Category: Recent Blogs

Psalm 73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

…there are no pains in their death,
…their body is fat.
…they are not in trouble as other men,
…nor are they plagued like mankind.
…pride is their necklace;
…garment of violence covers them

…their eye bulges from fatness;
…the imaginations of their heart run riot.
…they mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
…they speak from on high.
…they have set their mouth against the heavens,
…their tongue parades through the earth.

Psalm 73:13-14 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence; for I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.

Have you done this too? Compared your life to those around you and wished you could be like them?

Have you had Pity Parties over what God expects of you and what He seems to ignore from others?

Have you viewed life from Ground Level and decided, “It’s NOT fair!!”, meaning of course that God’s not being fair… to you!

Psalm 73:16 When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight.

Until you use God’s elevator of prayer…

Psalm 73:17 I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.

The Pity Party ends when you enter God’s Throne Room!

Job 38:1-3 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

Put on your big boy/girl pants and stand before our Holy God.

You shall know the truth…

Psalm 73:21-24 When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. 

It’s all about your VIEWpoint, and your VIEWpoint is all about your faith.

What do you believe about God? What do you believe about life? What do you believe about you?

Do you believe that God SEES and is present in this world and in the world to come? Or do you believe like those the psalmist envied, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” (our version of “What He doesn’t know won’t hurt Him)

Is God real? Or is He just a figment of your imagination? And if He is REAL, is He active?

Do your jealous eyes judge Him as uncaring when you do not get what you demand. Do you KNOW what His will is for you and for all of His creation?

With your words you claim to know and love God, but is your faithfulness conditional on how happy, healthy and wise He makes you (or lets you be)?

We have to decide…

Either God is good all the time and all the time He is good, or He is subject to man’s judgements/opinions and is no god at all.

We sometimes think that we are called to go to the Throne Room in order to give God our laundry list of wants, needs or demands. We have been taught to say all the right words and then expect the RIGHT answers. Not all of us have the audacity to claim God gave the wrong answer BUT we go so far as to say we just haven’t gotten the right code words and or actions to unlock His miracles.

I’ll admit it… I wanted to LEARN TO PRAY in order to GET THE RIGHT ANSWER. My eyes were more interested in comparing the results among all of us “prayer warriors” than SEEING God and JOYFULLY RECEIVING His answer!

One of the miracles (and the best one in my opinion) of coming into God’s Throne Room, is the laser surgery that God has performed on the eyes of my heart!

When I enter in, I no longer look at anything other than the face of my God. I look FULL in His wonderful face…

I see THE TRUTH… I see HIM!

Psalm 73:21-24 When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory.

I once was (like a beast before You) lost… but now… (You have taken hold of my right hand) am found…

We can determine that this world is all there is and therefore we will make it all it can be… my kingdom come… But what if this world isn’t all there is?

This world, as we know it, will cease to exist and God’s Kingdom will descend. God controls eternity (the world to come)… what happens when we don’t know (or believe in) the Eternity Creator/Contoller?

I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.
…Surely You set them in slippery places;
…You cast them down to destruction.
…they are destroyed in a moment!
…They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!

Psalm 73:27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;

Does that mean God doesn’t love those who do not know Him?

2 Peter 3:9 the Lord is… patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

But we must freely come… choosing to believe God IS and He is Worthy of all that we have to give.

Will I give myself?

“choose for yourselves today whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15)

In the sanctuary of God, I see God.

I see… the nearness of God is my good; (Psalm 73:28) and because I see clearly… I have made the Lord God my refuge.

The View From Above…

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts…

 A View From Above… The ROOM With a view…

The Throne Room View…

It’s ALL about God…

When you SEE the truth, you will be changed… the truth will make you free. (John 8:32)

No more Pity Parties for me! I choose WIN/WIN… God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

I choose to avoid all the ground clutter I am easily distracted by.

I choose the View from Above.

I choose the Throne Room View.

How about you?

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

Luke 15:25-30 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

I’ll admit it! Most of the time I am the younger son, devouring the father’s wealth. But every once in a while I become the “put upon” sibling, who thinks they have been devalued because SOMEONE ELSE received what they wished they had gotten.

Luke 15:31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.

If not for the father’s reminder, we might have believed that the older son had a legitimate anger issue… but no… nothing – let me say that again – NOTHING was taken from him. Nothing was kept from him. NOTHING was charged to his account! Except maybe a little wine whine…

It’s not fair!!!!

He left – I stayed… He partied – I worked… He took – I obeyed…

… and HE gets the royal feast?  HE gets the fattened calf (feast of kings) – I don’t even get a young goat (just our everyday BBQ fare).

Granted I didn’t ask… but I might have wanted to celebrate with my friends if YOU had offered… I am the good son, the price of my loyalty and obedience SHOULD AT LEAST be a ROYAL PARTY!

And there we have the TRUE anger issue – the eyes of greed. I see that which I want and someone else has/gets.

