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We all remember so many details and images of 9/11/01.

As I drove up the beautiful Colonial Parkway toward home that day, I wondered how it would forevermore feel to be one with a birthday on 9/11. How would those born on this day celebrate life in the midst of such death? I wasn’t born on this day so I don’t know why I had that thought. But I do know that God knows every thought or maybe He planted that thought in my mind, knowing I would revisit it many times in the coming years.

On 9/11/2006 at around 10:15am, the 5th anniversary of this Patriot Day, with the roll call of those that died playing in the distance, the supernatural power of God met the natural in my life. I found myself that morning alone. We had since moved from Virginia to NC and I was battling severe depression. This was not new, it had been going on for years but on this day I was tired of fighting each and every day to stay alive. Satan had me in a stronghold and I was almost convinced of my unworthiness. I almost wanted to die to relieve the pain I felt. Almost, because for reasons that even I do not know, I said a desperate and sincere prayer to Jesus. One word was all I screamed – “HELP!”

And then….as in the days of the Apostle Paul, I encountered the Living God.

His magnificent and radiant Glory filled my dining room/office. I had never seen such a light and never felt such a presence. His presence filled every crevice of that room including every part of me. I felt both incredible peace and holy fear. I fell onto the floor and for what seemed hours,  I lay there…prostrate under the weight of His Glory. I was as one of the dead in my physical body though more alive than ever before within. On that day, the Almighty God allowed me to see just a glimpse of Himself, He held me in His arms and allowed me to see the “Missy” that He created me to be and showed me how satan had worked to destroy me even as he had destroyed my own dad. My Father spoke to me words that will forever be engraved in my heart…Words no one can ever take away or dismiss. Heavenly words! I spoke to Him words that I will forever live by. On that day, He healed me, delivered me and changed this life for all eternity. On that day, I repented of my sins, forgave all who I had been so unwilling to forgive and then He forgave me and I accepted His salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.  On that day, I made Him Lord and King. After years of hiding the truth about myself and pretending to be saved because I had walked the aisle one time as a child, I was truly born again. Washed as white as snow. That was the greatest of miracles in my life.

My Father then baptized me with His Holy Spirit and I began to speak a language I didn’t know! A heavenly language that until that very moment I had never believed in. He promised to restore my life and that of my family. His promises are always true! It was a suddenly, parting of the red sea experience. I was changed in every way…physically, emotionally and spiritually. For me, much of it was instant and yet the changes continue even today. I came away with a burning love for Him and His Word. I gave up many things of this world that occupied my mind and time and I started seeking Him through prayer and fasting and His Word and I so saturated my life with Him that before I knew it my old self was unrecognizable to me in many ways. 9/11/2006 Jesus gave me my LIFE and 9/11/2006 I turned around and gave it right back to Him.

So tomorrow is my real, true birthday. There will be no cake, no worldly gifts. I know no way to celebrate than this – to remain filled with a heart of gratitude and devotion and indescribable love for my beautiful Savior and those He created. To do His will as best as I can through His strength. To never forget…remind myself daily of Jesus’ sacrifice and His love for me that brought me out of the place of impending eternal death and into this eternal life. Think about it…at a time when the pain and grief of an entire country was so much in the world’s focus…My Shepherd “left the ninety-nine” to come and rescue this sinner. The beautiful Lamb of God carried this lamb home…what a special gift to me! Thank you so much Jesus!!!!

And herein lies another truth….If He did this for me, He will do it for you too. All of it. He will heal, deliver, save, baptize. He will reveal Himself to you. He will meet you or come after you. He will draw you to Himself or draw you closer. If you feel you are in a place that you can do nothing else, just say the only prayer I did – “HELP!”

On this the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, I pray for the peace and comfort for all but most especially those still in so much grief. I remember and I honor the lost….and yet, as one born on this day it is a special day of HOPE for me. How does it feel to be born on 9/11? It feels humbling, yet also incredibly hopeful. I pray today that you too know my Jesus as your Savior and your Lord! He is the reason for my HOPE!

TBT – one of my FB memories from a few years ago said, “For 4-5 hours every Tuesday my life makes perfect sense.” That status referred to my work at the food pantry where I was allowed to minister to the people by praying with them and sharing the love of Jesus through the Word and mostly by just talking with them and getting to know their stories. That food pantry was my promised land for a time. Truly a special time in my life.

