The TIMES OF refreshing

ENOUGH!

Chosen One Outreach Ministries    Publisher Shearon Roach      www.timeofrefreshing.com       Issue No. 7    Date 04/23/03

I used to wonder why I had to go through so much in my walk with the Lord, now I am beginning to see why.  The things we go through aren’t just to help us, but also to help others through.  Trials will come, and they will go, but know that the Lord is with us always, watching over all we go through, guiding us through the fire so we won’t be burned.  You may get scarred, but scars will heal. 

I haven’t always been able to say “Thank you Jesus” for everything that I go through, but now I can, because what I have gone through and will go through is for His Glory.

 Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you,
that he may sift you as wheat:  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:
and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

As I said in the greeting, I am not sure who this message is intended for, but you must know that God loves you and He sees all that you are going through.  He has not forgotten you, quiet your spirit and come before Him to hear what He has to say.

 Isaiah 43:18-19 Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 
Behold I will do a new, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?

ENOUGH!

The enemy had been busy, very busy trying hard to keep me sidetracked about my ex-husband.  Showing me dreams, beautiful dreams to make me believe I was to return to him.  For days the enemy had been trying to convince me to return to my former husband.  He said he had changed his life and was willing to be supportive of God's work.  You see my ex-husband didn’t believe in women ministers and wouldn’t attend the church that we had gotten married in. It was ok to be married in, but not to attend (the things they don’t tell you when you are dating, and no I wasn’t saved then).  Yet here he stood making all kind of promises, and guess what, he was proud, happy that the Lord had called me to minister. Yeah right.

Why was he back in our life now? The kids and I were doing fine.  We were in a beautiful home and we didn’t need him. In fact the kids were happier than they had ever been.  Lord, what in the world is going on in the spirit realm? 

I know that God has to power to change people, after all hadn’t He changed me? So maybe He had changed him. I wasn’t one to say that he hadn’t changed, but I sure didn’t want him back in my life. I had no problem with forgiving him for all that he had taken the kids and me through, but Lord why did I have to go back?   Just the thought of being his wife again gave me pains, but I couldn’t let how I felt stand in the way of my walk with the Lord.  Then it finally happened, the man proposed.  I told him I couldn’t answer him then, but needed time to pray about it.  I thought when I said that he would run for the hills, but he said, “Ok, I understand”.   Shucks, it didn’t work.  Not what do I do?

You see I was raised to believe that divorce was not an option, and there wasn’t forgiveness for it. This was before I started studying God’s word for myself  (Let this be a lesson, always read the Word for yourself).  So I thought no matter how bad he treated me I had to stay.  No matter if he beat me, I had to stay, because there was no forgiveness for divorce.  So was I supposed to go back to this man to make things right?  Oh but hear what the word of God says:

Mat 12:31, Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Thank God for His word being true, and not the word of men.  

Well, there was only one thing left to do, get the final word from the Lord.  I was so afraid of what He was going to say,  I didn’t even want to pray about it.  But here I was crying before the Lord, and reminding myself of the promises I made to the Lord.  No, I didn't want to return to this marriage, but I had promised to do whatever He wanted me to do.  And if it was His will that I return, then return I would, no matter how I felt. I would do His will, and I cried out from the depths of my soul and told Him so.

I had made my decision to talk to my ex-husband about reconciliation next week.  I had to find a way to make myself get ready for this, and to break it to the kids.  They were not going to be happy about this.  After all when the divorce was final they were the ones to ask “Mom, what took you so long?” Now, how do I tell them what I have to do?

I knew before I called my ex-husband to let him know my decision I would have pray with my prayer partner.  The Lord blessed me with a beautiful prayer partner in August of 1992, and although he lives in New Jersey, when we pray it’s as if he is right in the room holding my hand. The Lord led me to call Robert for prayer later that week and as usual the moment we spoke the Holy Spirit began to minister.  The Lord didn’t allow us to gossip, when we came together, it was to hear from Heaven.

Robert and I had been in prayer for over an hour when it seemed like a battle had started inside of me, something I had never felt before.  Then the Holy Spirit began to cry out:

You must move, you must move. You can’t stay.  ENOUGH!  I said ENOUGH!   
You can’t stay.  You shall not have her.  You shall not have her.   
You shall not confuse her anymore.  I see what you are trying to do.  You shall not have her.   
She is Mine! You shall not hurt her anymore.

I will purge her of it; I will purge her of it.   You can’t fight Me.  You can’t fight Me. 
 I sent you away before, you shall not return.   You shall not hurt her again.   
Her body belongs to Me.   She is Mine.

You don’t have to go back! 
The enemy is trying to convince you that you must return to your past. 
You must not listen.  That is not my voice!  I delivered you, I fought for you, I freed you.  
You don’t have to go back! Your going back will lead to death!

Tell satan he is a liar.  There is no truth in what he is saying
Close your ears to him, hear only My voice, only my voice.

There was such a battle going on inside of me that night, I felt as if all strength was gone.  Tears rolled down my face as I cried out to the Lord.  He ministered to my spirit, and let me know that He was there.  He let me know that it wasn't His voice, it wasn’t His dream, and it wasn’t His will for me to return to my ex-husband.  You see when I cried out to the Lord and told the Lord that I was willing to do whatever He wanted me to do, regardless of how I felt, that’s when He stepped in and told the enemy enough. You have to say “not  my will, but Thy will be done”, then the Lord will move to set you free. You have to be willing to lay aside what you want in order for the Lord to bless you. 