Cain (of Cain and Abel) had this same anger issue. Genesis 4:3-15 gives us the details. Like our older sibling, Cain gave what he wanted to give to the Lord. When it was not received like he thought it should be, he became angry! ON TOP OF THAT… he saw that his brother’s offering was accepted “with regard” (verse 4).

Cain became angry and his countenance fell (verse 5). In other words, a murderous rage takes over as he SEES THE UNFAIRNESS – in this case – by God.

Our sibling doesn’t appear to want to KILL his brother, but certainly he is angry enough to disrespect and disobey his father’s wishes for a reunion celebration. One might say, whereas Cain believed he had the authority to permanently rid himself of the competition, our older boy was more passive in his reaction – he just wanted to KILL the JOY and character of his returning competitor.

In our world today we certainly have plenty of JOY KILLERS of both types of siblings!

Unlike the younger sibling, there are plenty of us who refuse to recognize the pig sty we are in and DEMAND that not only do you accept our lifestyle but YOU MUST continually fund it.

And… there are many of us who HATE sharing our “hard-earned” (or someone’s hard-earned) largess with those brothers/sisters who CHOOSE to be different.

In the eye of the beholder, both of us probably have the same or a similar chant… “NOT FAIR!!”

In the eyes of our Father God we have the same issue.

Genesis 4:6-7 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

We both may have an anger issue…

Notice I said anger issue – not anger sin. Anger is not a sin, it is an emotion. What we DO – what triggers the action – in the midst of our anger is the sin crouching at the door.

Cain murdered his brother, when asked where his brother was he lied and gave his excuse… “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

God said… yes you are… “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”

In Luke 15:32 the father said… yes you are –  “this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found… we had to celebrate and rejoice!”

Our eyes look to the benefit/profit to ourselves. We are the hammer of self preservation to nail of any thief who would threaten to steal our portion…

When you are a hammer – every competitor for insatiable desires – looks like a nail.

We were not created to be hammers… or nails.

Just as our Creator God IS love, we are created to be lovers.

Matthew 22:37-40 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

The question is… If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?

There is no such person as an angry lover… your either a lover or you are an angry person. (again not talking about the emotion but this time talking about the character)

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

If we look upon someone else, and our eyes behold a reason/excuse for anger and/or violence toward, we may be beholding sin – crouching at our door.

“It’s NOT fair” may be the tempter’s song, calling you to kill and/or destroy the person – character – possessions – attitude of someone whose only wrong is to stand and block your spotlight for a moment.

What’s in your wallet eye?

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)… (NOT FAIR!)

Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)… (DOING WELL!)

Whether we choose to sin or choose to do well, there is just one thing I want us all to remember…

“What have you done? 

We will be found out!

Whether you kill the body or kill the spirit…

“The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

Luke 15:11-16 And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 

Dad didn’t say, “NO!”

He didn’t try to guilt the boy into changing his mind.

He didn’t run after him and “helicopter” his environment, trying to make the boy’s life perfect in his own eyes.

He stayed home and __________________.

Waited… watched… ?prayed… ?grieved…

I don’t know how you would fill in the blank, but I would say, “He leaned into his own misery, to give his son the gift of becoming the person he was meant to become.”

I have to believe the Dad would have preferred for the son stay in the safe cocoon of love and wealth. I know, as a parent one of the hardest tasks I ever had to perform (over and over again) was setting aside my dreams/imaginations and allowing my little eaglets to fly into their world.

Deuteronomy 32:11 “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. 

As a parent we do all of the above (Wait… watch… pray… grieve…) while our little ones are growing into the future pilots of their own lives. For most of us, we secretly wish we could lock them into our seatbelt and NEVER LET THEM FLY on their own.

But God…

God is the example of a “Good, Good Father”!

God created in us the desire and demand for becoming. He gave us the power and authority and RESPONSIBILITY to freely choose to grow up and into His special creation – a human. Hebrews 2:7-8 “You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of Your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” (obviously WE lost the subjection part when we sinned, but Jesus NEVER lost it!)

Though with some people it is hard to tell, we are not now nor ever been an animal – a beast of the field. Every human – man, woman, and child, was created to rule over our world (Genesis 1:26-31) AND walk with God in the cool of the day. (Genesis 3:8)

An INHERITANCE of stunning magnitude!

Soooooo… when we ask for “our share” of the inheritance (like the little brother in our original Scripture) we are asking for something HOLY and AWESOME. All of us, every human on the planet, asks demands their portion. But, is there any of us that know what to do with it (rhetorical question)… we are convinced we are to SPEND it in satisfying all of our immediate needs insatiable wants? Especially in the United States of America!

We are so blessed in this country, even the poorest of poor, have the freedom to pursue. We all imagine that the inheritance is the fruit of pursuit (all the good things in life) but the inheritance… the REAL INHERITANCE… is the ability to pursue. We choose the direction – the desired goals – our preferred destination. But the inheritance is our life!

Every human on this earth has been given BY GOD the will, the ability, and the command to pursue life. America is uniquely blessed because our foundation is built on giving its citizens the freedom and opportunity to pursue the “good” life. Unfortunately, America has also been given the temptation (like our young friend in the opening Scripture) to believe that our inheritance is not only ours by “right”, it is unlimited – even given our foolish use of it, and it is protected by our imagined immortality.

