4Winds: Happy Birthday, Danna!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Happy Birthday, Danna!

Today is the 36th Birthday of one of the most amazing people I've ever known.

A few years ago, Danna was a nurse and single mother of a special needs son.

As Danna struggled to keep up with life, she began to use meth to keep herself going. Soon she was not just using it, but cooking it and selling it.

As I said, she is an amazing woman, and she managed to keep it together for much longer than most people would be able to do.

But, Danna was more than just a typical meth addict, she became a powerful and mighty servant of darkness and an enemy of Jesus Christ and His church. Unless you understand how very, very real are the great spiritual battles going on all around us, you cannot begin to understand what I'm saying.

But, as the Bible tells us, while we were enemies of God, He loved us so much He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for us!

God passionately loved Danna, just as He does all of us sinners - and God miraculously began to work in Danna's life - and when I say miraculously, I mean in ways most people could not believe if they were told.

Eventually, Danna ended up in court over drugs, with everyone wanting to send her to prison and to, of course, take her child.

Instead of the judge sentencing Danna to prison as everyone expected, she "sentenced" her to Wings of Freedom - and the rest is "HIS-story"!

Danna, by the power of Jesus Christ and with the help of Wings of Freedom, got her life squared away and is now a "House Mother" for Wings, a wonderful mother to her son, Trenton, a great nurse and a powerful and mighty servant of Jesus Christ and His Church.

Danna has such a heart for people and is SO kind and loving and such and encourager - yet, she is SO bold in her faith! Or maybe fearless in her faith is a better way to say it!

And, Danna is a powerful, powerful intercessory prayer warrior! I know if I find myself is a spiritual battle, I want Danna to have my back!

I am blessed and humbled to call her my friend - and my sister in Christ - and to be able to serve beside her and the 100s of other amazing people at Wings of Freedom and God's Shining Light Church!

Happy Birthday, Danna! I know with all my heart that God has wonderful, amazing plans for you in this year and in the years to come!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Jim

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How to Find Jesus

GOD LOVES YOU AND WANT TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU!

The BIBLE says… "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIV).
"This is good and pleases God our Savior, for he wants everyone to be saved and to come to understand the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4, NASB).

OUR DILEMMA
The problem is that people choose to disobey God and go their own way. This results in separation from God. The BIBLE says… "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, NIV).

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2, NIV).

CHRIST’S DELIVERANCE
God sent His Son to make the way for you and I to come back to God. Christ did this by paying the penalty for our sins when He died on the cross and rose from the grave. The BIBLE says… "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, NIV).

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…" (1 Timothy 2:5, NIV).

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23 NIV).

YOUR DECISION
You take the step to come into relationship with God, to become a Child of God, when confess Christ as Savior and Lord. The BIBLE says… "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12, NIV).

"That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9, NIV).

HOW TO ACCEPT CHRIST AS SAVIOR AND LORD

A. Admit that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness.

B. Believe that Jesus died for your sins on the cross and rose from the dead.

C. Confess Jesus as your Savior and Lord (use the suggested confession of faith below).

"God, I admit that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, your living Son. I want to turn from my sins, to be forgiven of my sins and to accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you, God. Amen."

Decide to follow Jesus for the rest of your life.
An example of this would be to get baptized right away.

Why Be Baptized?

1. To follow the EXAMPLE set by Jesus.
"At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan" (Mark 1:9, NIV).

2. Because Jesus COMMANDED it.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."
(Matthew 28:19-20, NIV).

3. It DEMONSTRATES belief in action.
"…many…who heard him believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8, NIV).

4. It ILLUSTRATES what saves us.
"Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Romans 6:3-4, NIV).

Key Scriptures to Read Acts 22:16; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21; Galatians 3:26-27

If you have failed in following Christ and you are sorry and ready to come back to Him, what must you do?

1. Confess your sins (1 John 1:9)

2. Surrender your life to Christ in the following areas:

Read your Bible daily (Colossians 3:16; Psalm 119:11).
Pray daily (Philippians 4:6, 7; 1 Peter 5:7).
Attend church weekly (Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 20:7).
Become part of a Bible study fellowship (Acts 2:46, 47).
Find an area in which to serve (1 Peter 4:10, 11; Romans 12:4-8).

3. Rely daily on the power of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-25).

As you begin to grow closer to God, you will begin to see the fruit of the Spirit being developed in your life (Galatians 5:22-23).

Perhaps you can identify one or more aspects of the fruit of the Spirit which are lacking in your life. Are you ready to ask God to work in you to help you grow toward Christ-likeness? If so, you may want to pray the following prayer or a similar one:

"Heavenly Father, I want to be like Jesus. I commit myself to you and ask you to work in my life to develop the fruit of the Spirit so I may become more mature in my faith."

Monday, April 19, 2010

Happy Birthday, Danna!

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Jim Rutherford

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