GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU!!!!

I believe this scripture which the Lord has given me for 2016 applies to many of us. 
Be encouraged. 

God has not forgotten you.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (Amplified) "Do not remember the former things, or ponder the things of the past. 'Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.'"

Many of us have been to hell and back through the season in which God has taken us through by His grace. But I tell you the truth, He is giving us a brand new beginning. Some of it was to burn up the past. Did you know there is a pine/spruce/fir which will only reproduce if its pine cones are burned? It's a bit like popcorn. It feels horrible to be peeled like a potato and then split in half!

But God, in His lavish love for us will not separate Himself from us; no matter what, through Christ Jesus. And just as the pine cone, He has burned up our tree to make the new seed drop into the soil of our hearts where He shall create new life. Get ready! Get ready!
WORD FOR 2016

Ever yours in His love and mine,
Crista

INTO HIS IMAGE

INTO HIS IMAGE (Col. 3:10)

I see myself with Jesus;
We’re walking Hand in hand,
Along the paths and trails of life;
Across the green field land.
He is the Shepherd of my heart
Who leads me every day;
To pastures green and waters still;
Because, He Is The Way.
He knows when to hold me close,
Or let me run so free;
For this one thing I know for sure:
He’s never forsaken me.
Oh yes, there’s times I feel alone;
Times I feel afraid;
Yet, this one thing I know for sure;
He’s never forsaken me.
The enemy, he has pounded -
Against my mind and soul,
But Jesus ever held me close;
In Him, I am made whole.
At times I falter, at times I fail,
And the enemy seeks his gain;
Yet he has never conquered,
No matter how intense my pain.
For Jesus Is My Refuge;
My Anchor in the storm;
He Is My Precious Savior;
When I am weak and worn;
Who walks beside me in the fire
As He forms this piece of clay;
Into His Image made with His Hands;
He’s with me all the way.
~So, no matter the storms of life
And trials which ensue;
For it’s the narrow gate
And straitened path
Which make me look like You.
~To yield to You, and You, Alone,
Is the least that I can do.
~Crista Simmons 4/4/07

Dearly Beloved....as the Lord gave me this poem, it occurred to me that the word "trial" and "trail" are so similar in spelling, yet so very different in meaning. Reverse the ai-ia combination and voila!...a different word. But it is on the trails of life that we experience the trials, also. The "straitened" path means compressed by pressure...."The Winepress of Heaven"....to squeeze the flesh out of us...so that He may fill us with His new wine. Wine is only produced through pressure. Through the pressures on the trails of our lives, may we be filled with His new wine....the image of Christ....for His Glory. We must decrease....He must increase....Be blessed today.

A Rose in Winter

"A Rose in Winter"

Crista Simmons 9/24/15

"Come with Me as we make our way through the waist deep, soft, fluffy snow."

The air is crisp; our breath hanging like lace curtains against a backdrop of sunlit blue sky.

"Come with Me, for I have a surprise for you; something you would never think you would ever see during a season such as this."

"Come over here, My love.  I know the fierce winter winds which have howled against your soul like a pack of hyenas closing in for their kill.

I know it is difficult to find food in the frozen earth below,

yet your body was not ready for such a hearty fill.

So I opened My hand to allow you to eat the tiny grains of mustard seed ;

cupped and protected for you only.

You have felt helpless and alone, with no where to go.

But I tell you the truth, I have never left your side; even when you thought I wasn't there.

Look before you, My love.

Do you see this gorgeous pink rose?

Roses don't normally grow in winter, do they.

See how tender it's petals are.

Look at its diamonds sparkling in the sun."

"This is IMPOSSIBLE!," you exclaim.

"I want you to look very closely, My love; for this is how I see you. 

The tender, soft petals represent your heart.

The diamonds are the tears which I've seen you cry when you thought no one was watching.

You are a beautiful, radiant rose who has endured this winter of your life.

For you are far more beautiful to Me than you think you are.

Yet it is My loving and never-ending thoughts of you

 which consume Me with every beat of My heart.

I AM your Faithful and True Lover of your heart and soul.

I hold your heart as tenderly in My hands as you would a fallen bird.

You look upon the beauty of this rose in disbelief.

You are astounded, and with tears softly trailing down your cheeks,

you can only wonder how this can be.

It is because nothing is impossible with Me.

I AM THE ONE who makes you whole.

I AM THE ONE who gives you beauty for your ashes.

I AM THE ONE who tenderly wraps you in My garment of praise for your spirit of heaviness.

I AM THE ONE who has delivered you.

I AM THE ONE who loves you with an everlasting love, and nothing, absolutely nothing, separates you from My love; both for now and forever.

You My Precious child are My Rose in Winter."
Your Forever Love,
Jesus

THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF LOVE IN AND THROUGH THE LIFE OF EVERY BELIEVER IN CHRIST!

Bob Jones, a true prophet of God, passed away this year on Valentine's Day. I have had the privilege of seeing him in person and hearing Bob speak. He was an unassuming man with a quiet, humble, loving and gentle demeanor.

I encourage you to read the following posting in how Bob Jones described his time in heaven in 2006. While there, Jesus asked Bob, "Did you learn to love?" This is a very sobering message and wake-up call to THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST. The Lord took Bob to Heaven to show him the importance of love and choosing various gods which professing Believers served.

