Hi Everyone,

Due to my personal health issues and the challenges of dealing with them, I’ve decided to close down the ministry. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that metastasized to my liver early last month, and I’ve decided not to undergo the usual treatment of chemotherapy and radiation.

Since I fully believe God is bigger than anything I’m dealing with, I’m focused on natural healing, which will be an awesome testimony and glorification for My Lord! However, that requires using all of my personal resources, especially my finances-natural healing turns out to be quite expensive. I’m also weak and no longer have the energy it takes to run the ministry the way I’m used to doing. It’s been a great privilege and honor knowing that so many of you have been touched by FAMM over the years and I’ll come back in some way once I’m better. I’m standing very firmly on God’s promise that it will be done to me according to my faith, and I KNOW that because I’ve seen Him perform so many miracles in my life, and God is NOT a liar!

Please keep me in your prayers as I stand in faith and obedience on the power and promise of God’s Word! I love and appreciate you all!

It’s impossible to find words to adequately express my awe and wonder as God miraculously and ever so faithfully redirected and changed my life and future this past week! In fact, I was so excited at the beginning of the week that I couldn’t sleep for two nights because I just couldn’t get over what God did on my behalf!

As I’ve shared here over the past seventeen months, God has moved very powerfully to redirect my life and future, using a few speedbumps along the way to keep me in the center of HIS plan and will. There was no way to imagine God’s ultimate outcome in the midst of so many upheavals and challenges, but I never stopped trusting Him and believing He would make a way where there seemed to be no way, which is EXACTLY what He did and then some!!!

As I’ve previously shared, even though several people were interested in buying my house in Tallahassee over the past seventeen months, nothing ever materialized. Meanwhile, my credit cards stopped offering zero interest balance transfers and I was approaching the end of my original promotional zero interest rates. But I refused to “worry” and counted on God to help before I’d have to start paying so much in interest. In the end, I put almost twenty-five thousand dollars on zero interest credit cards to facilitate my move and the repairs/renovations for my new house, so I’d naturally second guess my decision to do that from time to time. But I’d always dismiss such thoughts and give it all back to God as I did my best to manage the credit card payments. In fact, God blessed me tremendously in that regard when a FAM member who’s been part of our FAM family for years started tithing a significant amount to the ministry each month!

Then I discovered in October that a house down the street from my Tallahassee house had sold for quite a bit more than houses had been selling for in the area, so I decided to just list the house. However, believe it or not, two different agencies I contacted and spoke to weren’t the least bit interested in listing the house, which really surprised me! Then my efforts to contact the agent who listed the house down the street went nowhere until I finally asked a FAM member who sells real estate in the Atlanta area if she could get the information for me, which she did! That was ALL God too because she wanted to give up on selling real estate after not passing the test for her license twice, and I told her she couldn’t do that!

Well, that ended up being the ONLY agent who could have helped sell my house for as much as it sold for last Friday since he knew a handyman who was able to make some needed repairs at a VERY reasonable price I could afford! As always with God, the timing was perfect! I was getting so frustrated trying to maintain the property (especially since it was time to start getting the yard mowed again) and paying the mortgage payments that I was ready to give the house back to the mortgage company with a deed in lieu of foreclosure and had made up my mind that I wasn’t going to make another mortgage payment after April 1st!

The short version of my praise and testimony is that once I had someone to make the main repair needed at the house, I was motivated to present it in the best possible condition and ended up sinking about three thousand dollars into the house over a month’s time! Then it was listed on MLS last Friday. I still don’t know where the money to do that came from other than what I charged, so that was ALL GOD too!!!

One of my concerns when listing the house was that some of the work and renovations I made over the years were likely done without permits (even though I always hired licensed contractors); I wasn’t concerned about it at the time since I intended to live there until I died. So the morning the listing went on MLS, I just told God that He knew my concern about that and that I trusted Him to work it all out. I refinanced the house in late 2017 and nothing came up then, so I was hopeful that I’d be able to sell it without a problem, and once I gave it to God, I let it go. Even though my agent got the listing and pictures (shown here) online early Friday morning, he didn’t get the sign and lockbox in place until later in the morning. He told me later that the sign didn’t have time to get hot in the sun before he had a cash offer slightly under list price on his desk! Not only was it a cash offer, the buyer is also paying for all closing costs other than the real estate commission and doc stamps—so he’s even paying some of the costs I’d normally have to pay! I had another full price offer, but it was for an FHA loan and the buyer wanted me to pay my closing costs plus two thousand dollars of her costs, up to a thousand dollars in repairs and for a home warranty. Needless to say, I took the cash offer; especially since the buyer acknowledged that work might have been done without permits and assumes all responsibility for that! WHO could have done that but GOD!!!

In addition to having my house sold and closing by the end of the month, I’ll be able to pay off my credit cards and make some much needed and wanted improvements at my new house! And I won’t be making another payment past the one I made last month! I’ll also be able to pay off the zero-interest balance on one of my credit cards that ends this month! Again, no one could have done all of this but God, so there’s no way to praise and thank Him enough for His love, faithfulness and provision!!! It all still seems surreal!

When I look back and think of how Hurricane Hermine and the corruption it exposed in our local government made me want to leave my home for the first time, the theft of my generator and the ensuing nightmare, how I found and was able to buy my new house and was referred to a man to do the repairs (whose family has now become like family to me), how all of my efforts to sell my home on my own failed, how I finally connected with the ONLY real estate agent who could have helped sell my house for so much more than I was willing to take, the truly great friends who helped me get back and forth to Tallahassee and get my house and yard ready to put on the market and the awesome buyer and offer I received on my house, I can’t help being in TOTAL awe of God’s awesome power and greatness! I love my new home and life and have no doubt this is what God had planned for me all along; He just had to “nudge” me a bit to get me here! So it’s my most sincere hope and prayer that you’ll all learn to see that God really is at work in the midst of your circumstance and only wants to give you something so much better than you already have; just trust and obey Him and HE WILL GET YOU THERE!!!

While most Christians never imagined the celebration and glorification of abortion and the legalization of infanticide that’s spreading across our country, it’s happening because so many “Christians in name only” voted for Democrats in the last election knowing full well they’d do exactly what they’ve done. Such people shouldn’t expect God to hear or answer their prayers for marriage restoration or anything else because they’re an abomination to Him according to Proverbs 28:9 (NKJV), which says, One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. Make no mistake, God hates abortion and the shedding of innocent blood is an abomination to Him as declared in Proverbs 6:16-19 (NKJV):
16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
Since everything on the above list of things God hates and declares an abomination apply to those promoting and attempting to justify abortion and legalized infanticide, it’s entirely reasonable and biblically sound to question who their spiritual father is, especially in light of what Jesus said in John 8:42-44 (NKJV):
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Jesus went even further in John 8:47 (NKJV) and explained why People pushing abortion and legalized infanticide scoff and reject Christians and the Bible when He said, He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

So, whether they believe it or not, professing Christians who voted for Democrats and other legislators supporting abortion have the innocent blood of millions of unborn babies on their hands and will ultimately suffer the consequence described in 2 Peter 2:1-2 (NKJV):
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Reading the above Scripture, I’m struck by the truth and significance of the last part because that’s exactly what we’ve seen happening in our country for quite some time now…so many people have been misled and deceived because of whom the way of truth has been blasphemed. Wow, talk about Scripture that’s relevant in today’s world, that really is!

