Are You Listening?

Yesterday was such a frustrating day. So much needing to be done on the "project". I just could not make any headway. At the end of 8 hrs of trying to go forward to gain some ground with my computer, I had to leave it in the same place that I started.

The questions and doubts in my mind about the events of yesterday flood my mind this morning. The first questions are, "Holy Spirit, have I grieved You? Are you still here?"

What a relief to hear Him say, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" ( Deut 31:6 and Heb 13:5). What, then, was yesterday's pointless effort all about? I know I am called to serve You in this vision. I thought I was in Your will, so what is wrong?

The closer I get in intimacy with the Spirit, the sooner I realize when He's not talking. If He's not talking, it means that I am not listening! So, I settle myself down for a lesson in perspective.

The Spirit starts talking about pride and unbelief. The enemy has floated the lie that I have "responsibility" without "capability" I have been blessed with the "vision" to see where we are going but if I even begin to think that I am or have to be the engine to take us there, then I am headed for a ditch.

The Holy Spirit pointed to past cycles in my life and I know He wants them to end here. It's the "sin spin" revisited. I must repent for the pride that thinks I can or should be successful in any works independent of the Holy Spirit. He showed me how yesterday was a classic example of the battle with the flesh.

The age old lie when I hit days of what seem like "brick walls", is that "I am a loser ". I don't have the skills to achieve, therefore the vision is hopeless and self-defeat is the result. When the days go well the battle is with the lie that I can do this work...it's natural to me and self-reliance results.

The Spirit is calling to me to seek Him always but especially when the circumstances of life stall the forward motion toward the Father's Will. When I know that He is the source of the vision and the work I feel compelled to accomplish, I must rely completely upon His Grace, His Directives, His Resolutions to the problems I encounter.

To see these brick walls as anything other than the absolute necessity to seek His wisdom and counsel and resolutions just plays into the enemy's hands. The Holy One within has all the answers to all the questions I will ever have. He has all the resources to meet all the needs I will ever have.

When the hours or days of His silence become deafening, will I run back to His counsel to sit quietly at His feet until I can hear His voice?

I expect today to be a better day.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Birthing Pains in the End of Days **

The Spirit calls me to read Mark 13 for many reasons. In the wake of  powerful earthquakes some near and some far away, what are we to think? The devastating tragedies should be a wake up call to everyone of us who trust that God's Word is true.

As the Spirit leads me through this chapter, I know that these words were written for our benefit and instruction. Mark 13:7 says "When you hear of wars and rumors of war do not be alarmed for these things must happen. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains."

We live in an era of "real time" events and can know what is happening around the world as it happens. We are more aware than any other generation of the wars, kingdom conflicts, earthquakes and famines no matter where they are occurring at any given time. Even if we as a nation are at peace (which we are not), still, we can know about all the other nations that are rising against each other. So our telecommunications place us in the place of hearing and seeing the fulfillment of this prophecy unlike people of past generations.

This scripture comes with a stern warning that we who believe will be hated because of Christ and our relationship to Him as His witnesses. Before the Lord's second coming false prophets and false "Christ's" will appear, performing signs and miracles to deceive the elect if possible. We are told to be on our guard and keep watch and be a faithful servant because we don't know the day or hour that He might come back. This is why He, The Spirit, has been sent to inhabit our hearts, His temple.

I always tried to tell my children, "don't be caught dead in a place where you don't want to be caught dead!" Meaning, the Lord can come back at any time and we must be doing what He has called us to do all the time. We are to be His witnesses to the people around us and to the dark nations around the world who do not know the One True God.

These devastations offer opportunity for those who did survive to find the God of all eternity. Those who are "lost" but not dead have yet the ability to find The One True God and the Savior of the world in the face of this horrifying ordeal. For those who have perished without the Savior, their fate and eternal destination is set for it is only here on earth that we have the ability to decide our eternity. After death here, it is too late.

As we send aid for their stricken bodies, may we send prayer for the Salvation for their souls. May we pray for those missionaries already there to speak hope for Eternity onto their lives and in such a way that the name of Jesus is lifted up. The earthquakes and their aftermath offers a small picture of the hell that exists as the eternal destination for those who reject the Son of God.

