Wow! I'm excited. I had forgotten about this blog post I had - and haven't posted on it since 2018. Now I have some exciting announcements.

 The last thing I wrote on here was about my talk "Progression of Perfection" and I gave the talk in 2018 at our spring seminar and then in 2019 at the Aldersgate Renewal Ministries national conference in Springfield, Ill. A pastor there said "You need to be teaching this everywhere". Since I can't be everywhere, I wrote the book which came out in 2020. You can find it on Amazon with my other 8 books - 1 more Christian non-fiction, 3 Christian mysteries, 1 Christian women's fiction, 2 Christian mid-grade fiction and 1 kids Kentucky historical fiction.

The second good news is that on Saturday, March 20, 2021 we are having a one day conference "THINK KINGDOM" from 9:30 am to 6 pm in Danville at Cornerstone Assembly of God church. Admission is free and lunch of soup, sandwiches, salad and dessert is on site for $6. Speakers will be Jeff Rogers, Director of Wellspring Prayer Center in Lexington, KY, Tom Lane, Pastor of Cornerstone, and me. Music will be by Marie Garland, Charlene Lovett and Tia Faulk. Donations will be taken to cover costs.

The third great news is that we our having our annual seminar "IN IT TO WIN IT" with Tommy Hays of Messiah Ministries, Jeff Rogers, and me on Friday and Saturday June 25 and 26. Musicians are the same.  Both day hours are 9:30 am to 5 pm. and Friday night from 7-9., Admission is still free and lunches are the same cost.

I sure hope to see you there and will be writing on the blog whenever I feel I have something to share. During the shutdown last summer I loved doing the live "Love Talks" with Amy on FaceBook. Some of them are on youtube.

Hope to see you soon. In His Love, Amy

The Progression of Perfection

I'm so glad to be back with my blog. For one thing, the Voice of Joy Website belongs to someone else and I have no access to update it  - and the person who can is extremely busy. So I'll use this blog spot (now that I figured out how to use it again - I'm so technically challenged!) to share and give information about retreats, seminars, meetings etc.

To start out re-blogging, I think I'd like to share something the Lord showed me last year. We know that when we are born again, we are not automatically perfect - not by a long shot! So below is a "Progression of Perfection" so we can obey the commandment Jesus gave us "Be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48. Perfect means whole and complete. So we fallen humans start on a journey.


THE PROGRESSION OF PERFECTION: LORD, LOVE, LIFE

LORD: 
1. Salvation - Recognition of Imperfection (Sin is 'missing the mark of perfection')
2. Receive - Mercy and Forgiveness through Jesus' sacrifice for you.
3. Learn - Commit to learning God's Word

LOVE :
1. Recognize and Reject Idols - Anything that is more important to you than God
2. Forgive - Learn to forgive self and others (not excuse bad behavior - send it to the cross)
3. Relationship - Develop loving intimacy with God

LIFE:
Awareness - Be aware that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit in the earth
Receive - Receive the gifts that the Lord wants to give to you and through you
Obey - Be increasingly aware of God with you every moment; hear and obey His voice.

GLORY!!!

I'm looking forward to the Voice of Joy Ministries Women's Retreat this year. It's titled "Through the Looking Glass" and is about the Glory of God. Glory is God's Presences manifested in the physical realm. As we look at the glory of the Lord, like looking in a mirror, we are changed to be like Him from one degree of glory to a greater degree of glory by His Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:18)

We have three speakers besides me - speaking 15 minutes each about the mirrors we look into: Linda Henson, Becky Webber, and Marie Garland, who will also lead worship. We will have a craft, fellowship, worship, lunch, and ministry time. I fully expect this retreat to be a life-changer for participants.

The retreat is at Faith Fellowship Church, Jane Trail (a block in front of Walmart), Danville, KY on September 7 from 10 - 3/3:30. Doors will be open at 9:40. There is no charge but there will be a love offering opportunity to give for retreat and other ministry expenses. Voice of Joy will furnish meat and drinks, and participants bring vegetable, salad, or dessert for lunch.

Seating is limited so let me know by FaceBook private message or by e-mail amyb_love@att.net if you want to reserve a place for yourself, family and/or friends. God bless you!

For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. II Cor. 4:6 

I am going to stop saying "I am the world's worst blogger." And then maybe I will stop being it. :-)

In my post of May 4, I didn't complete telling what happened to me on April 28. After I had that encounter with the Lord that humbled me with realization that Jesus experienced separation from the Father so I/you/we could experience His Presence, something else happened.

I cried out "My God, my God - why have you adopted me?" And His response was "I adopted you BACK."

And I could see it - how the DNA and genetic code for each of us was originally in Adam and we were the Father's family and He loved us before we came into the world. But the true us's were kidnapped through the sin of our first parents and we were born perverted from who we were originally designed to be.

But now we are adopted back by the loving Father, cleaned up by the blood of Jesus, baptized in the Love of the Father through His Word and the Holy Spirit. We are beloved children of God. As I heard last weekend from a preacher, "When you believe in Jesus, you are saved. When you realize that Jesus believes in you, you are transformed." Jesus died to bring His brothers and sisters back to our Father. And one wonderful prophecy is that He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. (Isaiah 53: 11) Satisfy Jesus by receiving the knowledge of the Father's individual, unending, overwhelming love for you!

I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou has sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.  John 17:23

My God, my God!

I was in wonderful meetings all last weekend and felt that peace that passes understanding. Then on Sunday night, as I walked from one room to the next in my home, suddenly I was so aware of the loving Presence of the Father that I cried out "My God, My God." And then I recalled Jesus on the cross crying out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And I realized that I was experiencing the exact opposite of what He did on the cross. Because He experienced the absence of God which I deserved, I experience the Presence of God which He bought for me. How amazing is this Lord we serve!!! How great is His mercy, and love, and desire for good things - for us! The words from the song "He Touched Me" leap to my heart "I can never cease to praise Him. I'll shout it while eternity rolls!"
More than anything, I want to fulfill the first and most important commandment. How about you?

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Matthew 22:37