However, Jesus clearly warned against the danger of false prophets and even told us how to know them in Matthew 7:15-23 (NKJV) when He said:
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
That’s why knowing the truth is the only way to be saved from Satan’s deadly deception as stated in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 (NKJV):
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
God further revealed the importance of knowing the truth in His written Word in 2 Timothy 3:13 (NKJV), which says:
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Then in Luke 6:46 (NKJV), Jesus indicated that anyone who does NOT DO as His Word instructs shouldn’t bother calling on Him when He asked, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? He then illustrated what He meant by describing what happens to those who hear His Word and act accordingly and then what happens to those who hear His Word and don’t act accordingly in Luke 6:47-49 (NKJV):
47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

While there aren’t many things the supporters and opponents of abortion agree on, there’s one thing on which we probably all agree; very little divides the American people and our country more than abortion. So it’s not surprising that Jesus also warned us about the diabolically destructive danger of division in Mark 3:22-26 (NKJV), which says:
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.
That was also stated in Matthew 12:25 (NKJV), which says, But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

Since the best antidote for Satan’s lies, wickedness and deception is irrefutable truth, it’s important to know that within six weeks of fertilization of the mother’s egg, an unborn baby has a heartbeat and his or her own blood type and DNA and is already miraculously developed as described in great detail here. So, even very early abortions involve the shedding of innocent blood, and the frequent description of the countless millions of babies that have been ruthlessly murdered as “blobs of tissue” is a lie straight from the pit of hell! In fact, we now know that even before the end of the first trimester, babies cry and feel pain. And then well before the end of the second trimester and weeks BEFORE the legal limit on abortion in most states, babies can and have survived being born prematurely during the twenty-first week of pregnancy. That’s proven by the miraculous survival of Lyla Stensrud, the youngest known surviving premature baby! There’s also Amillia Taylor, another one of the youngest and tiniest surviving premature babies ever born! Additionally, one of my best friends growing up was born prematurely at five months and blind because she was given too much oxygen while in the hospital. I also have two friends whose babies were born prematurely and weighed one pound at birth; yet they’re both now totally normal and healthy young adults!

After decades of lies and deception, most Americans were truly shocked and horrified when the depravity and wickedness at the heart of the abortion movement was laid bare by Virginia’s Governor Ralph Northam when they heard him seriously describe and attempt to justify legalized infanticide. He was clearly lying through his teeth because as Delegate Kathy Tran was forced to admit in a committee hearing, her proposed abortion bill repealed the requirement for certification by multiple physicians in the abortion process and would have virtually allowed abortion for any reason up to delivery–or even beyond according to Governor Northam. Thankfully, Delegate Tran’s proposed bill isn’t law in Virginia today since it failed to pass out of committee by ONE SINGLE VOTE! And that life-saving vote was only possible because Republicans barely kept control of Virginia’s House of Delegates when a tied election was broken by drawing the Republican candidate’s name out of a bowl!!! But that won’t keep Democrat legislators in Vermont and other states from passing similar or worse abortion bills into law as they did in New York! Let’s face it, the Democrats’ craven support for Planned Parenthood and all things abortion have pretty much been bought and paid for by Planned Parenthood and related lobbyists and abortion rights groups. For instance, in his 2017 campaign for governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam received almost two million dollars in donations from Planned Parenthood according to the non-partisan Virginia Public Access Project. In fact, Planned Parenthood also funded the 2017 campaigns of other top Democrats in Virginia, including Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring, along with donations to Delegate Kathy Tran and others as spelled out here. It’s sad to say, but when money and lobbyists talk, morals and ethics walk, and a simple search on the internet would most likely reveal very similar Planned Parenthood donations to leading Democrats around the country. . So, the ONLY way to stop or reverse the scourge of abortion that’s overtaken our country is to stop electing Democrats and everyone who supports abortion or refuses to stand against the legalization of infanticide as forty-four US Senators did yesterday! Otherwise, untold millions of healthy babies thriving and growing in their mothers’ wombs as described here will suffer deaths and inhumane treatment far worse than what’s lawfully prohibited for animals!

Finally, I want to speak to women who have had abortions in the past and still live with a terrible sense of guilt, shame and regret. I’ve counseled FAM members who previously fell prey to Satan’s lies and aborted their babies, and without exception, they all lived to regret doing that and never got over it. So I encouraged them to name their baby, have a private memorial service, confess their sin to God and repent and take comfort knowing that their precious baby is with God. Unfortunately, some judgmental self-righteous Christians consider some sins greater than others; however, that’s not true according to James 2:10, which declares, For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. So it’s not biblically correct to consider some sins worse than others…when Jesus died on the Cross, He died for ALL of our sin and cleansed us from ALL unrighteousness. Thankfully, we ALL have God’s Word that when we walk according to the Spirit and no longer walk according to the flesh, there’s no condemnation in Christ Jesus for our past sins as declared in Romans 8:1-4 (NKJV), which says:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
So please don’t reject what Jesus did for you at Calvary; He forgave you, now you have to forgive yourself and walk in the power of His grace and love. In the eyes of God, your abortion is no greater sin than any other; including lying, coveting, dishonoring our parents, gossip, dissension and backbiting–just for starters. In the same way the devil deceived you into thinking it was okay to take the life of your unborn baby, he now wants to keep you in bondage to the guilt and shame you feel. So pick yourself up and walk in the victory Jesus Christ makes possible by treading the devil under your feet; he is a liar and the father of all lies and no longer has power in your life and heart unless you give it to him!

Since I know it’s always encouraging to hear about another restored marriage, I want to share a note I received from a visitor to our public website. It means a great deal to know that God is using FAMM’s public site to help bless and encourage folks I don’t even know, especially with such an awesome, God glorifying outcome, so I want to publicly thank this woman for taking the time to share her testimony for God’s glory and your encouragement!

*****
I just wanted to say thank you for this ministry. I read over it several times when I was seperated from my husband and it was an encouragement to me. We were restored last year after eighteen months of separation; what seemed impossible God did and we didn’t even have any children.

Feel free to share this testimony with anyone it could help, but with the names confidential.

God bless you.

All day yesterday, I felt almost overwhelmed with gratitude and thanksgiving to God for my new home and that I wouldn’t have to endure another hurricane, especially one like Hurricane Michael! God really has blessed me, and on days like yesterday, I appreciate His goodness to me more than words can say! Since my new home, neighbors and neighborhood have turned out to be blessings beyond anything I ever expected, it’s way past time to share the “rest of the story” about my move and new home with regular visitors to our public website.

