The Holy Spirit calls me today. He speaks to me about "desire". The promises in His Word are endless. Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart".
The Holy One is showing me that He knows better than I do what it is that I desire. He is the indwelling Spirit of all wisdom and He inhabits my heart and my heart is where desire originates.
I have to admit to Him that what I think I desire, may not in the end bring delight. Should I not know my own desires? Confusing, until He speaks of our history together.
The Lord moved us to a wonderful land 2 years ago in February. But 4 years ago, I never would have thought to desire this land; never would have thought this land would have been available to me and not knowing how much I would love living in the forest, I would not have thought to ask for it as the desire of my heart to dwell in.
Now, this land has become a symbol of desire I didn't even know I had until the Lord provided it. It is a gift and blessing prepared for me and my family before it ever became a petition.
I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving and joy in delight each and every morning that I wake up here. And best of all is the truth that the Holy Spirit has shown me that He knows best what will make me happy, content, and full of thanksgiving in my heart. In our love relationship with our Creator, the Holy Spirit is our constant source for every good thing within, including our next breath and our true desires.
God knows each one of us so intimately because He created us, having knit us together while we were in our mother's womb. He implanted our gifts, strengths and talents and even our weaknesses so we would always have to rely on Him.
Today He reveals to me that our deepest desires are ones He is willing to provide because from the very start, He has placed them within our hearts. The Holy Scriptures say, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart". The operative words are "delight yourself in the Lord" What does that mean and how are we to do it?
I have found that from sun up to sun up there are wonderful things in each of our lives that track back to our Creator, worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. Daily, in spite of burdens, trials and difficult situations, we are surrounded by the Glorious evidence of our Creator's love.
Everything in the created universe was formed to delight us. The Masterpiece of the Master is the created universe into which His most valuable Creation, (man) was placed...to find his delight in the One who created it and him.
Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life and life to the full." John 10:10. Jesus came to reveal the relationship we can have with the One who gives life. God came and walked among us to the delight of those privileged to know Him in human form. But as the Holy Spirit confirms, Jesus sent Him to delight us from within and then to enable us to delight in the Lord our God in return.
Is there any among us who cannot find a peaceful place in the created universe where we cannot delight ourselves in the One who created it? Watching a beautiful sunrise or sunset? A breath taking mountain top or peaceful stream in the valley? A gaze up at the stars so far away or looking at the delicate beauty of the emerging butterfly just out of it's cocoon.
Each and every one of us can put our minds to delight in the Lord, and be filled with gratitude for who He is and what He gives.
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart", even those you didn't know you have.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Good "God" of Good Men
The Holy One calls me this morning to weigh in on some deeply troubling questions I have been wrestling. There is only one Truth and that is His. More and more I see that we are about to begin living the Book of Revelation and the true "End Times" prophecy as no other generation has in the past.
Rev 1:3 says, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it because the time is near".
It can be argued that this was written and dispersed so long ago that each generation can read and glean from it's challenging message. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate Counselor, Guide and Interpreter of the Word of God, and He has taken me to this place to answer the questions in my heart of hearts.
The end times scenario is all about the ultimate war between the God of all Creation and the devil who became His enemy by choice and insurrection. It was a fatal and ludicrous position to take because the "creature" will never ever over-take or usurp the Creator who created him.
Just as man, a wonderfully created being, will never ever become the God of all Creation regardless of his glorious attempts to become Him, we will always be the "created" and in spite of all our great achievements in this world we will never become the Creator of the Universe and beyond.
The Book of Revelation begins by saying that it is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" to "show His servants what must soon take place" This book was written specifically for the "servants of Jesus Christ" and they are the only ones who will have an understanding of it's message through the Holy Spirit.
It has been said that the Bible is God's love letter to His people and unless you are saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ and therein a child of God, you are reading someone else's mail.
As we speak and for generations past, there have been times of "revival" and a call to return to traditional if not Biblical values. When the enemy of goodness and mercy has been given a foothold in our society and over our lives, there comes a backlash by decent and good people to reclaim that which has been stolen. There is a wave of revival beginning but I question in my heart what sort of revival it may be.
The Book of Revelation depicts the persecution of true Believers, those who have come to the saving knowledge that there is only one very narrow way that leads to Eternal Life and that is faith in the Gospel Truth about Jesus Christ: Who He is,(The only begotten Son of God), why He came, (to save the world of men from sin and the judgement to come) and where He is today, (seated at the right hand of all Power and Authority).
The message of personal honor, hope and charity can be embraced by people of all walks of life and from every religion and it can impact the world for good. Our founding fathers were anointed to establish a government with freedom and justice for all people, as we were all created equal by our Creator. Free will was God-ordained, and our freedom to choose our own personal "belief" system is foundational to our Nation's Constitutional protection of individual rights, just as free speech is protected.
It is hope inspiring to see those from differing faiths come together and challenge all people to be the "best" that man can be according to the moral code and conscience he has been given. But as a believer, I realize that man's best will always fall short of God's standard and without a personal relationship with the Savior of mankind and His indwelling Holy Spirit, Eternity in Heaven will be lost to those who rely on "one" they may see as the good "god" of good men.
Our job will always be to witness the Truth about Jesus Christ to the world around us. Our job will always be met with persecution, whether it be the darkest evil of a man's mind or the greatest good of a man's heart not yet "home" to the Holy Spirit.
