The Other Garden

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  My garden forest is releasing its grip on summer allowing fall to emerge.  The beginning of the next season in its cycle of life has brought cold mornings and fallen leaves that need to be raked up and burned, making for a natural and delightful remedy for both.

I love springtime and new life, but nature reminds me of the necessity of winter and the symbol of  apparent "death" that it represents.

My thoughts of eternity focus on the original garden paradise I believe I will return to some day.  The winter in my "garden"  reminds me of the death that occurred in the original one and that is most likely why I  hate to see it coming upon the land. 

The Holy One speaks into my thoughts, "There is another important garden experience I want to share with you".    Then He picks up his paints and draws for me, a mental picture of my Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.

With the Holy Spirit as my instructor, my thoughts follow His lead. He reminds me that He understands the weakness of the human race, for we are His Beloved, and how vulnerable we are to the lies spoken by the enemy of our souls.  The original man and woman who were the ancestral parents of all humanity were deceived by the liar called Satan and fell victim to his misrepresentation of the Creator God. 

His seductive voice and evil suggestions led Eve into rebellion of God's word and warning.  She shared the lie with Adam and the history of the fall tells the story of the consequences that followed  The consequences all of humanity has had to deal with since that fateful day.  The curse of the fall, which is death, prevailed until a Divine representation of our flesh man, Jesus, came to earth and entered another garden to be tempted by the same ancient foe.  That other "Garden" was called Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:36-38 NIV, "Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane and said to them. "Sit here while I go over there and pray".  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him and He began to be sorrowful and troubled.   Then He said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death stay here and keep watch with me." 

Jesus was in the darkest hour of His human existence but His disciples were exhausted and offered no support of any kind.  He internal tension rose to the level of breaking capillaries under His skin, "And being in anguish He prayed more earnestly and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground".  Luke 22:44 NIV.

The Holy One is helping me grasp what caused the tension described in that verse.  The price for sin (rebellion against God) is death.  Contrary to popular belief, Physical death is not the ultimate death that sin caused man to suffer.  The ultimate death is relational death: the eternal separation from the Creator and author of life.

We have the account at the beginning of Jesus's ministry in the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan but drove him away with the Word of God, not unlike we are tempted by the same enemy and with the same Word of God available to use to drive him away from us today.  Luke 4:13 tells us that "When the devil had finished all this tempting he left him (Jesus) until an opportune time.

Having been betrayed and catapulted into the situation that called for His imminent death by crucifixion, I cannot fathom the emotional and mental trauma He must have experienced. Not unlike us, I can only imagine that this moment was the ultimate test of His faith, and I am sure the serpent in that garden was pressing down all of his lies trying to get the One we call Savior to buckle and lose mankind forever.

When we get to that place in our trials where we feel like we have the weight of our small world on our shoulders, that is nothing compared to the weight of the entire world that Jesus saw and bore in that garden that night

The Garden of Gethsemane was the symbolic return to the Garden of Eden where man's rebellion first took place.  The penalty of death was felt yet Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden to inhabit the earth for the remainder of a physical life span.  Generation after generation lived and died with no permanent remedy. By the mercy from God, mankind was accepted into relationship, however distant, through the shed blood and death of an animal as a substitute for their own.  The continuous need for blood sacrifice was to emphasize the Holy point to men that without blood shed there is no remission (removal) of sin.  The penalty for violating Holiness is death and death comes from blood shed because the life of the human and the animal is in the blood.

No man under the curse of sin was found suitable as a Holy substitute or sacrifice for all mankind so God came and took on a flesh body to pay that price Himself.  Since the penalty for sin required  blood to be shed, Jesus took on a flesh body with human life in His blood. 

I am getting the understanding of my Lord, as a flesh man in the Garden of Gethsemane with the weight of the cross on His mind.  I imagine the dark lord came mocking and spinning his lies, pointing out the pain and presenting an alternative to the faithful execution of the Son's Holy mission.  I see how this was that more "opportune" moment for the devil to strike when the ultimate price was about to be paid. 

