The Spirit calls me today to remind me that one of His greatest blessings is assurance. He assures me that all the promises of my Father and Savior are mine.
Hope surges with the truth.
Yesterday in the world, things got so crazy after our early morning conference. The lesson of yesterday came with a test. Most lessons of the Holy Spirit come with a test after He has spoken Truth.
Yesterday, I recognized the enemy and the effort he made to distract me from applying what the Spirit commanded. The day ended with the victory of "understanding" and a peace from following the directives of my Counselor.
I glean today one of the most essential basics to my faith: Once the Lord is done using what the enemy sends against me, the opposition will be sent scattered to the four winds...gone...gone...gone....gone!
Isaiah 54:16, "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into a flame and forges a weapon fit for it's work. And it is I have created the destroyer to work havoc: No weapon forged against you will prevail. You will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and this is their vindication from Me".
The Sovereign God of all Creation, created the "destroyer" to work havoc and is therefore, in control of the havoc this "destroyer" is allowed to work.
I cannot see into eternity, the place that awaits all who trust in Jesus having paved the way by His shed Blood. But I am assured that what I face here in terms of refining trials has been allowed for reasons beyond my natural point of view at times.
For some, I realize the "destroyer" has been allowed to escort them right up to the gateway of Heaven, to receive an even greater reward prepared for those "martyred" for the faith. Yet, a Sovereign God says, "No weapon forged against you will prevail" If those called to martyrdom could speak to us, I know they would tell of great peace and victory even as they exhaled here and inhaled in the Presence of the Lord.
Today, in our conference, the peace comes from His assurance that the Lord and no other is in Sovereign control of all things. Even the "weights" placed upon my faith muscle are His to control.
Isaiah 54:10, "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will never be shaken nor my convenant of peace be removed", says the Lord who has compassion on you."
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Trust and Obey
This morning, the Spirit calls me to Himself with a question. "Why do you treat My voice commands as suggestions?"
I am seriously trying to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging His Presence and ruling authority in my life, but the question reveals and convicts me of an attitude problem.
The Holy Spirit has been given to me as "THE" Great Counselor of Divine wisdom. Yet I seem to put His wisdom together with human reasoning to find the righteous pathways of God's Will.
That process looks good on paper and most would agree that we must think with our minds through the challenging trials the world provides. However, today, the Spirit has a lesson to teach me.
When Jesus spoke to His Disciples of the Holy Spirit to come, He said, "I have much more to say to you, much more than you can bear (or understand). But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth".
The Holy Spirit was given to enable me to think and live as Christ. The mind of Christ comes with the Spirit of Christ, but it is up to us to operate with such wisdom and trust in His ways.
James 1:5 says, "if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
Now i see how human reasoning is plagued with doubt. All the anaylzing produces the "what-ifs" and the "what-ifs" boil down to faithless unbelief. The Holy Spirit has unearthed some toxic "stinkin thinkin". Do I trust the wisdom I have been given? Do I trust in His ways?
I must never throw what I read in the Word or what I hear from the Spirit in my heart, into the swirling cess-pool of mental human reasoning. Once there, Divine Wisdom can become just another suggestion among many as to how to resolve the issues of life. I may choose a different course of action than the one leading to victory, but far more devastating to my love relationship with My Lord, I risk offending the Holy One through rebellion and disobedience.
In Isaiah 55, God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, delares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thought than your thoughts.
I must no longer treat His commands as suggestions but rather trust and obey.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
I am seriously trying to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging His Presence and ruling authority in my life, but the question reveals and convicts me of an attitude problem.
The Holy Spirit has been given to me as "THE" Great Counselor of Divine wisdom. Yet I seem to put His wisdom together with human reasoning to find the righteous pathways of God's Will.
That process looks good on paper and most would agree that we must think with our minds through the challenging trials the world provides. However, today, the Spirit has a lesson to teach me.
When Jesus spoke to His Disciples of the Holy Spirit to come, He said, "I have much more to say to you, much more than you can bear (or understand). But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth".
The Holy Spirit was given to enable me to think and live as Christ. The mind of Christ comes with the Spirit of Christ, but it is up to us to operate with such wisdom and trust in His ways.