Lest I get so full of compassion for the good, moral but unregenerate souls I meet along the way, the Holy Spirit reminds me that I did not write the Book but I am responsible to share what it says.
I cannot begin to comprehend what awaits us in Eternity, but God does. Somehow the God of Eternity knows that Heaven will require a unity beyond what man can achieve even when operating at his moral best. To God's Word we must all be true. The good "god" of good men is a counterfeit and we must never forget that fact.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Rev 1:3 says, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it because the time is near".
It can be argued that this was written and dispersed so long ago that each generation can read and glean from it's challenging message. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate Counselor, Guide and Interpreter of the Word of God, and He has taken me to this place to answer the questions in my heart of hearts.
The end times scenario is all about the ultimate war between the God of all Creation and the devil who became His enemy by choice and insurrection. It was a fatal and ludicrous position to take because the "creature" will never ever over-take or usurp the Creator who created him.
Just as man, a wonderfully created being, will never ever become the God of all Creation regardless of his glorious attempts to become Him, we will always be the "created" and in spite of all our great achievements in this world we will never become the Creator of the Universe and beyond.
The Book of Revelation begins by saying that it is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" to "show His servants what must soon take place" This book was written specifically for the "servants of Jesus Christ" and they are the only ones who will have an understanding of it's message through the Holy Spirit.
It has been said that the Bible is God's love letter to His people and unless you are saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ and therein a child of God, you are reading someone else's mail.
As we speak and for generations past, there have been times of "revival" and a call to return to traditional if not Biblical values. When the enemy of goodness and mercy has been given a foothold in our society and over our lives, there comes a backlash by decent and good people to reclaim that which has been stolen. There is a wave of revival beginning but I question in my heart what sort of revival it may be.
The Book of Revelation depicts the persecution of true Believers, those who have come to the saving knowledge that there is only one very narrow way that leads to Eternal Life and that is faith in the Gospel Truth about Jesus Christ: Who He is,(The only begotten Son of God), why He came, (to save the world of men from sin and the judgement to come) and where He is today, (seated at the right hand of all Power and Authority).
The message of personal honor, hope and charity can be embraced by people of all walks of life and from every religion and it can impact the world for good. Our founding fathers were anointed to establish a government with freedom and justice for all people, as we were all created equal by our Creator. Free will was God-ordained, and our freedom to choose our own personal "belief" system is foundational to our Nation's Constitutional protection of individual rights, just as free speech is protected.
It is hope inspiring to see those from differing faiths come together and challenge all people to be the "best" that man can be according to the moral code and conscience he has been given. But as a believer, I realize that man's best will always fall short of God's standard and without a personal relationship with the Savior of mankind and His indwelling Holy Spirit, Eternity in Heaven will be lost to those who rely on "one" they may see as the good "god" of good men.
Our job will always be to witness the Truth about Jesus Christ to the world around us. Our job will always be met with persecution, whether it be the darkest evil of a man's mind or the greatest good of a man's heart not yet "home" to the Holy Spirit.
Lest I get so full of compassion for the good, moral but unregenerate souls I meet along the way, the Holy Spirit reminds me that I did not write the Book but I am responsible to share what it says.
I cannot begin to comprehend what awaits us in Eternity, but God does. Somehow the God of Eternity knows that Heaven will require a unity beyond what man can achieve even when operating at his moral best. To God's Word we must all be true. The good "god" of good men is a counterfeit and we must never forget that fact.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Repentance: To Change One's Mind
The Spirit calls me today to talk about the ongoing sorrow I feel for ungodly decisions that have littered the course of my life. His deep and unfathomable love leads us to repentance but today, He wants to take me to a greater understanding of what repentance really means.
I have been reading the book of Amos about his call to prophesy and speak God's indictment and judgement that was about to fall on Israel and her surrounding neighbor nations.
I read about the end of God's patience with fear and trembling for those who push against His Sovereignty and fail to see the ax about to fall. Because we live in such a privileged time of Grace, the "Church" age, when His mercies are new every morning, we may become complacent about His powerful authority and brilliant Holiness.
The Old Testament and God's dealings with His Beloved Israel are a sobering reminder that a day of ultimate judgement is coming in spite of what we see and know people are "getting away with" in the world today.
To understand the Truth about our God is to respect His Majestic Sovereignty and always remember that He created us not the other way around.
Our only hope for existence is in His grace and mercy for all have fallen short of His righteous requirements for life, especially eternal life. Even our best efforts fall so short of the mark, except for mercy we would all be assigned the fiery pit of an unimaginable hell.
As the Holy One deals with my pride, I always come down to the reality of my own personal lack of worth. Having been raised "legalistically" the continuous sense of guilt and condemnation is ever present but mixed with the push toward the deceptive exalted pride of "works".
Today the Spirit had something to show me that blew my circuits and with successful application of His wisdom can change the conflict forever.
My personal Bible is the NIV Study Bible. Today I picked up the King James version in a random sequence of events. I have been studying the book of Amos so I went there to read. What I discovered was a lightening bolt to my mind.
In Amos 7, the Lord showed Amos the shepherd/prophet what He was about to do.
Amos 3:7 reads, "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." Interesting that God chose a shepherd, outside the "religious" community to use as a spokesman to His people.
This causes me to believe that a prophet is simply a person who is so intimately aquainted with the Lord and His voice that he is privileged to know what the Lord is about to do before He does it, whether one day or thousands of years in advance.
