord, my soul Satisfier. You are greatly to be praised for eternity and I must declare with my life who You are, for You are the greatest! I love You Lord.

Love your daughter, Teresa

Scripture References:

Romans 8:26 & 27, 34

Hebrews 7:25

Philippians 4:19

Proverbs 3:5 & 6