James 1:5 says, "if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
Now i see how human reasoning is plagued with doubt. All the anaylzing produces the "what-ifs" and the "what-ifs" boil down to faithless unbelief. The Holy Spirit has unearthed some toxic "stinkin thinkin". Do I trust the wisdom I have been given? Do I trust in His ways?
I must never throw what I read in the Word or what I hear from the Spirit in my heart, into the swirling cess-pool of mental human reasoning. Once there, Divine Wisdom can become just another suggestion among many as to how to resolve the issues of life. I may choose a different course of action than the one leading to victory, but far more devastating to my love relationship with My Lord, I risk offending the Holy One through rebellion and disobedience.
In Isaiah 55, God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, delares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thought than your thoughts.
I must no longer treat His commands as suggestions but rather trust and obey.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Death or Deliverance: Days of the Red Moon Rising
The Spirit calls. He wakes me up on this the beginning of my 63rd year on planet earth. I have felt in my Spirit a charge, unlike anything I have felt before.
The visual I keep getting is like the day the Children of Israel were facing annihilation by the Pharaoh; boxed between the powerful Egyptian army and the natural obstacle of the Red Sea. Exodus 14
Moses spoke into their fear. He told them to stand firm and they would see their deliverance by the Hand of their powerful God. I cannot begin to imagine the atmosphere in the air on the day the Lord parted the Red Sea for His people, but it must have been off-the-chart.
I wonder if, in the stillness and hush of impending majesty revealed, there might have been "electricity" in the air, like nothing man had every experienced before. The kind of sensation that makes your hair stand on end, with every nerve in your body reacting. That is the "charge" I feel in my Spirit and I wonder what our Almighty God is about to do.
Then, today, He speaks:
"These are the days of the red moon rising, (Joel 2:28-32). These are the days the ancient prophesies foretold. You will see My Majesty unfold"
"Rend you hearts and not your garments, Return to the Lord your God".
The Word of the Lord is alive and has held personal application for every person in every generation. While it contains the historical account of man since creation and speaks of the future end of our days upon the earth in prophecies, great wisdom and personal promises lie within it's chapters and verses; enough for each one of us to find resolutions to life's daily challenges, no matter what generation, family or society you may have been born onto.
Even so, there are some generations in history and the future that are set apart and privileged to be alive as witnesses to the supernatural intervention by the Almighty God of all Creation. We belong to such a generation.
Many may mock us as they did Noah, before the rain began. Many may chase us with murderous intent as they did the Children of Israel before the Red Sea parted, and many may demand that we bow down to worship worthless idols, images and men as they did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before God showed up in a blazing furnace.
In each of these accounts of an historical event, there was a day on the calendar and an hour on the clock, when God came, took charge of the affairs of men and the debate ended. I believe we are about to experience the day on the calendar and hour on the clock, when man's days upon the earth will give way to what every believer in Christ longs for: The return of our Savior, the arrival of our King and the end of the debate. Period.
The question is not "what day and what hour?". The question is "where will you be standing when it happens?"
Too many people delude themselves into thinking the day of the Lord is far away and in the distant future. Some do not believe that Holiness will judge men for ignoring the warnings; that a "loving God" will not hold all men accountable for the way they handle their sin.
The Bible paints a different picture. The horn could blow at midnight tonight and the only place of safety from the judgment to come is in the Provision God Himself gave: Jesus Christ, the crucified, resurrected Savior.
Jesus is like the ark of Noah. Until the judgment begins to rain down, the door of the Ark is still open.
Where do you stand today? Inside or outside the Ark?
"I will show wonders in the Heavens and and the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, (Jesus)will besaved."
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The visual I keep getting is like the day the Children of Israel were facing annihilation by the Pharaoh; boxed between the powerful Egyptian army and the natural obstacle of the Red Sea. Exodus 14
Moses spoke into their fear. He told them to stand firm and they would see their deliverance by the Hand of their powerful God. I cannot begin to imagine the atmosphere in the air on the day the Lord parted the Red Sea for His people, but it must have been off-the-chart.
