The Far Side of Tomorrow

The clock tics off the minutes so slowly during the dark watches of the night. When will the joy of the morning that is promised after the long night of tears finally arrive?
  
There is no short cut through the emotional grief that cuts the heart when death comes to take one of our own.

When that "one" happens to be  child regardless of how many  years of earth time has been given to the parent-child relationship, the devastation of loss is acute.

In God's economy we were never meant to die and therefore death runs against everything that is eternal about our being. In and of ourselves we have no emotional tools to handle the separation that happens when death divides us from our loved ones. The hope of a reunited relationship is all that holds us together.  And Jesus is the only One who promises that hope.

For me, memories haunt the dark places where he once filled our lives with bright joyful days, exciting times and loyal love for his family.  Looking back only accentuates the sorrow.

When facing what feels like an emotional scorched earth scenario is there anything to be gleaned from the tragedy?  When there can be no replacement; when the intense love has no place to be poured out; when death stands alone as the villain and there can be no counter-punch to throw.  How does life go on when our personal world stops turning?

For a life-long believer in the One True God and His son Jesus Christ, this hard, hard emotional trial produces what is called a "faith crisis".   Something that represents such a challenge to all our fine sounding arguments that we make before our personal world comes crashing down.   Grief does that and as I have found no words can off-set the pain. 

How can the "love of God" be so cruel is a question the enemy of my soul wants me to dwell upon?  I have five other children and their spouses and 16 grandchildren who are every bit as deeply loved.  Why him and why now comes echoing back from the dark and empty abyss.  Questions without answers all lead back to something my Lord spoke to me years ago:  "I know you trust My will but do you trust My ways?"

To what some might label a PTSD experience, the "what-if" question goes to the "what's next" one and tends to drive the acute anxiety train right down the center of my once peaceful home town. 

Emotional, physical and mental fatigue all play their part in the attempted coup of my Spirit-life and relationship with the One I have trusted since I first found Jesus or better said til He first introduced Himself to me. 

In the recent past, I have walked my husband of 31 years and my mom through the valley of the shadow of death and somehow been able to return to the land of the living.  What then, makes this death such a hard mountain to climb?   

Was it the suddenness of  the loss without warning?  Was there a preparatory warning I missed?  Or something much deeper regarding the mystery of Holiness yet to be revealed?

Questions abound but the one thing I  do know is that there is only one place I can go for answers, if there are any to be found on this side of the veil.  Until then I wonder what I will find on the far side of tomorrow where many of God's promises are kept for delightful discovery at that future moment in my life?  What will be that incredible Joy of the Lord once I get through the dark storm of today? 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?   
                 
 

2020: A Victory Over the Darkness

For whatever the reasons and Divine purpose in the delay of this post, I returned to it today to share the beginning thoughts to the new year 2020.  Sometimes in the God's mysterious sovereignty we need to go back in order to go forward.  Such is the case in my life and the hard events that came at the beginning of 2019

The time of mourning and processing the deep grief of this momma's heart, must give way for a return to the plans and purpose and even "works" that God has prepared for me at the foundation of the world. Thankfully Eternity awaits and the sweet hope of reunion with those who have gone before calms the emotions and steadies the weak knees.  Until that day we press on with greater understanding and determination to share the hope we have in Christ Jesus with the lost world around us.

2020 A Victory Over the Darkness

Waking up after the cross over to another year, I hear the Lord speak into the dawn of a new day and a new year,  

"Go back to the original mandate I gave humanity in the garden of your origins".

It always interesting how one sentence from the Lord to my mind, sends me into the catacombs of deep thought and curiosity as to what He has to show me in any given day.  What better "point to ponder" on new year's day, than a look back to where time itself began.

I grab the Word and re-read the account in Genesis 1:27-28.  I see where the human mandate given by God back in the beginning was to go forth and multiply (create) and to have (exercise) dominion over all the Lord God made.  Mankind was to be the care-giver over all the Lord's vast creation.

As I read and re-read the account, I realize that the original mandate was never revoked nor cancelled after the fall.  The thing that changed due to a sinful choice, was the over-bearing continuous presence of an evil antagonist and the painful challenges he brings to that original mandate of our delegated dominion and authority.

