Unlocking a Seemingly Impossible-to-be-Unlocked Door

All the different religions in the world offer different answers to the issues of life. I know of some people who embrace a little portion of several different belief systems because not one of the “systems” seems to have all the answers they’re looking for. They pick and choose a few ingredients from Christianity, Buddhism, socialism, humanism, and self-ism and mix it all together hoping to get just the right taste. But when they take a bite…still something is missing. While I do not agree with it, I see clearly the temptation to search for answers in several systems because no system seems to be able to offer that “one thing.”

I left off last post talking about this mystery puzzle piece that’s been hidden from us for so long but is being unveiled now to those with ears to hear and eyes to see. That mystery, to recap, is “Christ IN us, the hope of glory.” The mystery we have in Christ Jesus is the answer the whole creation is in pursuit of, but sadly they can’t look to Christians and see Christ.  What’s so different about our way? We have the same issues as the world. We’re addicts and indulgers just like them. We’re mean and impatient as they are. What’s so great about our God?  Christians unfortunately really wouldn’t know how to answer that question because facts are facts. We’d tell them “Jesus died to forgive us, so receive Jesus as your Savior” but they already know this much. That’s not helping them. What good is forgiveness doing them if they can’t help but continue on doing the same things? What good is it for any of us? What good would it have done for Jesus to tell that paralyzed man his sins were forgiven without healing him of the paralysis? The man would’ve been a forgiven man but still lying in the bed paralyzed. If that’s not a picture of the body of Christ today, I’m not sure what is.

Here is what we need to be able to tell the world: The same Jesus that died to pardon us of all our sins is the same Jesus who rose from the dead and still lives IN us as the sinless Savior. The last part is key. If he had just died and not risen, we’d just be forgiven of sin and not free from sinning. The resurrection of Jesus provided the power for us not to sin. “Well” you say, “I’m not free from sin. I still live in sin.” We still live in sin because we are ignorant of what “Christ IN us, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) truly means. In Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not. (1 John 3:5-6) If Jesus did not sin, and the spirit of the living Christ Jesus lives in me, then I possess the power not to sin. Our holiness has its roots in the personal holiness of Jesus. Romans 11:16 states “If the root be holy, so are the branches.” If I, the branch, have a connection to the Vine, then all that is true of the Vine is true of me. He is the one who loved me enough to graft me into His vine. I certainly didn’t choose to be grafted in myself. How can a branch put itself on a Vine? No, the Vine pursued me and told me to come, and the Vine now says “Stay and abide.” So what am I saying? I’m saying the Vine does all the work! It produces the branch and sustains the branch. Jesus has done all the work in living a sin-free life, dying in place of my sin, putting me back in right-standing (putting me on the Vine) with God ANNNNDDDD…providing for me a new birth canal, that I may be reborn into the likeness of Jesus, making all that is true of Him, true of me!  Remember, we are not “little Adams” anymore. We are “little Christs.” God is completely satisfied. There is nothing more for us to do to be holy, to live sanctified lives, except to abide in Jesus, our Vine.

Oh if we only could see and know and understand the depth, the height and the breadth of God’s love for us in that He would be the One to do all the “work” on our behalf. His highest purpose in eternity is to have creation display the image and the glory of His precious Son, Jesus Christ. All that has been done and will ever be done has been done out of God’s unfathomable love for Jesus. He loved His one Son so much, He set out to have many more sons (and daughters) in Jesus’ same image. Think about your most favorite, beloved child. Wouldn’t you set out to have all your children be made in that same image? Lol! Sorry, I know that seems like a dreadful thing to say,  but you get my point? (I hope!) So the entire Bible is a picture of God manuevering through creation in such a way to cause that one purpose that was established before the foundation of the world to be fulfilled: to make man in Jesus’ image and in His likeness and to have all creation declare the glory of Jesus (who we know is God manifest.)

So if this is the heart of God, how far was God willing to go to see it come to pass? See the goal is not to be holy by living a sinless life. So having a debate about whether it’s possible to live sin-free is pointless because that’s not the goal God has in mind. His goal is the manifest (made real, visible) glory of Jesus!  God wants to see His Son when He looks at us and because of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, this goal has been accomplished. What’s so cool, and kind of funny to me actually, is that we humans are so pathetic and helpless on our own, God had to set the goal, maintain the goal and fulfill the goal Himself. Of course He did it through us and in spite of us, and is still doing it through us today, but the beautiful fact remains, He loves us so much, He’s willing to do it all to see His purpose be fulfilled!

He started out on this glorious purpose by creating Adam in Jesus’ image. But Adam gave away that image because he decided he wanted his own image apart from God. So here God was back to where He started…needing a man to display the image of Jesus. We can read the Bible to see the lengths God went to and the repeated times He wanted to just wipe all of man off the face of the planet because no one seemed to want to have God’s beautiful image. No one seemed to want to be a carrier of that glory. All of man were too busy serving self and glorifying self. Very few were available to carry God’s glory. We see all the covenants God cut with man in an attempt to be partners with man in bringing about His purposes on this earth. But what happened in the covenants of old? Yep…Man failed to keep his end of the deal. He sets forth commands in the covenant with Moses and man’s part was to obey those commands in order to reveal and reflect the image of Jesus. The commandments were a reflection of God’s love and concern for man just like a mother commanding a child to brush his teeth is a reflection of her love and concern for that child. But still man disobeyed and could not reflect God’s image through keeping the commands.

