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 Newest Post... THINK PINK!  


My more recent posts:


Come Away To A Quiet Place... 


Weeds and Roots


 Today, I choose...

He Calls Me Wildflower

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VISIT MY ONLINE ART GALLERY:






WWW.MICHELLEBENTHAMCREATES.ORG


IN OTHER NEWS: Women of Faith featured an excerpt from my blog about a WOF event I recently attended. Check It OUT!

I recently joined Angie Monroe on her Resolute Catalyst Radio Show talking all about Preserving Your Potential in Pressure Cooker Seasons.  LISTEN to the PODCAST on Angie's Podomatic
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I'M GIVING AWAY CREATIONS! Everyday that my blog reaches 100 page views, those who leave comments will be entered to win a 4x6 original artwork on paper of your favorite verse of Scripture.  Click here the rules and how to enter. 

THURSDAY, MAY 2nd Comments: NONE! Really... We had 112 page views yesterday - first time we've broke 100 since March 29th! Leave your comments and link up to the blog and you are entered to win. NOEL WILLIAMS has been commenting regularly, visit Noel at http://www.prhayz.wordpress.com/ She linked up to our website on Twitter yesterday which I believe helped send traffic my way! So NOEL is our MAY 2nd Winner. NOEL, please email  me your favorite Scriptures and colors. 

I will post my draft of the Painting for Bridgit by May 11th! :)

4/20/2012 WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY 100 PAGE-VIEW days these last few weeks. Share a link and leave a comment to enter to win! I'll post the next update next week! 

FRIDAY APRIL 6th Entries: OUR WINNER IS BRIDGIT ! Bridgit please email me so we can get started on your personalized artwork! KEEP CHECKING BACK, Linking Back and letting others know about this give-a-way! 

Date                       # of  Page Views                 Commentators

3/28                           83                                        Ana Marie

3/29                         146                                      Bridgit  

3/30                           88                                       Noel

3/31                            76                                       Julie 

4/1                              58

4/2                              71                                       Nanette

4/3                             63                                       Noel

4/4                            46

4/5                            32

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VISIT MY ONLINE ART GALLERY:






WWW.MICHELLEBENTHAMCREATES.ORG


IN OTHER NEWS: Women of Faith featured an excerpt from my blog about a WOF event I recently attended. Check It OUT!

I recently joined Angie Monroe on her Resolute Catalyst Radio Show talking all about Preserving Your Potential in Pressure Cooker Seasons.  LISTEN to the PODCAST on Angie's Podomatic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzoUU8qlkwc

                                                                                                                                                        ___

Scripture & Prayer BlogEncouragement and Prayer from the pages of God's Word as He has written them on my heart! Scripture & Prayer Blog



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If you are looking for my Bible study on the Hebrew Names of God click HERE.



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BETH MOORE IS COMING TO GATEWAY CHURCH for PINK IMPACT IN APRIL! Don't miss this great time to come together as women of God and hear the anointed teaching of Beth, Holly Wagner, Author Andy Andrews, Ps. Debbie Morris, and many more | April 26-27, 2012. Our Southlake Campus is SOLD. OUT. Frisco will have a live Satelite Feed and North Richland Hills is expected to sell out by the first of March or so! JUST JUMP IN!


Visit Beth at the LPM Blog and learn more what she's up to and her Living Proof Ministries!!

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Shop at my bookstore: MICHELLE's BOOK NOOK
Life is happening here...

It's taken me a while to get my bearings again, but I'm writing. And, I'm in love. With My Family. With My God. With the place I am in my life. With my HUSBAND. I'm in love and I love it... (See Gateway Church Christmas Carol)!

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Deep Breath Ministries...

Do you Rendezvous? Join Me Here.

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Monday, August 30, 2010

From Shattered to Restored

Isaiah 61:1-3 tells us that Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted, provide recovery of sight to the blind, freedom for captives and release for prisoners.

These very people file into the churches that dot the landscape across our country and around our world. They walk in with a pasted on smile, a fear of being exposed mingled with a fear of what it is that makes them so broken.

When they look in the mirror they do not see themselves reflected as Christ's image on this earth, but instead see slivers of a being they do not even recognize as themselves. It reminds me of what the book of  James talks about:

"he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."~James 1:8 (NKJV)

"For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. "~ James 1:23-24 (AMP)

Every day there are people who call my line at work looking for help.  They are deeply wounded people with remarkable strength, but when they look into their shattered mirror they don't see a love letter from God - they see the hatred of this world marked out in scars on their souls.

Broken people, shattered and blinded by the cruelties of life, a fallen existence and the consequences of evil perpetrated by the hands of men. They are trying to get better, but feel doomed to a life of turmoil, regret, fear and torment. They call and they ask, "Can anyone offer me hope?"

"Can God help me?"

Some find healing after years of both professional counseling and ministry within the church, but many feel that they will never be completely free of the darkness of their past.  Even after receiving a measure of healing their reflection is still shattered. Their identity stolen by abuse and pain.

Abuse and pain our society and world often minimize or deny exist.

Where do people who suffer horrible abuse go for help?

I pray that God would provide a place where the shattered and maimed souls of this world could come and receive intensive care without depleting their financial resources. A place where Jesus is found faithful to Heal, Restore, Deliver, Set Free as well as save. Where they go from being shattered to restored completely back to the original identity that God created them to live out of accepting finally that their past does not determine their future and the cruelty of others does not show their personal value and beauty before God.

That they would be as Paul writes:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."~Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)

And finally, one day they look in the mirror and see not the shattered image of a used up life, but instead the glorious image of Christ reflected in His Bride.



"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."~2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

Would you join me as I pray for an answer for those shattered lives that so desperately long to find themselves whole, healed and set free?

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Thank you for visiting. Please leave a comment and let me know you've stopped by! When commenting, please use Colossians 4:6 (MSG) as your guide: "Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out." Words are powerful, therefore, I will moderate all comments and will not post any spam, disrespectful or demeaning comments on this blog. Be blessed and remember, Jesus told His disciples that they would be recognized by their love.