CHURCH, WE AREN'T FINISHED YET

 

 

 

On this rock I will

build my church,

and the gates of hell

will not prevail

against it.

Matthew 16:18

When we read this verse, we usually think that the Lord is promising that the church, which is His Body, will withstand all the attacks launched against it. Of course, that is true.

But when we think about it more carefully, we realize that in a battle, the gates do not run out into the battlefield to attack the enemy. Rather, they stand still to defend the city from the enemy attacking it.

So when the Lord says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, who is doing the attacking? It is the church storming the gates!The church, all of God's people in Christ, is called to take the offensive, to run into enemy territory, and to gain ground for Jesus Christ. We do not wait for an invitation; we already have a command. We prepare, but we do not wait for circumstances to be perfect; we already have One who has gone before us.

Indeed, the gates of hell will not prevail. The gates of falsehood will flee in the presence of truth. The gates of sin will melt in the presence of grace. The gates of death will fall in the presence of the church, the People of Life!

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PRAYER

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Father, we praise You. We have heard the voice of your Son, and therefore we can make our voices heard. We have done battle with the power of evil, and therefore we can have compassion on those still within its grip. We have been freed from the kingdom of darkness, and therefore we can bear witness to your Kingdom of Light.

May the witness of all your people bear abundant fruit, and may we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until You welcome us into the gates of  Heaven. We pray in the victorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
 

Written by Father Frank Pavone

 

Empty Arms?

 

 

I am sharing this for all women who, like me, have never had the opportunity to hold their own baby in their arms.

Having empty arms can be a result of infertility (like me), still born babies, babies that have been lost due to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and many other reasons.

First, I will share a little of my own experience:

As a result of an abortion at age 15 I have suffered 5 miscarriages, with 3 of them being tubal pregnancies requiring emergency surgery, and also very near death experiences for me. Therefore, I am now unable to have any children of my own. Although the loss of my children happened several years ago, there is still much pain there that the Lord continues to heal.

Empty Arms Syndrome is basically a void, a hole or an emptiness that gnaws at your heart after the loss of a child. The empty arms of a woman desires a child almost more than life itself.

There are several ways that Jesus has used to help me with experiencing "empty arms syndrome", though even to this day going to baby showers, walking through the baby department in the stores and going to church on Mother's Day is very difficult to do.

1. When I completed going through an abortion recovery group* and Bible study, I felt led to give back by helping others receive healing also. As a group leader in the recovery group, the Lord brings a deeper healing for myself each time I go through with others. At the end of the 12 week recovery group is a memorial service, where we honor the babies that have been lost to abortion. I decided during one of our memorial services to also honor the babies that I had lost to miscarriage as a result of the abortion. It was so very healing for me to be able to give my babies their names and hold a handmade doll in my arms and lay them at the foot of the cross. At the memorial service we allow the women to choose a handmade doll to represent each baby lost to abortion. Having something in your arms to lay down at the cross is such healing to our hearts, it is hard to put into words. This experience brings much honor and closure to the loss of those babies that most people don't even acknowledge ever existed. Just because they were never brought into this world doesn't mean that they didn't exist. When a baby is living inside a mother's womb, it has as much life as a baby living outside a mother's womb.

2. One of my friends who had just had a baby was letting me hold it when she said "getting your baby fix, huh Nona?" This was quite a revelation for me because I didn't realize that was what I was doing, but it was. It is hard to describe the awesome feeling of being able to hold an infant in your arms when you have never had the opportunity to have your own. It is very comforting and peaceful. So, obviously holding and caring for, or even babysitting other people's babies is a good way to fill in the empty arms. It does help a lot, although I do remember one of the first times I held a baby years after my abortion, I started crying. It was just automatic, I didn't expect it at all. I had several opportunities to babysit a loved one's babies, and it was such a blessing.

3. Another way the Lord has used babies for further healing of my own heart is He led me one year to volunteer in the nursery at church during a revival we were having. I think I may have done that for a year. This work was so very rewarding for me in so many ways. I actually experienced a miscarriage during the time that I was serving in the nursery. You would be amazed how much strength the Lord can give you to go through something like that. I even was required to work in a baby department at one of my jobs, which was very strangely comforting for me at the time.

4. I have also always been a big fan of stuffed animals. One of the books that I have read on "empty arms" says that it is good to have a teddy bear or some other stuffed animal in your home to hold onto when your arms are aching for holding a baby. It sounds silly, but it really works.

5. One of the most recent ways that the Lord is helping me overcome my childlessness is He has blessed me and my roommate with a dog to raise together. I have always been a cat person in the past, so this is the first time I have ever raised a dog. Huge difference, since cats pretty much take care of themselves. Raising a dog, to me, is just like raising a child in so many ways. It is a very huge responsibility. Dogs love you unconditionally, just like children do. Now I understand why people call their dogs their babies, because they are. Some people even put clothes on them. I understand now, it’s just amazing, how God has brought so much healing to my heart through this loving creature He created. I always wanted a son, now I have a canine one.

6. Here are some great books that I have read on "empty arms":

"I'll Hold You In Heaven" by Jack Hayford       "Empty Arms" by Pam Vredevelt

7. This is a link where you can read a precious chapter in the Bible that the Lord wrote specifically for women who are childless: http://www.eaglesrestoration.com/MessageforHurtingWomen

8. I also had the opportunity to have a nameplate placed on the wall of names at the National Memorial for the Unborn (http://www.memorialfortheunborn.org/) in memory of my child who was aborted, as well as having a brick placed in the prayer garden there for my babies who were lost to miscarriage.

