His Beauty for My Ashes

The following is an entry in my journal, where I express what God had shown me concerning something I was wanting to get resolved in my life. Although I don’t explain what that was, I am praying He speaks to those that read this:

“I wrestled with God, pressing Him to bring resolve to a cylical situation in my life, which had become unbearable. I desperately wanted to follow His Will, even if it was against my perceived conscience, so that unity would prevail between me and my husband. I kept saying to Him, ‘What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do?’, with fear and trembling, wondering if I was being disrespectful, because this was the first time that I had ever confronted Him like this. His response was that He brought me flowers!!!
How I had misjudged my Father, by using a gauge according to human standards; and yet, He showed me He operates so outside those parameters. It had to come to that, though. My strong will had allied with my conscience so tightly that it took decades of agony for me to lay down this juggernaut inside of me, so that I could see this one aspect of who He is.”
I stand in awe of Him!!!!!!!

God's Form of Evangelism?

John 13:34,35-"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

When those of the world (unbelievers, who are "being saved") see His disciples (those who do the will of the Father) loving each other, they will be drawn to the love of Christ, in and through them, as they release it to each other. Could it be that this is what is meant, by the manifestation of the sons of God;(Rom. 8;19) that manifestation that the whole creation is groaning and travailing for, which has not been seen since the creation of the world; the manifestation of Christ's love between brothers and sisters that will identify them to show His glory and bring forth praise, proving that He has indeed come, and that He is the Christ; the Son of the Living God? 

Brothers and sisters, pray for this love to be developed in your heart, so that you can release it to others in His family; to those who do the will of the Father, for, I believe, this is His Will concerning us!!!! 

The Fear the Lord Evokes

If a person is “in the Lord,”  or belongs to Him, their usual desire is to be rid of all fear, thinking that is a good thing to do.  And, with the fear the enemy brings, it certainly is. But also, God’s children, through Christ, are given another kind of fear as a gift. This gift is worded in the written Word as “the fear of the Lord,” which has traditionally been defined as “respecting or honoring Him.” This is good and right, but as most renderings, it has many levels of understanding, or revelations on it.
Another aspect of “the fear of the Lord” can also be “the fear that the Lord evokes.” So, it is the fear that He gives us; a holy fear meant to sustain and keep us safe in Him.
If I, as His child, is thinking about sinning willfully, this fear will come upon me, and be felt in me. It might come  by a weak feeling in my stomach or with other physical manifestations. The more we entertain whatever our flesh and the enemy is urging us to do, this fear the Lord evokes is sent to dissuade us. He knows the consequences of our sinning, even if we have forgotten in the moment, so this gift, although not pleasant to experience, He brings so that we will come to our senses and choose Life, not that which will lead to death, if we keep walking in it. By the fear He causes to rise up in us, in these moments, He uses so that we will remain abiding in Him where our peace and safety is. If we choose to stay with Him, you could say we are operating by the “fear of the Lord” or “the Lord’s fear.”
We need to see it for what it is, when those moments arise. Embracing this fear can keep us from many sorrows, if we respond to it to empower us to “submit under God” and “resist the devil” so that he will flee. There is an unholy fear, and a holy one.

Receive the Holy Spirit

There are all kinds of beliefs in Christian circles concerning many things, but I’d like to focus on one prominent one; that of receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit “since you believed;” the last Scripture quoted on my previous post. If you believe that you have not, and would like to,  my counsel would also be taken from the Word of God.
There are varied examples in which people received the Holy Spirit there. One time, Jesus blew on the disciples, and they received Him. We can’t forget Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out. Then, we see Peter going to Cornelius’ house, and, as he was preaching, Cornelius and his family began to praise God, and were filled with the Spirit.
There are so many different ways that God shows in His Word, concerning the impartation of  the Holy Spirit, that we can’t set in concrete a dogmatic teaching about this. I simply asked God for the Holy Spirit in my bedroom in prayer, and spoke syllables at first, in tongues, and my husband had a supernatural opening of the eyes of his understanding, sitting on the back pew of a church, many years ago.
One thing,  that I believe has to be in place to receive,  is a desire in your heart to be filled. If we have that desire, then God encourages us to ask Him for it, and promises to give it, for this is His good pleasure: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”-Luke 11:13. 
We must remember the Holy Spirit is like the Wind that blows where it will. Understanding this will help us accept the many manifestations or ways to us in receiving His Spirit.
I have been called a “mystic” before, and maybe in past eras it was used derogatorily, but upon reflection, I am that, because I believe that  in Christ, there are many mysteries yet to be revealed,  to His children, for those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear.  It is not that truth changes, but that it has layers which have been hidden to our sight, and that, as we grow in Christ, many of those are then seen, at different stages of our growth, with the acuteness of His vision. One such example concerns how He fills us with His Spirit; it is in divers and sundry ways. Only ask, and you will receive!

Just Words or Life?

