FIRST THINGS FIRST.

If I would even remotely began to write all that is on my mind tonight, it would be a chapter of a book, rather than a blog.

A man in Venice, Louisiana has blessed my heart with his passion, his servant hood and his love for people! His testimony of his devotions to the Lord rises up at various times inside of me and allows me to remember that GOD SUPPLIES ALL OUR NEEDS ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY! Far too much to share here.

Jesse Morris and his wife Charlotte were scheduled to go to Nepal with my sister and brother in law, David on September 10 2012.
Because God has a "sense of humor" and sent the Hurricane, Isaac, to their small community, right on the peninsula of Louisiana they are not able to go to Nepal for serving the people of their community, because that is JUST WHAT THEY DO.

God knows exactly where he wants us and knows exactly when and how he wants to serve his people. It might not be on the other side of the world. It might be your neighbor next door.

Jesse and Charlotte and their team of precious people are serving many many meals daily since Isaac hit last week. Jessee's house and church were not damaged to the point of liveable, but other homes and business' were.
Opportunity struck this man of God to SERVE the people, show them love and give them hope.
They are feeding everyday at about 1,500  dollars a day. This has gone on for over 5 days. They amaze me!

I wonder at times how much faith I have, and then I hear the news of a small church on the tip end of the state in which I was born.
I wonder because I want what he's got.......just faith.....but I know too, that there is a price to pay for putting your faith into action.
Are we really willing to pay the price for the sake of the call?

I would like to go to Nepal with my sister....my thought is; 'Can God give me the funds to go, on this short notice?' Of course he can. But as I watch Jesse and Charlotte....I realize that God is going to do just about anything he wants to do with the conditioned heart toward Him, even if it means stay home and do the first thing first.

I wait.

Five days and I might be on a plane to Nepal.....only God knows--only God.

What is a Kingdom?

'If you are divided against a kingdom, you and the 'kingdom' will not stand."

This is the very reason I want to live in a Kingdom (Also NATION) with the approval of God! How can that be possible you might ask, while we live here on this earth with all of its division. Well, there is a portion of a scripture I will tell you about that completely hit me one day while reading the BIBLE.

First I gotta tell ya that several years back, probably in the 90's, I remember singing along to one of my praise and worship Cd’s. I use to play this particular CD a lot in my car and this is what I would sing:

“Righteousness, Peace, Joy in the Holy Ghost, Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost, that’s the Kingdom of God.” “Don't you want to be a part of the Kingdom? Don't you want to be a part of the Kingdom? Don't you want to be a part of the Kingdom, come on everybody!”

Of course the song had more verses, but what struck me that particular day while I was reading the Bible in the book of Matthew, is that Jesus is CLEARLY describing how we could live undivided, so take heed. If we could possibly hear what he is trying to say in this passage, we would see that our Kingdom, His Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. But it seems more contrary at times, even in my personal life, though I strive for more unity than division.

When I was married the first time in 1985 I had entered into a new 'kingdom' of my life which was marriage. We lived in harmony most of the time and we both loved the Lord and even went to church in Tulsa, almost faithfully. At least faithfully on Sunday mornings.

We both worked, too much, and we became more and more dependent on our jobs than each other, or the love we had for the Lord or the love we once cherished in each other.

As several years went by, my 'kingdom' began to vanish of the things it was built on. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. I slowly watched my 'castle/kingdom' fade away. We divided from each other after four and a half years of marriage we become even more distant with a separation. That separation lasted about eight weeks.

During the time of that split, my husband called me from Kansas city and he told me that when he was sitting out on his fathers deck listening to secular music, a song came on the radio and the words to the song were this:

         “So raise your hands to heaven and pray that we'll be back together someday, 

tonight I need your sweet caress hold me in the darkness- tonight you calm my restlessness, you relieve my sadness.” 

He said when he listened to the words he could see me when I worshiped and he could see me when I prayed and he could also see me forgiving him, again. 

Ultimately he came home but tragically we parted ways permanently five years later.

Our kingdom was merely always divided. When you begin to leave Jesus who is the King of all, out of your life, you will fall. And you will not just fall with a skinned knee, you will fall in utter desolation.

