Over the weekend I did my first craft fair with Joy Jewelry and as I prepare God reminded me of this verse…

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus Phil 4:6-7 (NIV)

As the day of the craft fair came, like with any deadline, worry and anxiousness became an enemy, as my mind began running a million miles a minute, so this verse is a good reminder of what I should do.

As I look at this verse there is one key question I must ask myself and be assured of the answer. Does God care about me and about the ministry of Complete Joy? I know the answer to both is yes, so remembering this I can take my petitions to the Lord with joy, knowing that He cares for me. It is the joy of knowing this truth that allows the peace of God to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Besides, as I prepared for the craft fair, I realized it wasn’t selling Joy Jewelry that really mattered; my goal became clear, to touch those who came to our table with the love of Christ. The benefits of this new goal, I sold $115 worth of Joy Jewelry, and my friend and I were one of the top sellers at the craft fair, because our focus was on meeting the needs of the people, not worrying about how much money we made for ourselves.

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

Complete Joy Prayer Shawls

Joy Jewelry; here you can see and purchase fun jewelry and accessories while supporting the ministry of Complete Joy.  Newly added are prayer shawls, each are individually designed with the wearer in mind. Please check our Accessories page for these unique prayer shawls.

Recently, I shared about an acrostic for prayer called ACTS which I have used for years in my personal and in leading group prayer. I want to shed a fresh light on this acrostic and why I feel it is so important.

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

In these days when we go to the Lord with our petitions we need to get our minds focused on the important things.

Through adoration; you connect with who God is, for He is bigger then anything and everything we face. Adorning God allows you take your eyes off the world and your own needs and connect with the magnitude of His presence in our lives.

Through confession; we see the truth of your own human condition and like the men of old who when faced with the purity of God saw their sin. As we confess we begin to align ourselves with the Lord and his plans and purposes for your life, and you find freedom.

Through thanksgiving; thanking God for what he has done in our lives, an amazing thing happens, suddenly we realize He has been there all the time and how much He really cares for us and every situation we face.

Through supplication; built on this foundation of adoration, confession and thanksgiving we come to our God not with a “will you give me” mentality, but rather a mentality of “God you know my needs before I express them, so I know you will be with me now”. We can have a peace as we bring our supplications, allowing a greater level of communication with our God!  Seeing God in the situation and connecting at a deeper level allows you to pray God’s will for the situation instead of your own. It is a place of peace when we lay down our will and choose to champion the will of God as Jesus did!

I believe using ACTS or other similar tools in prayer allows us to step deeper into God and into His presence and as we do, we are healed regardless of how the situation turns out.

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

            As we approach the New Year, in just over a month, I find myself as many others, drawn to the new spiritual season we are entering! Recently a group of prophetic intercessors gathered, to pray, praise and seek God for his prophetic strategies for the coming year.

            As I prepared for the meeting God lead me to take all of my old oil and combine it into one vial. Then I remembered I had a vial of Cassia oil that had never been opened, it was then I realized this Cassia oil symbolized the new spiritual season we were entering. So I took both vials to our prayer meeting. 

            God is preparing us for this new season, a season that will take the past and unite it with God’s future purpose, resulting in an increase of faith and power of our risen Lord, propelling us into God’s future, and into a greater awe of our God.

            During the gathering I passed the vial of the combined oils around, symbolizing our past, for each person to smell, and as we did we rejoiced in this prophetic season we were leaving for it was a rich one full of new beginnings as we witnessed amazing acts of God, from snow falling as we spoke Psalms 51:7 asking God to wash us white as snow. It was amazing to witness God taking these physical actions, as He agreed with our faith. I am still in awe of what happened during our final gathering of this prophetic season, as we saw eagles soaring on the winds as they circled above us, while we proclaimed Isaiah 40:31.

            Then I passed the Cassia Oil around for everyone to smell, symbolizing the new season we are entering. This oil, for me was like a precious gift, waiting to be opened, some years I was expectant about its use, while other years, almost giving it away. That is how some gifts and talents are, laying dormant for years until the moment God puts them into use. 

What can possibly be waiting for us in 2010? I don’t know, but I wait expectantly, and I hope you do too!

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

Breaking trauma bonds has had some very interesting twists and turns as I found something amazing, I had a tiny sin hammer that I used to beat myself up with. God gently revealed this condition in such a way as not to bring shame or guilt upon me, allowing me I let go of sin’s hammer and in it’s place receiving a faith’s shield.

            We don’t realize how we beat ourselves up because of the choices we had to make to survive, I am 52 years old and for more then 20 years I have knows I was to write several books. It has hung over my head like an anvil ready to fall, because another year came and went and I hadn’t written the books I know I am to write. Each time I would take out my small hammer and begin beating myself up. For so many years it was all about not having the writing skills, after doing this blog and having a college professor edit and teach me for almost 2 years I know I am ready, so that excuse is laid aside. Now as I look at writing I find the small hammer had a label, sins of my past, which I use to sabotage my writing effort.

            That morning as I gave the small hammer to Jesus, he gave me a shield. It isn’t a huge shield that I can not handle; it is just the right size to wheel against the arrows of this world and its champion the devil. Upon it is written, no matter what I have done, no matter what I have said, I am forgiven.

            This sentence upon my shield is such a comfort and an encouragement to go on, to begin to do those things I was created to do, including writing. I don’t have to wait another day, I can begin writing today and realize God will lead, direct and guide me, using every situation in the present and every situation from my past for his glory now and in the future.

            Who knew the discovery of this small little hammer would have such a huge impact upon my life, now I have hope for the future which is where very dream begins.

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

As I prepared the topics for the Trauma bonds list in the Journey to Maturity material, I was faced with a curious question; is there conception and birth of step children in a blended family?

I truly believe there are spiritual conceptions and births in every blended family just as there is physical conception and birth of every biological child in a family.  I can’t give you line and verse on this, but I do believe it is true.

Conception in a blended family happens when the step parent first hears of the existence of that child. Birth occurs when that child becomes a regular part of the blended parent’s life, this often happen before a marriage occurs, which is why so many parents naturally shelter their children from those they are dating. Bonding for children comes so much easier then for adults, because they do not have the negative bonding experiences and so they are much more willing and the need to bond is so much stronger the younger the child is.

So what happens if children and parents in a blended family don’t completely bond or don’t bond at all? There is trauma, and further trauma occurs should the marriage ends, spiritual death happen when bonded children and blended parents aren’t allowed to have further contact. Sometimes such a death is necessary and in such case the feelings and emotions should be allowed to be expressed in a positive manner which promotes healing.

May all of you who are a member of a blended family rejoice in the conception and birth of your spiritual families!

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

Joy Jewelry;  come support the work of Complete Joy at a local craft fair.

 As we continue this month’s journey to maturity we turn out eyes on breaking trauma and the vicious cycle that these bonds create.   

            Fear, trauma and shame create a trinity of trauma. This trinity is like an orange with its peel, pulp and seeds. Each part of the orange is necessary and has a purpose, just as with fear, trauma and shame. Each emotion has an important purpose and is necessary to our lives. But when it is infected with inappropriate bondage then it becomes as rancid and an orange that we must get rid of it.

            If we catch it early then we can cut the infected part out, but often with an orange the pulp has been ruined and all is lost and must be thrown away.

            We have to realize what is keeping these inappropriate bonds together is the events which have damaged our lives. Trauma bonds are created by insignificant events such as a parent who missed a birthday because of work, or they can be created by a major event such as injury from a car accident.

            Last month we worked through fear bonds, peeling the fear off and removing the bonds exposes the next layer, trauma. Exposing trauma and the bonds it creates can be a time intensive process, so if you need to take it slow or even talk with someone about your experience, take the time, because we need to remove these bonds, while for others, you make realize you have worked through the trauma and this process will be a simple one but don’t overlook the need to do this comprehensive bondage cleansing.

If there is agreement in your spirit to remove these bonds then check out our Equip page and began working through these Fear and Trauma Bond lists with us.

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

How do you answer this question: who is your God and why?

My God is the father of Jesus Christ, who created the universe, every planet and every star in existence and everyone and every thing on them; this is simple answer to who is my God. The simple answer to why is because I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who saved me from my sin, because while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. To see more of what I was saved from please visit my blog called about Halloween on October 31, 2007.

This takes us deeper to who is Jesus, he was more then a man who 2000+ years, walked upon the earth and died upon a cross. There is something supernatural about this man, who was resurrected and seen walking upon the earth after his death. Not a normal occurrence. It is one thing to believe in reincarnation, (which I don’t) but true power is in the resurrection, which came through Christ who rose from the dead. Not a zombie, not a vampire or a werewolf.

He was a man who was without sin, unlike you and me, for he could control his humanness and did not have a sinful action throughout his life. I know some have said he was just a man with sinful desires. Yes, he had temptations, but he was able to keep them all in check, as seen when the devil himself tempted him as he returned from the desert, where God prepared him for his public ministry.

