Addicted

The Holy One calls me today with a blast of excitement. He is taking me into greater depths of understanding my purpose and His plan.

It's not like we ever arrive at a place where we have perfect understanding but there are those days and seasons where suddenly the random dots on the board of our life begin to be connected and take the shape of an intricate picture before our very eyes.

The Holy one has been about His business. He is, after all, the Spirit of Truth.

This has been a season of discovery. I have been in a school of sorts, where the Holy One has been teaching me about Himself; His role in the Trinity and His role in my life.

I cried out for wisdom (Prov 1,2,3,& 4). I have been pursuing it as a pearl of great price, and I am receiving the blessing that wisdom from the Holy One brings, as in Matt 13:44. I say this in all humility of heart because all the "intelligence of the human mind" can never bring the outrageous understanding of the ways of God or the peace of heart in knowing the Savior in such an intimate way.

As I pursued wisdom, at some point I got swallowed up in eternity. Time and space are not as urgent as they once were. I see through the glass darkly, yet I "see" more now than I ever have. The "clock" has slowed to accommodate my human failures and allowed me the time to learn and then re-do the tests.

I started as in "kindergarten" with simple things. The Holy One is such a patient teacher. But the truth is that He started teaching me like a loving parent before I even realized I was in school. Once the foundation of His indwelling Presence got layed, He has been setting more and more blocks into my faith wall. With each brick came lessons that taught me the fact that He is reliable.

Testimony after testimony, brick after brick, faith building trials that ended in His Divine intervention and glorious victory. The beauty of our relationship with Holiness, it is that we never arrive at the place where He is not our most desperate need. Knowing our need and His loving willingness to fill it fuels our deepest desire for more.

The enemy has a counterfeit for this and it is called "addiction". So you can call me addicted. I am. I am addicted to the love of my Savior. I am addicted to the sound of His voice. I am addicted to the thrill of life as His Bride. Hopelessly and helplessly addicted.. But unlike the counterfeit, this addiction is the best thing for me; body, mind, soul and spirit. it has no down-side.

Once you have tasted of His love, there can be no other to satisfy the longing of your heart. The Holy One wants to infect all of us with the love of Christ. There is no one ever born of women that He would not delight to inhabit.

Are you addicted too?

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Rev 12: The Muntiny

The Holy Spirit calls me today. He speaks loud and clear. He is saying, "Love is a decision and forgiveness is a choice. You are accountable to Jesus Christ for both". 

 I ponder this truth. I know that each choice and decision we make is an act of our will. There is no such thing as "falling" in love or I "can't" forgive". There is only I "will" fall or I "won't" forgive. We humans like to think that these things are outside our control. We like to imagine that we are emotionally free to act upon every urge and unction of our flesh or that we cannot control how we "feel", so we are not accountable for the way we act in regard to how we feel. 

 That "lie" has caused more divorces and splits and wars between families and nations than almost anything else. So what is the Truth? The Holy Spirit takes me back to the time before the fall. The time when the enemies of our soul, forged an alliance and conspiracy of insurrection. 

The Bible speaks of the mutiny in Rev 12. Even though veiled in symbolism, this account speaks of the "Dragon" who engaged in a war against the Throne of Heaven. Here we find that one third of the supernatural beings God created joined with the insurrection and fought against "Michael" the archangel and the two thirds remaining company of loyal Celestial Beings. By sheer numbers, the loyal out weighed the "traitors" so the "Devil" was hurled down into the earth realm where he continues to wage war against the Holy One by assaulting this created world and God's most beloved creation: MAN. 

 Ezekiel 28:11-17 is yet another picture of the historic event. It is stated that this wicked One was originally created and ordained as a "guardian cherub", placed in Eden to oversee God's Beloved. But pride and jealousy consumed him and corrupted his wisdom. He became a competitor to our Creator God rather than a defender of His Majesty. 