God still being God, and still desiring to see the image of Jesus in His creation put a new covenant in place. So then came Jesus Himself to reflect His own image! A new covenant was cut, and it was cut in Jesus’ blood! That means God formed the covenant and God signed on the line for His signature AND our signature. He basically signed “Jehovah God” on His line and on our line He signed “Yeshua HaMaschiach (Jesus Christ.)”  So the only way that covenant could be broken was if Jesus broke it. Thank God we know the end of the story! The covenant has been fulfilled! God basically resolved that He would be the One to keep His part and our part of the covenant. Our part was to obey His commands. Jesus came forth as a man (in our place as men) and perfectly kept all the commands. But outside of that, God says in Ezekiel 36:27 “I will cause you to walk in my statutes.” Then in Hebrews 8:10 He says “I will put my laws into their minds.” By Him putting his laws in our hearts and minds and by Him causing us to walk in His statutes, our part of the covenant is maintained. What a blessed hope for us when we feel defeated by our shortcomings! What a weapon for us to use against the enemy when he comes to accuse us. And God also fulfilled his part of the covenant too. In Hebrews 8:12 he says “Their sins I will remember no more.” In other words, we’ve been reckoned as having obeyed the law because Jesus did. We’ve been forgiven and punished through Jesus, and God cannot punish us again because our part has been fulfilled. The new covenant is full of such wonderful news, but this, to me, is the most beautiful thing about the new covenant: God and God alone is the guarantee that both parties will stick to the covenant!  He sent Himself in His Son to do our part. We can stop employing our own natural energies to keep a covenant that’s been kept apart from us!  We get to rest in Jesus! Glory to God.

But guess what!  More good news…  God then removed His manifest image (Jesus) from the earth after having fulfilled this new covenant, and He pretty much said “Hey just in case you still can’t hold to your part after I leave here, I’m going to send my Spirit to teach you how to abide in Jesus, who perfectly humbled Himself and obeyed.” So in the proportion that we abide and stay in Jesus is the proportion to which we realize the blessings of the new covenant. Thanks to Holy Spirit, we can learn about all that is true of Christ and we can employ Christ IN us, our hope of glory, to cause us to overcome all that entangles us in this life!  We can display the image of Jesus Christ as perfectly as Jesus Himself did for His Father! Yes! We can!  Otherwise, our “religion” is still not going to prove to the world to be any different than any other religion. Our “mystery” in possessing the spirit of the living Christ Jesus is the missing piece that no other system in the world will be able to provide. We must put on Christ immediately! The world is waiting and watching and desperately needing our Savior!

So how does this mystery unveiled of Christ IN us help us to be holy? Let me first say that I’ve quickly learned how NOT to be holy, and I’m learning more and more each day:

I can’t be holy by trying to “deal” with the things I feel are making me unholy. I can’t be holy by trying to have enough faith or by imagining that if I’d be more patient, humble and gentle, then I am holy. I can’t be holy by reading my Bible and praying more. I can’t be holy by putting my flesh to death or “crucifying myself.” I can’t be holy by imagining that Christ is a separate power, and that if I plug into that power by faith, then I can draw out the power to overcome sin and be holy. All of these things are surely “good things” in and of themselves. But in all of these things, I’ve realized that there is still a part of ME trying to be holy. As I said in the last post…God and God alone is holy. Christ is my life now, and that alone makes me holy. Even as mature believers we think we’ve realized how to be holy in “drawing on Christ’s power.” But that hasn’t worked for me either. Am I still a battery separate from the electrical outlet needing to be plugged in and recharged?  We must cease from envisioning our born again beings as separate from Christ Jesus. So long as He and His holiness are something separate from us to be obtained, we will never gain the victory that is ours. The victorious life God has given us is not a thing. It’s also not a specific attribute like patience or gentleness. The victorious life is the living Christ! We don’t lack patience. We lack a living Person. We glean from Matthew chapter 9 that God is not going to take piece of Christ’s cloth and mend any tear in our own cloth. We need Christ’s whole robe and none of our own!  We don’t need to “draw on” the power of Christ, but we need to let Christ live in us and out through us. I don’t need the power to be patient. I need to let Christ be patient out of me. I do not overcome by Him. He overcomes through me!   You see…Christ must be the center of all in our lives, and we are holy because HE is holy!

When we finally become weak enough, He will be able to be our strength. Until then, we will continue looking for “power” to use for His glory, but if we are still looking for that power apart from His glory, then we are just powerful people and God is not pleased with that. We can cease now from looking to ourselves and to other “systems” for keys to unlock a seemingly impossible-to-be-unlocked door. The keys to this mystery to help our weak and helpless-to-overcome selves has already been unveiled: Christ IN us, the hope of glory!