The horror of what we see should shake us out of our apathy toward a lost and dying world. The reality of all those images of people in shock and pain both physical and emotional should send an urgent message to our hearts to speak up and speak out. We should speak, not about this as being wrath and judgment, but rather about their need to make an eternal decision to receive the gift of Eternal life as offered through God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

This life is temporal. God's grace is now. For everyone who asks receives. Are we doing all we can to share with everyone we know the message of what is eternal especially as the temporal gives way?  On a ginormous and blessed note:  Scripture tells us the fallen earth groans awaiting the ultimate redemption of humanity where we (Believers in the God Son Jesus) will yet fulfill our original role as regents over all God created in the universe and beyond. .  

Help us Holy Spirit to live out our lives in light of Eternity and share with those who are suffering here,  the reason for the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

For the Sake of His Name

Today I awake to the conflicting emotions of hope and despair. Despair over what I see in the natural and hope in the realm of the potential unknown.

I call to the Spirit as He calls to me. "Please, fill me with Your faith, Holy One!", and immediately He answers.

The Holy Spirit answers and speaks into my meditations. I yearn to know Him better. He knows this about me and is always available and ready to reveal Himself. I ask Him to manifest Himself in His fruit to me, from within me...He brings forth His peace and His faith.

In the process, the Holy Spirit always takes me to His Word. My intimate Counselor, who knows my thoughts. my fears, my conflicts, my struggles with what I see and how I feel, always punctuates His personal messages through the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit; His Sword!

I meander through the mental images and the guilt the enemy tries to impose. His evil arrows are flying into my thoughts, "You are such a loser!" "Why would God do anything for you?" "Just suck it up and tough it out". "You're on you own..figure it out yourself".

The attack is on my hope. I confess I need miracles, my family needs miracles, my friends and loved ones need miracles, the Church needs miracles. I confess my failure to be "worthy" in and of myself. The world is so dark and the times are so treacherous, without the Lord moving in a powerful, miraculous way, we are all "toast". Here is where I get overwhelmed by despair.

But then, the Spirit takes me to Ezekiel 36:22-27. The hope for me is that the Lord does what He does not because I deserve it, but He does what He does for the sake of His Holy Name. What a relief. It's not about me.

Even though my life is not the reflection of complete Holiness as it will be one day. Even though sometimes my decisions and actions have "profaned" His Name among the people around me. Even though my "self-rule and self-idolatry" has made it necessary for the Lord's discipline to rest heavy on my life at times, still my hope is secure. For the Lord is not a man that He should lie. He has said that He will never leave me nor forsake me, and now He confirms in Ezekiel 36:27 that "I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees".

The Lord possesses me. I am His. Because of who He is, I am safe. This is the Holiness and Hope: It is no longer I who live but Christ (through His Spirit) lives in me. It is His Holy Spirit who gives me the strength and courage to live in hope and faith as I follow His decrees.

Here is the confidence and assurance. The One who formed the universe upholds my life and circumstances. He will do His miraculous things, not because I am so worthy but in spite of the fact that I am not. He will do miraculous things in and through my life and yours for the sake of His Holy Name.

May we all stand in awe of the Holy One, celebrate Who His is and Worship His Holy Name.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

The Sword

The Spirit calls and I hear the Words of my Savior, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be members of his own household."

The days are growing darker and these Words of our Lord, while spoken so long ago, have great meaning to me today as I see the breakdown of our families. But what exactly are we to think and do as the "sword" of Christ divides our time honored relationships we are taught to respect and in many cases defer to?

What are we to do when the desires of those we love demand that loyalty to our Savior be compromised? The compromised life comes upon us so subtly. Never has the counsel of the Holy Spirit been more urgent in guiding us through the earthly mine field that we find in our personal relationships. I find great comfort in the Words of my Savior even while reeling under their sobering implications because they explain a lot and give me hope.

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me."

We are called to be Disciples of Christ. The life of the Disciple must follow the Teacher no matter where He leads even into the jaws of death. The Sword and the Cross are symbols of war and death.

The Sword of Christ pierces the darkness of the soul and the "Prince of Peace" brings conflict.
The Cross of Christ crucifies the old man and brings death to the natural affinities we have lived to protect.

The Sword of Christ is set to divide the natural family in order to make the Spiritual family predominant. Even Jesus faced the earthly issue in Matt 12:48 and modelled the heavenly attitude we are to maintain. When told that His mother and brothers were waiting outside a meeting place to speak to Him, Jesus said, "who is my mother and who are my brothers?" Pointing to His Disciples He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers, for whoever does the Will of My Father in Heaven is My brother and sister and mother".