We ASK for our inheritance and then SPEND it in a delirious drunken state of privilege. In America we are currently going through the “righteous demand” for MORE… and MORE… and MORE. We see what we want, who has it, and then plan how we can get it.

Without thinking of the consequences, the accountability of becoming the steward of each and every privilege, we blame… SOMEONE doesn’t want us to be happy! SOMEONE hates us! SOMEONE doesn’t know WHO I AM!

Without regard for our neighbors who may have a true need, we scream… “It’s should be MINE! If we are ignored or told, “There is no more!”… we incite others to join us in an attempt to intimidate those who have, EVEN if it must be taken from those who need.

Our founding fathers believed that God gives each of us LIFE… LIBERTY (the breath to pursue)… and the PURSUIT of happiness. We demand our right to define that happiness! We demand it be tweaked to our personal specifications.

Just as the Father and son in our Scripture, we ask for our inheritance and God gives us our inheritance.

Careful what you ask for.

Someday there will be an account of that life you have been given. Will you spend it in a drunken state of believing yourself to be all-powerful and immortal?

Will you end up in a pig sty like our younger brother?

And if you do… what will you do then? Will you give yourself to the slavery of your insatiable demands and continue eating the pigs slop?

Or will you humble yourself, realizing your Father is under NO OBLIGATION to fix your foolishness, and return as a servant to the One who has the whole world in His hands?

Careful what you ask for.

More importantly, be careful of WHO you ask, for they will be your Master forever more.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

Joshua 24:15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Whom will you spend your inheritance (life) on?

?Yourself… you ended up (or will eventually) in the pig pen (just saying).

?This world… the Prince of this world, Satan, with all the fiery arrows of temptation he can use, wishes to destroy and then devour you.

?God – our Good, Good Father… Luke 15:20 But while (you) was still a long way off, (your) father (sees you) and (feels) compassion for (you) and (runs) and (embraces you) and (kisses you).

Now this is HAPPINESS… this is LIFE…

Luke 15:22-24 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. 

We are FREE to pursue Him… now this is a life worth LIVING!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

 

 

 

Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

Oops!

Let no unwholesome word… I’m just telling them the truth for their own good!

Proceed from your mouth… does it count if you just think them?

But only such a word… my mom used to tell me, “If you don’t have something nice to say to someone, don’t say anything at all.” Is this the same thing as grace?

Good for Edification… “You’re so pretty!”

According to the need of the moment… “BUT I NEED to tell you how I feel!”

Will give grace those who hear… it’s NOT all about ME – ME – ME???

Yipes! I definitely need a Speech Therapist! Oh!Oh! Trouble… if what I see on the news and on social media, there aren’t many who could help and even more who need a TEAM of therapists!

Where do we go to learn how to talk to people?

There is only One expert we can trust to have EVERYONE’S best interests at heart… the Holy Spirit! And He says… start inside.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 

Wow! This is so true it is LIFE-CHANGING! The words coming out of my mouth are probably the same ones I’m hearing in my own head and heart, and the same ones I use in talking to and speaking of myself.

Have you ever listened to the conversations you have with yourself about yourself? Not the “cleaned up version” you use to introduce yourself to others – the down and dirty, straight from the pit of hell, self judgement, secretive (some not so secret when they slip out), wouldn’t use for your worst enemy (unless they deserved them) words.

For a lot of years, I had taped conversations going on in my head that were on a repeating loop. I never questioned where they came from, I assumed the people who instigated them, KNEW what they were talking about, and I never argued with them or their words.

“You’re fat!” “You’re dumb!” “You will fail!” “You’re wrong!” “You’re ugly!” “You’ll never learn!”

Sounds like playground fighting words, right? The weapons of enemies.  Some are for sure… “sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me” variety… but some, especially the words spoken FOR MY OWN GOOD, were from friends – and teachers – and parents – and adults just looking out for me.

First thing the Holy Spirit told me, “Turn off the tape!” Seems rather obvious, huh? But these words, taught to me in the throes of my developing identity, became the only words I could turn to when I had no words of my own. Unfortunately, they somewhat became my identity.

I think the same is true for most of us. The words we hear (especially the ones looped on our mind recorder) are the words, along with their synonyms, are the very same words we use to and about our public audience. Sure, we have learned when and with whom, certain words are acceptable and which are not, but that is just a cosmetic change – not a change on our inside.

My first step was to TURN OFF the tape in my head… but then I needed new words… in fact a whole new language to replace a lifetime of wrong thinking and therefore wrong speaking.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Whatever… CAUTION!!!!!! Not mankind’s whatever!

God’s whatever!

After turning off the recorder… the Holy Spirit said, “Learn from Me! Learn My language!” The language of Love!

Learn who God is… 1 John 4:8… for God is love.