In the original garden, Adam and Eve chose to cover sin rather that confess it.   Then came the blame shifting and all the wickedness to follow.  Jesus came and remained faithful in the other Garden, the innocent among the guilty, taking the pain and the penalty for all humanity.  By free will and choice, He layed down His human life and shed His innocent Holy blood for our eternal restoration back to our Creator. 

Jesus knew that He was facing  the ultimate death and separation from His Father, yet trusted that this sacrifice was the only way to save the world and redeem man for the eternal love relationship God desires to have with His beloved creation. 

I am overwhelmed yet again by the depth of the love of my Lord even in my limited human understanding of it.  I am thankful that He fulfilled His mission and that I belong to Him.  Thinking about the serpent in both gardens I realize how the temptation by the great Deceiver tries to mock my faith and change the true image of my God.

I am thankful that my Holy Counselor took the time to explain this.  The wrestles that I have are not against flesh and blood but against the dark deception by the ancient tempter.  I am thankful to know that the Holy Spirit provides the discernment I need to recognize the evil for what it is and the strength to reject the enemy's lies.

The other garden is the place where the failures in the original garden were corrected. Christ in the flesh met the requirements of Holiness by offering His blood as atonement for the rebellion that caused the fall.

I am thankful that I am protected and shielded by the mind of the resurrected Christ, so I do not have to suffer the mental barrages like He did in the flesh.  I am thankful, that in exchanging my life for His, I am assured that the plans and purposes God ordained for me at the foundation of the earth will be accomplished. 

But most of all, I am thankful that, by His sacrifice, I have been restored to what can only be described as a Sacred romance with my Creator.  After today, when I think of the original Garden  and look forward to my return, I will look to the other garden and remember the reason I can. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?       
 

       

Equal Justice For All

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The past few weeks have been very hard for me and my family.  The dust from the battlefield here on earth threatened to choke out and smother hope.    The night was short with intervals of interrupted sleep as evil  pressed down his interpretation of my family's life events.

My heart cries out for what my mind cannot comprehend:  "Why did the fervent  prayers of the saints go unanswered?"  His gentle voice comforts my ache, "All is well with your soul and I am in control".  Yesterday was an intense time of processing  all that has happened in a trial of the deepest kind for this momma to have to watch.

I have been through many rough seas and dark waters in my life, but standing on the shore watching my children and grandchildren in the raging storm is by far a greater agony than being in it myself.  I know the personal feeling of the fear, the hopelessness, the power of the waves, the taste of the salt, whether it be from the ocean or the tears running down my face.  I know the sense of abandonment and loss, wondering where is the rescue boat or even the little yellow life preserver: won't anyone come to my aid?

I have walked through the death of a father, brother and husband having to say goodbye at the gateway of eternity but death has always made sense to me.  Death is final here, the time is over and regrets are pointless since they do not change this life with that person.

Hope for a future reunion after death draws me into the sweet mercies of my Lord, but divorce and it's devastating effects is another story, especially when it comes with betrayal, infidelity, lies, and other forms of emotional abuse to include the attempted destruction of the parent child bond and theft of time needed to fulfill that sacred role as a parent in the lives of your children who are God's gift and also responsibility. 

My heart cries out, "Lord how did you emotionally deal with your Judas?  I need to understand so I can deal with mine"

In our society today, we witness such disdain for the institution of marriage.  Those of us who are "old fashioned" enough to believe it to be the very foundation upon which a peaceful society rests and operates in Divine order are mocked and suffer severe forms of character assassination. 

Out of that backdrop comes questions of the deepest sort that vex my mind.  The questions seem to my human mind to be irreverent and disrespectful if they are properly identified.  "You think I am being unfair.  You wonder where is equal justice?  We can talk about this if you like"  His invitation is such a relief.  The questions I do not even want to think about asking,  have answers the Holy Spirit is willing to give.

The questions are many but the biggest one is regarding the matter of "justice".  The courts of men in our "republic" form of government, is the place where we are to have our issues of disagreement resolved.  The foundation and the constitution at the base of our freedom shouts out "equal justice for all".  Unfortunately our family experience has been anything but that. It seems that my fervent prayers for God's equal justice have been rejected or denied. 