As painful as the sword of Christ may be in the dividing of our earthly love relationships how much more sorrow will be ours if those we love never come to the saving knowledge of the Savior of the world. Earthly separation is temporal, eternal separation is forever.

The stakes are high and loyalty to our Savior is the only hope for the unsaved world around us. The Sword gives us great opportunity to speak and live out our faith. "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." I Peter 3:15.

Let us take up our Cross daily and allow the Sword of Christ to have it's perfect result.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

The Missing Link

The Holy Spirit calls me from out of a deep restful sleep. Peaceful sleep is odd with all the stressful things going on in life. But the Lord is faithful to give peace to His beloved even in their sleep.

I marvel at the patience of my God. I stand in awe of how long suffering He is toward my dullness of mind. It is such an impatient world we live in, yet God's timetable is eternity and He seems to be in no rush to cram all my wayward "loose ends" into the beautiful conforming image of my Savior.

The last year has been spent seeking to learn more about the Holy Spirit and His critical role in the Trinity and my life.

He has been my "missing link". He has been to many, the lesser known, more easily overlooked, yet crucial One when it comes to overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil.

I acknowledge the Father as Creator. I acknowledge the Son as Savior, but each one of Them seems to exist outside my being. I see myself come to the Throne. I see myself come to the Cross. Yet there has to be a relationship that ties me to each one of them, otherwise the pull of the sin nature and friendship with the world of evil would rule over me until the day I exhale here and inhale in my Heavenly home.

God's word says, "be Holy because I am Holy". Most of us would say that is "impossible". Yet why would our compassionate Creator set over us a standard we could never meet?

Jesus said, "if you love Me, you will do what I command and I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth"....John 14:15-17. And John 16:13, "But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth."

I have to acknowledge that when I fail to seek the Lord with all my heart, I am not pursuing the counsel of the Holy Spirit and in essence failing to have the relationship that links me to the Father through the Son.

The indwelling Spirit has been given as the most amazing gift. We ardently seek the "gifts"of the Holy Spirit but fail to realize that He IS the gift. His Presence IS the blessing. All that He chooses to manifest through my life is just the evidence that HE IS.

The mystery of the Trinity is ever present. But the Holy Spirit is our "Sherlock Holmes". Through His Divine role in our lives, we can see into the mystery and find ourselves knowing Truth and experiencing the power to live Holy lives as Jesus modelled and the Father commands.

May we, this day, unwrap the priceless gift of the Holy Spirit and begin to experience the fullness of who He is.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

A New Year, A Fresh Start

As we begin a New Year, the Holy Spirit calls. "Let's start fresh"and with that He reveals one of the most important lessons we can apply to our lives and our walk.

His first lesson of the New Year is "put a guardian on your tongue. Beware the power of the spoken word". James 3:9 says, "with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse men who are have been made in God's likeness."

The spoken word carries great power in the unseen realm. "In the beginning God said, and it was." Every "careless" spoken word is what men will have to account for on the day of judgment. Matt 12:36-37

Scripture points to the importance and power of our spoken words. Numbers 22:5-12 gives the account of the King of Moab who was in fear of the Israelites. He summoned a man known for "divination", to come and speak a curse over the nation of Israel in the hopes he would be able to defeat them and drive them out of his country. The ancient world was schooled in the power of curses and blessings through the spoken word. Balaam was the man called to curse Israel. The scriptures do not deny that he was capable of sending forth a curse but speak of God's Sovereign intervention that stopped the curse from being spoken and turned the words into a blessing.

As we begin a New Year, I am convicted and convinced that I must watch the words I speak because the enemy uses the words of our mouth to defeat us and each other in the Body of Christ.

The enemy whispers doubts and fears into our ears. Those words when not contradicted by truth or faith hit a responsive cord within our being and we utter them in destructive ways that give the enemy permission to act.

Self doubt can produce defeating words. "I can't do this, I can't do that" become the very things that defeat what could have been our victory when not accompanied with the truth "But in Christ I can do all things".

The enemy is the accuser of the brethren. He whispers his accusations against our brothers and sisters in Christ into our ear, then our ungodly, ill spoken repeat of those oppressive judgemental words over each other once spoken have the power to oppress if not defeat the Body of Believers.

The enemy will use our self-defeating, and accusatory words in the battle to destroy us. We must be wise and not ignorant of his schemes.

May we begin this New Year with a bridle on our tongues being ever mindful of our words. May we speak only those words that edify and bring encouragement to our lives and the lives of those around us. May we always and only speak the powerful words that Glorify our Creator and our King.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?