Thankful

I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.  Psalms 9:1

Dear Lord God, we praise you.  We give you all the glory and honor for the works You do through the Deeper Still Ministry.  Thank you from our whole heart.  We will tell of Your marvelous works!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Each time I come down off the mountaintop, my heart is bursting to tell of all the Lord’s marvelous works!  I want to shout it out for all to hear!  My words cannot begin to describe the magnitude of the Lord’s presence and glory that is experienced by the participants and ministry team at Deeper Still Retreats.  Today, I would like to share words from a participant who came in October.  Her words beautifully depict her profound experience with the Lord.

“What a wonderful blessing the weekend was to me. You have made the intangible, tangible to all of us. All of the amazing women who were called to council and love on us this weekend gave all of us the tangible with unspeakable joy. There was so much love displayed through my brothers and sisters in Christ it was almost too difficult to take it all in. Your approach to healing was amazing. You took us step by step, moment to moment through the fire and into the light and waiting the arms of Jesus. Unspeakable Joy! My sister and I are so alike in that satan kept trying to tell us that none of it was real. She wanted to leave on Friday and I was very skeptical. I believe that legion of angels were protecting, watching and Holding that Line so that we could be brought to the place of healing and restoration. Saturday was so amazing when ALL of my brothers and sisters were celebrating A NEW FOUND VICTORY over grief and death and wounded hearts. I felt the Spirit of God hovering over us as we all had the mother mantle placed around our wound bodies and souls. As we were praying, the amazing thing was that there were shots in the distance (I think they were shooting crows) where the Lord was telling us I AM PROTECTING YOU!!

The bunk beds that we slept in were to me, The Lord’s cradle, giving us rest for our wounded and exhausted bodies, and when sleep came it was sweet and deep. 

On Sunday, I just can’t fully describe how beautiful the scene was at the memorial. The crunch of the gravel under our feet as we headed into Zion, the beautiful angel singing as we approached, my brothers who brought us down to our sent, the words of God spoken as we listened, the back drop of the majestic mountains with the royal cross in front of it, and banquet table set and ready for all of us to partake and share in the body and blood of Christ, the smoldering fire that filled our nostrils as a pleasing aroma and sacrifice to the Lord, the benches filled with the redeemed and the restored, waiting and anticipating on what the Lord had in store for us, the roses, the tear jars, the royal adornments (scarves) the crown of glory and the anointing, the Lord’s Supper when we all shared the gift of the body and blood of Christ! 

Dear Brothers and Sisters who gave your time, effort and love, I love each and every one of you and appreciate all of your loving kindness and tenderness on such a delicate subject as abortion. I was given a little glimpse into what God’s love is like and would consider it a privilege to serve with all of you at some point in whatever capacity that you will give to me. 

Karen, I love you my sister for this, the task that you have taken on for the love of Jesus for the grieving and the broken hearted. We were all healed and restored this weekend. The tangible symbol of the bears gave me a place and a clear picture that my babies are in the arms of Jesus. I know that one day we will all be reunited with them in Glory!! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!!

Thank you Jesus for finally putting to rest any questions or doubts about my salvation!! Hallelujah!!”

Because of your prayers, captives are being set free!  Thank you for praying to free the abortion wounded hearts of men and women like the one who wrote this testimony.  We are so thankful for all the prayer warriors who hold this ministry up in prayer!  Happy Thanksgiving!  

Bring On the Firetruck!

“The Lord will guide you always;

He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.”  Isaiah 58:11

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you guide Deeper Still always and you satisfy all our needs and strengthen our frame.  We thank You that the ministry of Deeper Still is like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Judy Townsend, a Deeper Still Ministry team member and the head of the budding Illinois Deeper Still Chapter, shared a word the Lord revealed to her about the October retreat.  The Lord showed her:

“ water..moving water..it began as as small bubbling spout and then eventually moved to a geyser with powerful force and this was the "ammo" used to break the chains and fight the battle.” 

Water by itself it is just a puddle that varies in size.  However, when wind is mixed with water, it can become a force to be reckoned with on a grandiose scale.  The Holy Spirit is the wind that moves God’s people and brings the power to destroy the chains of bondage.

 

The ladies that came to the Deeper Still Retreat were sun-scorched.  They were in need of the Living Water that would revive their souls and flood their heart.  They were also in need of the Wind mixed with the water that would violently fight on their behalf and break every chain.

 

One participant wrote at the end of the retreat:

“The wreckage of my past had left my life in flames.  I was trying to put it out with water guns.  Last weekend, the fire truck arrived!  There may be small areas still smoldering, but the water is still flowing.”

Just as the Lord showed Judy, the water started small but then gushed forth mightily to quench the flames ignited by past wreckage.  The Living Water never runs out and those who drink of it will never be thirsty.  May it continue to flow in the lives of these ladies, making them a well-watered garden whose springs never fail.