I wonder if, in the stillness and hush of impending majesty revealed, there might have been "electricity" in the air, like nothing man had every experienced before. The kind of sensation that makes your hair stand on end, with every nerve in your body reacting. That is the "charge" I feel in my Spirit and I wonder what our Almighty God is about to do.
Then, today, He speaks:
"These are the days of the red moon rising, (Joel 2:28-32). These are the days the ancient prophesies foretold. You will see My Majesty unfold"
"Rend you hearts and not your garments, Return to the Lord your God".
The Word of the Lord is alive and has held personal application for every person in every generation. While it contains the historical account of man since creation and speaks of the future end of our days upon the earth in prophecies, great wisdom and personal promises lie within it's chapters and verses; enough for each one of us to find resolutions to life's daily challenges, no matter what generation, family or society you may have been born onto.
Even so, there are some generations in history and the future that are set apart and privileged to be alive as witnesses to the supernatural intervention by the Almighty God of all Creation. We belong to such a generation.
Many may mock us as they did Noah, before the rain began. Many may chase us with murderous intent as they did the Children of Israel before the Red Sea parted, and many may demand that we bow down to worship worthless idols, images and men as they did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before God showed up in a blazing furnace.
In each of these accounts of an historical event, there was a day on the calendar and an hour on the clock, when God came, took charge of the affairs of men and the debate ended. I believe we are about to experience the day on the calendar and hour on the clock, when man's days upon the earth will give way to what every believer in Christ longs for: The return of our Savior, the arrival of our King and the end of the debate. Period.
The question is not "what day and what hour?". The question is "where will you be standing when it happens?"
Too many people delude themselves into thinking the day of the Lord is far away and in the distant future. Some do not believe that Holiness will judge men for ignoring the warnings; that a "loving God" will not hold all men accountable for the way they handle their sin.
The Bible paints a different picture. The horn could blow at midnight tonight and the only place of safety from the judgment to come is in the Provision God Himself gave: Jesus Christ, the crucified, resurrected Savior.
Jesus is like the ark of Noah. Until the judgment begins to rain down, the door of the Ark is still open.
Where do you stand today? Inside or outside the Ark?
"I will show wonders in the Heavens and and the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, (Jesus)will besaved."
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Monday, June 14, 2010
God's Prosperity
The Holy Spirit calls today. So much time has past since I last posted. But it's time to get back to passing along the message(s) He has been speaking in the quiet of our morning conferences.
So much is happening so fast in our lives and our nation. I feel like I am sitting on the sidelines with a "tennis neck" back and forth watching the volley between Light and darkness. Today the ball stops long enough to process the action and the message.
The Holy One takes me back to I Kings 18 and the contest between the God of Israel and the fake deities of Jezebel. It was really no contest, ever. But the people had been so corrupted by the deception of the pseudo power of Baals prophets that the Lord purposed to solve this deception in a grand and Glorious way.
The Children of Israel had forsaken the Lord their God. They had allowed compromise and were suffering the consequences on their end of a broken covenant with the one True God.
Idolatry was a common practice as the people were seeking "prosperity" from any source who promised it. Jezebel, the pagan queen of Israel's King Ahab, had set up her foreign gods. Ahab took Baal worship to an official status in adulterous violation of the Holy Covenant between God and the Children of Israel.
The conditions of the land and the lives of the people deteriorated under the compromise, drought occurred and famine followed for years.
The Holy One speaks to me, "the drought and the famine in the land is the discipline for idolatry"...WOW! hard to hear, but so true. We have become so dull to truth and numb or resigned to the reality of our circumstances, we have stopped looking to understand or asking ourselves "Why?" What lessons are we to learn? The world says, "work harder, adjust this or tweak that but keep pushing". Or, "you might as well check out. Drown yourself in pleasures because nothing is ever going to change". Both separately or a combination of the two make for a K.O. in the battle.
Personal and corporate accountability is long forgotten, and the worship of government or self has taken over. Most look at "prosperity" only in worldly terms coming from successfully navigating the system. Like being stuck on a computer game, playing and replaying the same game until we "master" the system the only problem is in the reality that the "game is fixed" and there can be no human mastery of it.
