latest GOOD NEWS DAILY – Sept 12

I am SO exhausted! That’s what I get for being madly and passionately in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and totally devoted to Him and to telling the world about Him and to taking on this ministry He has given me. Being on the road for Jesus to do streets ministry and write & publish Gospel tracts, devotionals, and books with my little crew of beloved handicapped streets ministry doggies is EXHAUSTING. Being in my current location in New York City is EXHAUSTING. Being deeply in the thick of writing my latest book along with everything else is EXHAUSTING.

And I am SO THRILLED, SO HUMBLED, SO BLESSED, SO THANKFUL, SO EXCITED, SO PRIVILEGED, SO HONORED, and SO ON FIRE to press on in my life’s calling for Him!

This all makes me want to ask you this question. Are you living the life THE LORD JESUS CHRIST desires you LIVE FOR HIM? Or, as I did for decades of my life, are you living for yourself according to your own dreams and desires? Have you surrendered yourself TOTALLY TO JESUS AS LORD, or are you doing what I did for years and years during which I was “lord” of my own little miserable life?

Please surrender yourself TOTALLY to the Lord Jesus Christ. Please live the life God almighty has given you FOR HIS GLORY. And please join me in being ECSTATIC about the BLESSEDNESS of BELONGING TO JESUS FOREVER and about getting to tell others about Him and how to have a forever relationship with Him!

IF YOU NEED HELP BEGINNING OR PRESSING ON IN A FOREVER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT AT 843-338-2219 OR lara@GoodNews.love

love & blessings,

lara

If you’ve ever seen a person near death brought back to life, it’s pretty amazing. Especially when no doctor is involved. Especially when you are standing right next to the person witnessing a miracle of God.

Yesterday, I felt strongly compelled to go early to where I was meeting some fellow evangelists in New York City. I was tired and thought it might be better to go later or not go at all. I went in obedience to Jesus. I thought about walking there and getting exercise and doing streets ministry along the way, but I was totally clear the Lord wanted me to take the subway.

Soon I found out why. Just minutes after getting off the subway, I saw people congregated near a homeless man who appeared to be unresponsive due to a drug overdose. Police awaited the ambulance. The man would not respond no matter how much a homeless woman tried to shake him awake and no matter how much she and the police officer talked to him.

Led by the Spirit of God, I told them I wanted to pray. I prayed from a distance. Then I walked closer. But still from a distance. Then the Lord put it on my heart to lay my hand on the man and pray. Normally in situations like these it’s hard to get near the person due to police, family, friends, whatever, whomever. I met no resistance.

I won’t tell you what I prayed, how I prayed, or how exactly I interwove the Gospel message into my prayers. The details aren’t the point. I only know I prayed according to the Spirit of God in the strength of God with the courage He gave me.

Suddenly, the man who was unresponsive started to speak. Sounded like gibberish. Until one word was clear.

JESUS.

Then he sat up.

Next thing I knew, he stood up and walked to the ambulance when it arrived.

I had asked the homeless woman to put my Gospel tract in his backpack so he would have it for later. And I strongly told him he needed to give his life over to the Lord Jesus Christ. The life God had just saved. Not so he could go back to a lifestyle of sin. So he could repent and believe in Jesus as Lord for God’s forgiveness, the promise of everlasting life with Him, and the commitment to live henceforth for Jesus.

I don’t know the final outcome of this story. Many whom the Lord brings back from something like this go right back to a lifestyle of rebellion against God headed ultimately for hell and the lake of fire. Others turn to Jesus as Lord and will spend forever in heaven with Him.

This man was given an opportunity to make the right decision. To turn his heart and life over to Jesus.

Where do you stand, friend? Have you given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ for now and eternity? Does your faith show forth in your lifestyle? Are you truly and totally His? May this very moment be the beginning of a sold-out life. Totally sold out – to Jesus forevermore! AMEN!

365 BLESSINGS is a devotional book the Lord has led me to publish piece by piece even as I’m writing it rather than waiting until it’s in print to share it. Please join me & be blessed as I write my latest book…!

Blessings 129-132

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.” Psalm 57:1

Four more blessings. First, we can cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, and His mercy is for us when we turn to Him in true sorrow for our sins and genuine belief that He is Lord! Second, we can place our trust in Him! Our hearts and lives we can place in His kind and loving and everlasting hands. Third, we can find refuge – shelter – in the shadow of His magnificent eternal wings! Four, we can stay safe and sound in the shelter of Christ until evil has passed us by!