Amos was so horrified by what he "saw" was about to happen to God's people that he interceded (almost in protest). My Bible reads, "so God relented and said, "This will not happen". When I read the same passages out of the King James version, the text reads, "God repented".
I pondered this long and hard. I know that God is not "guilty" and is always above and beyond reproach, so what does this mean, "God repented"?
The definition of repentance is "to feel such regret over an action or intention as to change one's mind." I have been hung up on a partial definition of that word having to do with remorse or sorrow.
I come every day to repent for things the Holy Spirit reveals that are short of the mark, but then find the frustration in either re-committing or the on going guilt for my thoughts or actions. This shortfall in understanding the definition of true repentance allows the enemy to keep badgering me with this guilt and in many ways keeps me from experiencing the real objective in Godly repentance.
The Holy One speaks: "Since the Cross of Christ, the believer's righteousness in the eyes of the Father is Christ's righteousness. The indwelling Spirit of Christ is the true believer's source for transformation. The process of transformation is not just a sorrow of failure but rather a reverse of course, a change of heart and mind."
More often than not, the transformation has more to do with the issue of God's ways VS. my ways. Guilt sent by the enemy mucks up the situation. I spend more time battling the guilt than changing course. I can see that repentance is therefore, in the life of a believer, more about reversing the human course that is usually in contradiction to Holiness even if not wicked or sinful in and of itself.
God's indictment and His judgement revealed to Amos is not evil, or bad but deserved, and yet God "repented". When the Holy Spirit draws us into His counsel and shows us our humanity, I now see that He is more pleased with a change of course than on going guilt and self-judgment. "Does the lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than to sacrifice." I Sam 15:22
His convictions are not to beat us down but rather to lead us into places of His Glorious plan for our lives. The more we yield to the Holy Spirit and change our minds toward His ways, the greater will be God's Glory and our victory over a fallen world.
There may yet be time on the prophetic calendar as we anticipate the return of our King to "repent" and model lives reflecting the Holy One within, which is the only life eligible for the blessings God promises to send upon our obedience to His ways.
Is the Spirit showing you where you need to repent? The world is waiting to see Holiness in us, for without Holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
I have been reading the book of Amos about his call to prophesy and speak God's indictment and judgement that was about to fall on Israel and her surrounding neighbor nations.
I read about the end of God's patience with fear and trembling for those who push against His Sovereignty and fail to see the ax about to fall. Because we live in such a privileged time of Grace, the "Church" age, when His mercies are new every morning, we may become complacent about His powerful authority and brilliant Holiness.
The Old Testament and God's dealings with His Beloved Israel are a sobering reminder that a day of ultimate judgement is coming in spite of what we see and know people are "getting away with" in the world today.
To understand the Truth about our God is to respect His Majestic Sovereignty and always remember that He created us not the other way around.
Our only hope for existence is in His grace and mercy for all have fallen short of His righteous requirements for life, especially eternal life. Even our best efforts fall so short of the mark, except for mercy we would all be assigned the fiery pit of an unimaginable hell.
As the Holy One deals with my pride, I always come down to the reality of my own personal lack of worth. Having been raised "legalistically" the continuous sense of guilt and condemnation is ever present but mixed with the push toward the deceptive exalted pride of "works".
Today the Spirit had something to show me that blew my circuits and with successful application of His wisdom can change the conflict forever.
My personal Bible is the NIV Study Bible. Today I picked up the King James version in a random sequence of events. I have been studying the book of Amos so I went there to read. What I discovered was a lightening bolt to my mind.
In Amos 7, the Lord showed Amos the shepherd/prophet what He was about to do.
Amos 3:7 reads, "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." Interesting that God chose a shepherd, outside the "religious" community to use as a spokesman to His people.
This causes me to believe that a prophet is simply a person who is so intimately aquainted with the Lord and His voice that he is privileged to know what the Lord is about to do before He does it, whether one day or thousands of years in advance.
Amos was so horrified by what he "saw" was about to happen to God's people that he interceded (almost in protest). My Bible reads, "so God relented and said, "This will not happen". When I read the same passages out of the King James version, the text reads, "God repented".
I pondered this long and hard. I know that God is not "guilty" and is always above and beyond reproach, so what does this mean, "God repented"?
The definition of repentance is "to feel such regret over an action or intention as to change one's mind." I have been hung up on a partial definition of that word having to do with remorse or sorrow.
I come every day to repent for things the Holy Spirit reveals that are short of the mark, but then find the frustration in either re-committing or the on going guilt for my thoughts or actions. This shortfall in understanding the definition of true repentance allows the enemy to keep badgering me with this guilt and in many ways keeps me from experiencing the real objective in Godly repentance.
The Holy One speaks: "Since the Cross of Christ, the believer's righteousness in the eyes of the Father is Christ's righteousness. The indwelling Spirit of Christ is the true believer's source for transformation. The process of transformation is not just a sorrow of failure but rather a reverse of course, a change of heart and mind."
More often than not, the transformation has more to do with the issue of God's ways VS. my ways. Guilt sent by the enemy mucks up the situation. I spend more time battling the guilt than changing course. I can see that repentance is therefore, in the life of a believer, more about reversing the human course that is usually in contradiction to Holiness even if not wicked or sinful in and of itself.