 The very one who was anointed to guard God's glorious creation, inspiring man to worship, in the love of his Creator, set a new course to destroy man and ruin that intimate fellowship of God's desire. The "Devil" or "Satan" as he is called, lost his privileged position and is now filled with fury, consumed by pride and like a roaring lion in the earth realm, on the prowl looking for who he can devour. 

There is no greater drama than the one being played out over the souls of men. No story with more action than the truth of the battle being fought every day. Good vs evil, light vs dark. Eternity hangs in the balance for every one ever born of woman. Lest we become too afraid of the evil one or too incredulous of the truth, it is important that we read the end of the story and find out that "we win"....The Champion of our souls is the victor and Heaven with our Creator is the prize. But that is not yet the conclusion of the matter, because the battle rages, and there are still more potential casualties in this eternal power play. 

 The battle is real, the players are real, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, is real. The Holy Spirit has been sent from Heaven. He was released from Heaven to indwell and empower God's people to wield Heavenly Authority on earth as it is God's Will in Heaven. The Holy Spirit reminds me that His wisdom and the Lord's strategies in this "supernatural war" are high above our human ways and our thinking. We must rely on His indwelling Presence and the Word of our Holy God to teach us these Heavenly strategies in the war against the evil ones. 

We must surrender to His Holy ways, that seem so upside down to human thinking especially while under the narcotic influence of the destroyer. Back to the original statements of this morning's conference:

 Love is a decision and forgiveness is a choice. By the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit, we are not victims of our emotions. We have the ability to choose and therefore we stand accountable for our choices. By allowing our emotions to flow unfettered and undisciplined by this truth, we can become the very weapons the enemy would use to destroy ourselves and other people. 

 While the devil provokes our flesh to hate or hold things against other people, in the end, those attitudes will conscript us into his evil service, where we become the enemy of the very Throne and Kingdom we say we will die to defend. Unless we see the enemy's manipulation in our choices and decisions and yield to the Holy One instead, we actually become (however unwillingly) "members of his mutiny". 

 The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Why Worry?

The Spirit is calling today. I love the way the Father has orchestrated, arranged, and ordained our existence since before the beginning of creation itself. But still I worry.

Holy One, I hear you say, "Do not worry, Do not fear, Be anxious for nothing" (Matt 6:25) and I have to wonder, "why not?" I was born into a fallen world with a body of flesh and a mind vexed with toxic poison ingested by my ancestors, Adam and Eve, I.E. the knowledge of good and evil. Is it any wonder, then, that I worry, with the knowledge of what there is to fear?

Then the picture begins to unfold. "I have planned for every eventuality the future holds. You wake up every morning with the indwelling Presence of the Holy One, Christ in you, the Hope of glory (Col 1:27). Add to that, you wake up every morning with the loyal Heavenly Host; Celestial angels beyond the human ability to number or count, who have been assigned to your defense and protection in the execution of the Father's Will in your life.(Psalm 91:11 & Heb 1:14) Now tell Me, why do you worry?"

I understand what the Spirit is saying. I am strengthen from within and protected from without. I am in the full wrap of my Father's Sovereignty. He calculated the entire event of the fall well in advance, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save me and released the Holy Spirit to indwell me. That takes care of the inward problem. Then, because we have a "super natural" enemy, He sends His created supernatural legions of loyal angels to battle the mutinous ones who are assaulting me.

In light of that Divine picture, I am compelled to say, I really don't know why I should worry. Be anxious for nothing seems like a "no-brainer" if I capture and hold to that picture in my heart and mind.

Victory has been assigned to me and I must enforce it. This is the point of this morning's meeting. The Holy One assures me, "I have not given any directive you cannot obey. I have not asked of you anything I have not equipped you to accomplish. I am with you to deliver you to victory. Trust Me."

But, what if...? I hate the "but, what if's". To begin a sentence with that means I am operating at a level of unbelief, a favorite attack by the enemy. "But what if?", has already been resolved in God's ordained Sovereignty and He has filtered every circumstance that can ever touch my life through fingers of love. Nothing in my life is without His fingerprints of love.

Why worry?