Learn who God says you and I are… Psalm 139:15-16 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

Learn who we are when we put our trust in Jesus Christ… Romans 8:15 – 17 For (we) have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but (we) have received a spirit of adoption as sons… and daughters… by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, 

Learn who we are becoming and where we are going. Our destiny isn’t what we thought (and spoke) and/or were told… Romans 8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

and the BEST news of all… 2 Peter 9 the Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing any to perish but all to come to repentance. 

We are ALL called!

Finally…

A message… THE WORD!… That even I can speak.

…no unwholesome word… only such a word as is good… for edification… according to the need of the moment… it will give grace to those who hear.

PERFECT!

Now I just need to change my attitude in order to speak it to THOSE people!

1… Turn off pre-recorded message. 2… Learn the new language of Love.

And now…

3… Prepare to speak. The Holy Spirit changed my mind, now I need to change my heart.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. We are not enemies (even if we don’t like each other)! We are called to LOVE… even THEM!

Then and only then will the TRUE WORD be spoken among men/women… then and only then will we speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; (Ephesians 5:19) Then and only then will we be speaking God’s language of love.

There is an awesome song called “Words” by Hawk Nelson. He says, “Words can build you up, words can tear you down, start a fire in your heart or put it out…”

What do I want my words to do? What do you want your words to do?

Word! It/they will do something! It/they never return void.

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

 

 

Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Psalm 139:8-10 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

Psalm 139:11-12 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

I played Hide and Seek with God for a lot of years. Now, 36 years later, I shake my head in wonder just thinking about the childish arrogance that believed I was winning my game.

All I had to do was cover my eyes and God disappeared…

Like an imaginary friend, I believed He existed ONLY when I wanted to play. I would become angry when He wouldn’t play. The worst hissy fit came when He wouldn’t play by MY rules and began to show me it wasn’t a game at all.

“Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

It is cute when a baby discovers they have a certain power over these “all-powerful useful people” called parents. The little guy can make the big guy smile, laugh, cry, play, worry… for a short time in life we do have the nuclear button at our beck and call.

And then…

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.

It’s time to grow up… It is time to learn the hardest truth of every life that has been allowed to breathe…

WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL!

But… learning the truth and living in agreement with the truth are not the same event.

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; (1 Corinthians 13:11)…

Ready or not here I come! Ready or not… life happens!

And thus begins the game of hide and seek. I believe the PRIZE we compete for is… the throne… godship over our world and all who would venture into it. This is what we seek…

What do we hide from?

The ultimate truth… God IS and we are not Him!

Whether we deny or believe, that which is known about God is evident within us; for God made it evident to us. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made (Romans 2:19-20)

Fortunately for mankind God IS love and love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Relatively speaking, when one is loved like this, who doesn’t begin to BELIEVE that it is ALL about ME and NOT about the LOVER. We begin in a womb that provides the quiet sanctuary for 1 cell me to multiply and become the whole me. I didn’t see anyone doing that FOR me…

In our childish imagination we set out to conquer the noisy, somewhat cold and often hurtful environment we were so rudely pushed into. At all costs we must return to the place where we can keep becoming the whole god – it’s just a matter of time.

I admit, in our imagination, it FEELS like the greatest mission in life. We even carve out weapons of manipulation that give the illusion of power and might. We may even be creative enough to build a kingdom that appears to be sustained by my every whim, everything that is relative to ME.

But… ready or not here comes life! For every bubble built… there is an appointed time for it to burst!

From our childish perspective, anyone who participates in bursting our bubble is our enemy. We are wrong…

The TRUTH is not our enemy. The fact that we are NOT in control is the truth that will set us FREE…  You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32).

Our bondage comes when we determine to build our “life” upon anything other than the truth.

Thirty six years ago I “found” the TRUTH I was hiding from.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!

The part that took me awhile… the part that I attempted to manipulate… the part that resulted in a useless hissy fit…

The Truth doesn’t play by MY rules… Truth, and the freedom it supplies, must be lived in agreement (unity) with it.  I must choose to abdicate my throne and serve the One True King. I must learn to live in unity with His rule.

His rule – His authority as Creator over my life, is the thing I spend my life loving and hating and seeking and hiding from all the days I have on this earth.

My better days are those that I stop hiding and seek Him (He is not hiding!)

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 

My BEST days are still to come… when I am fully grown and stop playing my childish games…

Jeremiah 29:14 I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

Probably awhile to go before I get there…

But until then… If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; 

Remember your first tantrum? Probably not as they usually take place when a child learns about that evil word “NO”!

For most of us it (the tantrum) was triggered by being kept from our mobile investigation of anything on the path of immediate gratification. Without awareness of, or respect for danger, we PURSUE immediate gratification so as to FEAST on the fruit of our insatiable hunger for happiness (whatever that means in the moment).

It is in our human nature to both explore our world and taste of its fruit. It is also in our nature to HATE any and all limitations – natural and/or artificially governed by outside sources – that stand in our way.

I don’t remember my own tantrums (don’t want to remember those I’ve thrown in the last few days). However, being a mom, I’ve witnessed my children, creatively following in my footsteps. Being the age I am, I’ve also witnessed or read about historical tantrum events that some might call breath-taking.