The moving process ended up being a lot more challenging than I thought it would be because this was the first time I moved without the benefit of vision, which I just hadn’t thought of. So all of my carefully labelled boxes didn’t do a bit of good since I couldn’t read them…LOL! Therefore, I found myself in the midst of organized chaos and really felt like a fish out of water. Then on top of that, even though my family and friends who checked out the house for me knew I wouldn’t knowingly buy a house with trees near the house, there were six oak trees around eighty-five feet tall in the backyard right behind my bedroom window! And the Pecan tree I was so excited about was old and no longer bearing fruit, so I ultimately had them all removed and was excited about starting with a clean slate as far as the yard goes, other than one Live Oak tree that can’t be removed according to a local ordinance. However, I had it cut back to the main trunk and down to twenty feet high. Then I had all of those trees chipped up and spread throughout the backyard, which ended up being another challenge since it’s MUCH easier to put wood chips in AFTER trees are planted than it is to put trees in after the wood chips. However, I did get a few fruit trees and at least started the process of transforming my new yard the way I did in Tallahassee. I also discovered that I have a lot of clay soil here, which is very different than dealing with sandy soil since that’s a lot easier to amend. My final yard frustration has been dealing with the litter from my neighbor’s two HUGE Sycamore trees! I don’t know why anyone would ever want a Sycamore tree, and she has two of them! That makes it virtually impossible to mow my own front yard because it’s not just ankle deep in leaves, there are small limbs and long strips of thick, papery curled bark, which I can’t clean and which are not good for my little battery operated mowers. They’re a MESS plain and simple! While they drop a few leaves here and there throughout the year (usually with rain storms and windy conditions), the worst of it started in late August, and I’m told they’ll keep falling this way through the end of the month. So I finally put in a call to the man who removed my other trees to see how much he’ll charge to take down the Sycamore trees, which my neighbor doesn’t like any more than I do but can’t afford to remove.

With all that said, God couldn’t have put me in a better place to live! My house was totally renovated on the inside, including gutting and remodeling the kitchen, replacing and upgrading everything in the main bathroom but the bathtub, installing the same new flooring I put down in Tallahassee throughout the house, refinishing the walls and ceilings and painting the interior, new interior doors, baseboards, outlets and switches, new ceiling fans and light fixtures throughout the house, installing a sliding glass door out to the backyard (which is now privacy fenced) and many other updates and upgrades too numerous to mention. So I LOVE my new house and I’m truly blessed to have wonderful neighbors who keep an eye on me; one even mows my front yard for me! But the most amazing thing of all is how close I am to everything, which was the only reason I bought the house sight unseen! And right before retiring after thirty years, my former mobility instructor from Tallahassee was able to come over to give me a few mobility lessons, so I can walk to Publix, Subway, Little Caesars Pizza, Burger King, Dairy Queen, a local barbecue place, Dollar General, Save-A-Lot and a few other places! That’s a very significant life change for me, especially since they’re all so close and EASY to get to! There’s even a credit union caddy corner across the street from my house! So I have no doubt God intended to put me right where I am because had I known about those trees in my back yard and the mess those Sycamore trees would create, I never would have bought this house and would have most likely still been living in Tallahassee when Hurricane Michael hit yesterday. So I thank God that HE had a much better plan for me and kept me from thwarting it had I known about all those trees…LOL!!!

I haven’t been able to reach any of my former neighbors to find out how they are and how the neighborhood fared, but I hope to be able to do that soon. It might be days before they have power and cell phone service again, but from what I hear, Tallahassee was spared the worst of what they were expecting because Michael went more North than East after making landfall. My thoughts and prayers are with all of them as they wait for their lives to get back to normal, and those who lost loved ones, their homes and businesses in the hardest hit areas will remain in my thoughts and prayers as I count my blessings. Their lives will never be the same again, and I pray for God to use this time to draw all of them into a close walk and relationship with Him, which often happens in such devastating circumstances. So let’s keep them all in our prayers.

Even though several people have expressed an interest in buying my house in Tallahassee, they haven’t come through in the end, so I’m going to list it with a realtor next week. Thankfully, I’ve been able to transfer my zero interest credit card balances as needed, and can manage the debt and ultimately get it paid off as long as the credit card companies keep offering the same terms. In any case, God knew all of this was going to happen and has it all covered, and He did exactly what it took to get me moved, for which I’m exceedingly grateful! He has provided for every need and then some, and made a way where there seemed to be no way in my natural! So I see God’s hand in orchestrating the changes in my life over the past couple of years, and while I would have preferred not to experience some of the things I did, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome! But that’s exactly how God works; He creates circumstances that push us into the ultimate direction and plan HE has for our lives, and even though we don’t enjoy getting there, we’re all very thankful when we do! We’re blessed to see how He does that in the lives and marriages of our members all the time, so the best thing any of us can do is to learn the character and nature of God and who we are in Jesus Christ by reading His written Word! That’s the ONLY way to have the faith needed to stand through the difficult times and experience the ultimate blessing God has in store for those who trust and obey Him!

Hello Everyone!

I’m very excited and happy to share with the regular visitors to our public site that I’ll be moving to my new home this Saturday! As I shared a few months ago, due to safety concerns and other considerations, I bought a new home last November that needed quite a bit of repair and renovating before I could move in, and requested your financial help to do that. So I want to share an update and how God has blessed me in the past few months!

First, I’m very grateful and thankful to the people who sent a total of six hundred dollars to help finance the repairs needed and my move to my new home! I’m also thankful that I had very good credit and was able to take advantage of several zero interest offers on my credit cards to finance the rest of it! As often happens, the cost of repairs and renovations were quite a bit more than expected, so I owe almost twenty thousand dollars and would still greatly appreciate your help paying that off. And I still haven’t resolved what I’m going to do with my current home, but the lady who initially knocked on my door the day I bought it is still in the picture since they didn’t buy the other house after all. So I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to come to some kind of arrangement that’s mutually beneficial this week. That would help pay off some of the credit cards, and then I should be able to get a small mortgage on the new house to pay off the rest. In any case, I know God has all of that in His hands!