God's indictment and His judgement revealed to Amos is not evil, or bad but deserved, and yet God "repented". When the Holy Spirit draws us into His counsel and shows us our humanity, I now see that He is more pleased with a change of course than on going guilt and self-judgment. "Does the lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than to sacrifice." I Sam 15:22
His convictions are not to beat us down but rather to lead us into places of His Glorious plan for our lives. The more we yield to the Holy Spirit and change our minds toward His ways, the greater will be God's Glory and our victory over a fallen world.
There may yet be time on the prophetic calendar as we anticipate the return of our King to "repent" and model lives reflecting the Holy One within, which is the only life eligible for the blessings God promises to send upon our obedience to His ways.
Is the Spirit showing you where you need to repent? The world is waiting to see Holiness in us, for without Holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Glory To God Only
The Spirit calls me today. I am still deep in the wonder of our meetings and the thoughts about miracles sent to glorify the Father and the Son. I am excited by all the possibilities that are now present when the Truth about the Father's love prevails.
The enemy tries to taunt me. He persists in sending gloom and doom to preside over my enthusiasm. I realize this tactic of evil has no real power. Gloom and doom is like dirt on my life lens and can be wiped off at will.
Gloom and doom has no staying power longer than it takes me to recognize that I am looking through dirt and I can get it removed. I confess to my Deliverer that there is dirt on my lens and He makes a speedy clean up of my thoughts.
I praise my Savior for His indwelling Spirit who can change my perspective in a heart beat.
Today's meeting must be really important for the enemy to begin so early trying to cloud my thinking and present his case for unbelief. I focus my mind back to the miracles that are needed and the part we are to play in the manifestations.
The Holy One reminds me again that the ultimate goal in any supernatural intervention by the Lord is to bring Glory to our Heavenly Father. Miracles reveal His true nature of love and His great power and authority.
As our Lord Jesus Christ provided the doorway to the Throne of Heaven, oversees our petitions, and arranges for the answers, The Spirit of truth brings Glory to the Son. Miracles reveal that true access to the Father comes through His only begotten Son of Holiness, Jesus Christ.
As the individual heart surrenders to the rule of the indwelling Holy Spirit, He, the Spirit, is able to manifest His gifts and supernatural answers. Our yieldedness provides the stage for the supernatural and brings Glory to the Holy Spirit. Miracles reveal His indwelling authority through surrendered servants.
What a beautiful picture of a Glorious Trinity in unity. And what an amazing revelation of the part every believer has been given to play if they are willing.
While I am energized by this picture and my heart begins to soar in pride for what I now know, the Spirit levels me with a stark warning:
"Remember this well: All Glory belongs to God. Humans have no claim to God's Glory but many try to steal it." The Glory that belongs to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit cannot be possessed by a human. It is corrupting and does not fit our being. If we attempt to steal it, the end result is disaster and a destroyed life and work.
Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord, that is My Name and I will not give My Glory to another."
How many times when wonderful miracles have been sent in answer to prayers and petitions have I leaped onto the stage and tried to steal God's Glory through self-exhalation, thinking or saying, "I prayed.... I asked God.... I said.... I saw."
While I do not take credit for the answer per se, I have made it known or thought in my own heart about the HUGE role I played in it's occurrence.... Like a little child helping to bake cookies by getting flour on the floor says in the end, "Oh look at what I made".
While this may be OK for a child to take credit for what mom did, I must grow up and never allow my pride to steal the Glory from the Sovereign God who would use the miraculous intervention we experience to reveal Himself to His beloved creation.
Our job as Servant of the Most High is to bring all Glory and Honor and Praise and Worship to our beloved Lord who is the Author of all miracles.
An internal reality check would be to admit, the sometimes not so obvious fact of, God's Divinely ordained control in every situation we face. It is His control that brings any intercessor or conduit of His mercy to the place of seeing the need and then, by His Holy Spirit, supplying the faith-filled prayers for whatever God is about to do to reveal Himself in the situation.
The human part is not to "work" but rather to "yield". We are not Creator, Savior, or Healer, but we know Who is all those things. Our job is to make sure that the full and complete Glory is poured out liberally to the One who provides every answer.
Jesus gave us a view of this in John 11:41. He was standing at the tomb of Lazarus, who was dead behind the stone. "So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father I thank You that you have heard Me. You always hear Me but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may know that You have sent Me."
Before Jesus was about to blow every body's human circuits, He wanted to establish the Divine Chain of Glory. When Majesty acts, confusion can overwhelm us and we might become tempted to shut down or run around in ecstasy, be witness to the miraculous event but fail to testify and glorify the one who executed it.
Jesus said that He came to bring Glory to the Father. The Holy Spirit was sent to bring Glory to the Son. And it is our job to bring Glory to all three.
I am brought to humble repentance for all the times my spiritual pride got in the way and tried to steal the glory, even for a second, that belongs to God alone:
The Triune God of all Creation in three part harmony: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
To You be all Glory and Honor and Praise and Worship that creation can bring. Be Glorified in and through your servant.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The enemy tries to taunt me. He persists in sending gloom and doom to preside over my enthusiasm. I realize this tactic of evil has no real power. Gloom and doom is like dirt on my life lens and can be wiped off at will.
Gloom and doom has no staying power longer than it takes me to recognize that I am looking through dirt and I can get it removed. I confess to my Deliverer that there is dirt on my lens and He makes a speedy clean up of my thoughts.
I praise my Savior for His indwelling Spirit who can change my perspective in a heart beat.