 

Mystery Meat Unveiled

I’m not sure I have the details of this little story exactly accurate, but the details are irrelevant as compared to the main point. But we’ve all heard the account of the family wanting to travel by boat from their country to America, and they’d saved up money to purchase their tickets for the “cruise.” They packed crackers and small snacks, as they knew they couldn’t afford the exquisite dining on the boat. During their trip, they passed by the main dining room watching all these people eating lobster, steak, etc for dinner each night, wishing they could participate. But each time, they’d return to their room to eat a pack of crackers. On the last night of the trip, they stood outside the dining room watching all the other guests eat, and one of the stewards on the boat asked the father of the family “Why do you stand out here looking in each night? Why don’t you go have a seat and dine with the others? We’re serving filet tonight!”  The father replied “Oh we don’t have the money to afford the dining. We brought crackers and others snacks from home to last us the whole trip.” The steward was puzzled and responded “Sir, the tickets you purchased for this cruise included all of your dining. It would have costed you nothing more to eat in the dining room each night.”  The father was distraught and grieved, not just for himself, but moreso for his family. If only he had known this information on the first day of the cruise rather than on the last night…

I’ve heard this account a zillion times, but everytime I hear it, and even as I type it to share with you, it just stirs me to the core. How remorseful the father must have been that he’d had the wrong impression, the wrong information, a lack of knowledge, and ignorance of what his ticket price included. This is exactly how I feel sometimes when “long, lost” truths of God’s Word come into my life. I’m only 27 years old, but when Holy Spirit sheds light on more of what Jesus’ “ticket price” included, I can’t help but think everytime “Wow. If only I had known this at the beginning of my journey. If only there had been someone to tell me all this information on the first day I professed Jesus as Lord. If only satan hadn’t put barriers, deception, misinformation, and “pits” along my path, I could have been “cashing in” on my inheritance in Jesus Christ much sooner than now.”

Despite those remorseful feelings that sneak in sometimes, I take much comfort in the fact that my God is not a God of “time.” He doesn’t have the ability or capacity to be late. Even when, to us, He seems late, He is surely right on time. When Holy Spirit sheds light on Truth, let us rejoice, no matter when the timing!  In hearing what comes forth in this post and the next, if it’s the first time you’ve heard it, or even if it’s the tenth time you’ve heard it, and Holy Spirit is shedding new light today, be sure to rejoice!  Whether you’re 60 years old, wishing you’d known this at age 20 or whether you’re 20 years old wishing you’d known it at age 10, God says in His word that He will restore all the years that the locusts have stolen. (Joel 2:25)  In other words, all that satan has blinded you to  or stolen from you through ignorance and deception up until now, whether it’s been 10 years or 40  years, God will restore the lost time to you! It will be as if you never lost any time at all. Consider today a brand new day to walk in these truths!

I’ve been wanting to write about this topic for some time now, but for so long I feel like I was still missing a “piece.” Even today, I’m not sure what that missing piece is, but I know in my spirit, it’s time to write!  I’m sure I’ve touched on this topic here and there through other posts, but I pray the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened this day that you may know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints!

I feel the majority of the body of Christ and even unbelievers clearly understand that when Jesus died, He paid a price for us to be pardoned of all our sins. We certainly all appreciate this forgiveness,  but what now?  What about the sins that still so easily entangle us from time to time? What about that one pesky thing about ourselves that we can’t seem to change? What about that terribly bad habit that we know is wrong but seems impossible to overcome? What about that mouth we can’t tame? That cursing we can’t stop? That dreadful music we still like? Those cigarettes that just hit the spot? Those name brands we insist we must have? That anger that flares up uncontrollably? That addiction to looking at women’s chests whether it’s on a porn site or while you’re at church? What about the 10 oreos and milk? The addiction to man’s approval? The impure motives we have when undertaking “God’s work?”  The list goes on. We can talk all day about what is a sin and what is not a sin, but the fact remains, we all have our convictions. We’re all being called higher by our loving Father. And truth be known, we sincerely want to go higher, and we understand God is faithful to forgive, but how do we overcome?  We say in distress ”Thank you God for forgiving me, but please help me OVERCOME!”

This is where we wrap back around to the story I first mentioned. I’m sure that family was thankful for their crackers. But if only they had known there was so much more freely available to them than the crackers. If only believers and unbelievers alike knew what was freely available in Jesus Christ besides forgiveness of sins. If only someone would tell them there was power available to overcome all that still entangles them and keeps them from the blessings of God. If only the preachers and teachers across the world would understand how harshly Jesus spoke against the Pharisees for placing burdens on the people and not lifting a finger to help them. (Luke 11:46) It’s easy for all of us to preach holiness and try to convince others to live a more sanctified life, but in doing so, we more often place a burden or a list of do’s and don’ts on people that they don’t have the power to abide by, and we don’t offer them any help in this path of holiness. I personally love to hear a preacher of God’s word preach on holiness. It’s one of my favorite teachings. But there was a day that this teaching placed such a burden on my shoulders to try to “perform” my way to holiness. Now I understand that holiness is not something that can be attained by anything I can do in my own power. Holiness is an attribute of God and God alone. So how can I ever be holy save God IN me. And this, folks, is the information that we’ve been missing about that “ticket price.” Thank God for the crackers, but let us all move forward into the dining room. And what’s being served in the dining room today is a “mystery meat.” No worries…It’s not that nasty mystery meat they served you in school. Paul put it this way in Colossians 1:25-27, and this is exactly what’s in my spirit to tell the world today:

I have become [the body of Christ's] servant by the commission God gave me  to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (emphasis mine)

Praise God! The mystery of Christ IN us is being unveiled!  I hear some of you saying “Christ in me? I already knew that. That’s not a mystery. I’ve known since 5 years old that Jesus lives in my heart.”  Yes, I’ve known this too. I’ve known it with my own mind, my own intellect and my own understanding. I’ve known it because my sunday school teacher taught me “Jesus comes to live in your heart when you’re saved.” Thank God for my sunday school teacher. Thank God for this common knowledge among the brethren, but if your spiritual ears are open through this post and the next, you will begin to understand with your spirit and not with your carnal mind. Clearly what you know in your carnal mind has not been doing you much good with those sins that you can’t seem to overcome, now has it?  Has knowing that Christ is in you brought you deliverance and life more abundant, or has it just been stored away in the mind’s library along with 2 +2 = 4 and red mixed with blue makes purple? I pray the logos (written words) “Christ in you, the hope of glory” will become rhema (living, active words of God made alive by Holy Spirit to bear witness with our spirit) as I continue…

Let us pray with each other the scripture I stated earlier:  May the eyes of our understanding (our heart, not just our minds) be enlightened (by the shekinah glory light of God) that we may know (deep in the core of our beings) what are the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints!  May we know more fully what was accomplished through the death, ressurection and ascension of Jesus that we may daily walk in the power of Christ IN us, the hope of glory!

Stay tuned… Much more to share!

 

The Invasion

Before creation, before light, before life,

God’s spirit hovered over the dark seas.

The waters, minding their own business,

Thought they already knew what it meant to be free.

 

The seas all alone in their darkness

Did only what seas know to do.

They knew how to toss to and fro.

They knew to be brown, green and blue.

 

Amidst their plain and mundane existence,

They still sensed an all-powerful force.

Something higher than themselves they were sure;

Something extraordinary; something supernatural, of course.

 

The waters somehow discerned one day

“We must not be our own.

There must have been something before us.

For despite what we see, we’re not alone.”

 

Then out of nowhere, an invasion comes

Into their simple and comfortable lives.

“LIGHT BE!” echoed from their depths

And hit their surface like resonating chimes. 

 

No longer were they darkened waters

Left to bring about their own inner peace.

They’d now been invaded by a brilliance,

And their old nature simply had to cease.          

 

The Spirit that once hovered above these waters

Had now infiltrated their entire make-up.

Every molecule, every atom, and all trace of matter

Ceased to sit dormant and, with joy, began to jump!

 

Yes, like Elizabeth’s unborn baby lept that day

Hearing the sound of Y’shua’s conception,

The consistency of those once still waters

Came to life by Yahweh’s voice projection.

 

With His voice and by His presence

All manner of death becomes life.

The sound that proceeds from Elohim, our Creator

Cuts deep into darkness as a freshly sharpened knife. 

 

Ask the waters how they responded

To the compelling force hovering about them

And they’d tell you in all manner of meekness

“He created us to know we’d want Him.

 

See before that day we thought we’d heard

All manner of sound in time and space.

We thought we knew what it meant to live

Until true life swept over our expansive face.

 

But a new sound came forth and

We’d never heard anything like it before.

Eternity’s voice had entered time.

It could only have been our Lord.

 

We waters knew at that moment

From whence our existence came.

We knew no other response would profit

Than to let Elohim have his way.

 

When His Word came forth

And when He backed it with His power,

Our total surrender became easy, and

We let light be just like He ordered.

 

Ever since that day of invasion

His glory has been seen upon us.

Next time you’re near the waters

See the brilliance of the Father’s kindness.”

 

And that is the glorious testimony

Of the waters and their transformation.

Do you ever feel that force they felt

Like the Spirit hovering before creation?

 

Yes, as His spirit hovered in eternity past

Over the waters’ lifelessness and darkness,

He hovers over the souls of men

Waiting to penetrate our lonely fortress.

 

Lift up your heads, oh ye gates!

Be lifted up you everlasting doors!

And the King of glory

Will come in to give you more! 

 

Your spirit, soul and body

Will be captivated by a King.

You’ll be a bird on a sunny morning

Lifting your hands, your lips will sing.

 

Oh what a glorious day

Oh what a glorious day man will see

When he, like the waters

Fully surrenders to “LIGHT BE!”

 

In another sliver of time in eternity,

His Spirit hovered over MY walking death.

And today, since He’s the same God eternal

Invaded by His glory, I’m proof His Word’s a sure bet!

 

 

The Showdown

My mind wants to pick up from last post because that seems like the “orderly” thing to do, but my heart says to stay in flow; stay in flow with Holy Spirit. I feel like my writing, whether it be in a notebook for just me to see or on the Internet for all to see, is a waste of time if I am not allowing the Spirit to flow through me. My flesh will profit absolutely nothing, but oh the Spirit…The Spirit brings life! (John 6:63)

I want to share this image, this real live scene that’s parked itself in my spirit for some time now. I can’t get it out of my mind. I keep going here to this place everytime I “take inventory” of the state of so many believers today. I cannot prove that this is, in reality, the state of many believers. I don’t have any surveys that I’ve taken or statistics to back up anything I’m saying. All I have is what has been given to me in the core of my being by the One who dwells there. I want to share it with those who will read for the sole purpose of offering you the hope and encouragement in the Lord that you may be desperately seeking. If there is only one who can identify, then let the one count him or herself extremely loved and extremely special in the sight of God. He has heard you. Your cries have not fallen on deaf ears. He’s coming. Stay the course. Keep the charge. He will show up ablaze.