My marriage ended in divorce and I was single for ten years, but the God I love and serve is a restorer to those who love him and call on him. Yes, it took ten years to get re-married, but like Jesus said; “A house divided against itself will not stand!”

I have told my husband whom the Lord gave to me after that tragic divorce and being single for 10 years, that our kingdom must never be divided. Oh, I can tell you, it's been a real struggle at times to remain in the footsteps of righteousness, within this marriage, but I know from experience that keeping the Holy Spirit actively alive, is the only thing that will keep your kingdom together.

Even the devil doesn't know how to keep himself together as he battles against himself! When we participate in the same 'weakness/strength' of the devil we will FALL! Jesus explains it in the very NEXT verse  in Matthew, that if the devil tries to drive out the demons with his own power, such as pride, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony envy or sloth then he is dis-unified! So, how then will a kingdom last or stand?

I could see this in chapter 12, how Jesus described (Amplified version) those who were against or rather divided in ANY Kingdom will be brought down to desolation (gloom) and laid to waste, and then Jesus goes on to say; that NO CITY or HOUSE divided against itself will last or continue to stand.

IF WE REMAIN IN UNITY BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD WE WILL STAND—BUT IF YOU ARE NOT WITH GOD, THEN UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE AGAINST HIM.

My daddy used to have a bumper sticker on his truck that said; “Grove Oklahoma belongs to Jesus, Get saved or get out of town!”

I used to be a little embarrassed at times with my daddy's crass and nonchalant way he had about him. But where he lived and what he did was wholeheartedly urging people to wake up to what God himself is trying to tell us. We got use to him being bold.

WAKE -UP and stop dividing yourself against the kingdom of God. Daddy said many things that reckoned something inside of me, because he was 'stubborn' about his love for Jesus. 

I was so nervous when my daddy was asked to the the service of my High School's Baccalaureate ceremony, the year I graduated. I don't really remember him embarrassing me with his strong southern twang accent he never lost after moving to Oklahoma, I always thought it was charming. 

I actually remember thinking how delighted I was that he told a funny story about a rooster, that made everyone think and laugh. (I wish I had his notes from that day, it would mean so much to me!) He got an applause, but he was never again asked to deliver the message at any other Grove Baccalaureate ceremonies again. I am certain he must have shared the salvation message, something I was very use to. Regardless, I smiled, I do remember that. (32 years ago)

When I read the words of my Jesus, I can hear the same determination of my daddy desiring nothing but best for his daughter. That is the same thing our God wants from us. 

What daddy meant was the very same thing that Jesus meant. GET WITH THE UNITY OF YOUR GOD OR GET OUT OF TOWN. 

You see, if we do not get into unity with Jesus and His words to us, as a city, as a nation, as a church as a family as a marriage etc. etc.....we will FALL. Yes, we have a gracious God and Yes, he has shown us much mercy, but if we do not heed to the voice of our Savior then he is describing to us in his words like he was speaking to the disciples and the Pharisee's in that chapter, that desolation will happen. (Matthew 12) Look around.

It was people that delivered our Messiah into the hands of the enemy to be hung on the cross. The same 'people' delivers His precious Holy Spirit to the hands of the enemy when we are in discord and leave him out of our lives.

YET, Jesus forgives them all! But unfortunately anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit, woe to him. (12:32) See, Jesus gave himself freely to this World by God, but when God took him into eternity and now he sits at the right hand of the father making intercession for you and me, he is interceding because the Holy Spirit, who is Jesus' Spirit, Gods Spirit, is here for us and his intercession and his presence is so that we will take notice of how powerful He can be in our lives. We must let him.

See, Righteousness, Peace and Joy are in the Holy Spirit and when that is quenched or stifled or put away from unity—it leaves us desolate! It leave us for ruin. We cannot function without the help of the Holy Spirit. We cannot live in unity without his power working in our lives. We cannot be of any good to Jesus if we are not walking in the way he has taught us through the Word to do. 

He wants us to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to do the work. That is why he lived, died and rose again, so that we would always be able to know him by the power of the Holy Spirit who is always willing and waiting to be there working in and through us.

GOD is for us, who then can be against us?.....Us!

