All posts filed under: Musing Moments

ICFTS Summer Sabbatical: See You in the Fall

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“In the long run, of course, a deeply rested people are far more productive.”  ~TIM KELLER The time of year has come where the days grow longer and yet time seems to slow down. Although much is still at work in the world around us, there comes a time for rest as God continues the work within us. Summertime with ICFTS is that time. This is the season to look back on what has been accomplished and declare, ‘it is good’ while resting the mind to hear from the Lord what is meant to be planted in the seasons to come. I, Candice Coates, am so looking forward to the fruits that will come from this time of rest. I have deeply enjoyed this season and anticipate the greatness that the Lord Jesus will manifest in the seasons to follow, but for now, we wind down, we breathe, we rest. ICFTS shall resume again in the Fall/Winter of 2020. Until then, look back on what has already been shared, and pray blessings upon what is …

How God Sees Us: Loved Forevermore

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“The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy…He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” ~PSALM 103:8, 10-12 Before Christ had come and manifested His presence among us in the form of man, He was already gracious and good to us. The psalms express this truth in how they declare that, before the Lamb of God had been slain, He was slow to anger, abounding in mercy, not dealing with us in accordance with what our sins deserved, nor punishing us for our iniquities. But even then, with just the blood of animals, He had set His mercy for us as high as the heavens are from the earth and removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. When Christ …

Sowing Destiny: Taking Creative Advantage of the Times

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“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” ~RALPH WALDO EMERSON  Time is ever precious and what we do with our time today will determine the results and successes of our tomorrows. Many around the world have been given more time than they had asked for and seemingly more ‘free’ time than they know what to do with since the pandemic hit. But when one takes a moment to remember all the times they’ve said or thought,  “If I had more time I would (fill in the blank)” they would realize that right now, even as the economy slowly opens, is the time to fill in their blanks. Filling in the blanks. Taking the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson let’s create a road map for the coming months. Let’s fill in the blanks and prepare for brighter futures and days ahead, days that we created. What thoughts have you pondered over …

The Value of Relationship

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“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.” ~BARBARA BUSH The last few months have proven to be challenging in many different ways for all humankind. With the sudden need to stay indoors, to forgo plans for holiday traveling, to even lessen the times spent at parks or even the normal commute to work, many have battled with the feeling of anxiety of being indoors. But now many around the world are beginning to draw back the curtains in their lives and let the sunshine in once again. The great outdoors beckons and now many are taking the steps to answer. Cabin fever has been a real thing. And many are ready for the escape …but I wonder if we truly have gotten out of this time of seclusion and being shut in that we really needed. I wonder, did …

The Requirement of Obedience: The Key to Stepping into Manifest Promises

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“God doesn’t need our help, but He does require our obedience.” ~CANDICE COATES We often think that when the Lord says something, instructs us in a task, that the work of bringing that which He has spoken to pass rest upon our oh-too-small shoulders. When in reality the Lord only requires two things from us; our ‘yes’ and our obedience. Sometimes our work of obedience does require big moves and actions and many times, dare I say most times, it requires us being still and seeing the salvation of the Lord (EXODUS 14:13-14). When we take a journey through the second book of Chronicles, we find King Jehoshaphat. He is burdened on every side and weighed down by the impending assault of the enemy. There were many things that the king could have done. He could have rallied his troops. He could have called on allies. But what he did instead, was to call upon the King of Kings and seek His instructions for his next move. And in seeking the Lord in faith, the …

The Wonder & Awe of God’s Love for Us

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“Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.” ~PSALM 130:1-4 Some translations of Psalm 130:3-4 say, “If You keep account of sins, O LORD, Lord, who will survive? Yours is the power to forgive so that You may be held in awe.” Awe means to have a fealing of wonder and reverance even to the point of fear. When we consider all that Christ, our Savior, God and King did for us in His perfect love, how He has transformed us and loved us with an everlasting, unwavering, unfailing, unmerited love, one can do nothing short of be in awe. The Lord through the finished work of Christ has delivered us from the curse of the law but has also carried away our sins and remembers our lawless deeds no longer (HEBREWS …

Get Ready to Take Your Mountain: A Fresh Look at the Series ‘Be Squared’

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SPECIAL NOTE: It is my great joy and delight to be reintroducing this series especially during this season. For a few months now the Lord has been bringing ‘Be Squared‘ to heart and mind and it is recently that He instructed me to share it again. I feel in my spirit that this is truly a right-now word for the Body of Christ. Things truly are not what they seem no matter what world circumstances say. The Lord is releasing greatness, power, strength, and long awaited manifestations of inheritances and promises. With that said, here is the introductio to this series. My prayer is that you will feel the gifts in your spirit being stirred and hear with fresh revelation and confident trust the promises that the Lord has been preparing you for. The time is now! Be Squared! ~Candice Coates Squared. In terms of algebra, every pre-teen’s favorite subject, to be squared is to be raised to a higher power. A numeral goes from its singular numeric ability and is suddenly given a boost …

You are Sanctified in Truth

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“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” ~JOHN 17:17 What does it mean to be sanctified? The word is a part of our identity and position as new creations in Christ and blood-bought children of God, but few today understand what it means to be sanctified nor what it really takes to be sanctified. According to the Oxford dictionary, to sanctify or be sanctified is to be ‘set apart as or declare holy; consecrate, or to be free from sin and purified‘. The Word of God further proves this by affirming that we are in Christ and He is in us (I JOHN 4:10-13), that our old has past and we are now righteous in Him by faith (II COR. 5:17, II COR. 5:21, ROM. 3:20-26.) Christ Himself, before He went to the cross to cut this covenant of Grace and Truth with the Father on our behalf, prayed on our behalf that the Father would sanctify us by His truth and stated that His Word is Truth. Here is the beauty, we …

The Expectation of Suddenly!

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I have got to say that the Word of God is true! Our Beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ, does not lie and never has. When He makes a promise to you, no matter how long it takes BELIEVE! Believe Him! Right now I am in the ‘spring’ of my life! I am seeing the fruit from seeds planted YEARS ago growing and budding and I am beyond humbled and filled with an overflow of joy and thanksgiving! It is in these moments that ‘suddenly’ has joined me at the table. Suddenly the trees where naked and the ground wore its usually winter-green dress and suddenly, the scent of cherry blossoms perfumed the spring air and the ground beneath our feet became as decorated as an intricately woven Persian rug! Suddenly. The definition of the word is simply, “quickly and unexpectedly.” ** Our Savior has a beautiful way of ‘suddenly’ showing up in the midst of darkness and storms, walking upon the waters (MT. 14:22-33), suddenly walking among flames of fire that should have consumed you but …

Stumbling Blocks to Stepping Stones: The Beauty from Broken Roads

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“But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” ~JOHN 12:23-26 Our lives and the path we take when directed by Christ are always for a purpose. What we at times see as broken moments marred by death and loss, are oftentimes climax moments that Christ calls seed and harvest. When our Savior came to His time to be brutally beaten and then die on the cross for the world, He knew that out of His agony and death would come a harvest of a great …