Also, the young man who stole my generator is back in jail and probably won’t be out for many, many years to come! I don’t know if it was because of my conversation with the deputy who came to look at my security cameras after a burglary across the street or something else, but they got a search warrant soon after that, which led to many more serious charges being filed against him. In fact, the charges are so serious now that his public legal representation was bumped up to criminal attorneys and investigators instead of a public defender, and he’s facing up to sixty-five years in jail. The new charges against him now include at least two home burglaries, multiple counts of grand theft, dealing in stolen property and pawn fraud. I also learned through my deposition that their defense was going to be that I have so many people coming in and out of my house that anyone could have stolen my generator, which explains why the other guy kept pestering me for work! But that defense wasn’t going to work since everything they had “assumed” isn’t true…AND certainly wouldn’t explain why he had my generator when the police went there! I also learned that he literally tried to sell my generator to the next door neighbor that Sunday afternoon! Needless to say, his bond was revoked and he went back to jail on the first of December, and since no bail is allowed now, I feel much safer! I truly believe he’s part of a criminal network, and hope for the sake of my current neighborhood and neighbors that they’ll scatter since the only hope Enrique has of getting a shorter sentence when all is said and done is if he rats them out! So I’m really glad I didn’t back down when a deputy tried to talk me into doing that for my own sake, which I wouldn’t do because I knew he’d just keep on stealing from other people, and I was right. So as I considered a possibility, God might have used all of this just to get me to move since I wouldn’t have done so otherwise. And thanks to very serious ongoing FBI investigations, it looks like the corruption that’s taken over our local government will soon be brought to an end too, which was my initial reason for wanting to move! That makes me even more excited about my move because I know God’s up to something, and with God, it’s ALWAYS something good!!!

Another HUGE praise is how God IMMEDIATELY answered prayers for His help and grace packing! I’ve struggled with asthma for quite a few years now, and for some reason, it was rearing its ugly head every time I exerted myself in any way, which was making it very difficult to start packing up for my move. I was initially planning to move right after the first of this month, but things still needed to be done at my new house and I wasn’t making much progress packing. It was so bad one day last week that I had a talk with God about it and asked several people I talked to that day to pray for me as well. To my utter delight and awe, God was (as He ALWAYS is) ever so faithful! And after only being able to pack one or two boxes in a single day, I packed seven boxes the next day and haven’t stopped! So I’ll definitely have everything packed up and ready to go this Saturday!

Finally, one of my goals after getting settled into my new home is dedicating time to writing some new Seeds Of Faith posts, which I want to do in response to the false teachings I’ve seen permeating through some other marriage restoration ministries. So stay tuned!

Thank you all for your prayers, well wishes and financial support! And may the Lord bless you with His very best!

Linda Wattu

Note from Linda: Dan posted this on the private website yesterday, and since it’s so profound and a truly important principle for all of us to grasp as we wait for God’s Word to be manifested in our lives and marriages, I included it in the “Restoration Principles” section of the private site and asked his permission to share it here! So I hope and pray that you’ll all take it to heart and be blessed and encouraged as you focus on how truly powerful and faithful God is, and how miraculously He works in our lives and circumstances when we simply trust and obey Him!

*****
As I was reading a devotional this morning, I couldn’t help thinking how it applies to our stand for marriage restoration. The author used the circumstance of Zacharias and Elizabeth to demonstrate their unwavering obedience and trust in God’s faithfulness and how He rewarded their trust in Him.

We’re all waiting for God to restore our covenant marriages, and we know God’s Word about marriage and divorce. We also know that we’ve been called to stand as we trust and obey God. Yet, many I talk to have experienced times of doubt and fear that God won’t restore “their” marriage–even though they know He can and does restore marriages. In fact, many standers I’ve known over the years have given up and “moved on.”

So we’re very much like Zacharias and Elizabeth, who wanted something they did not have. They were married, but they didn’t have any children because Elizabeth was barren and now they were too old. Since childlessness was considered a disgrace in that time, they could have become angry with God for not giving them what they wanted most…as standers sometimes end up doing. However, as Luke 1:5-7 (NKJV) tells us, they were both righteous before God and walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. So instead of becoming angry or fearful, Zacharias and Elizabeth chose to obey and follow God and trusted Him to take care of them; they intentionally chose to be faithful and trust that God had a plan.

It isn’t wrong to want something we know God wants for us, but we sometimes get so focused on what we want that we become afraid or angry about not getting it. Needless to say, the enemy loves it when we get to the point of giving up and decide to move on in the ways of the world. And we’ve all probably heard the worldly advice of others (even within the church); including things like “You deserve better…just move on…God has someone out there for you…there’s no way you could ever forgive your spouse.” So if we’re not in the Word and our focus is not on God’s will, we could easily be deceived into going the way of the world. That’s why we can’t ever forget that God is ALWAYS faithful! Therefore, we have to trust that God will give us His very best and that He will take care of us; even if what “we” think is best doesn’t happen–especially in our preferred time. He will in deed provide all we need, when we need it, and even more abundantly!

As the Bible tells us, God had an amazing plan for Zacharias and Elizabeth. In addition to giving them a baby when they were way too old to have a child, God didn’t just give them a baby…He gave them a very special baby boy! And when their baby, John, grew up, just as prophesized, his preaching prepared the way for Jesus! In fact, here’s what Jesus said about Zacharias’ and Elizabeth’s baby boy in Matthew 11:9-15 (NKJV):
9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
10 For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’
11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

So as we wait for Him to heal and restore our marriages, let’s glorify and honor God by trusting and obeying Him just as Zacharias and Elizabeth did. And let’s make the most of our circumstances and this season of our lives by spending time with God, praying, reading and meditating on His Word and enjoying the power of His presence in our lives! When we do that, God will most assuredly shine His light in and through us to show His truth, love, grace and mercy to others. When we trust and obey God, He will ALWAYS make everything work together for our good (Romans 8:28) and His glory as HE gives us His best!

I want to share a post that was written on the private website this morning since I know it will be an encouragement for those who might need it on a day like today. Be blessed and NEVER forget that God’s Word and plan can’t ever be thwarted by anyone or anything! And have a very blessed Thanksgiving Day as you praise and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

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Happy Thanksgiving, Dear FAMM Family!!

I’m so grateful to God for Linda and all of our FAMM family! May God bless you all with a beautiful day, and may your hearts always be filled with thanksgiving to the Lord; not only today, but every day! (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV).

Just think, today we are one day closer to our manifestation glory day! It makes no difference at all what we see around us, as appearances rarely show the true picture of God’s perfect plan. God has brought us all together to stand for our marriages and families, so let us never doubt that the promise He made us is the promise He will keep regardless of how things may appear.

Even though our spouses may be spending this day with their NCPs and their families, let’s not be downcast! God is with us; He is for us and His will will prevail! So let us rejoice because there’s never a day that goes by that God isn’t working! And let’s never lose sight that God will never bless an adulterous relationship. He may allow the relationship to last for months…even years, but never doubt that according to God’s Word, the relationship will end because He declares it will in Proverbs 5:3-4 (NKJV)…3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; 4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

According to God’s perfect plan, we never know how He will orchestrate this day for His glory! Thanksgiving is a great day for reminiscing and sharing family stories that our prodigal spouses and their NCPs have no part in–and never will! And then again, there’s always the possibility that a relative or friend at the family table today will blurt out something that makes them feel very uncomfortable; which is just another reminder from God that our spouses or the NCPs don’t belong there and that their counterfeit relationships will never have true and lasting value. So we never know what scenario God will allow our spouses to witness today that will ultimately be used to draw them home!