Does this mean life is always easy? No! That we won’t face challenges? No! That bad things won’t happen? No! But for those of us who believe in Christ as Lord, who have entrusted our very lives to Him, who have sincerely devoted our lives to Him and are dedicated to living according to His ways, we are promised forever with the Lord! Forever and ever, yes, AMEN! And, even on this earth, even when go through incredibly tough times, times so tough we don’t think we’ll make it through, we know the Lord is right there with us to help us, to guide us, to carry us through. Amen, yes, AMEN!

P.s. Looking back at what I had written so far in this book, I found I had written on this scripture twice! Not only that, but I was getting ready to write on it again! Better “edit” the book, make it “perfect”, and get rid of “the repetition”. After all, I was educated and trained as a writer and editor. But my most important education hasn’t come from the world, friend. It’s come from the Spirit of Christ and the Bible. That said, I feel compelled to leave “the repetition”. Perhaps somewhere in the double mention of this verse is a blessing, or multiple blessings, for a reader. Maybe even you! Be blessed, then, be blessed!

OUR NEED, HIS STRENGTH

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

“I will give you every ounce of strength you need to finish this book,” the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me.

He was speaking to me about my latest book I’ve been writing. He knew, of course, how tired I’ve been. He knew I could easily have come up with numerous excuses to not continue. After all, it’s not as though I weren’t serving Him in other ways also. Daily. Always. Because I love Him so exceedingly much. Because He is Lord, and I live and breathe to love and glorify Him. But He’d already spoken to my heart a number of times about persevering with writing this book. With being faithful. With finishing what I had started. What He had called me to do.

So now had come the reminder. For me. And, perhaps, for you?

THE LORD WILL GIVE US EVERY OUNCE OF STRENGTH TO DO WHAT HE CALLS US TO DO.

He provides ALL we need to do His will. And we can do ALL that He gives us to do THROUGH HIM.

We don’t need to live in our human weakness. We can learn through faith in Him and our lives submitted to Him to live in HIS ALMIGHTY STRENGTH – for HIS AWESOME FOREVER GLORY. AMEN!

“Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”” Mark 12:29-31

“We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

How dare he! How dare the other one! How dare them! How dare these guys! What kind of friends are they? They were supposed to meet me to do some streets ministry. I was so excited! Well, I was on the tired side, I confess. But I looked forward to seeing my brothers in Christ. To be out on the streets together for Christ. But then it all fell apart. They let me down. Oh, how they let me down!

One never showed up at all. Turns out he was headed somewhere else. Maybe I misunderstood. I thought he was coming. The other one had been so clear he would arrive at a specific time. The nerve of him. I got an apology hours later about why he couldn’t make it. Friend? Real friends? Honestly.

Honestly? HOW AWESOME IS THE LORD! HOW BLESSED ARE HIS FOLLOWERS! HOW HUMBLED I AM BY THE LESSON I LEARNED! Know what happened in reality? I was delayed because the Lord sent me on the way to the man I wrote about in the devotional above who was near death and whom the Lord saved right in front of my eyes. One of my friends I thought I was meeting had felt led to go to a church prayer meeting somewhere else. The other friend never made it because the Spirit of God moved on his heart and gave him an opportunity to share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with someone practicing a false religion.

See the common thread in this? OUR FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS, OUR OBEDIENCE TO JESUS, OUR LOVE FOR JESUS, OUR SERVICE TO JESUS MUST COME FIRST IN OUR HEARTS AND LIVES! None of us meant to hurt anyone. None of us meant to let each other down. None of us was rude and disrespectful. Each of us PUT THE LORD FIRST!

Oh, how thankful I am the Lord has given me siblings in Christ who LOVE HIM WITH ALL THEIR HEARTS and others as themselves. Please note the order of God’s two greatest commands. FIRST IS TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL OUR HEARTS. Our friends and family must NOT come first. JESUS MUST BE NUMBER ONE – now and forever, AMEN!

LATEST MINISTRY UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST

I need rest. Big, big, big rest. Truth is I’m not good at resting. My mind rarely slows down. And given too much time without my ministry work which I so love to do, my mind starts mulling over stuff it shouldn’t. Then backward and downward I go to the past, to hurts, to this thing or that thing. By the time I’ve had my “rest”, I’m more tired often than when I started off. Needless to say, with the life’s calling and lifestyle the Lord’s given me, I most assuredly need serious rest along the way.

If you’re led to pray for me in the area of rest, I’d be so very thankful. And if you’re led to help me and this ministry in any way the Lord leads you to take some burden off my shoulders, please feel free to let me know.

Thank you for your love & prayers!

love & blessings,

lara