 

 

     

 

 

                

 

 

 

 

 

                  * To find an abortion recovery group in your area

       call the National Helpline for Abortion Recovery at 1-866-482-LIFE

                                                             or

                  visit their website at http://www.nationalhelpline.org/

 

This is Not Your Only Choice

Every day in America women are forced into abortions against their will. They are subjected to unrelenting psychological pressure, threats, blackmail, verbal abuse and physical violence...until they "choose" to have their own babies aborted.

The following blog is taken from the booklet "This Is Not Your Only Choice", written by Human Life Alliance.

----------------------------------------

(Abortion Isn’t the Answer)

I was raped and got pregnant. Nobody told me the abortion would hurt more emotionally than the rape. — Maya

I realized the child in my womb didn’t deserve to die because of the crime of her father.

In a study of pregnant rape victims, Dr. Sandra Mahkorn found that 75 to 85 percent chose against abortion. Joan Kemp, a rape crisis center counselor, said, “I am familiar with no case of incest-related abortion that did not make matters worse for the victim.” Studies also show that incest victims rarely ever voluntarily agree to abortion. Instead of viewing the pregnancy as unwanted, the incest victim is more likely to see the pregnancy as a way out of the incestuous relationship because the birth of her child will expose the sexual activity.

If You are Raped:

•• Don’t blame yourself; it’s not your fault.

•• Don’t shower. It could wash away important evidence.

•• Go immediately to the hospital and report the
crime to the authorities.

•• You may be offered emergency contraception, but be

aware that if fertilization has occurred, emergency

contraception may cause an abortion.

•• Get in touch with a support group that specializes
in helping rape victims.

•• Many attackers count on the silence of their victims.

Empower yourself by revealing your attacker and going

through the entire legal process. It is so important that you

report the rape! It may be difficult, but do it for yourself,

and do it so that no one else has to experience the same

trauma you went through.

Researchers David C. Reardon, Julie Makimaa, and Amy Sobie completed a nine-year study on pregnancy outcomes of sexual assault victims. As part of their research the authors found that after any abortion, it is common for women to experience guilt, depression, feelings of being “dirty,” resentment of men, and lowered self-esteem.

These feelings are identical to what women typically feel after rape.

Abortion only adds to and accentuates the traumatic feelings associated with sexual assault. Rather than easing the psychological burdens, abortion adds to them.

   SCARED?

  (Don’t Give up Hope...)
       PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTERS

Option Line - 24 hour

(English and Spanish)

1-800-712-HELP (4357)

http://www.optionline.org/

Pregnancy Hot Line - 24 hour

1-800-848-LOVE (5683)

http://www.nationallifecenter.com/

Birthright - 24 hour

1-800-550-4900

http://www.birthright.org/

Pregnancy Decision Line - 24 hour

1-800-395-HELP (4357)

http://www.pregnancydecisionline.org/

                                             
      YOU HAVE RIGHTS
(No One Can Legally Force a Woman to Have an Abortion)

               For more information, go to the Center Against Forced Abortions (CAFA) at

                                                     http://www.thejusticefoundation.org/
                            You may also call The Justice Foundation toll-free at 1-866-468-8279.



IF YOU HAVE ALREADY HAD AN ABORTION

(Experiencing Regret? Depression? Suicidal Thoughts?)

                                                                   National Helpline for Abortion

                                                                         Recovery – 24 hour

1-866-482-LIFE (5433)

http://www.nationalhelpline.org/

Abortion Recovery InterNational

www.abortionrecovery.org

              

Conversation With My Lord 3-2-12

Then the Lord answered me and
said: 'Write the vision and make
it plain on tablets, that he may run
who reads it.' Habakkuk 2:2



I have been asking the Lord to give me something to share in this blog and He told me to share the conversations that we have with each other in my journal. In a post abortion Bible study group that I was a part of years ago, the leader gave us an idea of how to journal during the 12 weeks of the study and after that. She told us how she personally spent time with the Lord in her journal by starting out writing what was in her heart to the Lord using a blue or black pen, and then she would set that pen down and pick up a red pen and pause and listen to what the Holy Spirit would say to her heart in response, then write it down. I really loved the idea and have been using it ever since that time. The enemy tried to lie to me in the beginning and say that I wasn't really hearing God's voice, but when I would go back and read what was written in RED, then I knew it was Him, because I know His voice.
I would like to share with you a few things in my conversation with the Lord from 3-2-12:

Dear Lord,
I love You with all of my heart. Forgive me of my sins, in thought, word and deed. Help me to be more like You. I feel like You have something to say to me today. Speak to my heart, Jesus, I'm listening....

My dearest Nona,
You are so precious in My sight and I love you with all My heart too. I have more love to give you than you could ever imagine. You are welcome to share any of our conversations with others that you want to. You are free to share, so that others will know that they too can talk with Me this way. I AM your Counselor, and I want others to receive My counsel too. So many do not know that I actually speak to people beyond My written Word, but I do. How do you think My written Word came about? I have always spoken to My people since the beginning of time and I will continue to until we are all together in eternity. I want My people to know that they can have a personal relationship with Me at any time of the day or night, not just when they are in church or in a Bible study. Many of My people don't even have a Bible, but they have Me in their hearts. Share My words to you, Nona. Don't be afraid. I am tired of My people being so afraid of Me that they don't know the difference between My voice and the voice of the enemy. Show them the way, my daughter. Be free! Continue to do what I've called you to do. Speak what I've called you to speak. I will help you like I always do. You can do this. I AM the lover of your soul, and I want others to know this also. My Bride has many members that haven't been reached. You are reaching them, even if you don't realize it.
Don't give up, my child.
Love,
Daddy God