James 3:20-21 "For if our hearts condemns us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God." (NKJV)

And at the end of 1 Cor. 12 where the Apostle Paul was speaking to them about spiritual gifts and being one in Christ in His Body, He wrote at the end of Chap. 12:31 "But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the highest gifts and the choicest graces). And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all -- love]. Then he writes the "love chapter" in 1 Cor. 13 and ends it by stating, "And so faith, hope , love abide [faith-conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love-true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest is love." (Amp.)

Gal. 5:6 "For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accounts for anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love."

The two greatest commandments are to love God first and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And that INCLUDES blessing those who curse us and loving our enemies.

Matt. 6:44-45 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for thosse who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;...."

"Dear Father God, Please change me into the image of Your Son who shines with the glory of Your love so that You may be glorified on the earth.  Amen"

2006 Bob Jones Prophecy Still Stirs Many

charismamag.com

Prophet Bob Jones passed away earlier this month, but some of his prophetic words are still impacting those who followed his ministry.

Herald of His Kingdom

Saints, 
This is the website link of my dear and precious friend, Clo DiPilato. I pray you are blessed by what you "taste and see". Oh, that I had all the time I wanted to chew on every morsel offered here. Be sure that Clo, who is especially gifted in the prophetic, has gone through the fire and emerged in the declarative power of the Holy Ghost. 
Blessings always,
Crista 

http://www.heraldofhiskingdom.com/index.html

WE ARE VICTORS IN CHRIST! THE LORD MIGHTY IN BATTLE!

I had a series of 3 dreams last night that I feel led to share with you:
Dream #1 - Dreamed I was in a sanctuary where the True Gospel was being preached. Someone had brought his mother w/ him and I happened to come nearby. She was all huffy, b/c she deemed her religious beliefs more correct than what she'd just heard about confession of sin, repentance and then inviting Jesus into our heart and lives. And then I looked her square in the eye and said very firmly, "If you do not take heed to what you just heard, then you have sealed your fate in hell." And then I walked away.

Dream #2: I was standing in the hallway listening to a conversation w/ three other people, one of whom confessed to being a Christian. Then the topic of Darwinism came up for discussion, and I turned and left the group. The man who claimed to be a Christian ran up to me and asking why I left the group. And I just told him that I was not listening to that hogwash....And I knew in my spirit that he knew in his spirit that I was right; which led to this man's conviction and repentance before God.

Dream #3 There were two men, one with a gun who intended to shoot and kill me. At the end, the man without the gun had bowed his heart before heaven, repented and asked Jesus to be his Savior - while the man with the gun fled.

Saints, we ARE in the last days and we need to be fully equipped with the sword of the Spirit in season and out, b/c there is so much nonsense flying around out there.  And we MUST be prepared at all times to put the enemy to flight; binding him and casting him out by the power in the Name of Jesus Christ and by the shed Blood of the Lamb! And then to pray the Holy Spirit into that situation. We are to bind the spirits of darkness over the unsaved and situations where the devil and his demons are causing problems, stress and strife in another Believer. We are to PRAY THE PRAYER OF BINDING AND LOOSING BY THE POWER IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH AND BY THE SHED BLOOD OF THE LAMB!

Sometimes it is easy to say, "I will pray for you", and then forget to pray for them...when what they really need is a Holy Ghost filled prayer right now in Jesus' Name. We are so in need of sharing a rhema word and power filled prayer from the Holy Ghost to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ to encourage their faith and intercede for them when they are exhausted and need our faith; for a strand of three cords is not easily broken.

One of my Sisters in Christ was at a retreat and the leader said, "Look at your neighbor and tell them 'You Are About To Come Out." So I turned to my Sister who was just going through so much hell at the time, looked her square in the eye, and proclaimed, "You ARE about to come out!" She began to tear up, b/c she needed that rhema word from the Lord. Then a couple months later as I was praying for her, the Holy Spirit said, "You tell her that her breakthrough is just around the corner." Another rhema word given to her. And do you know, I think it was about two weeks, when her burdens, shackles and chains came off and she was praising the Lord from whom all blessings flow. Now, after coming through all that fire, she is a powerful woman of God, filled with the Holy Ghost who is victorious in Christ!

Cast out and break off those demons in the power of Jesus' Name and by the power of His Blood! And if you need someone to pray for you, ask God to help you in your time of trouble. "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear." Is. 59:1
Listen to this Gospel hymn the Holy Spirit wants you to hear and take into your spirit. 
He loves you so much and lifts you this day in His love.
Jesus, before we close today, I ask You to lay Your hands upon each of Your servants reading this posting.  I pray You anoint each person afresh and send Your rhema word into their life.  Thank You.  In Your blessed Name we pray.  Amen and Amen.  And we vow to give You all the praise, honor and glory.
God's Blessings to you this day,
Crista~
Num. 6:24-26
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbE3Rmfhtz4

Come to Me

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My hyoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blesses quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne." Matt. 11:28-30

I invite you to listen to John Michael Talbot sing this scripture.
Be blessed. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjEtuJK1PpI