The words in the Bible, without the life giving breath of the Holy Spirit on them which brings revelation and enlightenment to them, is a dead letter. When read, without the Spirit, they only ascend to our mental faculties, as to dry bones. We can state it’s facts, rehearse them, and spew them out of our mouths to others, but they will bring no life to it’s hearers. It may bring rote, self willed behavior, or legalism, but nothing which will supply any substance of true growth in Christ.
After being filled with the Holy Spirit, as we read the Bible, it becomes His Word which reveals God’s heart and mind, and brings Life! Passages which have been taught, according to the traditions of men in error, now become interpreted by the Spirit that leads into all truth, and begin to speak of things beyond what the written word “seems” to say. It transcends it, as does the One who reveals it. The flesh of men strictly interprets according to the flesh, within the confines of it, (which is how denominations are created)  but the life giving Spirit plumbs the depths of who Christ is, His ways and His Kingdom. If this new wine of the Spirit is poured into the old wine skins, (men’s understanding, void of the Spirit) it will burst. In other words, you can’t mix them. The Spirit is superior to the flesh; life conquers death.
“Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?”-Acts 19:2

Between Joint and Marrow

Much, if not all, of our struggles are caused from our own resistance to receiving God’s forgiveness of our sins (although we may be unaware of this) or from our not having forgiven others. (which we also may be unaware of.)
So, what can we do? We can ask the Holy Spirit, when we are alone with Him to reveal those things to us, and He will be faithful. Then, having either acknowledging our sins, and asking forgiveness, and truly receiving it, or seeing the sins of others in specific episodes, and forgiving them, will gain us more and more freedom from the vexation that has ravaged our souls.
I am going through this process presently, and can’t emphasize the value of it for all who believe. The Lord tells us to “clean the inside of the cup.” (Our internal being.) Of course, as always, what He tells us to do, as we make ourselves available and willing, it is by His power only that we can do this.
I highly recommend to all who may be at a point in their walk that they want to be healed,  the website innerhealinganddeliverance.org as  a valuable tool to do that. God has used it tremendously in my life!
We don’t just want to be free, but we want to be free indeed!!! In doing so, more of His abundant Life of peace, love, and joy  flows into us. The pain of revisiting those old wounds ( and getting free of them) is  worth the outcome. He is the lover of our souls, and He will be by your side. 

What is Love?

What is Love that doesn’t warn? What is Love that doesn’t rescue? What is Love that doesn’t protect? What is Love that turns a blind eye to another’s sin; the very sin, that if not repented of will send that person to hell!?
This love, my friend, is human love,  sel-protective love, spineless love, permissive love, deceptive love, lying love, and carnal. The kind that “sounds good”, even reasonable, yet full of dead men’s bones.
The love of God, the only true Love, doesn’t self protect, but sacrifices it all, for it is totally selfless, caring more about the other, than themselves, at all costs; even at the cost of their own life, like God, through Jesus did at the cross when He died for our sins. He didn’t tell us that they really weren’t sins; that what we had done was o.k. No! Someone had to die to make payment for those sins, and Jesus volunteered. That is Love! We have to know and see that our sins were exceedingly sinful, to appreciate His death on our behalf; to appreciate the Love.
I’m telling you that what you are doing in violating God’s will, as stated in the Word of God, and called sin, is not ok; you need to repent and turn to God. He offers you forgiveness and eternal life through His Son. If anyone says otherwise; that you can come to God, without repenting of your sins, they speak from the father of lies, the devil, and from their deceived heart and mind.
Repent for the Kingdom of God is here!!!!! That door will not be opened forever! He is coming back soon. I’m warning you; I’m loving you! Come....

Good Works and Fruit

Good works,  that we, as believers in Christ “do”, can be done either from good motives, or bad, or maybe even a mixture, for those of us who have surrendered to His Work of conforming us into His image, not to be confused with fruit, as some do. Fruit is the outcome of that same work He only can do on the inside of us. As we remain in Him, “fruit” or His characteristics in us begin to develop. These qualities are what His Word calls the Fruits of the Spirit. Just as plants put on either flowers or literal fruit, so we, do too, as we grow “into” Christ, or more descriptively worded, He grows in us.
If we are not increasingly becoming more loving, peaceful, self-controlled, joyful, etc., (more like who He is) we need to ask ourselves if we have somehow detached from the Vine, or if we were ever connected to Him in the first place.
“By their fruits you will know them” the Lord tells us. We need to be observing, with spiritual eyes, our own branch to see if we are in the Lord. If we can possibly see that our character is not being conformed to His, but is, instead going backwards, we need to cry out to the only One who saves; our Lord Jesus Christ. Doing “good works”can often blind us to the fact that we have no fruit, becoming self-deceived; a place we don’t want to be.
Works or Fruit? Not the same thing, and a dire need to know the difference.

Marching to Zion

Continuing to believe, trust, and surrender to God is a conscious and focused choice. Like a salmon who swims upstream, in this world, we must “press on” as our brother, Paul exhorts. We must keep our eyes on the prize, as we run the race to receive the crown of righteousness that has been layed up for us. We must set our faces like a flint to Jerusalem. Perhaps that is what is meant in the book of Hebrews where it says to “strive to enter the rest.”
This is especially true of believers in America where no persecution exists, and we often don’t realize how precious our faith is, and in the environment of ease and prosperity, the lines between “this present world” and the kingdom of God are lightly drawn. And so for this coming year, I ask for discernment, wisdom, and the fear of the Lord for those of us who believe so that we will endure to the end and be saved!!! O Lord, keep us!!!