I have been told and agree that I must never judge THE Judge of all matters, but the questions roll through my mind and He knows each one.  So I ask, "Where is the "equal justice for all",  that I trust you provide?  You have seen the betrayal, covenant trashing, rebellion of your word and the mercilessness breaking of hearts.  I know you hear our cries for rescue so what can I trust when I see such injustice and the defeat of the "righteous cause" at the hand of those who seem to be so full of evil deeds?

I brace myself for His answer as he takes me to Job 38:1-7  "Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm.  He said, "Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge?  Brace yourself like a man.  I will question you and you will answer Me.  Where were you when I layed the earth's foundation?  Tell me if you understand who marked off it's dimensions, surely you know!  Who stretched out a measuring line across it?  One what were it's footings set?  Or who layed it's cornerstone while all the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" 

God's power and Sovereignty can never  be challenged.  Expecting His personal word to echo His written one, I am relieved at the gentleness of His voice to my heart. 

"In the matter of My justice, all humans have sinned and all humans are guilty.  All humans have fallen short of My Holy requirements and are subject to the penalty for their failure:  Death for sin.  I have provided equal justice for all men through the substitutionary  death of the One man:  Jesus, my Only begotten Son.  For all who agree and accept that His death paid their sin debt, all are acquitted.  That is My equal justice."

Jesus was sent to pay the debt owed by everyone ever born.  God's equal justice is in the fact that all have been provided an escape from the penalty for every wicked thing they have ever done. All are guilty but anyone can be set free from the debt of their sin.  That is equal justice for all, and not dependant on where you live, how much money you have, how many good deeds you have or haven't done or any of the other conditions that we might base our idea of temporal justice on.  Jesus came to rescue all "sinners" before and not after they became "saints". 

As I meditate on His words, I realize that He wants me to make a distinction between His Holy Eternal Justice and man's temporal attempt to judge the matters of concern in this life.  The reminder this morning is that I need to first settle the question  in my mind as to God's equal justice for all.  What I see unfolding in the courts of men is not a representation of nor can it every be compared to His.  Having resolved the bigger issue, I have the peace to process the smaller one.

As Christians we may be called into places where evil has been unchallenged and we are to make a stand for a "righteous cause".   The persecution we face in our righteous cause or holy stand, can shake us at the foundation of our faith.  We will do well to remember to make that stand here in the humility of God's Holy equal justice.  We must never lose our connection with the righteous cause Giver or the Holy stand Maker, and come to terms with the persecution that will follow, even if the cause is in the name of social justice. 

God's move through our lives will always find resistance, from dark spirits and fallen men.  That resistance is not to be confused with the Lord's denial of our petitions.  I am so happy that the Holy One draws me in to discuss such things when it would be so easy to turn away discouraged. 

The view from earth is vastly different than the view from Heaven, and I have been privileged to see the higher perspective in this morning's conference.  The matter of my question about equal justice on earth requires a little more time and a little more patience for the Holy One to have His final word even in the corrupt courts of men.  I remember one story of Divine intervention where there was the "handwriting on the wall" spelling out that on the scale of God's Holy standards, the king  was weighed and found wanting. 

Is our Sovereign God in Heaven interested in social justice here?  I am convinced that He is.  Earthly justice is a different matter but still important in the eyes of our Heavenly Judge.  Hope for Divine resolution offsets the painful travesty of my current situation. I am thankful today, not for the right to demand equal justice on earth, but for the grace to trust that it is coming. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?



  

     

        


  

 

Days Of The Demons*

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  There is the usual stillness, the smell of coffee brewing, and the sounds of the forest dwellers winding down their nightly symphony at first light. 

I woke up with a visual of the Lord's team taking the Gospel through the last leg of it's journey back to Jerusalem where it began so long ago.  That most dangerous and difficult place is known as the 10/40 window of latitude and longitude. I am not well versed in the knowledge of all that is going on in that geographical area only that it is part of the final leg of a global race to take the Gospel to all nations.