So by all means, get ready and believe! God is for us and not against us! So we should sing constant praises to the Lord, as His plans are total perfection! Our God is an awesome God! So let’s get ready, as our best days are yet to come!

May you and your families always be blessed with His love, peace and joy!

Lots of Love,
Eileen

I’ve recently been reminded of something every FAM Member and visitor to this site knows all too well…that our lives can be turned totally upside-down without a moment’s notice or warning. That’s exactly what happened to me when I hired a young man to help me do some yard work last July, and now I can’t even go outside without concern for my safety.

Since I’m blind, live alone and not at all a “couch potato,” I’m an avid gardener and have literally transformed my yard into an organic fruit orchard and garden space since moving here almost eighteen years ago. That means I thrive in the midst of God’s glory every day of my life, and never cease to be amazed by how His awesome power is revealed in nature–just as declared in Romans 1:20-21!

In the past couple of years, I’ve used the money I inherited when my father died in 2015 to improve my home, which is where I intended to live until the day the Lord calls me to my “eternal” home. So I immediately renovated my bathroom and replaced my hot water heater, and then this past summer, I installed new luxury vinyl plank flooring, replaced my HVAC system and bought a new refrigerator with ice and water dispensers (all of which I love!). That left my kitchen, along with the flooring in the kitchen, dining room and utility room (which I already purchased) to complete my home renovation, so I refinanced my home in August to get the money to do that and was getting estimates for the work when all of my plans came to a screeching halt and I found myself in the midst of a real live nightmare.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that a young man who asked about helping me spread out the mulch I had delivered for my yard one day last July didn’t have good intentions, and I unwisely agreed to help him out by paying him to put out the mulch and pull some weeds, which I could have done myself. So I fell for his sob story and later realized that he had been “stalking” me for days and knew I was blind before asking for work. I was outside when he called out to me from the street, but I ignored him and walked back toward my door and he ran after me…he was pretty determined and I was pretty stupid! He “worked” that Saturday, but I later learned that he took advantage of my blindness and didn’t do what he was supposed to do. For instance, he hid bales of hay and straw behind bushes so I’d think he put them out in the yard, and he didn’t pull the weeds either. In fact, when I asked where the weeds he pulled were, he told me he threw them over the fence into the woods, which I’d never do. I didn’t find that out until someone came a few days later to take pictures in case I need them and showed me where everything was, as well as the weeds he didn’t pull. But by the end of the day, I realized that I had made a mistake hiring him and had a sense of not being safe around him, so instead of telling him not to come back, I said we’d talk the next day and that I Might want to wait a few days to finish up–I didn’t want to tell him not to come back in person.

Well, when I let my dogs out at six the next morning, he was right at the door in my backyard, and since I was in my nightgown and certainly not expecting him or anyone else to be there, I felt VERY vulnerable! He said something about wanting to get an early start and I didn’t say anything because I was definitely concerned for my safety at that point and just wanted to close the door! The Reader’s Digest version is that even though I couldn’t see what he was doing, I probably caught him in the act of stealing my brand new generator, which I keep on my screened patio. It’s nothing short of a miracle that I realized the generator was missing later that day, and since he attempted to keep me from knowing it was gone, I knew he took it. I ran it for a few minutes late Friday afternoon, so I knew it was there before he came on my property. I keep a laundry basket on top of the generator next to my back door for my recycle stuff and then empty it into my big container when it gets full, so he put some boxes where the generator was and put the laundry basket on top of them hoping I wouldn’t realize it was missing for a while. So I called the police and they took pictures of what he did to make me think it was still there (which REALLY upset the deputy) and went to the place I thought he was staying based on things he told me the day before. Since I realized the generator was missing so soon, he still had it, so the deputies brought it back to me and arrested him, charging him with grand theft. A neighbor where he was staying and the lady who owns the house he was staying in told the deputies they saw him with the generator, but he still denied knowing anything about it despite leading the deputy right to it. Then his wife started calling and leaving threatening messages at four o’clock the next morning, saying they had no idea how my “machine” got there and since I got it back, I “need” to call so he can get out of jail. On her last call, she specifically threatened me and said she was coming to my house, so I called the police again and the deputy was there when she came marching up to my house. They’re amazingly bold! The deputy gave her a no trespass and no contact citation, but that didn’t keep them or someone they know from literally trying to kill me.

The following Friday night, someone came into my fenced backyard after midnight, stood on the water faucet under my bedroom window (breaking it) and blew cigarette smoke into my bedroom. The man’s wife has asthma, and since I gave her a bottle of the supplement that really helps with mine, I know it was someone associated with them who did that. I had left the window opened just a crack so I’d be able to hear if anyone went into my screened patio, and I had one of the worst asthma attacks I’ve ever had. It took the police forever to get here, so they were gone by the time the deputies arrived. And when I was outside earlier that day, another man I don’t know came up and literally harassed me for work, but I told him NO and why I no longer trust anyone. He’s pestered me several times since then and I’ve caught him in several lies, so I suspect that he’s associated with Enrique since they live near each other. And a few days after that, someone tried to poison my dogs. There was a very strong pesticide smell whenever I went out either my front or side door, and my oldest dog got very sick and the younger one was sick the next day.

Since I felt my life was in danger, I installed security cameras, alarms on my patio doors and keyed hasp locks on my shed and greenhouse; yet I’m still concerned for my safety because instead of taking a plea deal for time served, thirty nights in the county jail and two years of probation, they’re going to trial. The prosecuting attorney said that makes no sense because he has a record and no defense, and I’ve been subpoenaed for a discovery deposition later this month. Of course, I guess the case goes away if I’m not around to testify, so I no longer go outside alone other than getting my mail and taking my trash cans to and from the road, and I’m miserable being cooped up inside and knowing weeds are taking over my yard.

Meanwhile, more than one hundred thirty-four acres of heavy woods behind my house were cut down in mid to late September, and we’ve had a rash of burglaries and assaults in the neighborhood since then. Two neighbors right across from my bedroom window and one on the other side of the circle from me were burglarized just a few weeks ago, and one night last week, someone was out behind my fence in the backyard (my little dog wanted out and she was barking at them—they were on the side of the yard nearest my door just before nine o’clock). So I turned my back patio light on and heard them walking back to the road. Needless to say, this is no way to live, and even though I love my home and have put so much money and work into it and my yard and never expected to move, I decided to sell my house and move to a small town near one of my aunts. I actually started thinking about moving over a year ago after Hurricane Hermine came through and we were without power for almost a week, which was the first time I realized how corrupt our city government is and felt so totally isolated. But that pales in comparison to no longer feeling safe in my own yard and home!