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Value the Gift

The Holy One calls me into consciousness today. Sanctification is a looooong process. So much to take in and so much to get rid of. I sense that today, He and I are going "deep" and I wonder what will be unearthed today.

Sanctification is a word that many like myself can barely wrap my brain around. To be "sanctified" is to be made "Holy". Other words translate: "consecrate", but to "make Holy" seems to be the easiest definition to grasp.

Once we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and commit our lives to following Him, that loooong process of "Sanctification" begins. The Holy Spirit sets up shop in our hearts and has every "right" to get rid of things that no longer belong there.

In the beginning the huge vestiges of life B.C. (Before Christ) are eliminated mostly because they are so visible and identify us with that old life. With the help of the Holy One, who indwells every Believer, we can ditch the "drinking, immorality and running with the world" that compromises our new life and testimony.

The sanctification process is looooong. Did I say that before? In fact, it is life-on-earth long. It is a never ending process here. It is sometimes delightful as we get rid of sinful behavior patterns, other times quite painful as we are required to get rid of pleasant fleshly pursuits, but like a bulldozer clearing a field of rubble, it just keeps going, like it or not.

The Holy Spirit calls me today to talk about the value of our Salvation. In this long process of Sanctification, the Holy One speaks to the problem of apathy. Apathy can de-value the gift. He takes me to the account of Esau in Gen 25:27-34.

Here was a man who had a "birthright". He was the oldest of twins born to Isaac & Rebekah. Back in the day, the birthright was a powerful blessing that governed the inheritance of the father to child. It was given to the firstborn son, because that child symbolized the father's strength and vitality.

As the account unfolds, Esau came into his brother's tent, quite famished. By his assessment he said, "I am about to die", and in exchange for a bowl of lentil soup that Jacob, his brother had been preparing, Esau sold his birthright.

The Holy Spirit pointed out to me that at that moment in his life, the birthright was not as important as his next meal. Easu was a man who failed to value his great blessing and in the course of his daily existence, in view of his immediate "needs", saw no benefit and therefore was willing to sell his birthright.

The Spirit said, "There is a deep problem brewing if you fail to value your salvation." If we fail to live in the place of gratitude for all that the blessing will mean to us one day, we might be tempted to "sell-out".

The picture in my head, is one of a young woman, betrothed to the most wonderful man she has ever met, enduring a separation while he is away on business. At first she is so excited and in awe of his love and her great fortune, but as his absence drags on, her focused attention & enthusiasm dwindles and she wonders if it was just a figment of her imagination. She loses the image of his face and the warmth of his arms wrapped around her and the picture of her future as his wife, begins to fade.

Others compete for her attention. At first she refuses but then. bit by bit, she gives into their invitations to "join them and have a little fun". "He's away, and if he even exists, he will never know. He won't care that you just wanted to have a little fun while you are waiting for him..after all, nothing changes your love for him if you truly love him." Excuses abound, but she has "allowed" her love to grow cold.

To be honest, I do not know if our salvation can be lost, our "birthright" blessing and inheritance sold, our engagement called off, but I do know that we are in a process of being made Holy and it is imperative that we remember why.

We are being sanctified and made Holy for the sake of the One to whom we belong and have given our pledge of loyalty. We are to be the glorious bride, loyal to our Beloved Groom to the very end of our earthly existence amid all the temptations to do and be otherwise.

In the dark days we are facing, may we value our salvation more not less. May we remember and remind each other of our King and His Kingdom to come. May we remember the days of our first love and what the promises of eternity will mean some day.

The truth of the matter is that our salvation is the greatest blessing of our lives here on earth as well. In access to the Throne of all power and authority, through the Blood of our Savior Christ Jesus, we, as the "saved", have privileges here that are incomparable to anything in the world.

However, if we are prone to forgetfulness, or distracted by our flesh attraction to the things of the world, we may become tempted to exchange our endless "banquet table" of blessings for a simple bowl of soup, not even realizing our great loss.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

My Weakness, His Strength

The Holy One calls me today. He wakes me with yet another lightening bolt of truth. Funny how He always seems to address the deepest thoughts that I haven't really articulated. Talk about an intimate relationship!