Today's meeting must be really important for the enemy to begin so early trying to cloud my thinking and present his case for unbelief. I focus my mind back to the miracles that are needed and the part we are to play in the manifestations.
The Holy One reminds me again that the ultimate goal in any supernatural intervention by the Lord is to bring Glory to our Heavenly Father. Miracles reveal His true nature of love and His great power and authority.
As our Lord Jesus Christ provided the doorway to the Throne of Heaven, oversees our petitions, and arranges for the answers, The Spirit of truth brings Glory to the Son. Miracles reveal that true access to the Father comes through His only begotten Son of Holiness, Jesus Christ.
As the individual heart surrenders to the rule of the indwelling Holy Spirit, He, the Spirit, is able to manifest His gifts and supernatural answers. Our yieldedness provides the stage for the supernatural and brings Glory to the Holy Spirit. Miracles reveal His indwelling authority through surrendered servants.
What a beautiful picture of a Glorious Trinity in unity. And what an amazing revelation of the part every believer has been given to play if they are willing.
While I am energized by this picture and my heart begins to soar in pride for what I now know, the Spirit levels me with a stark warning:
"Remember this well: All Glory belongs to God. Humans have no claim to God's Glory but many try to steal it." The Glory that belongs to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit cannot be possessed by a human. It is corrupting and does not fit our being. If we attempt to steal it, the end result is disaster and a destroyed life and work.
Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord, that is My Name and I will not give My Glory to another."
How many times when wonderful miracles have been sent in answer to prayers and petitions have I leaped onto the stage and tried to steal God's Glory through self-exhalation, thinking or saying, "I prayed.... I asked God.... I said.... I saw."
While I do not take credit for the answer per se, I have made it known or thought in my own heart about the HUGE role I played in it's occurrence.... Like a little child helping to bake cookies by getting flour on the floor says in the end, "Oh look at what I made".
While this may be OK for a child to take credit for what mom did, I must grow up and never allow my pride to steal the Glory from the Sovereign God who would use the miraculous intervention we experience to reveal Himself to His beloved creation.
Our job as Servant of the Most High is to bring all Glory and Honor and Praise and Worship to our beloved Lord who is the Author of all miracles.
An internal reality check would be to admit, the sometimes not so obvious fact of, God's Divinely ordained control in every situation we face. It is His control that brings any intercessor or conduit of His mercy to the place of seeing the need and then, by His Holy Spirit, supplying the faith-filled prayers for whatever God is about to do to reveal Himself in the situation.
The human part is not to "work" but rather to "yield". We are not Creator, Savior, or Healer, but we know Who is all those things. Our job is to make sure that the full and complete Glory is poured out liberally to the One who provides every answer.
Jesus gave us a view of this in John 11:41. He was standing at the tomb of Lazarus, who was dead behind the stone. "So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father I thank You that you have heard Me. You always hear Me but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may know that You have sent Me."
Before Jesus was about to blow every body's human circuits, He wanted to establish the Divine Chain of Glory. When Majesty acts, confusion can overwhelm us and we might become tempted to shut down or run around in ecstasy, be witness to the miraculous event but fail to testify and glorify the one who executed it.
Jesus said that He came to bring Glory to the Father. The Holy Spirit was sent to bring Glory to the Son. And it is our job to bring Glory to all three.
I am brought to humble repentance for all the times my spiritual pride got in the way and tried to steal the glory, even for a second, that belongs to God alone:
The Triune God of all Creation in three part harmony: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
To You be all Glory and Honor and Praise and Worship that creation can bring. Be Glorified in and through your servant.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Miracles: Our Worth or Eligibility?
The Spirit calls me today and as always, there is so much to talk over with Him. Everywhere I look, people need help. Within my family, within my circle of friends, within the Body of Christ, within the nation and around the world. So many are facing impossible circumstances that challenge us to our very core.
I often ponder human frailty in the face of what I consider to be a supernatural war with a supernatural enemy. The Holy One assures me that victories are surely available. I look to the Holy One for miracles because I know that without His Divine intervention, evil would wipe us out forever.
Miracles were what Jesus, the Son of God, called for in answer to the deep needs of those He met during His appearance on Earth in the flesh. Jesus came through human birth into a fallen world where evil has flexed it's controlling muscle since the very beginning of earth time.
What Jesus gave us and left to our humanity was the potential to maintain the victory He won through His own Divine nature. He conquered death, and every evil demonic grip over our lives was broken by His authority. And it is by His authority delegated to His people that we can call for the miraculous answers to the problems we face and expect to see them manifest.
In this supernatural war with a supernatural enemy, the Lord did not leave us as victims or orphans. In John 14:15 Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey what I command and I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him for He lives with you and will be IN you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you."
The Holy Spirit dwells within each Believer. For all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord, the One who died to pay the sin debt for all people, we have the Holy One within.
As I look at the world around me and see all the impossible situations that seem so beyond our human ingenuity and power to fix, the promise of the Savior stand firm. Jesus said in John 14:11, "Believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father, and I will do whatever you ask in My name so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything and I will do it."
The promise is remarkable, almost beyond human comprehension. Without the Holy Spirit, I would buckle to the toxic lies of evil that would lead me down the road of faithless unbelief. Evil says, "qualify the promises....the Lord can't possibly mean what he says.....you could never expect to do what He did...He is God and you are not" etc, etc, etc. And the lying beat goes on. Soon I find my feet moving to that beat...away from the promises, away from hope, away from faith.