The best description I can give you of this scene in my spirit has pretty much already been spelled out in 1 Kings 18. God pretty much organized a “showdown” between His prophet, Elijah, and the prophets of the god/goddess being worshiped in Israel, Baal and Asherah. Many in Israel were offering sacrifices and worshipping Baal and had forsaken the teachings and commandments of God. (1 Kings 18:18) Instead of doing things God’s way, according to His teachings and unto His good pleasure, the people had taken it upon themselves to offer up their ideas of sacrifice and obedience to these other gods. It seemed to be “working for them” because they were comfortable with the way things were going.  Is that not the reason anyone chooses to put anything/anyone before the one true God? When things seem to be working for us, or when things seem like a good idea to us, we can be guilty of making that thing a god itself and forsaking the ways given to us by our Creator. We have a tendency to offer up something of our own flesh and because on the surface it seems “good” we conclude it must also be acceptable to God. Unfortunately this is not so. Good flesh is still flesh. God prefers we do things His way, and He does not need our additional sacrifice nor our “good ideas” to advance His Kingdom. If it’s not His way, it’s a dead end. It’s idol worship. It’s dead sacrifices. It’s all in vain. Rest assured, it will be judged.

And this is the case here on Mt. Carmel where King Ahab, per Elijah’s request, has assembled people from all over Israel along with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Clearly, God became fed up with the worship of other gods/idols, and He set out to show the people who was God and who was not. Long story short, the prophets from each “camp” had to place their sacrifice on an altar and set fire to it. But they couldn’t just go get a match and light a fire. They had to have their god set fire to the sacrifice to prove whose god is actually God. The prophets of Baal got to go first. They gave it their best shot. They danced around that altar, prayed around it, hollered at their god. I imagine they held their mouths just right and offered up the loftiest, best sounding words they could muster up. I envision them doing all the things that had “worked” for them before, or at least those things they thought were working. They likely baked caseroles for their god. I bet they put all the “pretty” people up front, and they probably called on the most charismatic individual from their camp to ”charm” their god into showing up. They likely all had t-shirts made to advertise their god so he’d be pleased enough to come down and light that fire. In addition to the t-shirts, I’m sure they called in the most popular artists of the day to ‘pep up’ the crowd.  After all, where two or more are gathered…oh wait…in whose name were they gathered again ????  After the dancing, the hollering, the eating, the “fellowship”, entertainment, etc. I imagine they got really serious and extremely concerned about their god showing up. In past times, it might have appeared like their god showed up when they did all these things, but this time…this is different…they can’t take anything of their own flesh and cause that fire to appear like true fire before all these people. They were at the mercy of their god at this point. They had nothing else of themselves to offer. The artificial “fires” in past times were enough to convince the people their god was real. But this time…their god actually had to show up and light the fire. Where was he? Was their god real? Or was he just a religion, so to speak: a form of godliness but without the actual power; a god only in theory but never in experience.

Elijah began to sarcastically taunt the prophets of Baal. Read the story. You’ll laugh. I laugh everytime because I appreciate genuine sarcasm.  But their god never showed up. No real fire came from their camp, just a big show. Elijah got really bold and even had some men come and drench the wood with water. He meant that he was going to show them who was God!  I’m sure Elijah was exhausted by the futile and vain attempts of the other prophets who had seemingly “won” the people to a powerless religion. I’m sure Elijah was indignant, disgruntled, and almost getting to the point of being upset with God for “allowing” these other gods to appear more powerful than He. Elijah knew the truth. He knew Who was God and who was not, but the people did not want to hear what Elijah had to say. Their way was working for them…or so they thought. I know in my heart Elijah all by himself could’ve cared less if these people all went to hell for worshiping idols. Who cared so long as his own eternal destination was secure? But Elijah had become the servant of His God. He’d forfeited his own pleasures and his own life to become the prophet, the truth-teller, of His Master, Yahweh. Elijah’s heart had become God’s heart. So here he found himself “proving God.” They wet the wood three different times and:

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.  Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know  that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

I see myself at a present day Mt. Carmel. This is the scene I speak of. I am there. I only know of about a handful of others who could say they also see themselves there, but I just know in my spirit, there are dozens, there are hundreds, there are multitudes of believers in the one true God sitting in church pews tonight all over the world, some extremely hungry, others just going through the motions of religion, doing what they’re told good Christians do, but in their spirits, they are standing atop Mt. Carmel….waiting….praying….somewhat confused…somewhat impatient ….fairly anxious…oftentimes in tears….frequently questioning God then feeling guilty for it….but all in the same spirit asking “Where is my God?” I see us all standing there in the spirit of Elijah, bold as lions with our mouths, calling down fire from Heaven, praying to God in the simplest, yet most sincere beseechment “Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God!” But still in our carnal minds we’re thinking “Ummm…I know He said He’s coming, but if He doesn’t come NOW, we’re going to look like fools!” There we go making it about us again.

