knowledgeofgoodandevil

This is the time of year we reflect on our lives. It’s a new year, how was the past one? What do we want to change? What should we keep the same? Like most of you, I’ve been thinking about this past year. As I do, I see God’s fingerprints all over my life.

In the believer’s life, there is no such thing as coincidences. In the believer’s life, God is moving throughout their life, making things happen, showing them things, teaching them things. A friend just wrote me a Christmas card, telling me how God was working in her life. It was a reaction to my post using Romans 8:28. That God works out all things for good for those who love Him. I see that so clearly throughout the past year. It’s clearly not coincidences. It’s clearly not luck or happenstance. For the believer, it is clearly God’s hand upon our lives.

I think of my nephew who now plays football for Azuza Pacific University. It wasn’t a coincidence that my husband happened to be in the same Bible study group as the Offensive Line coach for Azuza. That was a confirmation to my sister who was trying to figure out where my nephew should go for college.

It wasn’t a coincidence that during my car accident I just so happened to have my cell phone with me that I carry only half the time. It wasn’t a coincidence that my neighbor happened to come out and talk to me during the accident and remind me to take pictures of everything.

It wasn’t a coincidence that something inside of me told me to draw a line in the sand and make sure my son wore his helmet before skateboarding. The same activity, in which he spun out of control and broke his wrist in two places. If he didn’t have his helmet, it could’ve have been his head.

It wasn’t a coincidence when I was late coming out of school, when I was seven years old, to go home and find our house had been robbed. We were so relieved when the cops told us if we had come home any earlier we would have been killed. We would’ve interrupted the robbers. He had seen it happen all the time.

It wasn’t a coincidence when I heard a voice in my head to call my sister-in-law right at that moment. Right at that moment, when she needed a distraction.

It wasn’t a coincidence, when I just happen to read the homeschool catalog that mentions a book I needed to help my daughter with reading.

If you are a believer, look at your life. Notice the times when you arrived too soon or too late to something, but it worked out perfectly. The times when you mentioned something to someone just in passing, and that someone had answers for the questions you had at that moment. The times when you meet someone and somehow they are connected to someone else in your life and that friendship benefits the other person.

Look at your life, believer, and see what God has done. Note all those “coincidences” and thank Him for what He has done in your life. We’re supposed to count our blessings, but go further. Look for the coincidences in your life and see God’s fingerprints on your life. I guarantee it will greatly encourage you.

Today is New Year’s Day, 2017. Another year has flown by. Another year has past. I’m another year older.

What will this new year bring? The year 2017, what will it be like? What shall we expect?

Well for one, we’ll get a new president. After eight years of probably the worst president in the history of America, we’ll be relieved of Barack Obama. God has granted us a second chance. We were spared from the reign of Hillary Clinton. That is something to truly celebrate. I’m looking forward to January 20, 2017, when Donald Trump is sworn is as President of the United States.

I’ve been thinking what to think about for this new year. After walking away from a major car accident that totaled our car, I’ve been thinking about God in our lives. As He restored us to a better position, than before the accident, I am ever so grateful. A verse that keeps coming to mind for this new year is John 10:10.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

God came to this earth (the reason we celebrate Christmas) to bring us life. He came for the sole purpose of sacrificing His life for our sins. That anyone who believes on Him, will have eternal life. But He didn’t do just that. He came that we might have life, and “have it abundantly.” That’s a nice verse.

Trust me, I’m not a part of the name it claim it crowd or the prosperity gospel. But I am part of the believe in God’s word, literally. God said that we might have life, more abundantly.

Not that we all become millionaires and live in fancy houses. Although, it could happen to some. But I believe it’s that satisfaction in life. That joy that eludes most people. That peace that surpasses all understanding. That hope most people crave.

Coming through that accident tipped my world upside down. I wasn’t a back slidden Christian at the time. I wasn’t involved in some sort of secret sins. I wasn’t far from God or going through something. But God wasn’t at the fore front of my mind. I prayed every day, but it was such a habit, it was like I was just praying from memorization, rather than really talking to God. I know this, because I went through such stress after the accident that I ended up seriously sick. What God did in my life was to wake me up and have Him remember Him for who He really is. The great I AM. The one who speaks and even the winds and sea obey Him.

He asked me through this whole accident do you trust Me? I said yes…but. He asked me again, do you trust Me? I said yes…but. No, Wendy, do you trust me? Yes…but. God shook His head. My “but” was showing, that I didn’t really trust Him.

It took a day, an hour, of just spending time in His word, and praying, when I had to give up the “but.” Trusting doesn’t come with a “but.” The “but” in any sentence erases what you just said previously, before you said “but.” God wanted me to trust Him, without the “but.”

