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I Have Not Divorced You

Life as we know it right now is off the chain! Our nation is in chaos. We do not know from day to day what is literally going to happen when it comes to the pandemic, the health of the economy, and so on. We cannot even meet for church as we need to. Some of us are in the fight of our lives and it is NOT surprising that many are falling away and have given up.

Well, as I am reading and preparing for a short sermonette, I realize that I am not exempt from being totally overwhelmed right now myself. I thank God for the Word in Isaiah 50:1—

50 :1—-This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce
    with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
    did I sell you?
Because of your sins you were sold;
    because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.

In this verse, the prophet is continuing from a point in the previous chapter where the people of God questioned God’s love for them because of what they were suffering. (See Isaiah 49:13-18). Just as God spoke through the prophet at that point to ensure the people that He had not forgotten them, He now was asking a rhetorical question…”where is the paperwork that shows I have divorced you?” There was no paper work. God did not change HIS love or alter His attitude about the future of His people. It was because of their disobedience that they were suffering.

It is the same way with us. We suffer because of the consequences of our choices. Or, sometimes God will allow suffering when we are in His will for a purpose. Regardless, We must set our faces like a hard flint rock and continue on our path during these dark days. God has not forgotten us and He still has a future plan for us. This is not easy, but we must trust the process.

I believe God will always find a way to confront the soul that harbors a feeling of “Where are You God?”, or “God does not care about what I’m going through”. Is that you today? Do you feel that God is ignoring your pain or that He is hard to reach right now because of what you are suffering? Well, if it is, go ahead and acknowledge it. Let God comfort you the way He did for the Israelites long ago. You will never be put to shame when you trust your bewildered emotions to God. He’s waiting to comfort your soul. Let Him.

When There Are No Words…

Chaos, darkness, frustration, tears, tears, tears…these are a few words that come to mind when I think of the situation in our Nation at this time during 2020. Death, sickness, prejudice, injustice! Anger, fear, pity, compassion…so many emotions. I remember a couple of nights ago sitting in my den…speechless. I recall whispering to the Lord in shame “Lord, I don’t know what to say…I don’t even know how to pray!” Well, being an intercessor, this hit below the belt but do you know what? A tender voice straight from my loving Heavenly Father began to remind me that I had a Comforter living within my spirit who is ready to pray through me! He, the Holy Spirit helps in our infirmities when we do not know how to pray. (Romans 8:26) He leads our prayers but we must remain in faith and in hope. We must not allow our hearts to be affected by what we see and hear in the natural.

Protect your heart, beloved. Be sure that you are watching your responses, your emotions, and what you are allowing to invade your ear, eye, and heart gate. We are living in prophecy. The Bible teaches us of the perilous times. Take heart. Our redemption is drawing nigh and the LORD is still in control. Even when we can’t feel anything. He is still God and we still have a future in the land of the living. Again I say, take heart.

God Plays Hide and Seek

“You will find Me if you search for Me with all your heart,” states Jeremiah 29:13. So the question in the heading is does God play games? This eye-catching title has to do with God seemingly playing the old hide and seek game that we used to play as children in the sweltering heat of the day many years ago. Well, of course, God does not play games like that but He does have a desire for fellowship and trust. God wants us to trust His love for us. He wants to bond with us. So, in a sense of hiding and seeking, He hides revelation so that we are thirsty and hungry enough to seek after that revelation.

The context of Jeremiah 29 is all about Israel in captivity. The word from Jeremiah in verses 11-13 speaks hope to a people who were in great despair because they disobeyed their God and began to trust in false prophecies of a sudden deliverance from their oppressors. But how does the promise of verse 13 apply to us today? This verse can apply to the backslider or anyone who desires to find a relationship with God. For those of us who have accepted Jesus as Lord, I believe it is about the search. It is actually what we learn throughout the seeking process that really counts. God knows everything but yet He does not tell us everything we need to know at once about our life situations. He wants us to ask, seek, knock on a continual basis. Why? Because He loves us and created us for Himself. As we worship and as we seek His perfect will through His word (written and rhema), we continue the bonding process. So, let the games begin.