As a parent, these hissy fits of “But I NEED!” are somewhat adorable in their attempt to control their world, as they know it should be. Alas, as a parent, one knows that adorable gets moldy, and smells to high heaven, when not packaged properly… it can even cause debilitating sickness, causing the victim to be unable to process the realities of life.

Once my children declared their knowledge (by the cutting of their eyes toward me and what I asked of them) of the choice they felt they had, tantrums of any sort were no longer tolerated. If they insisted upon telling/showing me their disapproval with noisy threats and angry disparagement of my parental skills, I ended the war with solitary confinement until such time as we could engage in peaceful understanding of the rules of law that THIS HOUSE (my house) operates under.

Simple… NO!

Bloody… NEVER!

Painful… ALWAYS! For parent and child!

There is nothing more heartbreaking (God KNOWS), than hearing your child spew hatred toward you and what you have worked to provide. Most of these moments are nothing but smoke – gone the minute reason returns – unfortunately, in the real world we live in, it is possible that this childhood hatred both lives on and flourishes in those children and/or households who refuse to grow out of hate and into love.

Ephesians 4:14-15 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.

In our world, hatred does happen. No longer is the attempt to demand, manipulate, or bully our way into ruling our world, even remotely cute or understandable. What was once childishness, left unchecked can and often does morph into evil.

EVIL HURTS! Heartbreaking doesn’t even begin to describe the pain and suffering it intends toward its victims.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

Our childish tantrums are not evil… they are human. But… our childish tantrums give our enemy the opening through which he can send in his minions of war criminals. And this, my fellow siblings, is the REASON it is imperative that we SHUT DOWN the evil’s doorway (tantrum throwing) and GROW INTO love.

The love of God… our Creator who knows the plans that He has for us, – plans for welfare and not for calamity – plans to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

The Art of Throwing a Tantrum begins with the enemy teaching us to look for a desire yet unfulfilled… Eve “saw” that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that it was desirable to make one wise (Genesis 3:4) A desire that any “reasonable” person would pursue!

The Art of Throwing a Tantrum knows that the desire is not only unfulfilled it is restricted. Eve knew what God said (so did Satan by the way!), and clearly they were living the GOOD LIFE. It wasn’t a question (excuse) of NEED.

The Are of Throwing a Tantrum hinges on dedication to the authority of one’s life… “choose for yourselves today whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15)

Please note that Eve never intended to give authority to Satan. Much like the rest of us, Eve was really only considering her own assessment. She never contemplated the consequences of disobeying the rule of law… God’s law.

The Art of Throwing a Tantrum must never consider consequences. IF there are consequences, and IF they are enforced, and IF they cannot be avoided, we can always attempt to sway the verdict by bringing it before the court of public opinion. But in order to WIN the fight, we must push through fear and confront the disagreeable nay sayer with, “I’ll show you!” action.

And then comes… REALITY.

REAL (mostly unwelcome) CONSEQUENCES.

If the consequences of throwing a tantrum were suffered only by the thrower of the tantrum, we would all readily and summarily witness the earned discipline and move on with our lives, hoping that the perpetrator has indeed given up the study of this art form.

Unfortunately, disobeying the rule of law (even when we escape the immediate discipline), has far-reaching ripples that effect our entire world… for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption (Romans 8:20-21). Disobedience ALWAYS ruins the peace and enjoyment of a household… even this household called earth.

I guess there must be many excuses for throwing a grand hissy fit in today’s world. And, I am definitely not saying there isn’t ever a time to unite against an enemy intent upon causing disruption and destruction. However, in hindsight, I wonder if Eve would still believe her assessment and action was worth letting evil have a place in their world.

When we look at our own assessment of what should be, and we choose who we will serve to make it happen… when we throw our tantrums over  a small piece of the fruit (our right to maybe do something, sometime, when and if we want to), instead of seeking to end evil’s reign of terror in our neighbor’s not so blessed land… when we look back will we be proud to say we did it our way?

Will our apple be WORTH the cost of the eating?

Some may laugh at the idea that an apple caused our fall from paradise. I would just remind them that the apple didn’t cause anything, the disregard for the Creator (who gets to make the rules) and the choice to disobey caused the fall.

Some, unfortunately do not recognize the Creator and therefore His right to rule. But none can dispute that there is evil that goes on in this world… where did it come from? And, none can dispute that most, if not all, of the evil, is carried by the hands of a human being who was born and raised just like all of us.

This last weekend, while I watched my sisterhood gather together to be as nasty, no nastier than those they believed wanted to take away their “fruit” (the right to decide what happens in my body) called abortion, I saw a picture of four other members of our sisterhood, in another country, sitting with chains (held by the average terrorist male) waiting to be sold. Their worth sometimes being calculated for a mere pack of cigarettes.  I wonder what their terrorist would have said if they started chanting about their rights to their own bodies.

Both, the women believing and bragging that nasty was the way to show their authority and the men who thought so little of another human being’s dignity, have one source – one cause for such display… evil!