I finally did. Through tears, and prayer, I gave up the “but.” I finally gave in and said yes, I trust you, period, no “but.” The second I did that, I got a phone call from the other insurance of the lady who hit us. They had been dragging their feet about accepting full responsibility for the accident. My insurance was saying they would go to arbitration if they wouldn’t accept it, which would take two months. We had a rental car we couldn’t afford anymore. I didn’t know what we would do if we needed to wait for two months. But the other insurance did call. The representative introduced himself and than said (which seemed like hours, but it was only seconds) we accept full responsibility for the accident. I almost cried when he said that. But I had already been crying, so I think I was maxed out on tears. The relief I felt!

After the phone call, I thanked God over and over again. He spoke to my heart. All He wanted was for me to trust Him without the “but.”

So John 10:10 is my verse for this year, 2017. I’m looking forward to “life more abundantly.” I think it’s a really good plan. You can use this verse too. Just don’t be like me, holding on to “buts.”

Merry Christmas! Today is Christmas. We celebrated Christmas like countless families around the world. We opened presents, ate a delicious Christmas feast, played games and generally celebrated the day.

I’m a cheesy Christmas movie junkie. I love a good Christmas movie. They’re usually romantic movies that happen around Christmas time. In the end, the boy and girl finally declare their love for one another and poof, the Christmas magic has happened, cue the background Christmas music and the decorated Christmas sets. I don’t know why I like these movies, I just do. They never mention the real reason for the Christmas season. But they hint at it. Christmas is supposed to be something magical. There is an expectation. Christmas is supposed to bring something good. It did.

I just watched a video of a man who used to be a warlock in the Satanic church, who came to know Jesus Christ as His Savior. He was deep into it before He came to know the Lord. He had demons doing his bidding, casting spells on people and generally causing mayhem and destruction. Out of all of this, Jesus Christ met him, and He gave all of it up, to follow Jesus.

And that my friends, is the Christmas story. It does provide hope. It does bring joy and happiness. There is a reason, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. He came to bring us hope. He came to offer us salvation. Not because we deserved it. Not because we’re such great people. He came because we needed a Savior. We needed help. We needed cleansing from our sin. There is and was nothing we could do to draw us out of the depths of sin.

Jesus Christ came to be born a human being. He grew up for the sole purpose of dying on a cross for the sins of the whole world. He was sinless, yet He bore our sins on the cross. And the beautiful part of that, He rose from the dead and offers salvation to any and all who will accept Him as their Savior.

And throughout history, countless people have met Jesus Christ and accepted Him. Jesus has met them, just like He met that warlock. He stretched out His arms and offers all men salvation. He meets every person, and like a gentleman that He is, He neither demands or forces your hand. He invites. He paid the price. He paid the cost. All we have to do is accept His free gift.

And to those who accept Him, we are changed. We are born again. We find joy like we have never known before. We find peace, where there is no comparison. We are cleansed from all of our sins. We are made new.

And that’s the reason for Christmas. The world knows there is something there, something magical. There is. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who came to die and rise from the dead, in order to give salvation to all mankind. Yay God!

On November 8, 2016, a black vehicle came out of nowhere and plowed into my car as I turned to drive into my neighborhood. It sounded like a gunshot had gone off, when it impacted my car. A white piece of tape flew out from the airbags that imploded and stuck to my arm. It would be awhile before I noticed the white tape and figure out where it came from. The only thing that signaled me that the car was coming, was when my daughter screamed, “They’re aren’t stopping Mom!” And then it was too late. Pow! Right into my car.

I sat there stunned. Then I turned to my daughter who looked at me with eyes as big as saucers and tears in them. Her side was the side that was hit. A momentary flash of panic ran through me as I needed to check if she was okay. I ran my hand down her back and asked her over and over again, “Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” She showed me her hand, with a big cut on the top of it. I asked her if she could move. She said yes. Another fear washed over me. I thought, “the driver is going to drive away. Quick, get out of the car before they do.” I opened my car door and had my daughter come out on that side, because she couldn’t open her side of the car.

I walked over to the woman who had hit us. There she sat, in her car, no thought to check on us. No thought to see if we were okay. I was the one who had to get out of the car and go to her, even though she had smacked into our car. I had her roll down the window. After I yelled at her and asked her what was wrong with her and tell her she didn’t even stop, I told her to call 911. She didn’t budge. She just sat there.

