I'll Huff and I'll Puff

      I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff

(Open in Prayer)

                        Hello and welcome to My Little House of Prayer. I am so glad that you could join me today. Well, winter is coming upon us. And with it, bad, unpredictable weather. Where I am there have been threats of tornados. But much worse than those, strong winds. The downdrafts can literally throw down a house. But, the worst was the blue northern that we just went through. And for those in the southern states, we aren’t equipped for that kind of weather. But, these are some things I’ve learned along the way. 

                 It was at this moment the Lord spoke to my heart. Satan and his cohorts are like the big bad wolf in the story of the three little pigs, which reminds me of this scripture,1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: and, Matthew 7:24-27  24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 

                  One little pig built his house out of straw. Another little pig built his house out of sticks. And another, out of bricks.  The big bad wolf went to each house saying, “Let me in. If not, I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.” To which the three little pigs replied “Not by the hairs of my chinny chin chin.” Now, the first two houses were not stable enough to weather the wolf’s storm. But, the brick home was more than sufficient to not only withstand his huffing and puffing. But also provide rescue to his brothers. Doesn’t this sound like the seeds parable Jesus taught?Matthew 13:1-9  13 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

                     

                   Jesus taught the disciples that sometimes He wants us to chase the storm. Other times, He wants us to stand still in the storm. Now, this can be any kind of storm in our lives. And if we are rooted and grounded in the anchor of our souls, we can withstand the storms of life. And when the enemy comes to the door of our hearts and says, “Child of God, let me in.” We can reply faithfully, “No. Not by the blood of my precious Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” And, then he can threaten all he wants to. He can huff and puff. But, he can not blow our house down. There is so much information I could share with you in these parables. But, we would both drown in it. Hahahaha. 

                 Let’s look at Proverbs 27:12 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished. And, 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

                  Bear with me. I have some testimonies to give. In 1995, we had a hurricane headed our way. But, the Lord told me that I could take authority against it. That the same power He had, He has given to the children of God. So, I took authority against it. Well, the night before, I was attending a bible study. And, the brother in Christ and I got into it. He argued with me that it was coming. I used one scripture after another on the authority that the Lord has given us. He kept saying, “I’m telling you sister, it is coming whether you like it or not.” I finished by telling him that the Lord was sending a ball of wind and was going to push it out away from the population. That night on national news, even the weather man was shocked. A ball of cold air, out of nowhere, in the shape of a fist came and pushed it back out to sea and dropped it down to just a storm. Hahahahaha.

                     There are times the Lord says to run. Then, there are times that the Lord says to stand still. At least a month before hurricane Lilly was to come, the Lord had me do a Jericho march at the edge of my property for seven days. On the first day, I was to pour anointing oil at the edge of the property. On the seventh day, the Lord instructed me to hang a red ribbon from the gable of my house. Then, when the prediction of her arrival time came, I was told to run north. We left with some friends to go to their son's home. The Lord does nothing per chance. We were not there for our safety, but for theirs. They were not walking with the Lord, but He wanted to reach out to them. We taught the children to anoint the house. We prayed with them. My friend was fearful. That is when I let her know that she didn’t need to be afraid. A huge pine tree fell. It did not fall on the home. But,

it fell at the back door. At that moment, they saw the power of God. Everyone had so many testimonies come out of that storm. When it was over, we arrived back home. This is where it is interesting and powerful. When I arrived at my home, there were down trees and wires everywhere. But, not even a leaf fell on my property. The destruction was all around my property, but stopped right at the property line. I believe that if I had not been obedient, this scenario would have ended a lot different.

                       Since then, there have been many a storm. And through a life of constant prayer, the Lord has always been able to prepare me. You know, today our world is so uncertain. Fear wants to scream in our ears and come into our hearts. During the Year 1999, we had the Y2K scare. Those with money were able to take stock. But, fear will make you do things foolishly. Remember, even canned goods have a shelf life. So, in the long run, if you don’t run out of your stock, it will go bad. For those of us who don’t have extra cash on hand and live from check to check, we couldn’t stock our homes. So, where does that leave us? Total dependance on the Lord. I went to Him immediately and asked how I can be prepared? He talked to me about Israel living in Egypt during the 10 plagues. He led and guided them on how to prepare for each plague. He also told me that they had friends and families in Egypt. Just because the 10 plagues did not come to them, did not mean that they didn’t have friends and families who did not listen to obey. It is grievous to watch your friends and families go through morethan they need to. He told me that just like he was there for the children of Israel, He will be there for each and everyone of His children now. 

                   That is a word for someone out there right now. He says He knows that the times are fearful. But, keep looking to Him, the restorer of our faith. He promises to be there for you. To never leave you nor forsake you. He will always help you, as long as you look to Him in prayer and obey His voice. 1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. As long as we are willing to obey, we can avoid the enemy’s traps.