Will you be able to say yes Lord to His will, yes Lord to his way? Will you be willing to go all the way?  Are you willing to say “Yes Lord” to whatever the Lord requires you to do, even if it’s not what you want to do?  You must if you want to enter into rest with Him.

  Don’t think that the Lord won’t allow the enemy to test you, He allowed him to test me, and he will test you too. Remember how the Lord allowed the enemy to test Job and Peter? 

 Job 1:8  And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job,
that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man,
one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

  Luke 22:31-32  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold,
Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:
and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.  

Go through so you will be able to strengthen others.

My prayer partner continued pray for me as the Lord ministered to my spirit, and restored me.  He began to say “Shearon you don’t have to go back to your ex-husband.  It’s over, God has freed you, He said you belong to Him. You must not look back, death is waiting if you do”.  I had never told my prayer partner about what I had been going through.  The Lord had always blessed us when we prayed, so that if one of us were going through, He would reveal it through the other. 

I will always remember this night.  It was the night the Lord made me aware of how real He was and how much He loved me.  It was the night the yoke of the past was broken.  It was the night I felt totally free to live my life without fear of my divorce. It was the night the Lord fought for my life. 

So I say to you, who may be going through at this time, stay before the Lord until you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have heard His voice.  Get alone; get quiet, talk to the Lord. Don’t allow the enemy to convince you that just because you are living close to the Lord that you can’t be fooled. That’s what he wants you to believe. Remember we will be tested, and we will be tried.  Take everything to the Lord in prayer. 

Don’t allow the enemy to convince you will be condemned forever for what you have done.  Hear what the word of God says:

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 John 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth
on him that sent Me, hath  everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation;

Here what the Lord is saying to you in this hour:

There is no condemnation. Don’t allow the enemy to think that you are condemned, You have been set free, you are redeemed.  You are anointed, know you are anointed. Continue to worship Me, saith the Lord. Worship Me morning, noon and night. Let nothing stand in your way of worshiping Me.

I pray that this has been a blessing to you. 
I pray that the yoke the enemy held over you has been broken. 
I pray that you have been set free. 

ENOUGH!

Love and Blessings to you,

Shearon

NOW SMILE, AND ENJOY THESE SHARED READINGS

SUMMER SHOE PLEDGE

All right Ladies; it's that time of the year again. Just a friendly reminder!! 

MY SISTERS (The Summer Shoe Pledge), Please raise your big toes and repeat after me:

As a member of the Cute Girl Sisterhood, I pledge to follow the Rules when I wear sandals and other open-toe shoes:

I promise to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs.  And the sides and tops of my feet will not pudge out between the straps.

I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free. I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe.

I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow. I will shave the hairs off my big toe. 

I won't wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there.

If a strap breaks, I won't duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back into place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it.

I will not live in corn denial; rather I will lean on my good friend Dr.Scholl's if my feet need him.

I will resist the urge to buy jelly shoes at Payless for the low, low price of $4.99 even if my feet are small enough to fit into the kids' sizes. This is out of concern for my safety, and the safety of others. No one can walk properly when standing in a pool of sweat and I would hate to take someone down with me as I fall and break my ankle.

I will take my toe ring off toward the end of the day if my toes swell and begin to look like Vienna sausages.

If I have been privy to the magic that is Foot Soup, I will share that knowledge and experience with the non-initiated.

I will be brutally honest with my girlfriend/sister/coworker when she asks me if her feet are too ugly to wear sandals. Someone has to tell her that her toes are as long as my fingers and no sandal makes creepy feet look good!

* In addition. Please don't forget to lotion those feet and ankles so you don't look like you've been pounding powder! 

NOT NICE AT ALL!

 

DAYS OF INSPIRATION

Monday - Wash Day

Lord, help me wash away all my
selfishness and vanity, so I may
serve you with perfect humility
through the week ahead.

Tuesday - Ironing Day

Dear Lord, help me iron out
all the wrinkles of prejudice.
I have collected through the years
so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday - Mending Day

God, help me mend my ways
so I will not set a bad
example for others.

Thursday - Cleaning Day

Lord Jesus, help me to dust
out all the many faults
I have been hiding in the
secret corners of my heart.

Friday - Shopping Day

O God, give me the grace to shop
wisely so I may purchase eternal
happiness for myself and all
others in need of love.

Saturday - Cooking Day

Help me, my Savior, to brew a
big kettle of brotherly love and
serve it with clean, sweet bread of
human kindness.

Sunday - The Lord's Day

O God, I have prepared my house
for you. Please come into my heart
as my honored guest so I may spend
the day and the rest of my life
in your presence.

Contributors to this newsletter

THE HOLY SPIRIT
Jackie Collins
And all of your prayers

Be sure to visit the updated website www.wherepeacefulwaters.com

 Please continue to send your testimonies, shared readings and prayer
requests to chosen@cfl.rr.com they are truly an inspiration to others.

  Be Blessed