The Holy One speaks assurances that only God can give. The wisdom comes. He gently reminds me that the greater goal in any miraculous answer is the Glory that will come to the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. We receive the answers, the circumstances change and we are blessed but that is not the goal nor the purpose for Divine intervention. We may think humbly that God bends circumstances for our own sake alone, but the truth is that He delivers victorious answers for the sake of His Name, the Name above all Names.
Miracles are the earthly testimonies of the love of our God and Creator flowing to and through our lives. In and of ourselves, we are not worthy of the miraculous answers to our problems here because so many are due to our fallen nature and the supernatural enemy who uses it to defame our Creator.
But as we yield to the authority and wisdom of the Holy One within, we become "eligible" to see and enjoy the supernatural intervention by the Sovereign Hand of our Sovereign God.
The Holy One tells me, "don't get hung up on your "lack of worth" in needing answers to the impossible situations. Focus on the "eligibility" that God is waiting for. The eligibility that I will bring to you: love for and obedience to, Jesus, the Savior of your Soul."
The Holy One within is the only One who can provide us with the love and obedience to the commands of Jesus. He is our Divine Source as the Life of Christ within, and He is waiting for every Believer to yield to His Rule.
As eligible servants of the One True God, the miracles will come, not just once in a while, not just back in the day, and not just as someone else prays. But they will come here and now and everyday into every situation, through every Believer's petition....All to the Glory of our Sovereign and Holy God. Then all the world will see His Hand and feel His Love and believe in the One He sent to save us: Jesus Christ, Messiah and Lord.
Are you in need of a miracle today?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
I often ponder human frailty in the face of what I consider to be a supernatural war with a supernatural enemy. The Holy One assures me that victories are surely available. I look to the Holy One for miracles because I know that without His Divine intervention, evil would wipe us out forever.
Miracles were what Jesus, the Son of God, called for in answer to the deep needs of those He met during His appearance on Earth in the flesh. Jesus came through human birth into a fallen world where evil has flexed it's controlling muscle since the very beginning of earth time.
What Jesus gave us and left to our humanity was the potential to maintain the victory He won through His own Divine nature. He conquered death, and every evil demonic grip over our lives was broken by His authority. And it is by His authority delegated to His people that we can call for the miraculous answers to the problems we face and expect to see them manifest.
In this supernatural war with a supernatural enemy, the Lord did not leave us as victims or orphans. In John 14:15 Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey what I command and I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him for He lives with you and will be IN you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you."
The Holy Spirit dwells within each Believer. For all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord, the One who died to pay the sin debt for all people, we have the Holy One within.
As I look at the world around me and see all the impossible situations that seem so beyond our human ingenuity and power to fix, the promise of the Savior stand firm. Jesus said in John 14:11, "Believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father, and I will do whatever you ask in My name so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything and I will do it."
The promise is remarkable, almost beyond human comprehension. Without the Holy Spirit, I would buckle to the toxic lies of evil that would lead me down the road of faithless unbelief. Evil says, "qualify the promises....the Lord can't possibly mean what he says.....you could never expect to do what He did...He is God and you are not" etc, etc, etc. And the lying beat goes on. Soon I find my feet moving to that beat...away from the promises, away from hope, away from faith.
The Holy One speaks assurances that only God can give. The wisdom comes. He gently reminds me that the greater goal in any miraculous answer is the Glory that will come to the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. We receive the answers, the circumstances change and we are blessed but that is not the goal nor the purpose for Divine intervention. We may think humbly that God bends circumstances for our own sake alone, but the truth is that He delivers victorious answers for the sake of His Name, the Name above all Names.
Miracles are the earthly testimonies of the love of our God and Creator flowing to and through our lives. In and of ourselves, we are not worthy of the miraculous answers to our problems here because so many are due to our fallen nature and the supernatural enemy who uses it to defame our Creator.
But as we yield to the authority and wisdom of the Holy One within, we become "eligible" to see and enjoy the supernatural intervention by the Sovereign Hand of our Sovereign God.
The Holy One tells me, "don't get hung up on your "lack of worth" in needing answers to the impossible situations. Focus on the "eligibility" that God is waiting for. The eligibility that I will bring to you: love for and obedience to, Jesus, the Savior of your Soul."
The Holy One within is the only One who can provide us with the love and obedience to the commands of Jesus. He is our Divine Source as the Life of Christ within, and He is waiting for every Believer to yield to His Rule.
As eligible servants of the One True God, the miracles will come, not just once in a while, not just back in the day, and not just as someone else prays. But they will come here and now and everyday into every situation, through every Believer's petition....All to the Glory of our Sovereign and Holy God. Then all the world will see His Hand and feel His Love and believe in the One He sent to save us: Jesus Christ, Messiah and Lord.
Are you in need of a miracle today?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Voice of the Shepherd*
The Spirit calls me today. I am always excited to hear His perspective. I have been spending a lot of time working outside. The land is so beautiful but it is part of my sense of "ownership" to add my own creative touches.
I find myself working on a projects that tax me physically and yet I am compelled each day to push toward the goal even in changing weather from hot to cold and cold to colder..
This morning the Spirit speaks and I understand more about His government over my life. He told me that He has had me in simultaneous drills designed to strengthen me physically as well as Spiritually.
That would explain this inner call to make the forest tidier; to manage it and prayerfully make the land more hospitable. This is also what He is doing through His wake-up call every morning to meet Him for counsel. He is managing my thoughts, my heart, my whole being and making His "Temple" more hospitable.