Humanity got deceived and most of us have lived under that dark deception over the ages.  Throughout all the generations since the fall, evil has been acting out an alternative narrative to the one God ordained from the beginning which was this:  The Creator and the ones He designed as His "image bearers" (that's us) would rule and reign together WITH Him as His regent/representative over all He caused to exist.  That is to include the angelic beings called the Heavenly Hosts. And therein, I believe, was the rub to Satan and his rebellious crew.  In order to not be subject to inferior mankind, Satan left his place of serving God and humanity and in rebellion hatched a plot to cause division between God and man that would leave dominion  power and authority in his, not man's hands.

God's original mandate for humankind to rule and reign with Him has been the overarching purpose throughout all the generations and that purpose continues to this day.  But what of our dominion lost?  And how could the plan go forward with such an evil supernatural antagonist who "seems" to control life and the situations we meet?   Who but God Himself could take back the power of our "stolen" dominion intended for mankind and place it back in the hands of it's original holder?

Enter Jesus, God in a flesh body to win back what was lost by the first flesh/man Adam.  Since a purely flesh man made in the image of God was too accommodating to flesh temptations, God's eternal plan involved redemption by a "hybrid" if you will, of the Spirit of God Himself infused in a flesh body.  God sent His Son to redeem humanity and pay the price of .Holiness which was death for sin.  Do not think that God did not have the plan in mind before the fall.  That was Satan's weakness and his epic fail.  The great deceiver himself was deceived into thinking that he could separate God from His Beloved creation for all eternity. 

Salvation of the human race required the co-ordinated effort of the Holy Sovereign God and flesh-man to complete the plan and provide the way of escape for all humanity.   Salvation can be described as the rescue from an eternal penalty for rebellion of our Creator. Death spoken of in Genesis was more than physical as Adam and Eve lived on after the fall..  It was death of the beautiful relationship they once enjoyed and a carefree fulfillment of the Divine mandate.

God, the Father sent His Son Jesus to accomplish the means of reconciliation He planned before the fall, back to the original relationship whereby we are in a co-governing role with God Himself.  Unlike any generation before the Lord came to show us the Father and the plan, we have the grace in the power of the Holy Spirit to be reconciled and re-united with our Creator God.  We have the ability to live in co-laboring government with Him in the world that touches our lives.

That unity involves the 3rd person of the Trinity called the Holy Spirit who by His indwelling presence enacts the power of God within.  If we attempt to fulfill the mandate without the Holy Spirit we will fail. Satan is a corrupting influence and our flesh is still weak.

While we have certain constraints to our dominion until Jesus comes back to evict Satan for good, our sin issue has been dealt with so we can and must press on with all our strength.  We can and must go forth and multiply (with good works that glorify God) and operate in our delegated and restored dominion as the Holy Spirit leads and empowers us over the things in this temporal world that touch our lives.

The never ending story of our relationship with the Author of Life continues and so we will continue  to grow ever so slowly in the knowledge of the Holy One who calls us His own.  But this year He has reminded me to take up what He has ordained and what Jesus died to provide as our delegated dominion and see what He will anoint and empower in all we are impressed to do.

Happy New Year 2020

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?   

 

 

   

 

Understanding the Spirit Realm

When I first started journalling and set up this blog, I was a bit concerned that in cyber space, there might come some misunderstanding as to the nature and source of "The Spirit is Calling".

People are drawn to the spirit realm as a matter of curiosity or fear and some are drawn to the perceived "power" that the supernatural might grant them. 

To be clear, the spirit realm is real and inhabited by angels of light and demons of darkness  The "devil" is real as God is real, but God is the Creator of all and the devil is merely one of God's created.

The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the Triune Godhead as in God, the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Ghost).

My life history and experiences have offered lessons regarding the dark side of the spirit realm so I know the power there is real however (thankfully) limited.  These life lessons have enabled me to understand and process the hard events that take place here on earth as we have an unseen enemy committed to our defeat as humans. 

We get a behind-the-scenes look at the spirit realm in the first few chapters in the Biblical book of Job.  This is vital information for all humanity when attempting to understand the challenges and life shaking events that we all will face sooner or later.

The Bible is hard truth even if our finite minds cannot fully grasp such knowledge.   