His Truth this morning; "My power is made perfect in your weakness." Could it be that yesterday I was so frustrated by work and my own failure to get things done right, that His compassion for me required intervention? To admit I am weak is hard. To admit that I cannot do something seems so unacceptable to a "performance" mentality. I hate being weak. I hate the frustration that I cannot accomplish something or claim the credit even in my own heart and mind for some degree of victory in my daily tasks.

I debate, "but Holy One, you don't understand, I am performance oriented and legalism requires perfect performance or else I have to change the rules, or move the standard. There can be no "weakness" admitted, no matter how true. "Try harder" is the battle cry.

"Doesn't your head hurt from continuing to hit the brick wall?"

"Yes, but I still have to try. Maybe, if I run at it from another angle, it will fall down!" And the debate goes on, until we get to the very core of the issue.

"Human pride is the enemy of My Glory. Human ability is boundless, just look at the great tower of Babel. I created man with boundless creativity and talent...BUT If I allow man to move in his great abilities without Me, it would result in his ultimate destruction. Pride would trip him up and lay him low." Looking at my own pride issues I know what the Holy One says is true.

My dull mind starts to rev up and see the "truth". So this is what Your "Anointing" is all about. It is Your plan to take my weaknesses and empower them so when I do what I cannot do in and of myself, the Glory and recognition will go to the Rightful One who deserves it, because You are the Creator of all who gives man his abilities in the first place.

While legalism strives to do and be perfect in and of "self", the Word of God says, that in Christ Jesus, I can do all things.

I realize I have been set up. Without this Truth, my failure is certain. The world, the flesh, and the Devil all pervert this truth. Each day we are tempted to approach and do things in our own strength, which only leads to striving. But each day we have the Divine privilege to engage the Holy One in what we have to do. With Him on board, nothing is impossible. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, for His is my strength in weakness and His power is made perfect in my weakness. (2 Corinth 12:9)

Paul wrote, in 2 Corinth 12:10, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, then I am strong".

Paul's message is not just for missionaries on the battlefield, but also for me living in the day-to-day challenges to operate a business with limited natural ability.

Today, I know that I can and must take my frustrated self-effort, lay it at the feet of my Creator God and say, "I cannot but You can. Please take my weakness, fill me with your strength and be Glorified in the results". I praise God and my Savior that today is a new day.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Divine Healing

The battle rages and it surely takes it's toll. I wake up today with back pain. Over the years, I have had to admit, I live with tension. Tension that is visible and obvious to me. The way I sleep is a good indicator of my anxiety. Sometimes, I find myself in a round ball of tense muscles, reluctant to accept the peaceful relief that the Lord designed in sleep.

The Spirit calls me today to deal with my "inner man".

I have had pain episodes in the past and God has mercifully healed them all. I have been pain free most of my life and relatively unconscious of my physical body. I praise Him for that.

The human body is a magnificent work of Creative Genius. It is designed to function as a housing for our spirit and soul from cradle to grave and then transform into a glorious eternally enduring new "thing". I say, "thing" because it is so beyond our comprehension & description, words cannot define it. But for now, the body is a tent to care for as the dwelling place of Holiness....our "temple".

I am a firm believer in Divine Health and Divine Healing. There are too many scriptures that confirm God's special attention to the physical needs we have and our ability to trust Him to meet those needs. When "accidents" are absent but even then, God oversees our entire being to include health and healing. From Old Testament to New Testament, the accounts of God's healing power and willingness to heal us are abundant.

Today I am so aware of that pain in my back, the sciatica, the nerve that runs from lower back down the legs. Time to seek my Healer.

I am also a firm believer in the physical effects that our thinking brings to bear on our bodies. The world sees it as mind over matter and challenges us to "forget about it", "focus on something else". When that doesn't work, we seek a Dr. and he gives us a pill to bring temporary relief. But that, for me, is like unplugging the red "check engine" light in your car. It doesn't find and fix the problem, it just ignores the warning.