I want the Spirit of the Lord to continue to reveal to me how to search for God! Be encouraged and be diligent in your search for God ‘s will for your life. For example, I have an upcoming dance workshop to teach during July this year. It is now May 1st; however, I have already begun to ask God which songs to use and exactly how to format the workshop. Sure, I could pick any song and format the workshop in any manner, but if I pray and seek God’s wisdom, He will eventually speak to my heart and show me exactly which songs and format will work best for who is going to be attending. I have no idea who will be there but the Holy Spirit does! So in the midst of the search, there is a voice, there is peace, there is intimacy. I gain more than just a few songs and some choreography, I gain more of His heart. Are you a seeker? Do you love to play hide and seek with the Lord?

Denise Cook Godfrey

Minister/Author/Playwright/Liturgical Dance Instructor

https://www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey

dcookgodfrey@gmail.com

COVID-19 Chronicles Day 3

Hello! We are here on day 3 of the COVID-19 Chronicles. Today we will continue in our discussion of what I believe the Lord spoke to me in a dream a week or so ago. There were two major things that I believe the Lord reminded me of for the church…repentance and worship.

Continuing in our discussion of repentance (Day 2 started our discussion). I want to encourage us with a scripture verse from Isaiah 30:15:

New King James Version
For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,

The above scripture lets us know that when we return to the Lord in quietness…we will rest in the Lord. In my dream, there was chaos and fear until the Woman in Authority stopped me in my tracks and I was directed to get back to work. When we repent for real…we can literally kill the noise in our soul. We will be able to take Jesus yoke and swap our yokes with His so that we can have a heart of peace and tranquility. Remember, we discussed yesterday that true repentance has to align with God’s will and it must be mixed with contrition and brokenness!

Another aspect of the scripture verse above is confidence and strength! We can minister in boldness, walk in boldness, and live a bold confident life when we truly repent and give our whole heart to God.

Let’s pray:

Father, I give you my heart…I thank you for my salvation and I do repent right now of what I stand in need to repent of. I repent also on behalf of this entire nation! Beak my Lord, Shake me Lord…I want confidence and quietness before you. I love you and I praise you,

In Jesus Name…Amen

Minister Denise

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COVID-19 Chronicles Day #2

Welp! Here we are on day 2 of this special time of recording what I honestly believe to be the mind of Christ on the matter of the virus thing! If you have not read day #1 of these chronicles, please do so. On day ,1 I described the purpose of the chronicles which started with a dream that I had about a week ago. So today is March 24, 2020 and today we are talking about repentance.

Repentance is definitely one of the things that the church must do individually and as a whole during this time. It’s crucial. It is not an option. What I feel compelled to speak on today is true repentance that aligns with the will of God.

First, the definition of repentance is a sincere regret and remorse. So…from a Biblical stand point, lets look at the Hebrew meaning:

“According to Strong’s Concordance, the English word repent appears 21 times in the Old Testament. These come from two different Hebrew words. The one used most often is Nacham, which means to regret. The other is shuwb which means to turn or return.”

So to be sure that our repentance is aligned with the will of God, we must have a mind set of regret concerning our present heart condition. The remorse and the regret, called “contrition” in Psalms 51:17, is what will eventually manifest in a turning back to GOD!!! This is true repentance.

Take-a-way from this chronicle:

I must feel the burden of my sin…I must be sorry for real…I must trust God to cleanse me and by faith receive forgiveness as I confess and acknowledge my sinful condition…then i must TAKE ACTION! I must plan to do something. Taking action means doing something different than before.

God bless you! Let’s pray:

Father, in the Name of Jesus…have mercy upon my, according to Your loving kindness, according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Forgive me and purify my heart. I want to turn to you in repentance. Break my heart for what breaks Yours and restore unto me joy in Your presence. Grace me to take action and do what is needed to be done in my situation today…In Jesus Name…Amen