But the Word of the Lord says, "I form the light and create the darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things." Isaiah 45:7
God's Word is true. How foolish we are to ignore it. When was the last time we sought God's heart on where our best efforts may have violated His Holy Nature and set us up for the discipline of a drought in our lives? When was the last time we even took the time to understand any correlation between our circumstances and disobedience or rebellion of His commands?
The most casual look into the I kings chapters reveals that the "drought" causing the famine was due to idolatry. It was a discipline not a bad luck situation. Idolatry, not ignorance as to how to "make the system work" was the reason for the drought (economic failure)and the famine that follows drought.
The Holy One is our indwelling Wisdom and He is the source of all the answers to all the questions we might ask. Why do we push on and hope things will change for the better when the Lord who loves us, is so willing to show us what may be in rebellion of His ways and then so willing to lead us out of the disaster?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
So much is happening so fast in our lives and our nation. I feel like I am sitting on the sidelines with a "tennis neck" back and forth watching the volley between Light and darkness. Today the ball stops long enough to process the action and the message.
The Holy One takes me back to I Kings 18 and the contest between the God of Israel and the fake deities of Jezebel. It was really no contest, ever. But the people had been so corrupted by the deception of the pseudo power of Baals prophets that the Lord purposed to solve this deception in a grand and Glorious way.
The Children of Israel had forsaken the Lord their God. They had allowed compromise and were suffering the consequences on their end of a broken covenant with the one True God.
Idolatry was a common practice as the people were seeking "prosperity" from any source who promised it. Jezebel, the pagan queen of Israel's King Ahab, had set up her foreign gods. Ahab took Baal worship to an official status in adulterous violation of the Holy Covenant between God and the Children of Israel.
The conditions of the land and the lives of the people deteriorated under the compromise, drought occurred and famine followed for years.
The Holy One speaks to me, "the drought and the famine in the land is the discipline for idolatry"...WOW! hard to hear, but so true. We have become so dull to truth and numb or resigned to the reality of our circumstances, we have stopped looking to understand or asking ourselves "Why?" What lessons are we to learn? The world says, "work harder, adjust this or tweak that but keep pushing". Or, "you might as well check out. Drown yourself in pleasures because nothing is ever going to change". Both separately or a combination of the two make for a K.O. in the battle.
Personal and corporate accountability is long forgotten, and the worship of government or self has taken over. Most look at "prosperity" only in worldly terms coming from successfully navigating the system. Like being stuck on a computer game, playing and replaying the same game until we "master" the system the only problem is in the reality that the "game is fixed" and there can be no human mastery of it.
But the Word of the Lord says, "I form the light and create the darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things." Isaiah 45:7
God's Word is true. How foolish we are to ignore it. When was the last time we sought God's heart on where our best efforts may have violated His Holy Nature and set us up for the discipline of a drought in our lives? When was the last time we even took the time to understand any correlation between our circumstances and disobedience or rebellion of His commands?
The most casual look into the I kings chapters reveals that the "drought" causing the famine was due to idolatry. It was a discipline not a bad luck situation. Idolatry, not ignorance as to how to "make the system work" was the reason for the drought (economic failure)and the famine that follows drought.
The Holy One is our indwelling Wisdom and He is the source of all the answers to all the questions we might ask. Why do we push on and hope things will change for the better when the Lord who loves us, is so willing to show us what may be in rebellion of His ways and then so willing to lead us out of the disaster?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Just a Servant
The Holy One calls me today with the most gentle reminder that I am not the core of any universe. While that may seem like a put-down, it is really one of the greatest blessings in truth.
God Himself exists outside of any box I might try to place Him in. Consequently His life pre-eminates over all things that touch my life. "What is man that you are mindful of him?" Heb 2:6
The Triune Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the core of all existance. From the moment of conception and our first cells to our last breath before exiting our human "tent", life here is all about our Creator. Everything about every one of us would have no value were it not for the value placed on us by our loving Creator.
It is from this value that God Himself has placed upon His creation, man, that we run amuck. Created in the "image" of our Sovereign God, we bear His likeness but still cannot exist without His life sustaining essence that we don't even begin to comprehend.
With our implanted creativity, man can build the towers of Babylon, put together the elements that link the world in cyberspace, but no matter what the "genius" mind in man has been able to accomplish, death happens and life as we know it ceases...yet God is still God; timeless, endless, eternal.
When, at last, we come down to the stark reality that we are not "gods" nor capable of any existance outside the permission and allowance of a Majestic and Holy Sovereign Creator, then and only then can we begin to function in the satisfying fulfillment of our life purpose.
We were created for fellowship. We were created for the pleasure of our amazing Creator. We were created to co-govern the planet and bring all glory and honor back to the Creator from whom all blessings flow. However, at some point in the great story, man lost his focus. Man began to think that he is god.....that he is the master of his own destiny, without regard to any Divine origins.
Our "free will" only goes so far in the Creator's sovereign and complete will. In the same way that the muntiny in Heaven by Lucifer was only tolerated for so long, our human rebellion in heart and mind will only be allowed to vent for so long and then we all must stand before our Creator, a Holy, almighty, all powerful, incomparable Being.
How patient is our God, who has allowed each one of us to "test" our independence and self will only to discover that we are nothing without Him. Then to have sent His only Son, Jesus, to save us from ourselves and bring us back into original fellowship.
For my heart and mind, one of the greatest blessings is in the knowledge that I am not the core of the universe but rather a servant of the One who created it.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
God Himself exists outside of any box I might try to place Him in. Consequently His life pre-eminates over all things that touch my life. "What is man that you are mindful of him?" Heb 2:6
The Triune Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the core of all existance. From the moment of conception and our first cells to our last breath before exiting our human "tent", life here is all about our Creator. Everything about every one of us would have no value were it not for the value placed on us by our loving Creator.
It is from this value that God Himself has placed upon His creation, man, that we run amuck. Created in the "image" of our Sovereign God, we bear His likeness but still cannot exist without His life sustaining essence that we don't even begin to comprehend.
With our implanted creativity, man can build the towers of Babylon, put together the elements that link the world in cyberspace, but no matter what the "genius" mind in man has been able to accomplish, death happens and life as we know it ceases...yet God is still God; timeless, endless, eternal.
When, at last, we come down to the stark reality that we are not "gods" nor capable of any existance outside the permission and allowance of a Majestic and Holy Sovereign Creator, then and only then can we begin to function in the satisfying fulfillment of our life purpose.
We were created for fellowship. We were created for the pleasure of our amazing Creator. We were created to co-govern the planet and bring all glory and honor back to the Creator from whom all blessings flow. However, at some point in the great story, man lost his focus. Man began to think that he is god.....that he is the master of his own destiny, without regard to any Divine origins.
Our "free will" only goes so far in the Creator's sovereign and complete will. In the same way that the muntiny in Heaven by Lucifer was only tolerated for so long, our human rebellion in heart and mind will only be allowed to vent for so long and then we all must stand before our Creator, a Holy, almighty, all powerful, incomparable Being.
How patient is our God, who has allowed each one of us to "test" our independence and self will only to discover that we are nothing without Him. Then to have sent His only Son, Jesus, to save us from ourselves and bring us back into original fellowship.
For my heart and mind, one of the greatest blessings is in the knowledge that I am not the core of the universe but rather a servant of the One who created it.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Story of Two Angels One Stormy Night***
The Spirit calls me today with yet more of an invitation to ask "whatever" I want according to the promise of John 14:11. With such an extravagant invitation, the human mind starts to salivate with all the possibilities. But then the sensible parts of the mind start to "qualify" the great promise leading to a dark catacomb called "unbelief".
What a dark oppressive wet blanket gets thrown over our hope when we think about our desire and the potential answers to all our prayers. We become convinced that God makes such a distinction between the quality of our prayers that we begin to debate what we should ask for. Soon the debate gets frustrating and eventually we just stop asking except in the most dire, life and death issues of crisis' that touch our lives.