Let's get into UNITY. Home-Church-City-Family-Job- and-NATION!

We do not want to be laid to waste.

side note: I was reading from my mother's amplified Bible, when I found this verse I have written about in this blog . She had given me this Bible shortly after my daddy died— in the front of the Bible she wrote; “The Great Revival with Rodney Howard Brown" was taking place and she thought it was important to jot that down right under her name.

My parents were both touched in a mighty way at that Revival and many people ridiculed Rodney Howard Brown because of all the laughter that took place in his meetings. 

The enemy DOES NOT WANT RIGHTEOUSNESS PEACE AND JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST, BECAUSE THAT KINGDOM BELONGS TO GOD.

Right under my mothers notation about the revival, she wrote: I Corinthians 1:18 and 2:14-16 Basically it says; “Most men do not receive God and they see the Word as folly and they see it as very absurd, but unfortunately, they are perishing and need Jesus.

But to me and to you, it is giving us POWER to walk in the KINGDOM OF GOD!

The reason I write--(written on Word Press Blog 1st)

I am Holly Vernon Miller and I write out of what seems to be pulled from me like a vacuum.
I seek to live a life, as if a mission is something I just do, not strive to do. I want to deliver words of Truth through the precious and amazing Word of God, and my wish is that you hear Him and not me. For instance, this is how I view it; If you pick up a Bible, and gently turn the pages, you just might begin to hear the sound of Angels wings fluttering.
This may not seem interesting to you, but you have yet to hear my story of how a preachers kid can actually care and embrace pain and ultimately show you/others how it can become your passion.
I reflect on every phase of my life as a lesson. I was the youngest of four daughters and we were  raised as a “Preacher’s Kids” (PK’s they called us) starting in our adolescence.  When my daddy decided to leave a decent paying job and wholeheartedly begin to trust the ONE who had been calling him since the age of 18, we had no choice except to go along. He was 36 or 37 years old when he finally yielded to the very thing that never allowed him rest from within. I was 12 and my other sisters were 13, 14, 15. It was at this point of my life, that my faith in my dad and mom and ultimately my resource in the Word of God became an inscription on my heart. Truly inscribed.
I  freely admit my path as an adult had been a bit “curved” at times, after my 9 year marriage ended in divorce……, but I now journey through this life quite differently than before. “Realizing that divorce—though devastating and living single for ten years was at times more than difficult, it is truly about remaining focused on the “awakenings” of God”….He always surprises us. Well, at least He has certainly always surprised me. When I actually WOKE UP to what had been placed in me long ago, I could finally see where my faith was strengthened, yet, I did not know it at the time. It was during the pain, I could see that affliction must happen so that the pain can bring us into divine healing which actually calls us long before we ever endured, and that is when we are finally restored. Restoration does come. (Isaiah 55:3)
My husband Charlie and I will be married 9 years in November. Through love and most of all devotion  and commitment I anticipate and always question and wonder what is next for us every single day. Through times of difficulty and yet  through laughter and most importantly learning more about God and His incredible Word, I wait and I remain certain I am hearing Him speak as I seek to ‘TEACH TRUTH AS I WAS TAUGHT.’ How do I know it is TRUTH? Because I have  the knowledge of my life lessons as I walk through my jubilee years of life. I also have a record of a life within and outside the boundaries of Gods incredible amazing grace. While living in the times that Charismatic was just not a thing of the present, it was actually hardly accepted, but daddy kept us believing and therefore, I have put my faith to action! I learned from the best of the best in Gods army of the 80′s, that being a believer was and will always be a ‘fanatic’, but I do not care. ONLY, now, I have seen the high cost of PAIN and have far outlived the blows of the enemy because my PASSION DRIVES ME to be stronger and bolder than the one who tries to bring me down. THIS IS WHY I WRITE!
In 2006, the year my mom and three sisters and I lost our preacher daddy, he spoke words to each of us during his final breathes, while lying still, in the agonizing ICU room.  He said to me; “You are creative and passionate, don’t ever lose that.” The word Passionate has become my heart song, because daddy was right, I am very passionate about the very core of who I truly am within my being. Pain has delivered to me healing which only allows me to use an antidote of the same blood washed love that cured me. See, Pain is a passion. For me, it strengthened me to persevere me and be a voice for the afflicted,  which is ‘why i write’.