Sometimes I’d like to think God called this showdown just for Elijah’s sake. My consideration for myself and my own reputation would like to think He set all that up to “come to Elijah’s rescue” and that he’d “come to my rescue” too. But I know better than that. I believe my God loves me with a crazy kind of love, but I believe He esteems His own reputation higher than mine. Elijah got the privilege of representing His God; he was chosen to be a vessel of God’s power; a key pawn in the chess game atop Mt. Carmel. But Elijah was there in the name of YHWH; the one true God, and it was GOD’s name that was to be exalted that day. It is still God’s name that will prove true today. God is not faithful to Katie’s name or Elijah’s name. God is true to His name and He says that He is truth and every other man is a liar. (Romans 3:4)

For those standing atop Mt. Carmel with me, let us rejoice that we serve the same God as Elijah. God was faithful to His own word, and that wet wood was set ablaze for the world to see!  We might look and feel like wet wood, but never forget what happened to that wet wood when God showed up!  No man got any credit that day. All the posters that went up after that day had God’s face, not man’s, on it. They likely couldn’t even fit all the words for what they’d just seen on a t-shirt after that.  Who needed advertisement? God had just showed up all by Himself; no lighter fluid necessary. And nobody gave a second thought to the false prophets and all their “rah rah” after the one true God showed up. No one left Mt. Carmel with any question about the God of Elijah. No man had anything to say about Elijah because they were too busy saying ”Who is this King of glory? Strong and mighty!”

For the multitudes of people who have already decided that the idols on your altar (even on your church altar) are not “working for you,” you are not alone. But do not wait for the showdown to decide whom you will follow. Elijah asked the people that day “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” And that scripture goes on to say “But the people said nothing.” (1 Kings 18:21) My heart hurts at the thought of the many believers whose spirits resound within them “there’s something more; there must be something more” yet these same believers when asked by God to pick one side of the fence or the other, they say nothing. They continue wavering, balancing themselves between carnality and spirituality, and thus they continue on in life powerless. God forgive me for wavering. God give me the boldness, give me the spirit of Elijah before your people and help me not to be distracted, diverted or intimidated by all the rah rah coming from Baal’s camp.

Let us thank God together that He is the same God today, yesterday and tomorrow!  He will have the final word. His fire will come down and consume all that has exalted itself in place of Him. He will not leave his people, nor will He forsake them. His people are hungry for true righteousness and true holiness, and God promises we shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6) His people are starving for the power that comes with His word. The written word is not enough. We need rhema! (living, active Word of God!) The preaching is not enough. The teaching is not enough. The music is not enough. The prayers are not enough. The books are not enough. The audio sermons are not enough. The quiet time, the devotionals, the prayer meetings…They are not enough!  These are all man-initiated, man-sustained, and man-made. We need encounters with our God, and we need it now. We need our wet wood to be set ablaze all over the world for every eye to see and every ear to hear. We lay our matches down (our fleshly, man-made efforts to start our own fires or the fires of others), and we call down holy fire, fire that originates only with source of fire Himself: YHWH! Nothing else will do.

Be it unto us, Father! We are your chosen generation! Gird up our legs that we may stand in your Presence when you show up ablaze in Your glory and majesty in our lives, both privately and publically!  You are Jehovah God and You are worthy to be praised for you are true to Yourself, and Your own glory originates with You!  We give it all to You, for it was given to us by You and for You!  We call you the one TRUE GOD and every other man a liar.

Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.

 

I Am Katie Christ!

Have you ever made a statement to someone and they looked at you like you’d completely lost your mind?  I made a statement in the middle of a conversation with someone a while back that went something like this: “Yes, my name is Katie Christ. I’m a Christ. You’re a Christ. We’re both just like Jesus Christ!” The man raised his eyebrows and gasped in horror. You’d thought I’d just committed an unpardonable sin. I’m sure I was later accused of being the anti-Christ.

I imagine if I’d said “I’m Katie, a wretched sinner,” that would’ve been completely acceptable. I don’t believe any of us would disagree with our identity as it relates to the first Adam. Even if we’ve never picked up a Bible in our lives, there have been enough preachers and teachers, mothers and fathers to tell us that because Adam sinned, we were born into sin, and as a result we live in a fallen world, we sin, and we’re reaping the consequences of sin. We know and understand that the human race originated with Adam and that our identities parallel his with absolute certainty. We unquestionably resolve we have the same DNA (so-to-speak) as the first Adam.

If I were to say to you “I’m just like Adam” you’d concur with me wholeheartedly. There would be no surprise in that statement because what you see about me in this natural realm helps you to conclude that I sin just like Adam sinned. But if I were to say to you “I’m just like Jesus” you’d gasp in horror just like the man I mentioned before. How could I say that? Jesus is perfect and I’m not, so that’s “blasphemous” to say such a thing!