Those who have been given the commission and consider it their privilege to carry the baton of the Gospel through that dangerous place are willing to die if that will  advance God's message to the lost in the land.

We sit in comfortable chairs and refuse to go across the street for the lost and here are those enduring such incredible suffering and even death to see the message of Christ's salvation given to all mankind.

Just when the sense of guilt and condemnation is about to break through this Holy moment of communion with the Lord, He speaks, "Live out your calling and do not feel guilty or condemned or attempt to compare the assignment I have given you to the one I have given to another".

A sense of relief flows and with that comes prayers of intercession for my brothers and sisters on the front lines of this kingdom battle that we are all called to participate in so long as our feet are on planet earth. 

Ephesians 6:10-18 is a written description of the nature of the kingdom battle we are in on earth. The image of the real enemies of our kingdom and our King are found here and described as "rulers, powers, authorities and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms". 

Testimonies abound out of 3rd world countries where the battle is fierce and yet progress is being made.  I have a deep understanding that somehow the prayers of the saints here are being used to empower the saints there.

We all have a part to play and none is more or less strategic or important to the mission: that the whole world will be able to know and see the Glory of the Creator as the truth of His love is shared life to life, nation by nation. 

My mind is tracking on the unity of the Trinity, and how their fellowship is the model for the Church.  I am beginning to grasp a sense of that Divine and Holy unity where each One is separate but equal; there is no competition, no jealousy but just a deep love and respect for each other as they seek to bring glory to one another.  The Son came to bring glory to the Father,  The Spirit came to glorify the Son.  The Father sends answers to the petitions that glorify the Son and magnify His Holiness. Each seeks to glorify the others and we are given the privilege to glorify all three.

As I process the magnitude of the truth that the Holy One just compressed into a few words of His gentle wisdom to my mind, the subject switches back to the battle and Eph. 6:12 NIV, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

I am so aware that we are all caught up in this kingdom battle whether we know it or not and whether we like it or not.  Ephesians 6 not only tells us how to fight in this battle and the armor that we need but also confirms who the real enemy is and conveys the truth that no one is exempt from the war that has been declared against man.

Since the real war takes place in the unseen realm, we cannot do effective battle in the natural realm. against a  spiritual force of evil.  Since God is Spirit and in His very being, good and perfect, we must accept that what we see as wickedness truly is a spiritual force of evil coming against us in different forms of attacks. 

So many questions come to mind that I would love to have answered.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit shares them and gives revelation like a flood light.  Thinking about the saints in the 10/40 window, I wonder why the battle is so fierce the closer they get to the goal?

The progression of the Gospel around the world has been steady for all generations of those who answered the call to take it to the nations.  There has always been opposition and always been resistance to its advance.  But these days, the brutality and martyrdom of the chosen in other countries has exceeded previous numbers throughout history and I silently wonder why?

The Holy One gives His answer, "The days of the demons are coming to a close.  They will be cast into the lake of fire; a final judgement they cannot escape.  Once the Gospel has circled the globe , the demon's days are over.  The end of man's days on earth mark the final end of theirs for all eternity".

For humanity, the Gospel will be preached in all nations and then the end will come .  The dark lords know truth better than many humans. But they also know God.  Unlike humans they have no hope for redemption and await the final act of Holiness that will send them to their doom.

The closer we get to that day,the more we must engage in the spiritual battle to overcome the darkness.  The Church of the living God is called to be a warring church.  Jesus came to earth the first time as the suffering Messiah,  but provided the blue print and marching orders for His Church.  His return will be a powerful act of invasion as a warrior King.  If we miss that aspect of our calling, we will be impotent and neutralized even as a servant of Christ.

Being aware of the truth about the unseen realm of life here, gives us what we need to know about wielding the Sword of Christ and the authority that goes with it.  Standing firm and in tight relationship with our Lord who is the Captain of the Heavenly Hosts, is what we must do,  as the demons play out their last act of unbridled hatred against the Creator and His Beloved human family. 