I went back to my car and found my cell phone which was in my purse. I quickly called 911 to have the police come out. The police did and he wrote a police report. My car got towed away and my daughter and I walked home.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

I have to tell you, that accident was a satanic attack on me and my daughter. And I have to tell you, because I believe and trust in the true God who loves me and gave His Son for me, I walked away from that accident. God makes all things work together for those who love God and are called to His purpose. The attack of Satan was ugly, but God protected us through the whole thing. First of all, my daughter and I walked away from the accident. As hard as she hit our car, we walked away. The car was deemed totaled by the insurance company. When I talked to one of the insurance people, she told me the frame was bent on the car and said, “Wow, they hit you really hard.”

For those people who know me, I carry my cell phone with me half the time. If I’m taking a quick trip like I was that day, I often forget it. But I had it that day and it was charged so I could use it.

There were no witnesses to the accident, which I thought was a bad thing. Turns out, talking to the lady who sold us our new car, a guy had an accident with two witnesses and both told two different stories. All I had for a witness, was the extent of the damage, my testimony and my daughter’s. These all told the same story.

A neighbor had seen the women zoom past the high school up the street and thought to herself, that woman is going to cause an accident. And low and behold, she sure enough did. That same woman, stood on the corner, near our accident, consoled my daughter and reminded me to take pictures of everything. I was in such a state of shock, I didn’t even think about it. I quickly grabbed my phone and took lot’s of pictures which were used in our case.

With the pictures, and the extent of the damage, the other women’s insurance company took full responsibility for the accident. The pictures and damage testified to what happened-she was speeding and ran the stop sign.

We bought the exact same car we had before. Because of my husband’s recent raise, we were able to get a lower interest rate and lower monthly payment than we had before. Now we had a new car.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

This Christmas season, remember our God. The one true God. We celebrate the birth of His Son Jesus Christ, who gave us salvation. And He works outs all things for the good for those who love him. What a great God we serve!

This election was a spiritual battle. I’m not getting all conspiracy theory on you, but it was. This literally was a battle between God and the enemy.

I’ve been reading stuff about Hillary Clinton lately. It started with those wikiLeak emails of John Podesta, Hillary’s campaign manager. In case, you don’t know, throughout the emails, John is apparently talking in some kind of code. He uses the words: pasta, cheese, hotdogs, etc. Well the FBI has broken that code and those are code words for pedophilia. When you search deeper into it, a huge ring of Satan worship and pedophilia emerges. And Hillary Clinton is directly associated with these people. Birds of a feather flock together. From the owners of these weird restaurants that have pedophilia symbols, to her campaign manager, to the weird occultist/satanist, Marina Abramovich. These aren’t all weird coincidences. When you add it all together, Hillary Clinton spends her time and trust with satanists. Christians don’t hang out with satanists. Only satanists hang with other satanists. I believe Hillary Clinton is a practicing satanist. I believe she gave her allegiance to the enemy and believed the enemy was going to reward her with that big prize of becoming the first female president of the United States. She would have made history.

But Hillary’s one mistake was to pledge allegiance to the enemy. She didn’t bank on the enemy having to bow to the One who speaks and the mountains quake (Nahum 1:5). The One whom even the winds and the sea obey Him (Matthew 8:27). The One who spoke and the world came into being (Heb. 11:3, Psalms 33:9). That One! There is no comparison between the enemy and God. It’s not black or white, the dark side or the light side. God stands higher. God is greater. God is all powerful. Nothing. Absolutely nothing compares to Him.

And that was Hillary’s mistake. She picked the wrong side. Yeah, the enemy may have given her power here and there. But when the enemy comes up against the Great I Am, the enemy is dust. He’s toast. There is nothing he can do. That election night was so clear cut. Hillary’s numbers were smashed. She went in thinking she had already won. Why wouldn’t she? She’s been pledging her allegiance to the enemy. He probably promised her big things. As the election night wore on, the clear picture that Hillary was losing big, emerged. Every state she thought she had in the bag, gone to Trump. And it wasn’t like the election of 2000 where we were introduced to hanging chads and days of recounting. No, this was clear cut, fair and square, no question.

God drew a line in the sand and told Hillary she couldn’t cross it. You shall not pass. He spoke softly, but as with His voice throughout time, even the winds and the sea obey Him. She wouldn’t get that prize of becoming the first female president of the United States. Her fate would be sealed. And despite all the shenanigans from the left, trying to undo Trump’s election, none of it will work. No one can undo God’s work. It will all be for nought.

I’m not saying Trump is perfect. Far from it. But what he didn’t do. He never pledged allegiance to the enemy. In this life, you pick one side. And let me give you a little secret: God’s the right side. Hillary opposed God. So God rewarded her with what she deserved in her opposition to Him. You shall not pass. Give your allegiance to the enemy and you lose every time. You can’t oppose the Great I Am.