This is what grieves me: We have no problem identifying with the first Adam, but we cannot for the life of us identify with the last Adam [Jesus.] (See 1 Corin 15:35) That is a tactic of none other than the Great Deceiver, Lucifer!  He has used religion and has perverted our doctrine in having us accept freely that we are imperfect sinners, having to live in a sinful world, and that we’ll have to wait til’ Heaven to experience the life Jesus died to give us. Then, while we are freely calling ourselves wretched sinners, Satan causes us to wince and cower down in false humility at the sheer thought of being just like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It seems contradictory in our minds to be sinners and yet be like Jesus. We relegate Jesus, the Man, to one level and ourselves to a level that could never reach that of Jesus. Let the reader understand, I am in no way trying to bring the perfect Savior to ‘my level’, nor am I trying to deduct from Him His diety as part of the divine Trinity. I am, however, attempting to bridge the gap that satan has formed between the One Son of God and the many sons and daughters of God. Satan uses the same methods with us today as he did with Eve telling her she could be “just like God” once she ate of the fruit. Little did Eve know, and little do most Christians know today, we’re already like God!

We have no problem saying “I’m a CHRISTian” but we would only maybe whisper in private “I’m just like Jesus Christ.” What’s the difference? And God forbid we ever boldly say the words “I am a Christ!” How dare we call ourselves such a “sacred name?” For some reason we think we’re taking away from the Son of God by affiliating ourselves with His identity. But here’s something good to know: The word “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. It’s an English transliteration of the Greek word “Christos” which simply means “the anointed one.” So yes. I am Katie Christ; Katie the anointed one!  Glory to God! I’ll own it!

In Romans 5:12 the Apostle Paul begins contrasting Adam and Christ. He says

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

We accept that as truth in our lives. We were born into sin, we sin, and the wages of our sin is death. Paul continues

For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ… Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. (v.15-19) 

If we accept one side of a scripture, we must equally accept the other side, or else all of it is a lie. The one side says because Adam sinned, we are sinners. The other side says because Christ obeyed, we are in right standing again with God (the same righteous standing Adam had with God before he sinned.) So how in the world is this even possible anyway? I wasn’t there when he sinned so how can I be born a sinner when I never had the chance to sin? That leads us to a very significant conclusion: I was in Adam when he sinned. I wasn’t born yet, but I was in his bloodline, in seed form, when he transgressed against our Creator. By default, because I have Adam’s seed in me, I am a sinner.  I imagine we’re all still together at this point. We get it.  But now we move on to the “other side” of the scripture. Christ obeyed God, so we obeyed God and are in right standing with Him. But we say “Well I didn’t obey God. I just cussed out my husband, slapped my kids and got drunk last night.” Oh, but if you are a child of God, know this: just like you were in Adam’s bloodline when he sinned, you were in Christ’s bloodline when He lived a perfect life, died a sinner’s death and was raised again! Glory! That is the foundation of the whole term “born again.” In order to rid ourselves of the power of sin from our old life (our Adam life) we must be born again from a new and sinless bloodline: Jesus Christ’s bloodline!  Paul tells us this in Romans 6

Since we have been united with [Christ] in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.

So as born again believers in Jesus Christ, who are we supposed to be identifying with now? The first Adam or the last Adam?  And if, when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin, does that mean we have to wait til’ we get to Heaven to be free from sin? Is Christ going to die again when we get to Heaven? No and No. We are free now! (more on this later.)

More good news: Not only did we die with Him and were we raised with Him, we are also seated with Him at the right hand of the Father, with all the power that He has. Eph 2:6 states “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”  Now how can we be seated with Him in heaven if we’re on earth? We need an understanding of our spirit, soul and body to appreciate these spiritual realities. It is our spirit that died with Him. It is our spirit that was raised again, and it is our spirit that is seated with Him. So what good does that do us right now on earth, you say? Well, it does a whole lot of good for the one who understands that he or she is a spirit with a body and not a body with a spirit. It’s very important to understand the difference between the two. Our spirits, our innermost beings, are the real us; yet we give all our attention and put our faith in our body or what we can see, touch, feel, hear,etc. We are carnal people (people of the five senses), so all we pay attention to is the flesh. But God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and He says that He will only commune with us spirit to spirit. He sent Jesus to save our spirits (not our souls; contrary to the term “souls saved”) and it is our spirits that contain the resurrection power to overcome sin.

So when I say “I’m just like Jesus!” I’m referring to my spirit. If I say “I’m just like Adam” then I’m still living in my old life; a life that died when Jesus died. To still be identifying with Adam would be like someone giving me a million dollars and me still living like a pauper, with a poverty-stricken mentality. We are not slaves to sin anymore if we have received the spirit of Christ. We are sons and daughters of the most High God! (2 Corin. 6:18) We are joint heirs with Jesus! (Romans 8:17) Notice the Apostle Paul doesn’t spend a third of the New Testament telling us that we are “little Adams.” He spends it telling us we are little Christs!  We are anointed ones, carrying around resurrection power, and as Jesus is in Heaven, so are we on this earth. (1 John 4:17) Notice that scripture doesn’t say “As Jesus is, so will we one day be in Heaven.” It says we are just like Him on this earth. Then here we go with our flesh saying “No I’m not just like Jesus. I just cheated on my income tax return.” Well shame on you, but that’s your flesh that sinned, not your spirit. Your spirit is sealed by your faith in Jesus if you have been born again!  Your fleshly sin cannot “contaminate” your perfect spirit. Not to say we should just go on living in sin without repentance. We would forfeit a victorious life having that selfish mentality. In Romans 6, Paul clarifies this for us from the get-go. (Read separately.)