As the return of our King is imminent, the days of the demons are rapidly coming to an end.  My job is to get into my armor, press on in my assignment and stand firm in that truth.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?    

Trinity Unity is Community

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Gladness fills my room and my heart.  The gladness is in the sense of His Presence and not for any tangible blessing (although there are many) that I might focus on or point to as the reason. 

The joy of the Lord felt by His people cannot be explained because real joy, ultimately, is not dependent on circumstances or situationally energized.  We are told that Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross and scorned its shame.  He looked past the immediate situation and found joy in what was going to come out of the pain. 

Gladness and joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit so we can take no credit for it's origins, but only take comfort in the experience of it.  I yield my praise and worship up at first light to the One I know makes me glad.

As I begin the day with praise and worship, the sense of relational unity with the Holy One lifts the darkness of life just as the sun fills the day with it's brilliant light. 

I confess that one of the things that I enjoy is a good mystery.  The whole "who done it" mentality of my personality in a way drives me to know more about the mystery of Holiness.  I love to follow the clues and arrive at the place where I know that Ms. White clocked Mr. Black in the study with a wrench. 

I realize that solving the "mystery" of  Holiness is a life long pursuit, but the Lord keeps me enthralled with just enough clues about His being and answers that my inquiring mind wants to know, so that I never tire of the game. 

Today, He speaks into my gladness with a powerful revelation to my mind, " I want my people to understand Trinity unity so I set them up in community". 

I know He is referring to the fellowship of believers we identify as the "church".  There are so many reasons for the Church in it's formation but this explanation really causes me to put on the brakes and listen to my all wise Counselor. 

"You may not understand all there is to know, but We are a Trinity, a fellowship, a community in and of ourselves.  We established the Church to operate in community like We do." 

The message has me reeling.  My thoughts of the "church" have been polluted by it's failures.  I am ashamed to have missed the Divine purpose while surveying the mess we have made of it.  Community is an all encompassing design.  The challenges to remain in community abound and I realize that the focus on self destroys the unity necessary in community. 

Jesus came to show us the Father and bring Gory to His Name.  I am reminded of the words that Jesus spoke in the gospel accounts of His life:

Jesus said,  "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me".  

John 14:11

Jesus said,  " If you love Me you will obey what I command and I will ask the Father and He will   give you another Counselor, The Spirit of Truth.......He lives with you and will be in you."   John 14:15-16.

Jesus said, "On that day you will realize I am in the Father and you are in Me and I am in you".
John 14:20.

All the pieces of this great mystery are coming together in my mind.  In Community, the Trinity desired a greater fellowship.  Man was created out of that desire.  Man was seen alone in God's created world as in no other "human" life form and was in need of a like-kind being.... enter Eve. 

Heart sin led to the fall and to their eviction from the fellowship of and with the Trinity.

Man and woman in marital unity desired children to add to the community.  Families branch out as does the community to a bigger unit called society.  Absent the perfect love and unity of the Trinity, Who designed community, man's unit became a hot bed of division resulting in wars on a large scale and divorce that divides the very community upon which society is designed to operate. 

God wiped out the the entire wicked world of men, saving one unit through one man, Noah, in a cataclysmic world wide flood.  Man re-group and continued in community but sin continued as well.  The Nation of Israel was formed out of one man, and one family unit to model a community of "believers" in the One True God.  They continued on in community but sin continued as well.

 All of the sorrow over all the generations of community has been permitted to take us back to the desire for the love that exists in the Trinity and so that we will place our dependency on God for the unity we need but cannot achieve.

All of the Old Testament history points to the one epic event that settled the issue of sin and the division it cost every human ever born.  The Trinity sent One of Their own to bridge the gap and re-instate the unity that God desires with His Beloved creation called "man".

At a very strategic time in earth's history, when all roads led to and out of Rome, God the Father sent God the Son to bring the message of unity back to humanity that was silenced at the fall.  The salvation offered by Jesus the Christ is not to spare us a physical death but to restore us after a relational one occurred. 