                        Since I have moved into my home, I have a sister in Christ come to live with me until she can find her own home. She is trying to save up the money to move wherever the Lord wants her to live. In the meantime, she is in a constant battle. She gets desperate, as we all do. Look at Sarah in the bible. She tried to help God out by giving her handmaid to Abram to have a child. That blew up in their faces. When the Lord says He is going to do something, you can take it to the bank. He wants to do it. Why? To show Himself strong. 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. 

                  Well, since she has moved in, there have been many a storm. The first one that was to arrive, the report was there was going to be strong winds and tornadoes. She became afraid. I reminded her of the promises in Psalm 91. I reminded her that she and I were children of the King. That the Lord built this house to be a ministry. That if He built it, He would protect it. I told her to go to bed and not worry. To pray instead. Thanking the Lord for all that He has done, and will do in her future. Remind herself in prayer of who He is. (This is worship) What did Jesus do in the boat with the disciples? He slept. And, He took authority over the storms. He also told them that while they were with Him, they were walking under the shadow of His authority and had the same power that He had to take authority over the storms. Are you beginning to see a trend here? 

                    Well this Christmas week we had a very strong blue northern to come through. Two weeks before it came through, a brother in Christ called me letting me know to prepare. Well, this allowed me to not become anxious. I just began to prepare. Well, because I was so calm, my friend did not think the storm was going to be bad. She decided that she was going out of town and going shopping the day of its arrival. She became angry with me because I was demanding her to come home. When she finally arrived, she saw the necessity. She looked at me when I was thanking her for coming home because I began to worry about her safety and said, “It’s not going to be all that bad.” Then, I had to tell her what I was praying against but it was supposed to happen. She apologized. We forgave each other. Then, we finished preparing. We had all that we needed to survive. My home was toasty warm. We were able to cook and clean and go through our day normally. My plants survived. My pets survived. My pipes survived. And above all, we survived. The electricity went off for 4 hrs., but because the Lord had me seal up the house and prepare it, we remained warm. The Lord was definitely with us.

                   The Lord woke me up at 6am the week of. A prayer warrior and I got together on what the Lord revealed to us about the storm and how to take authority over it. Remember the prayer I shared with you concerning the storm? That night, the wind began to blow. It blew so hard at my house that it shook. Did that scare us? No. Because we spoke to that big bad wolf and told Him, “No. Not by the precious blood of our sweet Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth!” Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

                  These are just a few of the many examples of the Lord’s protective hand in my life. Do any of you have any testimonies of His protective hand in your life? I sure would love to hear your testimonies. Did you know that your testimonies are so powerful that they are even prophetic? When you begin to worship the Lord, you will begin to testify. When you begin to testify, you will begin to prophesy. This is one of many ways to pray. I do this often. I have even been caught doing it often. When I used to clean houses, I had the freedom to pray while I worked. Often I would get caught praying. This one particular home, the man of the house would often lose things. I would often pray for him to find them and he would. Well, one day his daughter came in and began to nitpick about the cleanliness of His house. He stood up to her and said ,”Hush your mouth! That girl is a blessing to my home! She prays for us. If I lose something, she will begin to pray. Sometimes, she doesn’t get a word out before the Lord answers her and I find what I’ve lost. So, leave her alone.” How powerful is that? We can be a blessing to a lost home through a life of prayer. 

                       You know, I read this scripture as a new believer. I tried to share it with all of my friends and family. They said that this was not possible. But, the Lord showed me how it was possible. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  16 Rejoice evermore.17 Pray without ceasing.18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. To do these things is possible. It is a constant awareness that He is not God out there. But, He is God right here, right now. This is how we stay under the shadow of the Almighty. This is how we learn to sleep in His boat. This is where we hear His voice. This is how we walk in His authority and perfect will. 

                              If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If you want a relationship with the Lord in the many ways that I have just described to you, let me introduce you to Him. It is really simple. First you must acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a savior according to the mirror of the law of the Lord. Ask Him for His forgiveness for all of your sins and call them out to Him. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Then, forgive those who have sinned or transgressed against you. Then, repent. Repent means to change your mind concerning sinful habits. Change your choice making. Let Him influence your choice making decisions as you get in His Holy Word. Ask Him to be Lord over your life. I want to pray this prayer with you. But, this is just an outline. The real work begins after I pray with you because it is a very personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 

                    Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

                      I sure hope that you enjoyed today’s message. That you will not walk into the new year in fear. That you now know that you have the authority to tell the big bad wolf to get out of your way. That you know now, that when the enemy messes with a child of God, he is messing with the apple of His eye. I hope that you had a very merry Christmas. I am hoping you will have an awesome new year in Christ Jesus. Feel free to email me at my1littleafmp@aol.com. I would love to hear of your testimonies and prayer requests. And if you have made the decision to follow after Christ, please let me know. I want to rejoice and pray with you. I want to let you know that all of heaven is rejoicing over you right now. Including the Lord Jesus Christ.  Remember, I love you with the love of the Lord. But, Jesus will always love you more.