Evil wishes to destroy all that is God declared was “Good’ when He created. Evil laughs when it degrades God’s creation. Jesus wept…

Siblings… we must grow up.

We must throw away our desire to manipulate, bully, and demand our way and ONLY our way.

We must STOP practicing The Art of Throwing a Tantrum…

We must… Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. (Ephesians 4:31)

We must begin to practice The Art of Throwing a Love Tantrum!

Matthew 5:43-47 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

God’s Word tells us that LOVE NEVER FAILS! (1 Corinthians 13:8)

Oh, and by the way… His Word NEVER returns void! (Isaiah 55:11)

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Once Upon a Time… Such were some of you… 

and me… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

But… you were washed – you were sanctified – you were justified

If… you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Change… from unrighteous

To…

 

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Through nothing we have done… through nothing we have deserved… through nothing we can offer…

We are changed!

Therefore… from now on we recognize NO ONE according to the flesh; (saint or sinner) … if anyone is in Christ, HE IS a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5;16-17)

It all seems soooo EASY… It all seems sooooo IMPOSSIBLE… It all seems sooooo MAGICAL… sooooo Bewitching…

Galatians 3:1-3 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

We begin to believe that WE are the author and perfecter of our faith. We begin to believe that WE have become experts in SIN(and sinners) DETECTION.

We begin to believe we were NEVER Once Upon A Time like THOSE PEOPLE!

We become JUDGES instead of PRIESTS! We become LEGAL EXPERTS at what is or is not the “proper” works of the Law instead of PROCLAIMERS of the excellencies of Him who has called you.

We do indeed live in a world that specializes in judgement. There isn’t a moment when we are not being told the lies of our enemy that we not only have a RIGHT to judge but we are HIGHLY QUALIFIED!

Genesis 3:4-5 “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”

We are tempted!

Did you know that being tempted is NOT a sin… at least not OUR sin.

We have an enemy and he is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) In every area, in every venue he is actively pursuing hatred of God and hatred of each other. He encourages accusations because he IS the accuser of the brethren.

We are tempted to become an accuser like him! We are tempted to make ourselves a “higher” creation by tearing down God’s greatest creation – our fellow human.

We are tempted to answer his call to war by retaliating with his kind of weaponry.

We try to legitimize the temptation (like Eve) by seeing the VALUE of it… good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that it was desirable to make one wise (Genesis 3:4)

Once Upon A Time we could have easily justified EATING OF THE FRUIT of temptation.

But now… it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)

We desperately need to let God work!

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 

Once Upon A Time we FOUGHT God like some in our world do today. Once Upon A Time we were one of them… the worst of the worst… destined for eternal destruction.

John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Surely, the world still operates the same old way, but inside us new things have come… a new name… CHILD OF GOD!

We have been set free from the old things! But we still live in our Once Upon A Time world that is hurtling toward destruction.

We cannot escape the violence and hatred, we cannot ignore the devastation happening around us.

We have no right to judge, though it is a human trait to try to find the cause of our misery and destroy it before it destroys us. But I ask you, what exactly does judging accomplish?

Does it promote unity which will allow us to join together in building up rather than tearing down?

Does it keep evil away? Not even for a minute!

Does judgement fulfill anything except a momentary desire to pound the gavel so that we might pretend to be in control?

We are far from the rule of law in our country, which is meant to produce safety and peace and freedom. We are a country built on freedom – freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. I am ALL IN!

I believe in the law… but… I believe there is only ONE LAW by which we can learn the art of living abundantly for now and eternity… the law of LOVE! Not the human brand – the  “Idiot’s Guide to Love”. God’s love!

John 3:16-19 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son go God. This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light

We, who are saved by Jesus, and have become children of God, have to live in this playground of bullying and bullies. Once Upon A Time we were the bullies doing the bullying… but today, the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. 

I bet you know some people who are just like you were – Once Upon A Time! I bet some are even your neighbors!

Once Upon A Time you might have hated them…

Today, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18)

New things have come… it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)

Our Once Upon A Time has now become… A Time Such As This…

God doing His work in each of His possessions!

There is a training manual for playing the game of life His Way… it’s called the Bible.

But don’t try life-training by yourself! Join all of God’s children for Family Game Day/Night, happening now in His Throne Room… “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18:19)

Not a minute of time spent in the presence of God will be waisted. Whether for conversation, training or communion, God’s Words spoken into our lives by Him, will ALWAYS accomplish what He sends them to do!

God is good all the time… AND ALL THE TiME… God is good!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

ANOTHER epiphany! I feel like my 2017 mantra is, “I didn’t know that!” or “That’s not what I was taught!”…

Is there such a thing as too much joy?

The other night, as I was preparing to close my eyes for the night, I was thanking God for the day. It happened to be the same evening as the Divine Appointment my daughter and I have scheduled every Sunday and Wednesday. It is a time when we go before our Abba together, to pray for those needs and people the Holy Spirit puts in our head (and our hearts) to speak to Daddy about. It is indeed a Divine Appointment that we share with all His other children with Jesus walking among us.