COVID-19 Chronicles Day 1

Today is Monday, March 23, 2020. I would like to present a 5-day journey into the mind of Christ for this Corona virus situation! About a week or so ago right before we received word of lots of shut downs and closures, the Lord gave me a dream in the 4th watch of the night. If you have ever studied the night watches from a Biblical standpoint, then you will know that the 4th watch occurs between the hours of 3 am to 6 am. In the dream I was at work. I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden there was a very loud siren or horn sound that blasted through my computer! I could not maneuver at all on the keyboard. The system was totally frozen. The sound of the alarm (that is what it appeared to be) was not all that I heard. I also heard chatter in the air from others yelling, “Go…go to your safe houses, go to your safe house!” I quickly picked up my purse and some other things that were important to me and headed out of the door of my office. As soon as I was about to get to the exit door, I was stopped by a woman in authority who extended out her hand in authority as to say, “Stop!” Get back to work.” Now there was another Lady standing beside the Woman in authority (that’s how I perceived her). This other lady at first was one of the ones yelling for me to go and get out. Now she was in agreement with the Woman in authority. I went back to my office. The dream ended. The interpretation is that it is time to go back to work. To do the work of the Kingdom. See, the other lady who switched from saying “go to your safe house, go”, to being on the side of the one in authority, represents the world without Christ. See we as the Church, need to not be flip flopping between fear, panic, and faith!

Now, on yesterday, I was scrolling through Facebook and one of my dance Sisters posted a picture of Jesus with His hand extended out toward a large crowd of folks running as if to be in panic and war…she said that this is the picture that she saw in a dream! Her dream was very similar to mine in that she interpreted her dream to mean that it was time to stop running and start praying against the virus! I was astonished at this wonderful confirmation that God had truly spoken through my dream.

So…what are our take-a-ways on this 1st day of COVID Chronicles? Well, I believe that God wants us to do two things and focus on those two things more than anything else. Those two things are repentance and worship. I know…sounds simple but believe me…it is profound!

On day #2, we will talk about repentance and how we can be sure that we are in alignment with the will of God for true repentance.

Thanks for reading! Join me on tomorrow night!

Denise Cook-Godfrey

Minister/Author/Playwright/Liturgical Dance Instructor

Hello New Things!

Hi, Denise Cook-Godfrey here…God wants to do new things for you in this new year. According to the Jewish calendar, we have entered into a new year. God not only wants to do new things but unusual things. He also wants us to understand our spiritual “times”. Our times are definitely in His hands. I am prophesying a suddenly and a springing forth of new things and also a springing forth of things that were spoken and declared in previous years!

Now, enjoy the place of His presence. He wants to hide you in His secret place. REJOICE IN HIM!

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Get Him Out of the Box

Recently I ministered in dance at a Women fellowship. I planned, prayed, and prepared for the event in the midst of numerous other responsibilities and assignments. I was ready but not ready so to speak but eager to minister. But guess what? Two hours before the event God changed the song! This was not the first time this has happened but feeling the way I was and being as preoccupied as I was it was a shock! The song was also an older song that I had not heard or danced in over five years!

Okay, I have enough history with the Lord to know that He would be with me so I stepped out in obedience. The ministry was phenomenal! As soon as the song begun, people were already filled with anticipation, weeping, and worship! I did not once have to worry about choreography, technique, or anything! As a matter of fact, I mostly interacted with the audience. God is so amazing! Regardless of your assignment, never stuff our Lord in a box and expect Him to always move in the same manner. Be ready to be stretched and watch how He moves! I could see the manifestation of God’s presence resting upon so many faces!

Hanging out with God

“Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.” Exodus 25:8

God still wants to hang out with us! Are you worshipping in spirit and truth? When I calmly think of the flaming sword and the cherubim that were set up to prevent the man from entering a certain place in the garden of Eden, and the scripture above, it gives me renewed hope that I can walk and live out my desire to come boldly before His throne of grace whenever! See Hebrews 4:14-16, 10:19-23.

Be encouraged and know that you are a welcomed guest in His house!

Minister Denise Cook Godfrey

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Praise Dance Mentorship

Peace and Many Blessings!

Mentorship is one of those Biblical principles that is sometimes forgotten, especially in the area of the arts! Worship dance, praise dance, and interpretive dance can sometimes be overlooked when it comes to mentorship. If you are in a position where you need to stop and receive some guidance for the next phase of your dance ministry, please contact us. We want to partner with you in order to bring wholeness, deliverance, and encouragement to many lives!