Understanding that Earth experienced a hard fall when God's chosen regent and designated governor (original Adam) rebelled the Divine structure of Sovereign authority and lost his dominion to a dark deceitful being, helps explain the sense of a missing part of our Divine design.  What drives us deep within our core is to be "whole" or "Holy" and "complete", as we were designed to be back in the beginning.

We are hard wired for relationship with our Creator God.  Our internal design and DNA is as an immortal image bearer of the one True God. 

Until and unless we are restored in that glorious image, deep sorrow fills our soul and a vexing mystery floods our mind.  It is the Holy Spirit Who enables our restoration.  His indwelling Presence is only available to those who have come to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior from the penalty of rejecting Him that is to come. 

This blog was initiated to share the ministry and role of the Holy Spirit as He has worked in my life since that saving moment when Jesus took over.  

For those who have come here looking for the "occult", I'm sure you will be sorely disappointed, but I hope you will find value in reading about the true picture of the spirit realm and Who holds the power therein.

Before the creation of mankind in His very own image, it seems that the Lord God created the "Heavenly Hosts" otherwise known as angels,  to serve His purposes in what and for whom He was about to create.  These angels are supernatural to us and more powerful in design than flesh and blood humans. While awesome in power we are never to worship angels as they are merely servants of the Most High.

These celestial beings were given free will at their creation just as mankind was given.  And, just as mankind,  some in a free will decision chose to reject God's Sovereign structure in Divine authority.  In other words, these angels (1/3 of the total created) became infatuated with themselves (in pride) and chose a life and course at cross purposes with the plans and purpose of the Creator.  Back in the Garden of Eden, darkness (from an evil spirit) took ruling authority over mankind and all creation groaned. 

While 2/3 of the Heavenly Host remained loyal to the Creator and faithful to their Divine assignment, the full power of their role in our lives awaits our decision to become a citizen of Heaven.  

Jesus came to redeem what was lost at the fall but until we accept Him and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, evil will dominate our lives.

Many live under the dominion of darkness but Jesus came to set the captives free.  

These are just some "cliff" notes of a much grander supernatural love story where you have an important role to play as the Lord's Beloved creation.    I hope you might follow along with my story and be encouraged by things I have discovered on my journey with Jesus as you come to find your own place in His Presence.

The Spirit is calling Can you hear Him? 

Job chapters 1-2
John 14:15-18
Revelation 12 
Hebrews 1:14

                                                                                                                                . 

    

       

2020 New Year New Me

This new year 2020 has begun and I, for one, am thankful for it's arrival.  2019 was a very hard year and many trials seemed to hit all at the same time. 

A year of grief and mourning in the loss of a beloved son is almost over..... and I am changed.

Physical trials similar to PTSD and the ensuing  acute anxiety that goes with the shock (trauma) of sudden loss have offered other forms of pain ......and I am changed.

A Spiritual crisis laced them all together...and I am changed.

So deep has been the anguish that I took refuse under a rock and I'm still trying to make sense of it all. 

One of my all time favorite Christian songs is "The Warrior is a Child".  I relate to that honest expose. For all the images and talk of a strong valiant never back down from a spiritual battle front, that I prefer, the reality is more like the lyrics convey.  I have always seen this life in terms of a battle between good and evil and good must never give up or give in.  But as the song goes and the battle rages:

"They don't know that I go running home when I fall down.
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just a while
Cause deep within this armor
The Warrior is a Child"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNFf3ykQvM

Each morning we wake up in a battle against an enemy of our soul. We don't have to don our armor and fight, but if we don't, whether for a day or years, we lose ground in the war.  Difficult days and hard times make us want to throw in that proverbial towel, I know they did for me.  But the Lord keeps encouraging me with the hope and promise that He will come again soon and make all things new.   

In the meantime, I continue my life-long journey with Jesus writing new chapters in our Never-Ending Story.

As for this blog, it has remained quite dormant and sporadic for a long season as I pursued other forms of outreach and networking with fellow believers,  but this year and after all that happened in 2019, I am being encouraged to refresh and revive this cyber connection with old friends and hopefully meet up with some new ones. 

So here's to 2020, a new year and a new me......

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?