I love to encourage women to become more than what they could have ever seen themselves doing in their lives. I do this by TEACHING TRUTH AS I WAS TAUGHT. If I told you that growing up as a preachers kid was hard, I would be lying. It was easy, not because it was always fun, but because it resonated in me as if everyone else was living the more difficult way of life and I/ we were granted the reward, to live in a way that no body else wanted to accept.
My dad started the first non-denominational church in the small town where I lived and grew up. He was a pioneer and at the time, I didn’t even realize how ridiculed he truly was, especially after he was kicked out of the Baptist church for being just a little too liberal with the ‘TRUTHS’ of the Word of God. It was certainly amazing to watch. My daddy was rooted, like a one hundred year old tree stump. NOTHING and no-one would ever convince him that he was wrong about his deliberate love and desire to preach the Word of God and his interpretation of it was FRESH in the late ’70′s, but not so gracefully accepted. .Daddy was on a wave that was taking him into places with God that the whole town talked about at the time of his death 30 some years after he started his mission to “Get people saved, or get out of town!” That’s a trait, I think, or I am certain he saw in me and my sister Rhonda. He called her zealous.
I am passionate about believing in a God that says He will provide all your needs, because he will! I am stubborn when it comes to confessing only the good of a situation because I saw the results of that confession happen too many times for my mom and dad.
When and after my dad died, I knew I was to complete the book I had started prior to his sickness, and in 2007, I completed and published my first book, “Life after the games” Prior to 2004, I DID NOT EVEN KNOW HOW TO TURN ON OR OFF A COMPUTER! I was a hairdresser for 23 years and never had a single amount of training on a computer, whatsoever! It was the PAIN OF THE CRUCIBLE, as my nephew would say about editing my writings, after my second BOOK, ‘The face of an arrow”.
When daddy first decided to go into the ministry all I could think of at the time of my adolescence  was, what about Christmas? The realization of knowing he was not getting paid troubled me at the age of 12 years old. That is when I began to learn, without realizing it, that we were going to experience  and determine to live by FAITH. Not faith as we ‘religiously’ speak about, but faith as a way of life! My life as a PK had all of the sudden become the norm. I never lacked for anything.
As I blog I will add many synopsis of a life as a PK and you will begin to understand the power behind my passion.
I presently serve in my church at Central Christian, here in Wichita, Kansas and I assist in leading praise and worship with an assigned team on particular Sunday mornings.
My greatest faith step was when I was sitting on the toilet asking God if I could go to school, ( I couldn’t ask my husband, because the school was outside of New York) and at that very moment, I heard the Lord say to me; “Teach and I will teach you.” That is not what I was looking for, but I realized that every fiber in my being was screaming to seek out the essence of who I was through the written Word of God. I had no Idea that when I went to Choir that following Wednesday night after I heard the Lord Speak, that my friend/acquaintance at the time would ask me; “Holly, when are you going to start that Bible study you had told me you were going to start?” I said;” Monday!”  I did not even realize I had said it until it came out of my mouth. I told her that the invites were up to her. I was not going to invite anyone, but rather she could. Eight came that first night on September 8 2008 and since that day on the ‘throne’ I have continued to lead in many, many  teachings. I taught 2 1/2 years, faithfully, I committed to every Monday night of those years and after that, I went to the first Monday of every month, providing it did not fall on a Holiday. I have had a wide range of women walk through my door and within those hearts, some broken to the point of feeling no repair, the WORD has become a reflection of that incredible day when my three sisters and I became ordained into the ministry, in 2006, because daddy would have asked us to do so, though he never assumed.
Somebody believed in me. I believe in you. Yes, Pastor Leon Vernon called me passionate, but Jesus Christ called me HIS, and with that, I TEACH HIS TRUTH, AS I WAS TAUGHT. Thanks to my preacher dad and my faithful God-fearing mother, I remain, living a life of FAITH.
Be blessed as you search for Truth. If you need it, I will help you learn.
Both of my books are found on Amazon.com–I am still amazed! Amazed that I am able to write and amazed that I am allowed the time to do so.