I was thanking God for Nikki and for our time with Him. I was thanking Him for this opportunity that I am so not qualified for. I was thanking Him for… HIM… a GOOD GOOD Father, for JESUS… our Righteousness, and for the Holy Spirit… who dwells in us and seals us with the covenant of The Three that cannot be broken. I was thanking Him for this thing we call prayer.

Is there such a thing as too much joy?

I have been taught the holiness of prayer… be serious… this is the stuff of WORSHIP! We are approaching the God who is so holy, Moses would have died if God had not protected Him from seeing His face. We are in the house of our holy God who speaks and things happen!

I have been taught the verbiage of prayer… one must ask for the “right” thing, with the right “tone”, in order to be assured they will “get” the right answer!

I have been taught what the results of prayer should be… of course always from the perspective of a “mature” Christian – NOT the heart of a child who desperately wants her own way!

In other words, I was DOING the PRAYER THING, getting ready to put my day away!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear… 

No, not reindeer and Santa… that was two weeks ago.

Before the eyes of my heart, a vision of healing took place. My healing.

I didn’t “pray” for it… I wouldn’t have known (much less admitted) that I “needed” healing.

I wasn’t medically sick, although in hindsight what I had was THE MOST terrible disease of our humanness, a disease which would indeed kill any and all joy. I had an WEARY with bitterness and unforgiveness. I was HEAVY LADEN with the idea that someone had treated me badly – details forgotten but I”m sure it was REALLY BAD!

I have been taught that we should never approach prayer with such an attitude (also called SIN). In hindsight… I was definitely NOT prepared to enter the Throne Room nor dressed appropriately – my robes of white had gotten dirty in this playground I call home.

But God…

Jesus said… “Come to Me” 

All… and I CAME.

Weary and heavy-laden… junk and all!

Is there such a thing as too much joy?

As I laid in bed, in the midst of thanksgiving, I WAS HEALED!

And I knew…

God’s Throne Room is the place to go WHENEVER there is a need… WHOMEVER has the need… WHATEVER the need is… HOWEVER the needy can get there!

I have always worried that I would not know what to ask for and how to ask. Often I have depended upon the Holy Spirit to do my praying for me… In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.(Romans 8:26-27)

Yes, Scripture tells us to… ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10)

But… my head doubts what my heart longs for… do I even know what I long for?

Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

My heart longs for REST!

Rest for my soul…

This is what is found in God’s Throne Room.

Will I always get my request? YES!

Maybe not my way… or to my liking!

Luke 11:11-13 Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” 

God ALWAYS gives the PERFECT gift! The one(s) we NEED most of all! When God speaks His life into us, His word will NEVER return void…

Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

I went to the Throne Room with lots of requests, never imagining I needed healing. When the Holy Spirit gave me the vision of that healing, I knew that I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer!

It is Throne Room Time… “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden”… Nikki and I will see you there!

And FYI… THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH JOY!!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark 12:1-8 And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine-press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 

I believe, deep down inside we KNOW the truth. We know we have done, are doing, and will do ANYTHING to attempt escape from the  consequences of living our lie.

Since Adam, every human (except Jesus) has been born with his spiritual DNA which proclaims our self-righteousness. Without God, we will choose the path that proclaims our need and therefore our innocence, toward whatever sin it takes to accomplish the filling of our deep, deep desire for satisfaction.

We KNOW… but NO ONE ELSE can know, for then I might be judged for the sin and MY golden goose of wealth and power and happiness might be taken away.

We KNOW the TRUTH… but if it were not for the MESSENGER(s) of righteousness  we could KEEP OUR SIN(s) SECRET!

From day one of our sin, we refuse to give it up (because how then will we ever be satisfied?), and we revert to inventing and honing our Standard Operating Procedures manual, to say and do everything BUT give it up.

Some of us focus on killing the message…

In our day and age (not much different than Adam who said, “The woman YOU gave me”), we use innuendo and just a dash of “truth” to PROVE the message untrue and worthless. If those around me are truly our friends they will WANT TO BELIEVE and therefore will JOIN OUR CAUSE to spread the news. Should anyone argue, group think will isolate and bury the arguments in the fine art of “putting lipstick on the pig”… the pig of lies.

In our Scripture, Jesus is telling a parable that shows what happens when killing the message no longer works. We WILL “tweak” our SOP manual (Standard Operating Procedure)… we WILL begin KILLING THE MESSENGER…

“A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine-press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.

THE TRUTH! We don’t OWN the vineyard! God owns the creation of and publishing rights to us. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13)

GOD did all the heavy lifting of building each and every one of us. GOD put the vat in our life to make, catch, and store the wine HE intended on producing. GOD built a strong tower (Himself) to watch over His vineyard and then HE… GOD rented it out to us by giving us the lease called FREE-WILL. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. (Psalm 139:16)

Unfortunately, free-will (ability/responsibility to choose) doesn’t take away the lease price – the care and planting and harvesting of the fruit and most of all the SHARING of the produce with the TRUE OWNER of the vineyard. Free-will doesn’t negate the wages of the choices we make… the judgement… we might call these wages, the consequences of grape-vine growing.