For about 6 months this year my life made perfect sense as I worked toward and was on the mission to Tanzania. I never felt closer to the Lord and never so dependent but also never so confident and confident in the Lord as I was there. I learned much through my walk with Jesus in TZ. I declare often that Africa is indeed still a promised land for me and I want to return with all of my heart.

Psalm 119:112 – I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end.

As I heard these words this week it struck me that these  are the words of someone who is determined and willing to put in the hard work to complete the task. These are the words of someone that you can count on.

We all know people we can count on to be there for us, to listen to us,  to come alongside. We have people listening now and we can count on them. They are faithful to listen and to let us know they are and it means a lot to us. We can count on them and their support and prayers as they come alongside this ministry.

In the Bible, we have examples of people God could count on…..

Abraham

Genesis 18:17-19 – And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgement; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

God had a great deal confidence in Abraham. He knew him inside out. Abraham was sincere and desired to please God. He feared the Lord greatly and obeyed him. God could count on Abraham!!!

Job

Job is a wealthy man living in the land called Uz with his large family and extensive flocks. He is “blameless” and “upright,” always careful to avoid doing evil. (1:1) One day, Satan appears before God in heaven. God tells Satan about Job’s goodness and Satan argues that Job is only good because God has blessed him abundantly. Satan challenges God that, if given permission to punish the man, Job will turn and curse God. God allows Satan to torment Job to test this, but He forbids Satan to take Job’s life in the process.

In the course of one day, Job receives four messages, each bearing news that his livestock, servants, and ten children have all died due to invaders and natural catastrophes. Job tears his clothes and shaves his head in mourning, but he still blesses God in his prayers.

Job 1:22 – In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Satan appears in heaven again and God grants him another chance to test Job. This time, Job is afflicted with horrible skin sores. His wife encourages him to curse God and to give up and die, but Job refuses.

Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

I encourage you to read the book of Job but the point I want to make here today is that – Job is an example of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God.

God could count on Job!

Noah, Moses, Mary – God could depend on them!

Can God count on you???? Can God count on me????

• Can God count on me, to listen to his instructions and do his will?

• Can God count on me, to be light in this dark world?

• Can God count on me, to serve in my church and community with my God-given gifts and resources?

• Can God count on me, to raise our children and grandchildren to love him?

• Can God count on me, to obey him in every situation at all times no matter the circumstances?

Ask yourself that today – Can God count on me?

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

Years ago a traveling exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls came across the nation. Maybe you saw this exhibit when it came to Charlotte. I heard a story this week about the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls that moved me and I want to share today.

In the mid-1940s Bedouin shepherds, which are shepherds that lived out in the wilderness, were out tending their sheep and goats and one of their goats went into a cave. Before a Bedouin shepherd would ever go into a cave, they would throw a rock in there to be sure there wasn’t some kind of wild creature inside that would attack them. So they threw the rock and heard what sounded like the breaking of glass or pottery. One of the Bettuans went in the cave and found a set of clay jars lining the side of the cave. When they looked in them, tucked inside each one were leather strips that had writing on them. They were so excited because they had made this great find but they didn’t know what to do with them initially. They hung them in their tents and brought them out occasionally to show others in their families. Eventually, they took them to an antiquities dealer in Bethlehem but the dealer feared that they were stolen from the synagogue so he sent them away telling them they were worthless. They went to another dealer, a Syrian Christian, who offered to buy them.

Thankfully that is where they took them because it ended up that these were parts of scrolls and the writing was the actual writings of Essene priests who in fear of the persecution of the Romans went to this little place and hid these scrolls so that they would not be destroyed by the Romans.

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Don’t you love that our Lord did NOT have these to be discovered by Biblical scholars or theologians or archaeologists but they were discovered by what I think is one of His most favorite professions – a shepherd? Because so many of those He used greatly in the Bible and throughout history and even today spent time as shepherds and had a humble shepherd’s hearts.

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After the initial discovery from 1946-1956, 981 different texts were found in 11 different caves in the West Bank. These texts were the remains of between 825 to 870 separate scrolls. Not all the scrolls were Scripture. Some were community rules books and commentaries. BUT of the scrolls found there were fragments of every book of the Old Testament except Esther. 25 copies of Deuteronomy; 30 copies of Psalms; 19 copies of Isaiah –The longest scroll found was 26.7 feet and it was a TEMPLE scroll. They were made mostly of animal skins, papyrus, and copper and were written with carbon based inks. The book of Isaiah was the only scroll that was completely intact. And that intact scroll was 1000 years older than any other known copy.

If you go online and look at the images of the exhibits of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibits they had fragments in glass cases along with the translations of them. Those translations are incredibly similar to what you and I hold when we hold our BIBLES. Part of the exhibit regarding Isaiah also contained Luke 4:16-21:

And HE (He being Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias (this would have been a scroll at that time). And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

You can’t help but wonder if the scrolls that you see in the pictures of this exhibit is the scroll that Jesus Himself held in His hand that day. There are some scholars that believe that is the case.

But whether they are or not we don’t know. We do know that these scrolls are not just ANTIQUES; they are ANCIENT. And that moves me. It also moves me to think that these Words on these scrolls are God-breathed words, that were breathed into these men who wrote and that these men loved the Lord and His Word so much that they wrote each and everything as led by the Holy Spirit and they wrote them all so carefully. And revered them so much that they would when led by the Holy Ghost go and hide them.

When we hold this Bible in our hand, we can’t forget how long ago it was written, how it was written, and that these are HOLY Words. They are UNCHANGING WORDS. They are ETERNAL WORDS. They are not to be added to or taken away from…not in content but also not in our hearts!!! If the Word says it that needs to settle it for our hearts
whether we understand totally or not…because one day we will understand.

And I feel like the Lord wants me to say today – The Essene priests hid these scrolls because of persecution that they were facing by the Romans and because they feared the scrolls would be destroyed. Just as the Romans hated the Jews and Christians, we as Christians are becoming increasingly hated and under fire today even in our own country. The Lord says in Psalm 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Hide His Words in your heart!!! That is something He tells us over and over in His Word and is crucial in these days. Be led by His Holy Spirit even as these priests were led to getting it into your heart and do with it as He leads – speak it, write it out, hide it away. He will lead you and He will empower you. Put them in your heart and if called to do so, be it tomorrow or 10 years from now, be prepared that if He directs you to, hide the scriptures in the natural to preserve them. Don’t think it is a strange request!

But also hide His Word in your hearts to give you strength and to empower you in these days and so you don’t fall prey to the spirit of fear. I want to end with two short readings from that Book of Isaiah that were written on those scrolls.

Isaiah 40:28-31
Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 41:10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as heaven is high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far hath He removed our transgressions from us.

For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;
And the place thereof shall know it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting…

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great;
Thou art clothes with honour and majesty.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment:
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters:
Who maketh the clouds His chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Who maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire:
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment:

The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in His works.
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
My meditation of Him shall be sweet…

Praise ye the Lord
Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise Him in the heights.
Praise ye Him, all His angles: praise ye Him, all His hosts.
Praise ye Him, sun and moon: praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord: for He commanded, and they were created.

Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling His word:
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Let them praise the name of the Lord: for His name alone is excellent;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary:
Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts: praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance:
Praise Him with the stringed instrument and organs.
Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals.
LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD!!!

(Psalms 103:1-17; 104:1-6, 31-34; 148:1-5, 7-13; 150:1-6)

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:8 – I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

• When we lift our hands to heaven, we are presenting everything we are, everything we have done, everything we have to God.
• When we lift our hands to the Lord we are lifting up our families, our loved ones, our relationships, our work, our money and everything else to God.
• When we lift our hands in praise and worship we are saying, Father, we adore You, we love You!
• When we lift our hands in prayer and song we are saying, we exalt You; we praise You; we trust You; we surrender to You.
• In fact, holding up your hands is and was a sign of complete surrender and dependence. You can’t touch your weapons when your hands are lifted.

Paul specifically said he wished all men everywhere would pray in every place, public and private and that they would lift up holy hands. The word “holy” is the Greek word “hosios” which describes something that is consecrated or dedicated to God. So when Paul wrote of lifting up holy hands he was expressing his deeply felt longing that men everywhere would present themselves as dedicated and consecrated to God. Pure from all known sin. Lifting up holy hands without wrath. What is wrath? Is it anger? Every temper or emotion of our soul that is not according to LOVE – is wrath. And then also Paul said, lifting up holy hands without doubting – which is contrary to faith.  When you lift your hands to heaven, what does God see?

• When we lift up our hands it is an act of thanksgiving.

According to Strong’s no 8426 the word “thanksgiving” (todah) is derived from the verb “yadah”.  It means to hold out the hand, an extension of the hand, especially to revere or worship with extended hands. It is to thank and praise God with one’s hands extended. The word for hand is “yad” and in 2 Chronicles 5 when Solomon had finished building the temple and it is time to dedicate it, the ark of the covenant is brought in, singers begin to sing, instruments begin to play. King Solomon stands to pray the prayer of dedication…and pictures depicting the scene have the priests (4000 of them) standing all around with their hands raised (their YADS raised) and the king says, “Hallelujah! For He is good!” and the entire company of Levites proclaims in unison, “and His mercy endureth forever!” And God blessed them by giving them the Shekinah glory. It was so bright that the priests could not minister.

• Holding up your hands means you have put all your faith in the Most High God/His plan.
• Holding up your hands, whether you know it or not, is an admission of weakness and that you have no power apart from the power of His Holy Ghost and His anointing.
• Holding up your hands means you have VICTORY!!!

A great example of this is when Moses’ hands were used to win a war in Exodus 17. I love this. Moses’ hands were used to combat physical war and spiritual war. When Moses lowered his hands, the enemy won. That physical sign of keeping his hands in the air no matter how hard it was for him revealed his devotion to God and that he knew he needed God’s help.

I love this because sometimes when I put my hands up in worship they suddenly feel like lead. So heavy, but I remember Moses and his devotion and I pray to the Lord for His help because I am ever so aware that I can do nothing unless He helps me, even keep my own hands raised up in praise and surrender. When you raise our hands we are are praising God and both publicly and physically demonstrating to Him that we know we need Him.

Moses kept his hands raised with help from others during this great battle and it was then that God revealed Himself as JEHOVAH NISSI – THE LORD IS MY BANNER. What is the purpose of a flag or a banner? The most important thing is that it identifies you. (OLYMPICS) But a banner also is a mark of victory. It is well understood that the conquering army in any battle has the right to remove the defeated country’s flag and replace it with their own, usually in the highest spot possible for all to see. The country with the conquering flag has won and now they are in control. Now remember this as you read EXODUS 17:11-16.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi: ¹⁶ For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

We can be victorious by lifting our hands in worship! Here instead of raising a flag, Moses shows us that He raises God HIMSELF. After the victory instead of raising a flag at the highest point, Moses built an altar because, in those times, an altar was often used as a place of remembrance or marking an important event. Here Moses called God, Jehovah Nissi because he understood the revelation that GOD HIMSELF is our banner, GOD HIMSELF is our victory. He is the one who won Moses’ battles. He still winning our battles today. When Moses wrote that story down for Joshua, he was also writing it down for our benefit so that we will remember it as we go into battle. When you gather under Jehovah NISSI as your banner, trust Him that the outcome of your battle will be the same as it was for Moses and Joshua at Rephidim. As long as we are on this earth, there will always be war; don’t be surprised by it. Because we are also reminded in this passage that – Our GOD, JEHOVAH NISSI, HE IS ALWAYS THE WINNER!!!

What is your battle right now?

Drugs? Bitterness? Loneliness? Sickness? Jealousy? Depression? Hopelessness? Bankruptcy? Injustice? The list goes on and on…if I didn’t name yours, you can fill in the blank. You know what you are at war with and you know that in the heat of battle it is hard to see the victory at the end. BUT Remember JEHOVAH NISSI. Call upon JEHOVAH NISSI. Raise your hands in prayer the way Moses did. Don’t give up. Ask others to hold your hands up if you get tired. God is faithful to fulfill his Word.  When your battle is over you will have the right to replace your enemy’s flag with your own. Why? Because HE IS ALWAYS THE WINNER….and we know today that if YOU are in Christ Jesus you already have the victory too….so lift your hands and set your banner on high for all to see that Jehovah Nissi is your God. He has secured your victory.

God bless you today!!!