I have been choosing to unplug the red "check engine" light, pop a "relief" pill on some days and just "suck it up" on others. Forget about it and it will go away. WRONG!

The Holy One calls me this today because He loves me. He calls to all of us because He loves us.

He calls to me to check on my "stinkin' thinkin'". "Stinkin' thinkin'" is what the enemy sends into our thoughts; lies, unbelief, faithlessness. The "stinkin' thinkin'" is so powerful it affects our health and interrupts our body's ability to heal.

God's Holy Word is our instruction manual for the care and keeping of our life...the great gift He has given each one of us. Embodied in His Word are the instructions to enable us to live healthy productive lives. We are exhorted to forgive one another and even our enemies. We are to rid ourselves of malice, fear, anger. We are to love unconditionally and laugh liberally for laughter is good for our bones, which is the place our body builds up our internal immunity. The fruit of His Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, all the elements for good living.

Today, He calls me to talk about my back pain as the Great Physician that He is. For some, the Holy One brings instant healing & relief. For others, He brings a time work through Dr.'s and treatments. In my life He has used both. But in all cases, the beginning of healing was to sit under His great wisdom to unearth the core/cause of the problem as it relates to my attitude & thinking and then seek for His resolution.

My healing glorifies the God of all Glory, Jesus Christ. It is the physical evidence of His power and love. It provides a testimony to be shared. I take the responsibility to seek the restoration of my physical well being, in glory to His indwelling Presence. So I must seek the wisdom of the Healer and ask, "How do you, Lord, want to be glorified in this situation?"

Some pain is allowed for our instruction. Some pain is allowed for glorious miraculous healing. Some pain is allowed for eternal understanding awaiting explanation, to identify with the cross of our Beloved Savior. Whatever the "allowance" in His Divine Sovereignty, the pain is better suffered in the counsel room of the Holy One.

Today the Spirit is calling me into His counsel room. What is your pain today? Physical? Emotional? Relational? Spiritual? Perhaps you are pain-free. The counsel room is also available to sit in praise and worship for your "blessing" and to hear what He would like to have you do with your vitality.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Your King is Calling

The Spirit calls. Today I am so thankful. The Holy One reminds me that for most of us in the U.S.A. our boundaries have fallen in pleasant places. We live in a protected land, with blessings too numerous to count, established on a Biblical foundation unlike any other nation, and I am grateful.

The persecution that our brothers and sisters around the world have faced for their belief in Jesus Christ hasn't yet risen to the level of life and death here in America.

While our freedoms are being being casually legislated away, the real persecution has been more circumstantial and simply an invasion of our comfort zones. Our enemies are the faceless phantoms who have provided busy schedules and distractions galore so we will not take up arms against them. These represent the "persecution" of our faith....and the anesthesia to keep us from being a threat.

The Spirit is calling to the Church, "wake up from your slumber, Your KING is calling"!

The Holy Spirit reminded me that Jesus told Peter, about His Church, in Matt 16:18"The gates of Hades will not overcome it." The Spirit is calling, "Your boundaries have fallen in pleasant places but now it's time to take the fight to the enemy."

He showed me a picture of the gates of Hades. From our side they are like splintered, dilapidated wood. But from the inside, where people are trapped they look like impenetrable walls of bronze. If we do not storm the gates, which we have the power in Christ Jesus to do, then many will be lost forever to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Compromise, appeasement and apathy all create a lukewarm church, a sleeping church, a "dead" church. The only One who can wake the dead is the Holy Spirit. He is the Fire from Heaven who will burn up the sacrifice...(you and me, as the "Church") and change our apathy forever. We each have a role to play in storming the gates. The battle is raging, the time is short and we need to wake up.

I pray the Spirit's fire will descend upon the church in America so we will be remembered at the end for having gone out in a "blaze of glory" in honor of our King, Jesus. What is your part to play in these end times?

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?