By and through His death and resurrection Jesus paid the price that caused our separation from the Trinity and  created the opening, the opportunity and the hope to be restored to that privileged relationship with God Who is Three-in-One. 

Upon His arrival, Jesus worked to convey the vision of community in those relationships we know  and love as "family".  Jesus came to show us the Father and to to confirm the bigger picture of Holy unity, "He looked at the crowds saying, "who are my mother and my brothers? .....whoever does God's Will is my brother, and sister and mother".  Mark 3:34-35 NIV.

Jesus left planet earth having given His Disciples the message and vision of the "Church",  a Holy community based on a common unity.  We all come together in a spiritual union not made by human hands but rather designed by and for community modeled after the Divine relationship we see as the Trinity. All of the goodness of creation came forth from the power of Sovereignty when it was said, "let us make man in our image" (Gen 1:26).

The purpose of the Church is to model Trinity unity where there is no judgement, no exalted pride or lust for power, but rather a unity operating in perfect love and celebration and even dependency on one another when One was in a weakened condition as in the tomb of death.

The sad truth is that many have missed the message and betrayed our Lord.  "By this all men will know you are My disciples if you love one another". 

The love of the Father has been lavished upon us, yet we find reasons to judge and even hate the rest of the family He loves as well.  While we take on the great commission to share the Gospel about the love of our Lord for the world He came to save, wouldn't it be a great idea to live out the love and forgiveness and unity in the community He Himself established that we call the "Church"?

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 

  
   

Miracles In Today's World***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  He brings me to our meeting place with the stirring of sweet memories of miracles I have seen.  Today the circumstances we are living with dial up our desperate need for miraculous supernatural intervention into the natural world we inhabit and those events we have come to call "miracles".

Our conversation begins on that note.  The Holy One speaks to my heart and mind, "Jesus came bringing miracles of divine intervention and nothings has changed.  He still works miracles.  All you have to do is ask for them".

His words demand a deep and prolonged meditation.  My internal Counselor takes me to His written word in John 14:11-14 (NIV).  "Believe Me when I say, I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.  I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in My name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything and I will do it".

I am humbled by my Lord's sweet invitation into the Holy place of Heaven's throne room.  I am here by invitation yet the intense sense of the Holy Almighty Creator brings a fear in such an overwhelming emotion that can only be described as "dread".  The dread is due to the reality that if the almighty Creator of the universe is anyone other than the loving Father that I have come to trust that He is, I would be incinerated on the spot. 

To begin to grasp the power of the Creator, we need only to observe the power of nature in the created world we inhabit.  Lightening, Thunder, a tsunami, a hurricane, a tornado, a great white shark.  All these represent a power greater than our capability to really harness or control their devastating effects.

As I meditate and ponder the scripture of this day, and with His gentle voice prodding me to go deeper, I am struck by the realized failure of the body of Christ to even ask for miracles.  We, as the body of Christ, are the Lord's ambassadors in a foreign land.  We are to bring the good things from our Kingdom and our King as gifts to the people who dwell here. 

One of the over-arching purposes for our lives as servants of Christ our King is to share with others the hand of friendship that our Sovereign Lord has extended to them.  Back in the day when kings of the earth made peace pacts and treaties with other kingdoms, they would send envoys to the foreign land and it's king.  These envoys brought gifts from their kingdom and king to demonstrate the king's willingness to live in peace and harmony.  Some of the riches of their homeland were given as a token of the intent to become peaceful allies on earth.

When Jesus came, He brought the riches of His kingdom to us on earth.  Miracles that touched lives day after day were the evidence He offered, that His kingdom is real and His invitation to live in peace with Him is trustworthy.  In the end He even signed our peace treaty in His own blood.

Those of us who believe and trust in the Kingdom of Heaven and our Heavenly King are now His ambassadors.  We are to bring the blessings of our homeland and King to this earth and to the people our lives touch. 