As we all know, God works in interesting and amazing ways to accomplish His plan in our lives, and finding my new house and buying it was no exception. I found the listing on the first of this month and closed on it seven days later! The house isn’t as nice as my current home, but it’s safe and VERY conveniently located with grocery stores, restaurants, various dollar stores, banks and other interesting places within walking distance, and it has a nice yard to work in and with…and thanks to the generosity of someone I love dearly, I was able to buy it without a mortgage! I had been praying to find a brick house I could buy without having to deal with a mortgage, so I felt very blessed and thankful because that was a very tall order! And right after I talked to the real estate agent for the first time, a woman who had stopped by to admire my yard from time to time over the years rang my doorbell to check on me because she hadn’t seen me outside–and ended up saying she wanted to buy my house! I saw that as God telling me I was on the right path since I didn’t even know the woman’s name—and only God could have her come to my door at that precise moment! She was very persistent and willing to give me more than I thought I’d have to settle for just to get away from here, so we were going to do a lease with option to purchase or a contract for deed, depending on which would work best for both of us. So I made an offer on the new house, knowing it needed some work before moving in, which I expected to be able to afford after selling my house. And since my current mortgage payments would be covered with either a lease or contract, I knew I could get a loan on the house if necessary to make the needed repairs and updates, including fencing the backyard for my dogs and adding a door from the dining room to the backyard so I can let them out as I do here. I anticipated needing about twenty thousand dollars to do the work, so I made an offer on the house that included the sellers (the former owner’s children—it was an estate sell) holding a one year balloon note for ten thousand dollars, which the agent said they were open to doing after discussing it with one of the daughters. But they ultimately decided not to hold the note and countered with a five thousand dollar lower price for all cash, which I accepted. That means I bought it for fifteen thousand dollars less than it appraised for, and even though other offers were coming in!

Then MY plans hit a big speed bump when the real estate agent who sold me the new house told me that I should check the terms of my new mortgage because it might say the balance is due and payable in full if I sell the house with a lease option or contract for deed. Well, she was right, and worse yet, it even says I have to reside in my home for one year before moving, and that I could do neither without their consent! I had no idea mortgages have such outrageous clauses in them nowadays and thought the only important information I needed to verify before signing was the terms since I already knew they say if you don’t pay, you can’t stay. So I’ve sent a request to vacate and sell my house with a lease option or contract for deed, along with documentation of everything I’ve shared here, and I’m waiting to hear from Quicken Loans now. Then on top of that, my potential buyer’s husband has stage four cancer and doesn’t want to take on a kitchen remodel at this time in his life, so they’re going to buy a house down the street, which I fully understand. His wife just loves my yard–especially since I now have over twenty-three citrus trees LOADED with fruit! Her husband’s prognosis isn’t good, so she wants to move closer to her sons (they live in South Florida and her sons live on the other side of my circle). If it was just her, I know she’d buy my house in a heartbeat, but she has to think of her husband now. So even though I’m personally disappointed, I fully support their decision and know GOD must have something else in mind!

Meanwhile, I have a new home that needs work and no way to pay for it, which is why I decided to ask for help. Over the years, the ministry has done a lot to help others in their time of financial need; including buying cars for several single moms so they could work, fully supporting a pregnant mom and her kids through her pregnancy and beyond since she wasn’t getting anything from her husband, paying child support for an unemployed dad, paying for employment license renewals and equipment, buying new glasses for one member’s daughter, paying members’ rent on occasion, assisting another single mother with closing costs on her new home last year and so much more, and now I’m the one in need. So if God puts it on your heart to help finance my move to a place where I’ll be safe and have much more independence, please use my personal PayPal link. I’d also greatly appreciate your prayers for favor with Quicken Loans and that they’ll give me the consent I’ve requested. Since God tells us we have not because we ask not, I’m asking as needed and know I’ll be blessed beyond anything I could ever think, ask or imagine! It sure is a good thing for all of us that GOD makes a way where there seems to be no way, which I know He will do for me in this situation too. In fact, throughout my life, I’ve often been able to see how GOD turned up the heat to get me to do something I wouldn’t have otherwise been willing or ready to do, and I have a feeling that’s what He did this time as well. So I’m eager to find out what He has planned for me in my new home and will be sure to share it all with all of you! And to those of you who feel led to help me move to safety in my new home, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I’ll be praying for God to bless you ever so abundantly in return, which I also know He will do! So please share my need with anyone you think would help; it’s my hope that as Christians, we can outdo any of the more conventional “crowd funding” options, and I’ll gladly provide documentation to anyone who requests it.

Thank you and God bless you all!
Linda Wattu

Since I know this time of year is often the most challenging for those standing for the restoration of their marriages, I hope sharing a few recent testimonies of restoration and even remarriage after many years of divorce and adulterous remarriage will be a source of encouragement. We can’t ever lose sight of God’s faithfulness and that He will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to accomplish His plan and promises as declared in Isaiah 46:10-11!

First, one of our FAM member’s best friends remarried her covenant husband on what would have been their thirty-first wedding anniversary last May! Even though they went through a very long and nasty divorce and he was involved with a NCP for over ten years, after the NCP broke off their relationship, they were both invited to a family gathering last Thanksgiving…and the rest is history and so totally God glorifying as another couple and family are blessed with an amazing restoration!

Additionally, I recently received a call from a woman who was going through a very nasty divorce after being married for almost twenty-six years. Even though her first husband had died, her second husband was divorced from his covenant wife who was still living, which made her marriage adultery according to the Scriptures. She said they had a great marriage and never had fights or disagreements, and they had a child together in addition to the young child she had when her covenant husband died. She didn’t know how her husband and his covenant wife ended up being in contact with each other again after so many years (they had been divorced for a while before she met him), but he left her and went back to his first wife. She was totally devastated and didn’t understand what happened, so I tried to tell her about how serious God is about the covenant of marriage and upholding His written Word; which says in Proverbs 5:4 that in the end, the adulteress will become as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double edged knife. She kept repeating Scriptures about marriage, but I told her those Scriptures apply to her husband’s first and covenant marriage and not to what the Bible repeatedly declares adultery. I encouraged her to keep reading the Bible and said that if what I had shared was the truth God wanted her to understand, He would provide confirmation. While that’s a very sad situation for her, it’s confirmation that there’s an inexplicable and unbreakable bond between a covenant husband and wife that time, distance and nothing else can destroy. The love is ALWAYS there; it’s just buried under so much pain, bitterness and disappointment…yet waiting to come to the surface almost unbidden. As everyone with a truly restored marriage says, it’s as if the time had never passed no matter how long it’s been!

Most recently, a FAM member just shared that she’s known a couple who have been her neighbors for over fifteen years, who she always thought were married. She said they “appeared” to be a perfect couple and seemed to get along with each other very well. However, she learned that they weren’t married several years ago when the man’s former wife brought his daughter to visit her father and she referred to the woman as her daddy’s girlfriend! And she just found out that the woman has moved out now, so it’s entirely possible and very likely that one more restoration is under way because God’s Faithfulness never ends!