The discipline was hard at first but the Spirit was unrelenting and persistent in His call. The wisdom I receive in the early morning meetings is far beyond my own thinking. Not that anyone else would necessarily understand because the Holy One speaks to each one of us uniquely and in the specific language of our own individual heart.
There is something so comforting about the voice of the Spirit. It is the voice of my Shepherd. Jesus spoke of it in John 10. Vs 14, "I am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me. Vs 3, ....the sheep listen to His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice."
How many of us can honestly say we "KNOW" the voice of our Shepherd? We place a lot of emphasis on the written Word of God and so we must. But why, then, did Jesus use this analogy for us since sheep cannot read and must rely on their knowledge and understanding of the voice of their Shepherd?
Sheep without a shepherd are a pathetic sight. The shepherd is the only hope for their survival, and yet we are referred to as sheep over and over again. The fact that the Palestinian shepherd leads his sheep is not lost on me. Other shepherds may drive their sheep, but my Shepherd, the Good Shepherd leads His sheep.
With the Holy One out ahead and leading me into each new day, I can follow with a wonderful peace, knowing He will keep me safe all day, every day.
The critical issue to me is knowing His voice. How many other voices call to me in a given day to follow them unto my own destruction?
This is the reason for the "drills". The Holy Spirit is speaking and I must listen and obey. As the Shepherd's voice continues to speak and I tune my ear to the sound of it, I begin to recognize His voice and trust that as I listen and obey, He will keep me safe from all harm. I will have His Wisdom and Grace to deal with any situation I might encounter in any given day.
King David wrote this incredible Psalm about our Good Shepherd.
Psalm 23:
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside quiet waters
He restores my soul
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake
Even though I walk through the valley of the "shadow" of death
I will fear no evil for You are with me
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
You anoint my head with oil
My cup overflows
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
With this wonderful picture in my mind, I know I must listen intently to the Voice of my Shepherd and follow Him. I must be still and hear what the Holy One has to say. I must obey and apply each directive spoken. In this way, I will become more and more familiar with the voice of my Shepherd and more and more confident to follow the voice I know is His.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
I find myself working on a projects that tax me physically and yet I am compelled each day to push toward the goal even in changing weather from hot to cold and cold to colder..
This morning the Spirit speaks and I understand more about His government over my life. He told me that He has had me in simultaneous drills designed to strengthen me physically as well as Spiritually.
That would explain this inner call to make the forest tidier; to manage it and prayerfully make the land more hospitable. This is also what He is doing through His wake-up call every morning to meet Him for counsel. He is managing my thoughts, my heart, my whole being and making His "Temple" more hospitable.
The discipline was hard at first but the Spirit was unrelenting and persistent in His call. The wisdom I receive in the early morning meetings is far beyond my own thinking. Not that anyone else would necessarily understand because the Holy One speaks to each one of us uniquely and in the specific language of our own individual heart.
There is something so comforting about the voice of the Spirit. It is the voice of my Shepherd. Jesus spoke of it in John 10. Vs 14, "I am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me. Vs 3, ....the sheep listen to His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice."
How many of us can honestly say we "KNOW" the voice of our Shepherd? We place a lot of emphasis on the written Word of God and so we must. But why, then, did Jesus use this analogy for us since sheep cannot read and must rely on their knowledge and understanding of the voice of their Shepherd?
Sheep without a shepherd are a pathetic sight. The shepherd is the only hope for their survival, and yet we are referred to as sheep over and over again. The fact that the Palestinian shepherd leads his sheep is not lost on me. Other shepherds may drive their sheep, but my Shepherd, the Good Shepherd leads His sheep.
With the Holy One out ahead and leading me into each new day, I can follow with a wonderful peace, knowing He will keep me safe all day, every day.
The critical issue to me is knowing His voice. How many other voices call to me in a given day to follow them unto my own destruction?
This is the reason for the "drills". The Holy Spirit is speaking and I must listen and obey. As the Shepherd's voice continues to speak and I tune my ear to the sound of it, I begin to recognize His voice and trust that as I listen and obey, He will keep me safe from all harm. I will have His Wisdom and Grace to deal with any situation I might encounter in any given day.
King David wrote this incredible Psalm about our Good Shepherd.
Psalm 23:
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside quiet waters
He restores my soul
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake
Even though I walk through the valley of the "shadow" of death
I will fear no evil for You are with me
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
You anoint my head with oil
My cup overflows
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
With this wonderful picture in my mind, I know I must listen intently to the Voice of my Shepherd and follow Him. I must be still and hear what the Holy One has to say. I must obey and apply each directive spoken. In this way, I will become more and more familiar with the voice of my Shepherd and more and more confident to follow the voice I know is His.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Living Epistle
The Spirit calls me today to gather my thoughts around Him. Since we have become such intimate friends, I know He desires to direct all my thoughts. It's the thought life that controls the body and He wants all my thoughts to pass through His great filter, set up as His throne in my heart.
I marvel at the changes occurring in me since I started in the "School of the Holy Spirit". This Heavenly course teaching me the role of the Holy Spirit is life changing because it is heart healing.
It is hard to imagine that the Holy Spirit has been such a powerful force dwelling within and yet for so much of my life, I have failed to recognize and yield to His quiet voice and commands. It is shocking to realize how much self-rule/self-fool, has dominated my life and caused such fear and agony in the day-to-day trials.