We celebrate the crops of glorious fruit and maybe even get drunk on the idea that we accomplish ALL OF THIS on our own. We begin to think that we CAN HAVE IT ALL so we choose to delay the consequences/wages of our lives… At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.

We KNOW when our fruit isn’t good and/or we KNOW when it is too wonderful to part with (in our opinion)… They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.

We choose to KILL THE MESSENGER! Over and over again…

God pursues His beloved vine-growers and we beat His couriers and send them away empty-handed and wound them and treat them shamefully and even kill them.

But God… John 3:16 so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

What do we do?

He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 

Still today… there are those who believe that if we can KILL GOD, we inherit the world!

We KNOW the truth… Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

We act as if we have no part in the killing of the messenger. We blame the Jews and Romans for killing the messenger (the owner’s son). We try kill the message of our guilt… we try to turn our backs on the messenger as if HE DOES NOT EXIST… ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

THANK GOD that He had one more to send.

THANK GOD that He sent His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON and not just a parable of His Son!

THANK GOD… for today.

Luke 2:11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means “God with us.”

GOD WITH US…

God has NEVER given up on us!

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin (abandoning the owner of our lease) is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rather than KILLING THE MESSENGER… let us run to Him and abide in Him… let us produce His fruit in the vineyard we lease.

Let our MESSAGE, pressed from the fruit of His life in us, make the PERFECT WINE and only the PERFECT WINE, to be stored in the heart of our wine cellar…

Let us make a NEW SOP… let us celebrate the good news of great joy!

OUR SAVIOR LIVES!! The REASON for this season… Have a JOYFUL Christmas!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this reason… Ephesians 3:14-19 I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

It’s not that I don’t want to pray for people…

But…

There is NEVER enough time in the day for everything that needs doing! There are TOO MANY NEEDS to pray about! There are NO WORDS to guarantee the desired outcome! And finally, WHO AM I to decide what someone needs or doesn’t need?

Don’t get me wrong… I love my time in God’s Throne Room. I feel privileged to be given a seat at Jesus’ feet and I know that every person God brings into my “space of influence” is a gift I should treat with SPECIAL CARE.

But…

I am at a loss for words and confidence when I pray for requests I have been given to take and lay at heaven’s altar. Not that I shouldn’t stand in the gap with my fellow countrymen of this earthly travail… there are times that REQUIRE as many “army buddies” one can get to DO the TURTLE FORMATION (shields up and circle formed to protect from fiery arrows coming upon us). Ezekiel 22:30 “I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land… but I found no one.”

Most times the need is to protect from our enemy but sometimes… maybe a lot of times… the need is to protect from ourselves – our plans and desires that put us in real danger of closing ourselves off from our REAL Protector – God, who does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance… 2 Peter 3:9.

Then there are those requests for prayer, where the person is not asking for standing in the gap WITH them, they are asking for you to stand IN PLACE OF them! Not necessarily alone if they have asked several people to pray, but definitely without them. Some think that their voice won’t be heard by God (judged by the answer they didn’t want), or some find it just to risky to ask, for fear they will not get what they need want.

Barring the compliment (??) that my warrior prayers are more apt to be heard and fulfilled, I HESITATE to stand before God with requests I SUSPECT should only be COMMUNICATED and ANSWERED between Father and Child (maybe even a “wrestling match” between the two now and then)!

Please note that I am NO WHERE NEAR the expert on prayer delegation. I’m just an amateur, who shakes in her boots with IMPORTANT requests and messages contained in the bag I pack for my visit to the throne Room.

So… in order to do the “job” WELL…

I CLAIM a favorite prayer of the apostle Paul… not for purposes of plagiarism in order to have the RIGHT WORDS… but I claim them because they are GOD”S WILL for His possession and therefore will NEVER RETURN VOID!

I bow my knees before the Father… if you are asking me to pray honey, THIS is WHO I RUN TO!

From whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name… He KNOWS your name and He’s GOT YOUR NUMBER (the very hairs on your head!)!

He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith… I don’t care who you are! THIS right here is EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER NEED!

That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, (P.S. you have to COME to the Throne Room often for this knowledge – NO SUBSTITUTION for class participation!) that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God… Talk about an answer to prayer! IF you know this… than YOU KNOW there is NOTHING… neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, or depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus… (Romans 8:38-39)

I think I have found the PERFECT PRAYER…

Oh, Lord God, our loving ABBA… grant that I, and my precious, precious gift you have given me (fill in any name with any request I have been asked to pray for) may be able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ. That both of us… along with ALL YOUR SAINTS… will be rooted and grounded in love. So that in all these things (needs/wants/whatever) we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:39)

I’m soooo excited!!!!!!

I found the prayer that answers all my (and everyone’s) concerns, needs, wants, emergencies… I can go to the Throne Room now with joy instead of trepidation for those who I am partnering in prayer with!

My only question now is… Do I HAVE TO TELL THEM I may be changing the wording of their requests just a little?

Or… is all they need to know SOMEONE’S PRAYING…????

LET’S PRAY!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible