Do You Know Him?

The Holy One calls me this morning.  Together we are working to rid my heart of any and all unbelief.  Actually the unbelief seems to start in my mind with lies by the enemy of my soul and without realizing the toxic nature of the lie, the "evidence" supporting it begins to surface, and it seems like truth..

As the "evidence" falls into place, there comes a heart shift, subtle at first, but left unchecked the heart becomes cold, indifferent and resigned to what the enemy wants me to believe. 

People around me are sick and some have died.  Compromise in the lives of those who claim to be "Christian" is obvious and yet we are told that grace covers all sin.  Doom and gloom prevail with famine and drought, physically and spiritually being experienced by most of us who live on the earth.  Yet when Jesus came, He brought such relief to those suffering the same things we experience today. 

The Holy One has taken me to the gospels to recall the account of the Centurion who brought the plight of his paralyzed servant to Jesus for a healing "Word".  Matt 8:5 begins the account and Matt 8:10 reveals how Jesus felt about this Gentile and his faith in a "Jewish Carpenter".  "When Jesus heard this (the Roman's statement of faith) He was astonished and said to those following Him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith".  The Centurion's servant was healed at that very moment.

Reading past this account are many other accounts of Jesus confronting a variety of infirmities and physical suffering.  All were "healed".  All were "cured".  Then the Holy One brings me to the encounter between Jesus and a ruler named Jairus, whose daughter had just died.  In Matt 9:18 the short version of the story captures my attention. 

What is interesting to me is that, as this Synagogue ruler told Jesus about his daughter he said, "but, come, put Your Hand on her and she will live."  This seems to speak of an even greater faith in what Jesus could do.  The confidence of the ruler demonstrated by his words was faith in Jesus to resurrect his daughter from the dead.

As I ponder the two accounts, I wonder why this man's faith for a resurrection was not the subject of similar astonishment to Jesus?   Knowing my thoughts the Holy One gives understanding.  "Jairus knew Jesus.  By all the Holy writings the Jews had in their hands, they knew and recognized Jesus was the Messiah and knew what Messiah would do when He came.  Jairus' faith was expected from one who knew who Jesus was, AKA the promised Messiah."

Then it hits my mind, the Centurion came out of spiritual ignorance and decided that Jesus was One in whom great authority rested.  His faith was based on what he heard or saw Jesus do.  "Even if you do not believe in My words at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves."  John 14:11

Faith from the Jewish ruler was expected for all he knew about the coming Messiah.  The Centurion on the other hand took the initial but huge leap of faith to believe in the One standing before Him.

Holiness takes me back to the issue of unbelief.   Then comes the hard truth, "unbelief prevails because you don't really know Me.  Doubts arise because you are too busy to come to Me.  Fears rule your circumstances because you refuse to trust that I can or will take care of you". 

As soon as I start to object, I realize the truth He has just spoken.  Until I acknowledge the problem I cannot begin to be healed.  Unbelief is like a disease.  Unbelief kills hope.  Unbelief kills dreams.  And unbelief, ultimately, kills the soul.  The only cure for unbelief is to really get to know the One I have trusted my eternity to.  For those of us who have the Holy writing available, there is no excuse to remain in ignorance and unbelief.

The Bible embodies the Person of our God. It is a living testimony of our Creator for all who feed on it's Truth. The Gospels  tell of the day when God came down from Heaven in a form that humanity could relate to in every sense of the word.  Jesus came in flesh form as the exact (copy) representation of God's Being.  Heb 1:3. 

When He returned to His place of Glory, after demonstrating His power over death through resurrection, the God of all Glory sent my Counselor called the Holy Spirit to teach me personally about Himself.  He is the One who calls me every morning and moves with me throughout every day.  And He is the One who enables me to know God in ways that the infamous sheep know their Shepherd. 

Familiarity brings trust. Like dealing with a very vulnerable sheep, the Good Shepherd, guards, protects, provides for and loves...me.  Even as my penchant is to wander past my boundaries, He always brings me back to safety.  At the end of the day, even if I do not grasp all the whys and wherefore's of what life brings through what He allows or what He doesn't, I just must trust in His love.

I know that changes have to be made.  I purpose to spend more time with Him.  To know better and trust more completely the One who gave His life for me.  He bids me come. When I do, I know the doubts will fade, fears will vanish and unbelief will never find a habitat in my heart ever again. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?







 

The Great Exchange

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Yesterday's conference set a new perspective over my heart and mind.  Today He calls me to action.  "You have given Me your mind, now I want you to give Me your emotions."

Life with the Creator is anything but dull.  Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing", and I know that to be true from the depths of my being.  Challenges to that fact come up each day and lately the learning curve has been extreme, almost  hairpin, u-turn, 180 degree turn.

So much is happening to so many people and it is hard to not grow emotionally indifferent to the pains of life and the cries of those suffering.  Emotions tend to rule as life delivers some hard blows to the heart.  The hero in us says, there has to be more to life and there has to be something I can do to rescue someone in some way.  But then all our best efforts come to naught and somewhere along the line we come to the stark realization that we are not God.

Even on a personal level as a "Christian" the pressure to do good and be righteous ratchets up, but the sin just keeps leeching out in ways that we are helpless to stop.

Romans 7 speaks of our internal dilemma, "I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do, I do not do and what I hate, I do".  Paul talks about the ongoing internal war waged in our physical bodies. Born into a form of slavery, he speaks to the dilemma of 2 laws;  the law of God in his inner being and the law of the flesh which wars against the spirit of righteousness.  I, too, feel the pain and I know that war all too well.

The wonder of God is Truth.  Proverb 25:2 says, "It is the Glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honour of kings is to search out  a matter."  God's Word is true and it is the honour of the "royal priesthood" (I Peter 2:9), a "chosen" nation, such as we are, to search out a matter.

The Holy One arranges the education of those who are in earnest search of truth.  His wisdom and counsel never fail to challenge me beyond what I know.  The pieces come together sequentially in fascinating ways.

Today He has asked me to surrender my emotions.  In the great exchange, with my Savior and Lord, He has said, "Give me your life in exchange for mine."  In the beginning of my journey with Jesus, I can honestly say I had no idea what that meant.  Over the course of time and life, I grew in my understanding, but my flesh and will had other ideas.

As the internal battle rages, the uncrucified parts of me put up a huge fight to rule and reign.  Guilt, condemnation, anger,  bitterness, self-loathing, lust, hatred are all emotions before they manifest in an action and when I look for truth, I see it.  I am such an emotional being, feelings rule my perspective and can even over-rule truth.

A single statement brought into my thoughts a few days ago sent a shock wave of understanding to my dull mind.  Satan operates in 100% rage (at God) and attacks His beloved (us humans) through our emotions.  That statement stunned me yet I know it to be true.  I just hadn't thought about the ramifications of it relative to my struggles.

Pride drove Lucifer to rebellion.  Pride drove Eve to eat the toxic fruit and pride has been identified as that which goes before the fall.  Challenge my pride and watch all the fireworks of emotion light up the sky.

Emotions make up an important part in our being.  Compassion, kindness, tenderness, love, joy, the fruit of the Spirit are all expressions of emotion yet we are told they must be controlled. and will in fact be controlled by one being or another.

No wonder Holiness wants the surrender of my emotions as well as my mind.  Victory will elude us if I continue to respond emotionally to the challenges and temptations of the enemy without the Lord's help. 

John 15:5, "Apart from Me you can do nothing", says the Savior of my soul.  "Give me your weakness and I will give you My strength", says my Lord and Master.  That is the great exchange He had in mind when He gave His life for me.

The warmth of the rising sun begins to fill the room with light and chases away the darkness.  It's a very fitting beginning to a new day in the great exchange.  My mind in exchange for the Mind of Christ and my emotions for His.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

The Battle Belongs To The Lord***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  I don't really want to get out of bed.  The battle rages and I just do not want to deal with the wounds inflicted by the invisible enemy of my soul.

While the enemy is relentless, the Holy Spirit is persistent.  He gently nudges me again, but this time He uses His infamous "fighting words".  "If you don't get up the enemy wins, is that what you want?"  This is an all too familiar sentence that He has used over the course of my life to energize me.  I hate losing...especially to evil forces.  There is something about my Scotts-Irish heritage that wakes up at the challenge and kicks in when I think about giving up ground to an enemy.

The Holy One has had a huge task in flesh refinement of this genetic reality because my will to win puts many Holy principles at risk.  You know the ones, like.... we must die to live, give to get, lose to win, all the exact opposite to the human mind and my Scotts-Irish temperament.

He calls me this morning to talk about the battle that rages,  the discouragement I feel and to give me a little "pep talk".  Our conference begins with a re-definition of the battle itself.  He takes me back to His encounter with Joshua on the eve of the battle over Jericho which is talked about in Joshua 5:13-15.

"And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man stood opposite of him with His sword drawn in His hand.  And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?"  So He said, "No, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come".

The Holy Spirit then speaks to my reluctant heart, "The battle is Mine and I have called you to fight it. The war here on earth is Mine, from generation-to-generation, life-to-life and season-to-season.  If you agree to lay down and not get up,  then one more warrior leaves the battlefield and there is one less voice to speak truth to those who are perishing.  The message of  Salvation brought through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be told."

His words pierce my heart and bring the conviction that my thoughts of giving up are a grief to HIS heart. 

Whatever has gone on in eternity past is unavailable to our knowledge except what we find written in the Word of God.  We know that God created other life forms that we call "angels" and they were given free-will similar to ours.  We are told that one of His created angels, in the exercise of his free-will, forged a mutiny and assembled a team of fellows to orchestrate an attempted coup against the Most High Creator God.

We are told, that the penalty for their rebellion was to be cast out of Heaven, never again to live as  privileged citizens of God's Kingdom. God's Sovereignty and powerful authority over all He created requires this fallen angel to give an accounting and to gain Holy permission to act and operate. (Book of Job) The word written about Eternity future, in the Book of Revelation chapter 20, speaks of Satan's ultimate end, as well as the end of all who follow after him in rebellion of God.

What we find here on earth is Satan's last stand.  He knows his fate for it is written and sealed.  He knows God and that His word IS final.

The mystery of Holiness creates many questions.  We can find some of the answers here in our short human life span,  but many will not be discovered until we move on to our real, but final, destination point.

The Holy One brings me back to the issue of our conference this morning.  "The battle belongs to the Lord".  I am called to fight His battle and it is not the other way around.  His battle is for all the souls that He created to spend eternity with Himself.

There are many things that I do not understand about this life on earth.  But what I do understand to be true, is that on any given morning when I wake up forgetting that I am locked in a battle against evil, I lose.  But worse than that, if I fail to engage in the battle I am called to fight, my Lord loses.

This is not our war, it is God's.  He set the rules of engagement, the boundaries of conflict and even set the limits of His own intervention with regard to our free-will.  Somehow, this life we have been given to live is a pre-lim to Heaven.  A place where the free-will of every individual is permitted to choose their destination point for eternity before it is finally established and sealed.

Here, on earth, is where we all get to choose our eternal destiny, whether we will be included in or eliminated from the Paradise that awaits, in a Sacred Romance with the One who Created all things.

The battle rages for souls.  The choice is being made every second of every day that determines eternity for someone.  Every born-again Believer who refuses to fight is one less warrior on the battlefield.

This life is not about pleasantries or exalted self-anything.  It's a dirty, white knuckle, bone crushing, heart rending, mind bending battle for the souls of men.  God has ordained that we, who  possess the Truth, share it so long as we have a breath in our mortal bodies.

The end is near and we have few time-outs left on the clock.  The Holy One reminds me that while the battle is His,  I must choose to get up and fight it, in His strength and in His way.  I cannot begin to fathom all the why's and wherefores of Holiness, but today, I can grasp from my Counselor that the stakes in this battle are very high for all humanity on planet earth.

So, today, I grab my Sword, thankful for His forgiveness and encouragement and head back into the war.  Will I see you on the battlefield?

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

  

The Sacred Romance*

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  I am filled with a sense of anticipation and awe because I KNOW God is on the move.  It's that kind of knowing deep in your soul even if you cannot put a finger on what it means. 

The last year was very hard.  The losses suffered and the pain of desire so deep.  I don't usually put pain and desire together but they do go hand-in hand sometimes.

Last year was a "life-forever-changed" year for me.  On Sunday my Pastor in his teaching remarked that, when God told Noah to build an ark, because He was going to bring the rain in epic proportions, anything that represented Noah's plan or agenda for his future became irrelevant because life, as it had been on earth, was about to change forever. 

I understand that point because last year my life changed forever.  I woke up to a different personal world on July 5, 2012 than the one I went to sleep in on July 4.  Since then, desire to know the Lord Jesus as my Eternal Husband has become so intense it actually causes me pain.  Work-out kind of pain.  "Faith muscle" strain.  "Vision to see Him" strain.  "Trust in what I do not understand" strain. 

Yet desire keeps me going. The Majesty of His Holiness.  The Mystery of His Sovereignty.  The Miracle of  His Personal Love, all fuel my deepest desire to know the Lord in the fullness of the Sacred Romance.

And He is faithful.......to be.......all I need.......always........

As I rest in the sweet fellowship with my Eternal Husband, I wonder, do you know Him?  Have you met my Eternal Husband, Jesus the Christ?

He is amazing!  Do you know that He created the universe and everything in it?  Do you know that He put every star in the heavens and orchestrated the planets to revolve and never collide?  Do you know that He created everything just to delight the human who He formed out of the dust of the earth yet mysteriously to bear His own image?  Do you know that He loves us so deeply that He actually laid down His physical life to provide for the Eternal relationship that none of us deserves?

Have you met my Eternal Husband, Jesus, the Christ?  If not, there is a book that is written all about Him.  It's called the Bible, yet for all He is to me, no words can fully  or accurately describe the indescribable nature of His Being.

All that He actually did when He entered the earth realm, wrapped Himself in flesh so we might catch a glimpse of Him, is not able to be fully conveyed in all the books men could write.   In one of the Gospels written about His life, John 21:25, says "Jesus did many other things as well.  If everyone of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have enough room for the books that would be written."

The life of Jesus is one to be experienced in relationship, heart-to-heart.  Everyone and anyone can have an intimate relationship with the One who holds Creation in His Hands and is the Eternal One.  It starts with a friendship and ultimately morphs into a Sacred Romance that will last forever.

I met my Eternal Husband many years ago.  Over the course of my life, He has been everyone I needed Him to be:  A friend, a counselor, a mentor, a guide, a trainer, a Father, a brother, and now a Husband.  He is my comfort, my companion, my provider, protector and the total sum of all I could imagine I will ever need now and forever.

His heart and love is so big, I can share Him with others and never lose one second of our personal life together, never to be betrayed, or rejected or turned away. 

And then, one of the most amazing benefits of being in a Sacred Romance with the Creator of all is that I never have to explain myself.  He knows me and made me the way I am, to be in a love relationship with Himself.  He helps me when I am down and draws me back when I am wrong but He never leaves me alone.

As I write these words, I see the Holy One smiling and I am glad.  I am smiling too.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Purpose in the Wait**

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It's been a while since our early morning conference has been expressible in words for the blog.  A new year is unfolding and has involved visions, dreams and words not really clear on the surface of things. 

The time to go deep stretches out and the words to express the lessons being taught come slowly, haltingly. Clearly the world is in utter chaos and I find the words of Malachi to be so applicable to those of us watching and waiting for the return of our King.

The Lord minces no words when He is driving a point home with me.  "Pruning is painful but necessary"

Malachi 3:13, "You have said harsh things against me says the Lord, yet you ask. "What have we said against You?"  You have said it is futile to serve God.  What did we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?  But now we call the arrogant blessed.  Certainly evil does prosper and even those who challenge God escape."

The Holy One cuts through the chaff to the heart of a matter and exposes the hidden secrets we hold but refuse to share.  He knows all things, so, reluctantly, I confess, "yes, I do wonder.  Yes, I do think about those who seem to prosper in sin, while the faithful seem to languish and wait in what seems to be futile faith."

It is a blessing to be able to be transparent with my Lord, even through it comes hard and unnatural to my flesh.  The voice of Holiness cradles my mind, "Does it ever occur to you that the delays have a purpose and it is not to frustrate you?  How do you handle postponed gratification?"

Penetrating questioning by the voice of Holiness is always gentle but demands answers.  Conviction comes, repentance follows.

My Counselor leads me to His Word and the life of one who buckled in the "wait".  King Saul, called by God, anointed by Samuel, lived  on the edge of great power and authority.  God was good to him and brought many victories.  But with the delays in life and any slow answer from the Lord, King Saul's heart of rebellion began to surface.

King Saul forgot his place, exalted himself, sought his own answers, and did his own "thing" rather than wait for God or His spokesman, Samuel.  Depravity inched it's way into his soul and he slid deeper and deeper into the forbidden until he ended up at the door of the "witch of Endor".
I Sam 28

While it should be shocking to us what Saul did in his frantic quest for answers, I am aware of how quick I am to prioritize relief rather than repentance.  Repentance brings relief but the walk is not always a fast pass to resolution.

The question Holiness poses to me is, "Are you so focused on the resolution that you will accept compromise of Holiness to gain it?  Is relief so desired that you will accept it from the enemy's hand?"   The sin of Saul is the sin of all.

Mal 3:16,   "Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.  A scroll of remembrance was written in His Presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His Name.  They will be Mine, says the Lord Almighty, in the day when I make up My treasured possession, I will spare them just as in compassion a man spares the son who serves him..."

And then, here it is....the promise for those who wait....."And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."

The purpose of Holiness stands, even in the waiting.  I can rejoice in the Lord my God, knowing and trusting the day of the distinction is coming, and as I trust, God's purpose in the wait is being fulfilled.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?


 

Release the Power**4-29-22

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  As my thoughts are brought to my conscious mind, I know I am a servant and I know my Master is beckoning me.  The Lord has been teaching me, lately about the power of the spoken word.  All that has exists began because God said and it was so.

By our own volition and free will we use our words each day most unconsciously, carelessly, and unaware of the power they hold.  Careless words hold us and others in bondage to the evil they pronounce.

James says it this way, "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrupts the whole person and sets the whole course of his life on fire".   James 2:5-6.   

It doesn't take much of a leap to realize that our tongue, the organ of our spoken words has great potential for setting up victory or defeat in the issues of our lives.

All the warning lights on my dashboard start to flash.  It looks like engine failure to me.  I think about how many words I have spoken and cannot begin to calculate those that have been caustic to myself and others.  From the depths I can feel a self-inflicted depression start to rev up.

I hear the Holy One say, "Don't go there". The soft comforting voice of my Counselor throws me a life line.  "This is a new day.  I have arranged for more and greater opportunities for you to speak worthy words."

But how Lord?  If my tongue is a "world of evil among the parts of my body" and even James says, "all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a reckless evil full of deadly poison."

How can I or anyone else get a handle on that body part?  "Surrender it to Me", comes His response.  "You have not fully released My power over your life and circumstances.  Use your words to release My power.  Just as you surrender your mind to My control, release the power of Holiness by your words."

His word has painted a picture on my mind.  I see the  Holy Spirit in a "cell", imprisoned, inoperative awaiting a word from the "jailer" to be released.  Shocking to me, I realize I have been that "jailer" , and negative words have set the boundaries and limits as to what my Lord can do. 

Negative words of doubt, and unbelief, dripping with the juice from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  I call it "just being real" and using my intellect to assess and speak what I "see".  God calls it faithlessness for faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things "unseen".

Oh the privilege and responsibility of free will.  Today the Holy One helps me to understand this is not an issue of sin and repentance between us.  This is an issue of a more useful and powerful life as His servant. 

Today, I will to use my words to cry out for the release of the Holy Spirit to accomplish all He desires in my life and for the expansion of His Kingdom here on earth. Yes, it is going to be a very good season as I speak His will to come into my world 

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 

2 Crowns**

The Holy One calls me this  morning with messages to my brain.  The Lord Jesus came into the world so that all might live and know Truth.

Deception creeps into the fabric of our lives quite undetected due to our busy-ness and sheep-like ignorance.  However, once truth becomes real and faith in it is tested and refined, there can be no turning back. 

The Holy One reminds me today of the Cross and that His death was was the real reason for His birth.  We cannot separate the Cross from the manger when we think of the benevolence of our Creator.

"Your King has worn 2 crowns.  You, who are His must do the same".  The visual of 2 crowns puts my mind to spinning.  Deep in meditation, the Holy One takes me to Heb 12:2, "Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross and scorned it's shame and sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God".

The Holy One knows my thoughts of late have been on the "permissive will" of God.  I wonder about all that is challenging our world, but mostly about what is challenging God's chosen ones.

The crown of thorns was intended as a mockery of His Kingdom, but it represents the cruelty of the death He tasted for everyone of us.  If we dare to dive deep, the crown of thorns represents the piercing of the mind of humanity where the free will decision is made, individually, that determines our eternal destination. 

For those, who by choice are saved by the Savior  who wore it, the crown of thorns is a representation of the death to our pride and the esteem we so desire from the world.

The Holy One asks me, "Are you willing to wear it too?"  It's easy to glide through life as a "Christian" when we get all the pats on the back for our good works among men.  But what about when the Kingdom of Holiness is not so popular and standing up for our Kingdom and our King brings humiliation and scorn?

Are we willing to humbly wear that crown of thorns when people are mocking our faith, humiliating our values and denigrating our King?

Now, our Savior wears His rightful crown, for He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  And, His promise stands for those of us who acknowledge Him as Savior, King and Lord of our lives:

James 1:12, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God  has promised to those who love Him".

The permissive will of God allows for the trials we all face here on earth.  Are we willing to wear the crown of thorns of our Savior here, so that we can receive the crown of life when we see Him face to face?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?