Somehow, deep within, I knew I was no match for all the vexing issues that present themselves, but until I began to learn the Truth about my internal Counselor, I always thought it was up to me, alone, to navigate the mine field of this life.
I always thought that, having the Word of God, the mandates of Scripture, and the knowledge of the Holy One who died for me, I was then expected to blast into each day with all the challenges and emerge victorious on the other side.
What I was missing all those years, was the understanding of the indwelling Presence of Christ, who was sent to live His life through me. I cannot live the life of my Savior in and of myself. There is too much flesh still devastated by the fall, too much intellect, too much pride, too much control.
The toxic lie of the enemy that I can, that I MUST, fulfill my responsibility as a servant of Christ in and of my own feeble strength, has poisoned more situations than I can count. The truth is that, in and of myself, I can do nothing. In John 15:5 Jesus says, "I am the Vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." Then again Phil 4:13 says, "I can do everthing through Him (Jesus) who gives me strength."
There must be a defined difference beyond just a "thought" that empowers me to live by the Holy standard of Scripture in obedience to my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, and to be "in Christ".
His will, His way is that we be in unity with the Triune Godhead. As He was telling the Disciples about the Counselor, the Holy Spirit to come, Jesus explained in John 14:20, "On that day, you will realize I am in the Father and you are in Me and I am in you."
By the supernatural indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish in the natural all that Jesus accomplished in His incarnation as God in the flesh, IF (and this is a huge IF) we recognize and yield to the control of the indwelling Holy Spirit. John 15:7-8, "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to My Father's Glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My Disciples.
This "defined" difference that empowers me to live as my Savior desires, is the mystery of the Gospel and that is "Christ in me the hope of Glory" Col 1:27.
We can never find the words to describe this supernatural action, but we can "know" it deep within. A change of mind, a change of heart, a surrender of a right, or death to a privilege that brings life to a principle, all reflect an unexplanable change.
The Holy One calls us to allow Him the freedom to live His life of the Savior through our life. Then we become a living epistle, a "letter" sent by the Lord, to be read by all who know us or all who might see and witness our faith life with our God.
Can we do justice to this great calling in and of ourselves? NEVER!
Unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to maifest the life of our Holy Savior, Christ Jesus, in us and through us, the letter we represent will be full of contradictions and not suitable reading for others who are seeking the Holy life for themselves.
In the world of people I encounter each day, my life, may be the only "epistle" from God they ever read.
So, how does my life read?
How does your life read?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
I marvel at the changes occurring in me since I started in the "School of the Holy Spirit". This Heavenly course teaching me the role of the Holy Spirit is life changing because it is heart healing.
It is hard to imagine that the Holy Spirit has been such a powerful force dwelling within and yet for so much of my life, I have failed to recognize and yield to His quiet voice and commands. It is shocking to realize how much self-rule/self-fool, has dominated my life and caused such fear and agony in the day-to-day trials.
Somehow, deep within, I knew I was no match for all the vexing issues that present themselves, but until I began to learn the Truth about my internal Counselor, I always thought it was up to me, alone, to navigate the mine field of this life.
I always thought that, having the Word of God, the mandates of Scripture, and the knowledge of the Holy One who died for me, I was then expected to blast into each day with all the challenges and emerge victorious on the other side.
What I was missing all those years, was the understanding of the indwelling Presence of Christ, who was sent to live His life through me. I cannot live the life of my Savior in and of myself. There is too much flesh still devastated by the fall, too much intellect, too much pride, too much control.
The toxic lie of the enemy that I can, that I MUST, fulfill my responsibility as a servant of Christ in and of my own feeble strength, has poisoned more situations than I can count. The truth is that, in and of myself, I can do nothing. In John 15:5 Jesus says, "I am the Vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." Then again Phil 4:13 says, "I can do everthing through Him (Jesus) who gives me strength."
There must be a defined difference beyond just a "thought" that empowers me to live by the Holy standard of Scripture in obedience to my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, and to be "in Christ".
His will, His way is that we be in unity with the Triune Godhead. As He was telling the Disciples about the Counselor, the Holy Spirit to come, Jesus explained in John 14:20, "On that day, you will realize I am in the Father and you are in Me and I am in you."
By the supernatural indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish in the natural all that Jesus accomplished in His incarnation as God in the flesh, IF (and this is a huge IF) we recognize and yield to the control of the indwelling Holy Spirit. John 15:7-8, "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to My Father's Glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My Disciples.
This "defined" difference that empowers me to live as my Savior desires, is the mystery of the Gospel and that is "Christ in me the hope of Glory" Col 1:27.
We can never find the words to describe this supernatural action, but we can "know" it deep within. A change of mind, a change of heart, a surrender of a right, or death to a privilege that brings life to a principle, all reflect an unexplanable change.
The Holy One calls us to allow Him the freedom to live His life of the Savior through our life. Then we become a living epistle, a "letter" sent by the Lord, to be read by all who know us or all who might see and witness our faith life with our God.
Can we do justice to this great calling in and of ourselves? NEVER!
Unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to maifest the life of our Holy Savior, Christ Jesus, in us and through us, the letter we represent will be full of contradictions and not suitable reading for others who are seeking the Holy life for themselves.
In the world of people I encounter each day, my life, may be the only "epistle" from God they ever read.
So, how does my life read?
How does your life read?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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