The Holy Spirit taught me a great lesson long ago and reminded me that nothing has changed. It happened at the end of a day in the fall. I had to deliver a rush order in another city. I was on my way with little time for any "snafus". The dark evening clouds were about to let go of some rain and I needed a break.
The 4 lane highway stretched out before me and I took advantage of the fast lane. Suddenly I heard what sounded like a helicopter over my head. Thinking I was somehow being tracked for speed violation, I decided to slow down. The sound still continued so I changed lanes. Then the sound seemed like it came from somewhere inside the vehicle. I pulled over into the slow lane, trying to assess the source of the noise. It appeared to be coming from my car so I pulled off the freeway onto the shoulder, a safe distance from the lanes to check out what it could be.
I soon discovered that I had a blown tire on the right front. I was praising the Lord that the blow out didn't cause me to flip or swerve going at such a fast pace. That was such a miracle in my mind and I was so thankful for my "guardian angels".
I know how to change a tire so I set out to do just that. I jacked up the car, praying that no one would stop to help. (I have this fear of being assaulted or abducted off the side of the freeway when disabled...too many murder mysteries being watched, I guess). "I am woman ...hear me roar..." was my battle cry until I got to the lug nuts, which seemed to have been tightened by a machine. They would not budge. I sat there at the side of my car, and set up a "flare prayer" for more strength so I could remove the lug nuts. All I needed was to get the lug nuts off then I would be home free. I got up after praying to search for my manual to find where the spare tire might be located and to allow the "supernatural" strength to flood my weak arms.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere that I could see, a man appears from behind me and said, "You look like you could use some help". I looked around, there was no car. The "man" had walked up from somewhere, perhaps a service road close by. But since he was volunteering, I accepted his kind offer, explaining that I couldn't get the lugs nuts off the tire. He told me to get back in the driver's seat, put my foot on the brake and he began to take them off.
I got out of the driver's side, returned to the tire and watched while he placed the lug nuts in the hub cap. He said, "Do you think you can take it from here?" Self reliant me said, "Sure, thank you so much." I surveyed the tire, the lug nuts now removed and when I turned around he was gone.
What a wonderful miraculous answer to that flare prayer. God had sent His angel to help in answer to my prayer. But now I am faced with the challenge of finishing the job. I just thought to myself and then mentioned to the Lord, "I wonder why I didn't just ask for all that I needed; the flat tire changed. Why was I not thorough in laying out the entire need?" Why was I so "self-reliant?
I was mentally and spiritually kicking myself for not asking for what I really needed since the Lord had sent someone to help, when suddenly another man walked up from behind me. I looked around; again no car brought him. He said, "You look like you could use some help." The exact same words as my first "helper". This time I responded with, "Yes, I could sure use some help changing this flat tire."
He asked how I got the lug nuts off and I told him the story. He then asked if I thought it strange that the "man" didn't change the tire but only removed the lug nuts. I told him that it was all I had prayed for. By then the Spirit was starting to help me connect all the dots. Partial requests bring partial results. Ask and you will receive...I had to confess that the first "man" had done exactly, but only what I had asked him to do.
As the second helper finished changing the tire and I was about to go on my way, I asked him if I could give him a ride since he didn't have a car or pay him for his help. He responded with, "No thank you, I am just going to go sit under that tree over there."
As I am driving away with the entire event about to explode in my mind:
The love of a Father to have sent, not one, but two, Divine messengers to help and in their own way deliver this all important lesson on prayer.
The situation (after the blow out) was not life or death. The "need" was not a great heavenly priority when compared with other things I might ask my Father to send, nothing AAA couldn't have come to fix. The "quality" of this prayer was simply a flare prayer sent up in the frustration of my human weakness. But in that short space of Earth's time, I learned an eternal lesson. One that has spoken to me over and over again.
My Heavenly Father loves me and cares about all the details of my life. My Savior fulfills His promises and the Holy Spirit tutors me to ask for all that I need.
The lesson was close to home and personal. But it has been a memory that provides exciting expectations for more Divine encounters when the supernatural intersects with the natural and answers to our prayers flow liberally from our Father's Throne.