So focus on making the most of every single day God gives you to get out of bed because He has a purpose for each of us in every day He gives us, and when you least expect it, He will bring about the restoration of your marriage and family! Just remember that the more you live for the praise, honor and glory of Jesus Christ, the more God will give you to praise, honor and glorify Him with!

As Christians standing in faith and obedience on the power and promise of God’s Word, it’s important to realize that when all is said and done after this election, only one issue will really matter because we’re literally voting on the direction of America’s Supreme Court, which will determine the future of our country and culture for decades to come. So I urge everyone concerned about that, particularly Christians who feel conflicted about voting for Donald Trump, to listen to this very powerful message from Tommy Nelson, titled The Continental Divide. As he pointed out, some of the recent rulings from the Supreme Court that were most consequential to all of us as Americans, especially for Christians, were made by five to four rulings; including same-sex marriage, Hobby Lobby and Heller. So one of the very first decisions by the next President will either change or maintain that balance on the Supreme Court, and literally determine if our government will continue to recognize and uphold our Constitutional right to practice and live according to our faith, whether or not the government can deny Americans the right to keep and bear arms and even if we have the freedom of speech that’s guaranteed in our Constitution…and that’s just for starters! So please listen to Tommy Nelson’s powerful message and pass it on to others because the direction of America’s Supreme Court and the future of our culture and so much more really will be determined in this election. And if you haven’t already done so, please take the time to read the Democratic Party Platform and the Republican Party Platform because these two radically different platforms and roadmaps for America’s Supreme Court and future are what we’re literally choosing in this election.

Finally, let’s keep praying for everything that’s been done in darkness to be brought to light and for the truth to set our country free of the demonic forces now threatening to destroy it. And let’s never forget that just as declared in Proverbs 21:30, there’s no wisdom, no insight and no plan that can succeed against the Lord!

(Note from Linda: Arteaya posted this on the private site yesterday and since I know it’s a great reminder for everyone standing for the restoration of their covenant marriage, I asked for her permission to share it here as well. So be blessed as you remember that God will move heaven and earth to uphold the covenant of our marriages when we simply trust and obey Him!)

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Hello Everyone!

Over the past couple of days, Stephanie’s post, “God is Working in Your Spouse’s Heart this Valentine’s Day!” has been replaying in my head. I had not read it in a while, but it kept coming to my heart and mind. And since there are a lot of new members, I want to encourage you all to read Stephanie’s post. It’s a living testimony of how God speaks to our spouses and illustrates how His Word is true and that LOVE NEVER FAILS. I have seen that Scripture so many times over the past week, and now that’s what God is speaking to me. So please “let go” this weekend and know that God is working for you and putting the love your spouses have for you in the forefront of their minds and hearts. You don’t have to force or try to make anything happen. God is already doing it. So do something fun…pamper yourself…go to dinner. Rejoice that God is on your side and He will never leave you nor forsake you!

A FAM Fellowship member recently shared two podcasts from Dr. Charles Stanley on the private site that I hadn’t heard before, and they really touched me personally. So I want to share them here because I think Dr. Stanley very powerfully summed up what I’ve always felt was an essential and often missing element of our lives as Christians. And I urge everyone to make note of the list he provided and work to accomplish them because as MNO (member name omitted) realized and acknowledged, doing so will be important in preparing you and accomplishing the restoration of your marriage.

And since I’m sure visitors to our public site can and will relate to MNO’s testimony, I’ve asked her permission to share it below as follows:

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Hi Everyone,

I want to share two podcasts I listened to earlier this week from Charles Stanley on Testing our Spiritual Growth; in which he shared a list of things to write down so we could evaluate our spiritual growth.

The first one on the list was that we know we’re growing in our relationship to Christ when we’re increasingly aware of our sinfulness and our weakness. When I first came to FAMM in August, I was a broken person, and just saw myself as a woman whose husband had walked out and quit on our marriage. Sure, I knew I wasn’t perfect, but I came here feeling rejected, abandoned and angry. Though it took me quite a few months of Linda guiding me to Scripture about looking at the log in my own eye, reading Love and Respect and about what God expected of me as a submissive wife, it eventually broke me to REALLY see myself and the part I played in the failure of my marriage. But as painful as it was (and it was painful!), it enabled me to see SNO (spouse name omitted) in a new light. And I truly believe that revelation has changed our relationship so much that my husband now comes into the house when he picks up our daughter and stays for about ten minutes or so.

I recently reminded SNO that we didn’t need to go to a case management hearing scheduled for this week if he’d just give me a written proposed settlement agreement, which would save money and then he could go ahead with the divorce. When he emailed me about that later, he said he was glad that we’re much more amicable .

Dr. Stanley encouraged writing down the steps he suggested to evaluate our spiritual growth, so I’m going to listen again because I didn’t write them down and don’t remember all of them and know that I still have to work on the rest of them.

I also realized how important accomplishing the steps in my personal spiritual growth Dr. Stanley listed are if I expect a complete restoration of my marriage. Although I have progressed since coming to FAMM, I can see that there’s still so much more that God has to work on in me in order to complete His perfect work in me and then in my marriage.

So I really encourage you all to listen to these messages!

MNO

Note from Linda: I was greatly impacted by both messages MNO mentioned above because they affirm so much of what I’ve believed and understood for years! So please do listen to them because Dr. Stanley once again knocked this one right out of the park!

Testing Our Spiritual Growth – Part 1
Testing Our Spiritual Growth – Part 2
Testing Our Spiritual Growth – Part 1
Testing Our Spiritual Growth – Part 2

I was so excited and appreciative when I heard Charles Stanley’s message last weekend, which was Trembling at God’s Word! It was a perfect follow up to the Bible study we’d had most recently, which was about how vitally important it is to STAY in God’s Word! So I want to encourage everyone to watch the message linked to above, as well as to share my notes for our last Bible study, which are included below. There really is no more important message for any of us, especially in the times we live, than understanding the importance of knowing and obeying God’s Word as we put our trust in Him to bring it all to pass! So be blessed and encouraged in the Lord!

Why It’s So Vitally Important To STAY In God’s word

God Gave His Word To Guide, Direct, Equip & Encourage Us:
2 Peter 1:20-21 (NASB):
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB):
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Joshua 1:8 (NASB):
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Romans 15:4 (NASB):
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Psalm 119:105 (NASB):
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Our Very Existance Requires Dependence On God’s Word:
Deuteronomy 8:3 (NASB):
He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord .

Matthew 4:4 (NASB):
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

What We Do With God’s Word Is So Important Because The Word Is God/Jesus:
John 1:1 (NASB):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 (NASB):
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So God Is Revealed Through His word:
Jeremiah 29:13 (NASB):
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Romans 10:17(NASB):
So faith comes from hearing, and Hearing by the word of Christ.