In our trials, we are faced with opposition that wants to silence and shackle us from sharing such good news of freedom and blessing.  The citizens of the world try to seduce us and make us forget about our homeland and our mission or attack us on our journey. The world is enslaved by the one we call "Satan" and is not interested in setting their captives free but rather finding more ways to enslave others to serve their self centered agendas. 

I am so thankful that we have been given His letter of our deployment and commission along with His exhortation to follow His lead.  Today I pick up His Word to remind myself of the riches I am to share in this foreign land and with the people who surround me and make up  my temporal world.  Jesus came to share the wealth and riches of Heaven and God with the same world I now inhabit. 

Jesus has not changed and His words are still being echoed throughout time.  Holiness speaks, "Even if you do not believe in My words at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves".   His exhortation to me and all who believe still stands.  I repeat it again to remind myself of the great privilege and responsibility to serve Him.  "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing....  (That means calling down miracles).  He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask for in My name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."  John 14:11-14 (NIV)

Great is the promise but greater still is the One who gave it.  Faith will be challenged by unbelief every time we look at an impossible situation and try to think as to how a miracle would change it.  As I consider the life of my Lord and Master, Jesus, I am stopped in my thinking at the place where I realize Jesus modelled  the faith He is asking me to find.  Jesus was in a flesh body, refusing to exercise divine privilege when the supernatural miracles were manifested on earth.

Jesus modelled  faith in the Father.  It was His faith that changed circumstances and people's lives.  No wonder we have been told that faith is a "fruit" of His Spirit. Was it the faith of the masses that fed the 5000 since they all ate from the same meal?  Was it the faith of the disciples who were told to feed them, when all they could say was "that's impossible"?

Today, I am called by the Holy One to repent for all the unbelief and faithless resignation to a miracle-less ambassadorship. Today I will look at the hard things and petition for miracles I now know He desires to enact by and through the faithful petitions of His servants and all for the Glory of the Father.  Sitting in the presence of the Holy Spirit, conferring with His desire to bring glory to the Son , as the Son brought Glory to the Father, brings me to desire the same.

If the Lord's own people do not ask for miracles when facing the impossible things in life or when standing alongside others who are in such need, how will the world see the "evidence" of the miracles themselves that confirm His identity and represent His love and encourage them to believe in Him as God?  Jesus claimed He is God and the miracles were and are the evidence that His claim is true. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?       

Is There a Blockade to Blessings?***

The Spirit calls to me this morning.  A lot has happened circumstantially since I last journalled our morning conversations.  His Presence and our counsel room "exchanges" have been an opportunity for getting things purged that stand in the way of my faith being built up for greater acts of spiritual courage and the miracles that come with faith.

My personal perspective of our temporal existence is that we are in a battle of epic proportions.  It is a kingdom battle in the realm of the Spirit with earthly ramifications of victory or defeat.  Trials are the evidence that I have a dark enemy who comes not but to rob, kill and destroy everything that is considered good in my life. This enemy has many tools and weapons in his arsenal but a lie is the handle that fits them all.

Within the framework of my personal perspective I seek the wisdom of my Heavenly Counselor to understand truth.  I need His wisdom each day as the adversary plots to assassinate the truth:

The truth about God
The truth about myself
The truth about others

The Spiritual atmosphere that surrounds us is charged with the enemy's lies.  Unless I can recognize and reject them, I become a victim of them.  As a victim, I will not be able to love and trust the God who loves me.  I will not be able to love and trust myself as God's beloved.  I will not be able to  love and trust others who like myself are struggling against the same lies from the same enemy.

Separation and isolation follows where we become even more vulnerable to the lies.

Without my early morning conferences with Holiness, the lies stand unchallenged and fester in my mind to corrupt my thinking and then extend to my reactions to the trials that come.

I could only wish that the battle is a figment of my imagination and that I really do not have to stand against such an evil arch enemy of the soul, but life and God's Word tells me otherwise. Even that thought, questioning the reality of the battle is laced with a toxic poison designed to neutralize the warrior in me. 

The Holy One speaks to confirm my mission, "Write down our morning conferences.   Allow others to hitch hike on our journey so they can know I want to talk to them as I talk to you."