Ask and you will receive.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
What a dark oppressive wet blanket gets thrown over our hope when we think about our desire and the potential answers to all our prayers. We become convinced that God makes such a distinction between the quality of our prayers that we begin to debate what we should ask for. Soon the debate gets frustrating and eventually we just stop asking except in the most dire, life and death issues of crisis' that touch our lives.
The Holy Spirit taught me a great lesson long ago and reminded me that nothing has changed. It happened at the end of a day in the fall. I had to deliver a rush order in another city. I was on my way with little time for any "snafus". The dark evening clouds were about to let go of some rain and I needed a break.
The 4 lane highway stretched out before me and I took advantage of the fast lane. Suddenly I heard what sounded like a helicopter over my head. Thinking I was somehow being tracked for speed violation, I decided to slow down. The sound still continued so I changed lanes. Then the sound seemed like it came from somewhere inside the vehicle. I pulled over into the slow lane, trying to assess the source of the noise. It appeared to be coming from my car so I pulled off the freeway onto the shoulder, a safe distance from the lanes to check out what it could be.
I soon discovered that I had a blown tire on the right front. I was praising the Lord that the blow out didn't cause me to flip or swerve going at such a fast pace. That was such a miracle in my mind and I was so thankful for my "guardian angels".
I know how to change a tire so I set out to do just that. I jacked up the car, praying that no one would stop to help. (I have this fear of being assaulted or abducted off the side of the freeway when disabled...too many murder mysteries being watched, I guess). "I am woman ...hear me roar..." was my battle cry until I got to the lug nuts, which seemed to have been tightened by a machine. They would not budge. I sat there at the side of my car, and set up a "flare prayer" for more strength so I could remove the lug nuts. All I needed was to get the lug nuts off then I would be home free. I got up after praying to search for my manual to find where the spare tire might be located and to allow the "supernatural" strength to flood my weak arms.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere that I could see, a man appears from behind me and said, "You look like you could use some help". I looked around, there was no car. The "man" had walked up from somewhere, perhaps a service road close by. But since he was volunteering, I accepted his kind offer, explaining that I couldn't get the lugs nuts off the tire. He told me to get back in the driver's seat, put my foot on the brake and he began to take them off.
I got out of the driver's side, returned to the tire and watched while he placed the lug nuts in the hub cap. He said, "Do you think you can take it from here?" Self reliant me said, "Sure, thank you so much." I surveyed the tire, the lug nuts now removed and when I turned around he was gone.
What a wonderful miraculous answer to that flare prayer. God had sent His angel to help in answer to my prayer. But now I am faced with the challenge of finishing the job. I just thought to myself and then mentioned to the Lord, "I wonder why I didn't just ask for all that I needed; the flat tire changed. Why was I not thorough in laying out the entire need?" Why was I so "self-reliant?
I was mentally and spiritually kicking myself for not asking for what I really needed since the Lord had sent someone to help, when suddenly another man walked up from behind me. I looked around; again no car brought him. He said, "You look like you could use some help." The exact same words as my first "helper". This time I responded with, "Yes, I could sure use some help changing this flat tire."
He asked how I got the lug nuts off and I told him the story. He then asked if I thought it strange that the "man" didn't change the tire but only removed the lug nuts. I told him that it was all I had prayed for. By then the Spirit was starting to help me connect all the dots. Partial requests bring partial results. Ask and you will receive...I had to confess that the first "man" had done exactly, but only what I had asked him to do.
As the second helper finished changing the tire and I was about to go on my way, I asked him if I could give him a ride since he didn't have a car or pay him for his help. He responded with, "No thank you, I am just going to go sit under that tree over there."
As I am driving away with the entire event about to explode in my mind:
The love of a Father to have sent, not one, but two, Divine messengers to help and in their own way deliver this all important lesson on prayer.
The situation (after the blow out) was not life or death. The "need" was not a great heavenly priority when compared with other things I might ask my Father to send, nothing AAA couldn't have come to fix. The "quality" of this prayer was simply a flare prayer sent up in the frustration of my human weakness. But in that short space of Earth's time, I learned an eternal lesson. One that has spoken to me over and over again.