God’s Blessings Flow Through Obedience To His Word:
John 15:7 (NASB):
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

James 1:19-25 (NASB):
19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Proverbs 4:20-22 (NASB):
20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

Psalm 119:9-11 (NASB):
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
10 With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

John 8:31-32 (NASB):
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word,
Then you are truly disciples of Mine;
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Jesus Even Said We Shouldn’t Call Him Lord If We Don’t Obey His Word:
Luke 6:46 (NASB):
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

And Disobedience Hinders Our Prayers:
Proberbs 28:9 (NASB):
He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.

God’s Word Is The ONLY Truth:
John 17:17 (NASB):
Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

Proverbs 30:5 (NASB):
Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

And God’s Word Never Fails, Changes Or Becomes Irrelevant:
Isaiah 55:10-11 (NASB):
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Isaiah 46:10-11 (NASB):
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.

Matthew 24:35 (NASB):
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Isaiah 40:8 (NASB):
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so strongly led to add to the archives of this section of our public website; but based on conversations and email communication with some who have recently contacted me, I want to share my Bible study notes from a FAM Conference call we had last March, which was about understanding the significance of repentance.

Sadly, many are deceived and misled into believing that simply “confessing” our sin is sufficient to merit God’s mercy and forgiveness and absolutely NOTHING could be more contrary to the truth of God’s written Word! Of course, that’s exactly what many “itching ears” want to hear and believe according to 2 Timothy 4:3-4, despite being totally untrue based on passages of Scripture like Isaiah 55, particularly verse 7, and Proverbs 28:9, as well as SO many others. It breaks my heart to think of people who sincerely believe they know and understand the nature and character of our HOLY God and yet believe that He will or ever could countenance, bless, condone and permit us to continue in what His Word so clearly calls sin (adultery in this case). Those who truly believe that, and there are MANY who genuinely do, only demonstrate their superficial knowledge and relationship with the written Word of God because without genuine confession (sorrowful acknowledgement and heartfelt conviction and regret for our actions, attitudes, thoughts and emotions that don’t line up with the written Word of God, as well as for our failure to live and do according to His Word) that LEADS TO REPENTANCE (turning away from our sinful thoughts and deeds and back to God), there is no forgiveness for sin. Yes, there are a few verses of Scripture that can be taken totally out of context to attempt to justify and rationalize such false doctrine, but it’s the heartbreak, despair and destructive consequences of attempting to live according to that very doctrine that most often brings people to contact me in the first place.

No matter how sincerely or genuinely we believe a lie straight from the pit of Hell, God’s Word doesn’t change and it will be manifested in all of our lives whether we believe it, understand it, agree with it or not…PERIOD! I’ve always wondered why adulterous marriages now sanctioned by most churches is the one sin most Christians are readily deceived into believing God doesn’t mind us continuing in, especially after “confessing” our sin and asking for forgiveness, and God finally answered that for me yesterday during a conversation with a woman currently in an adulterous marriage. She wanted to know why God wasn’t answering her prayers for restoration and why everything in her life was so bad, so I asked her if she knew what God’s Word says about remarriage after divorce. As we read Luke 16:18, Mark 10:10-12, Romans 7:1-3, 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 and 1 Corinthians 7:39, I mentioned not understanding why adulterous marriage is the one sin people think it’s okay to continue in when God reminded me that marriage is an earthly representation of the relationship Jesus has with His bride, the church! Of course, that’s exactly why that false and deceptive doctrine is so prevalent–the devil’s sole purpose is to destroy our relationship with Jesus and what better way to accomplish that than to distort and destroy God’s Holy covenant of marriage, which He intended to be an earthly replica of our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! And when people wrongly believe they’re standing for the restoration of a marriage that God’s Word so unambiguously calls adultery in faith and obedience to God, when they don’t get the expected results and their lives just keep falling apart, their faith in God to honor and uphold His Word is seriously shaken or totally destroyed and they quite often turn to a promiscuous lifestyle. Needless to say, that’s a victory for the devil and why the false doctrine that God forgives us while we continue in our sin just because we “confess it” is so destructive!

As I shared with the woman I talked to yesterday, my opinion isn’t worth two cents and the ONLY opinion that counts is God’s, which we ONLY find in His written Word. Not only that, my words and those of any other human don’t come with the grace (God’s anointing power to do what He calls us to do) needed to walk them out, so we ALL MUST read God’s written Word for ourselves, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us, and then we’ll have the understanding and ability to live and walk in obedience to God, which is the only way to experience the righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit described in Romans 14:17, as well as to experience the manifestation of His promises in our lives.

A very powerful passage of Scripture which should be more than sufficient to dispel the myth that God’s grace (often wrongly equated with His mercy) ever allows or permits us to continue in any kind of sin under any circumstances is Hebrews 10:26-30 because it says:
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

As I also shared with the woman I spoke to yesterday, what Jesus taught in John 8:31-32 has always been my approach to ministry, so I hope and pray that those who read this and believe something other than the truth of God’s written Word will believe Him, hold to His teachings and truly be His disciples so they will know the truth and be set free!

Finally, here are my study notes for the above mentioned conference call regarding repentance:
Repentance Is Genuine Sorrow For Sin & Turning Away From It:
2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (NASB):
9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Romans 2:4 (NASB):
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Job 42:5-6 (NASB):
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;
6 Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”

Jeremiah 31:18-20 (NASB):
18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained calf; Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the Lord my God.
19 ‘For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” declares the Lord.

Failure To Heed & Obey The Word Of God Or Repent Leads To Destruction:
Jeremiah 15:6-7 (NASB):
6 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the Lord, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!
7 “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways.

Jeremiah 26:2-6 (NASB):
2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word!
3 Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’
4 And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you,
5 to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened;
6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

Ezekiel 18:29-32 (NASB):
29 But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

Isaiah 30:15-18 (NASB):
15 For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.
18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

God Longs For Our Repentance & His Mercy & Blessings Overflow When We Repent & Turn From Sin:
2 Peter 3:8-9 (NASB):
8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Luke 15:7 (NASB):
I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:10 (NASB):
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Salvation & Forgiveness Are Not Possible Without Repentance:
Mark 1:4-5 (NASB):
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

Mark 1:14-15 (NASB):
14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Luke 3:3-4 (NASB):
3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.

Luke 5:31-32 (NASB):
31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Acts 11:17-18 (NASB):
17 Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

Repentance Is Evidenced By Our Actions & The Fruit Of The Holy Spirit
Matthew 3:8-12 (NASB):
8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Luke 3:8 (NASB):
Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

Luke 13:2-9 (NASB):
2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?
3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4 Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
6 And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.
7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’
8 And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Acts 26:19-20 (NASB):
19 “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

Jesus Came To Make Repentance For Forgiveness Of Sin Possible:
Luke 24:46-48 (NASB):
46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.

Acts 2:36-39 (NASB):
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Acts 3:18-21 (NASB):
18 But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,
21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

Acts 5:30-31 (NASB):
30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.
31 He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Acts 17:29-31 (NASB):
29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.
30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

There’s Real Danger In Turning Back After Repentance:
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB):
4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

John 5:14 (NASB):
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”