What was also amazing about Jesus was his desire to send a comforter to be with us, who we call the Holy Spirit, filling us with the presence of God and teaching us how to be men and women of integrity. With the Holy Spirit we can truly become world changers as Jesus was, and still is today.

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Equip page: find the second installment of Journey to Maturity, Breaking Trauma Bonds.

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

Have you ever questioned if God really exists? I believe the answer is yes, God does exist. In this day and age we are often bombarded by others with this question, but what happens when we as Christians are in such turmoil that we question even this most basic of principles. Each of us have to struggle through these basic questions from time to time as God calls our faith to grow, so choose to embrace the question and the accompanying challenge.

I have been struggling through this question recently, and knowing the bible and having the relationship with God I have had in the past, I was not immune.

The farther we get away from our times with our God the closer we come to leaving him and our faith behind. Over the last several weeks I have become overwhelmed with responsibilities and life’s daily grind, and I have allowed my faith  to slip, complicating this was my diving head long into a life without fear, never realizing that so much of my faith hinged on combating the fears which drove my life. I would get up every morning at 4am to pray, so I could make it through the day, never realizing how much fear played into my relationship with God.

What does my faith and my relationship with God look like on the other side of fear? I can’t really explain freedom, because it is so abstract, but the reality is I don’t have to fight through the fears in my life to get to God and now there is such an amazing freedom, where liberty abounds in my relationship with God to the point that I was brought face to face with the question is there really a God, and do I still need him?

Transitions are amazingly profound as they are challenging. Who would have ever thought having freedom from all my fears would bring on a crisis of faith, yet if I thought about it, I would have realized it was coming, because how I relate to the world and my God has changed. The only thing I truly fear now is God. It is not a traditional fear that controls me, but a reverence, respect and awe for the one who created the world.  

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

            I have been working through my own personal journey to maturity and I am seeing an amazing change in myself. I feel like this is a discovery I need to share with the world and so I have chosen to begin sharing it with you.

            I don’t know if you have any lingering fears, I would never have guessed that I had two big ones. The first was a fear of strangers, not big surprise given my past where stranger were never a positive influence, but the impact of that fear did surprise me. 

            Also, I broke my fear bond with all of God’s creation and found for the first time, I don’t wake up in the middle of the night in fear, and  I can go over to church when no one is there without a care in the world. My life drastically changed because  I broke these two fears!

            Just these two fears stuffed my ability to walk in joy. I never understood what the real problem was, for example, I thought I was being careful as I walked outside alone at night, but now I know I was walking in fear. I rejoice these days, for I am refreshed as I walk  in the cool night air no matter where I am, even if I am alone. Removing this one fear has allowed me to  relax and feel secure no matter what  situation I find myself in. 

            For years I had thought all my fears had to do with some specific event in my past, so always looked there, now I know with all of the trauma I had,  I became afraid of all of God’s creation. Have you ever said or heard someone say “they are afraid of their own shadow”, I am now convinced this is evidence of a fear of God’s creation.

            My hope and prayer for those reading this blog entry is, for you to allow the Lord to remove all your fears. If you find you have this fear of God’s creation or other fear bonds, please check out my equip page for more information on ridding yourself of all fear bonds.

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.

In October a group of intercessors began a three month “Journey to Maturity”. It began with breaking fear bonds replacing them with bonds of faith in and love of God.

            What does it mean to replace bonds of fear with bonds of faith in and the love of God? This is the question we want to answer today. Walking in fear leads to focusing on protecting ourselves from our fears rather then walking in the freedom of God’s love.

            Letting go of our fear bonds allows us to see life from God’s perspective changing our identity. Faith is a power weapon against fear and the perfect love of God (we are told in 1 John 4:18) drives out fear, because there is no fear in the perfect love of God, so when we walk with these bonds of faith in God and bonds of God’s love firmly in place our identity is impacted and we are energized, and motivated in ways that make us a world changer, as was our savior, Jesus Christ.

            Christ is our example of what it is to walk with bonds of faith and bonds of love firmly in place as he faced God’s will for his life, giving him the ability to becoming the world changer he still is today. Take a moment to reflect on John 14:12 (printed below) in the face of this truth and you will see you can and will be a world changer if you have these bonds of faith and bonds of love firmly in place.

John 14:12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

To see more about Fear Bonds and “Journey to Maturity” visit our equip page.

Blessings and Complete Joy,

Mildred          

Intercessors Heart; find helpful prayer tips and current prayer opportunities and post your prayer requests to be shared with my intercession team.