My Heavenly Father loves me and cares about all the details of my life. My Savior fulfills His promises and the Holy Spirit tutors me to ask for all that I need.
The lesson was close to home and personal. But it has been a memory that provides exciting expectations for more Divine encounters when the supernatural intersects with the natural and answers to our prayers flow liberally from our Father's Throne.
Ask and you will receive.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Friday, May 7, 2010
Ask And You Will Receive
The Holy Spirit calls me today to remind me of the amazing privilege according to the promise given by our Lord Jesus before He returned to our Father.
John 14:11-14 "Believe in Me when I say that 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 believes in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things 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 in My name and I will do it!"
The Holy One is calling me to the war and to the victory. In case you didn't know it, the war is raging in these end times. It takes many forms like terrorism and the war on terror, but in reality it is the same battle that has been fought (or not) in every generation since the fall. Good vs evil, light vs dark. We have an arch enemy who is committed to our eternal destruction. We have been given life, breath, a soul and a spirit, when born into this "world" at war.
The real war is taking place beyond our senses of sight and sound, but it radiates none-the-less into our lives and creates an atmosphere to which we respond in our day to day activities. We have a supernatural enemy. It is in every way a supernatural war and involves supernatural beings, but that should not cause us to fear but rather rejoice that we have God appointed protectors and a "heads up" by our Creator through His Word.
Job speaks of the fallen angel, "Satan" as the real source of our trials.
Ephesians 6, tells that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but rather against the rulers and authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms.
We are told what our "armour" is and what to do: Stand firm, use the "Sword of the Spirit" which is the Word of God and pray.....in the spirit, and on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. And then, there is this amazing promise from our Savior, "Ask Me for anything in My name"
The battle belongs to the Lord, it is His. But it is in our lives and we are involved like it or not. The Spirit spoke to me this morning saying, "The battle has been so Sovereignly arranged for your victory through Christ that you cannot lose unless you give up. Will you take Me at My word and ask so that you may receive?"
What is my reaction to what I see in my world? Do I look around at the circumstances and see any needs? Do I acknowledge the Promises of my Savior and take those things to the "bank" in prayer believing I will receive what I ask?
Do I just walk by the needy and fail to cry out for Divine intervention from Heaven into their situation? I have been given this amazing privilege and promise...If only I will ask.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
John 14:11-14 "Believe in Me when I say that 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 believes in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things 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 in My name and I will do it!"
The Holy One is calling me to the war and to the victory. In case you didn't know it, the war is raging in these end times. It takes many forms like terrorism and the war on terror, but in reality it is the same battle that has been fought (or not) in every generation since the fall. Good vs evil, light vs dark. We have an arch enemy who is committed to our eternal destruction. We have been given life, breath, a soul and a spirit, when born into this "world" at war.
The real war is taking place beyond our senses of sight and sound, but it radiates none-the-less into our lives and creates an atmosphere to which we respond in our day to day activities. We have a supernatural enemy. It is in every way a supernatural war and involves supernatural beings, but that should not cause us to fear but rather rejoice that we have God appointed protectors and a "heads up" by our Creator through His Word.
Job speaks of the fallen angel, "Satan" as the real source of our trials.
Ephesians 6, tells that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but rather against the rulers and authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms.
We are told what our "armour" is and what to do: Stand firm, use the "Sword of the Spirit" which is the Word of God and pray.....in the spirit, and on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. And then, there is this amazing promise from our Savior, "Ask Me for anything in My name"
The battle belongs to the Lord, it is His. But it is in our lives and we are involved like it or not. The Spirit spoke to me this morning saying, "The battle has been so Sovereignly arranged for your victory through Christ that you cannot lose unless you give up. Will you take Me at My word and ask so that you may receive?"
What is my reaction to what I see in my world? Do I look around at the circumstances and see any needs? Do I acknowledge the Promises of my Savior and take those things to the "bank" in prayer believing I will receive what I ask?
Do I just walk by the needy and fail to cry out for Divine intervention from Heaven into their situation? I have been given this amazing privilege and promise...If only I will ask.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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