Each one of us is uniquely designed by the Hand of our Creator.  Each one of us was born with a purpose forged in the great heart and mind of the One who ordained our life.  His gifts are likewise unique and each one of us has specific gifts, strengths and talents embedded within our being that the Holy One wants to use to connect with us and then with others as we agree to be His vessel or conduit. 

The Majestic God of all Creation ever lives to pour out His bountiful, gracious, benevolent blessings into our world but desires to use His people to bring them into the earth realm. 

It has been often said "we are blessed to be a blessing".  That only works if we are blessed and know we are blessed.  We can only be blessed if we are connected to the Source, for it is God from Whom all blessings flow. 

The liar starts his work right there.  We look around and do not see ourselves as "blessed".  Then the half truth follows, "You are saved eternally and that should be enough".  The cycle of guilt and condemnation begins.  We want more here, we feel guilty since salvation should be sufficient and the sum total of our "blessed" life gets pushed away and awaits eternity.  We resign ourselves to the theft of any blessing/miracle that might be ours to claim.

The liar lies!   The truth about God and His word and His promises gets slammed and we wallow in our unbelief.  Miracles are simply not sought until we get to the last ditch and at our most desperate wits end.  We think that miracles were for another day and another time or even for another person but not us.  There is even a "warning" that scares us out of claiming the power infused promise of the Holy Spirit and His gifts that came from Jesus and to us on the day of Pentecost. 

Oh man, taken out of the earth but made in the image of God, whatever happened to you?  With so great a spiritual inheritance bought and paid for by the Blood of God's One and only Son, Jesus, why do we not claim it and see our lives blessed by "supernatural" miracles even as we await the "supernatural" return of our King?  Is one promise good but not the other?

I question my Counselor, "what blocks the miracles?"  

The Holy One speaks His word into my ear.  James 4:3, "You do not have because you do not ask.  You do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures".

With His word comes a new perspective.  At first glance we may think that this refers only to monetary or material blessings.  Because I am asking for resources to live I need to promise to tithe or give away a portion of that "blessing" and "answer"  and not use it to buy a boat.  That we seem to believe gives proper motivation for the asking.

But use a more narrow definition of "pleasures" and I find a myriad of self exalting pride motives that represent flesh "pleasures" as opposed to God's Glory and Will. Not everything I need is monetary.  Not everything I need is connected to a dollar. 

If we are asking for things to highlight God's intervention in our life circumstances,  for the revelation of His glory and renown in the world that touches our lives, those petitions are made from the right motives and the blessing we receive is not to be spent on such pleasures as self exaltation, religious or otherwise, or even just to be seen as a temporal relief to an earthly problem that fades with yesterday's pain.  His Glory is the purpose behind the answer.  How will His answer to our prayer bring Him the Glory He deserves? 

To live in conscious connection with the Holy Spirit is to live with the assurance that He will convict me of anything that offends Him and anything in me that stands at cross purpose to His will and reputation.   If I ask Him, He will make me aware of anything that is a blockade to His blessing.  He is a patient and gentle Perfecter of His Holiness within me.

My flesh seems to represent a life long challenge to His rule.  Repentance is the only proper response to such a loving disciplinarian who is in charge of my soul. I yield to the conviction and my need for His correction.  I am thankful that He loves me enough to point it out. 

I back it up and now realize the need to double check my petitions.  Are they prospective in nature; likely to be answered on the basis of His promises and then more to the point of today's lesson,  am I seeking for His Glory for His provision in answer to my prayers?   Is the evil one and his lies pushed back and the Name and Glory of the Lord magnified? 

The blessings that come to us are always to be heralded and used for the Glory of the One who sends them.  Miracles should be a part of our daily lives as the battle really belongs to the Lord.  Our job is to face the enemy.  God's promise is to bring us the victory.  The victory He provides is to bring Glory to His name, not mine.  Time to get rid of any "flesh pleasure" that could be a blockade to His blessings.   The cry of my heart is:  Let the miracles I need and God's great Glory for them flow.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?