The whole point of the “reserve” of power and the Presence of Almighty God residing in our spirits is not for us to keep living in sin while resting assured we’ll make it to heaven. The point of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the point of the indwelling Holy Spirit is so that we may work out our salvation (our inheritance, our wholeness, our prosperity, our safety, etc) by drawing out of our spirits into our soul and body the resurrection power to overcome the sin that we feel enslaved to. That’s a work that God Himself does, but it requires your surrender of your mind, will and emotions.

I strongly, strongly believe that one of the first and most vital steps to drawing out this life-giving water is to know that you know that you know who you are!  We’ve got to step out of this identity crisis: being confused as to how we can be heirs of Adam’s sin nature and also be heirs of the perfect nature of Jesus the Anointed One. Getting a revelation of who Jesus is and then who we are IN Jesus set Simon Peter onto the most glorious path of his life as he ushered in unprecedented power of the Holy Spirit in the early church. Is this the “key” that we’re missing in the church today?

Stay tuned!

Resources:

If you are interested in learning more about your three-part being (spirit, soul and body) I highly recommend Andrew Wommack’s profound, yet easy-to-understand, teaching entitled “Spirit, Soul and Body.” You can find the easy-to-read book, the audio CD’s or the as-seen-on-tv DVD series on his website.

Dr. Creflo Dollar also has a resource entitled “Your Identity in Christ” that adds unto the spirit, soul and body teaching. Dr. Dollar actually presented Andrew Wommack’s teaching verbatim in his own church in Atlanta, and I’ve witnessed how God has added even more revelation about our identity through Dr. Dollar and several, several others.

Lastly, if you are an avid reader, Watchman Nee has a book entitled “The Spiritual Man” that provides three volumes on spirit, soul and body and the functions of each. There are no words to describe the “meat” God will feed you through this work. It is offensive yet enlightening, it is deep yet attainable, it is a hidden jewel in this world of carnal Christians. (Warning: Read Andrew’s book first for a basic understanding and use this book for a more thorough study.)

If you cannot afford the resources at this time, please let me know. You can borrow mine, or I will gladly purchase them for you.

I cannot emphasize enough the transformation that will take place in your entire being when you grasp that we are spirits, made in the image of a Spiritual Being, and that if we are to worship the Creator, we must do it in spirit and in truth!

 

Walking a Tightrope

We have all seen a person walk a tightrope before. How fascinated we are that this hundred pound mass called a human body can balance itself on inches of rope, elevated in mid-air. But have you ever wondered how difficult it must be to learn to focus so stringently on such a task so as not to fall hundreds of feet below?  I feel most of us would simply “pass” on something seemingly so difficult.

Just some food for thought tonight: I wonder how many children of God are exerting the same strenuous effort in walking a tightrope in their lives; a tightrope suspended between two kingdoms: the natural and the spiritual.  I’m not talking so much about lukewarm Christianity (another post for another day,) but I’m speaking of many who live in two worlds but cannot seem to get to where they want to be in either world. It’s a frustrating place to be. I’ve certainly walked that rope and have to daily be reminded not to climb the ladder and get back on it.

Undoubtedly, as creatures created in the image of God, we all have a longing to commune with our Creator. Of course many creatures don’t recognize that it’s God they yearn for, so other gods are interjected in His place, but either way, it’s simply part of our nature to yearn for intimate communion with the One Whose DNA resides within us.  But then this dilemma eventually, yet inevitably, arises in all of those seeking after Him: We want to know Him more, we want more time with Him, we want to commune with our beloved Creator, but we fret as we just have so much to tend to in this other world and cannot make time for our Creator.

These are the two worlds within which our tightropes reside. For some reason, still unbeknownst to me, someone took an invisible axe and divided the sacred from the secular, the natural from the supernatural and the carnal creation from the spiritual Creator. Someone divided human life in two. On the one side we have our secular responsibilities: eating, drinking, working, raising children, education, etc. On the other side we have church-going, Bible-reading, praying, hymnal-singing and something super-spiritual that we call “worship.” Surely this is another of satan’s antics. Who else could manipulate such simple, perfect, effortless conditions in the Garden of Eden into toilsome, laborous, sweaty, burdensome responsibilities for the human race?

God has reminded me as of late that He’s the source of the natural and the spiritual, the secular and the sacred. All originates with Him. This is not to say that the evil fruit that comes from natural, secular living originates from God, but all that is natural had to come from its parent source: the supernatural. Our bodies are natural, yet God, a spirit being, created our natural bodies. Why then do we feel anything related to our natural life is something we must strive to maintain on our own, while we feel anything related to our spiritual life is something God is willing to help with? For example, we know we should run to God and to His Word when we need to learn about faith, hope and love. But when it comes to how we’re going to lose that pesky 20lbs, we run to the Atkins diet and a rigorous 7 day a week, 2 hour a day workout regiment. We all know how that works. Temporary results at best when we go at anything in our own effort. Was the Word of God designed only for spiritual life and not for life in this body? Are there not endless scriptures referencing both physical and spiritual eating and exercise habits? (Disclaimer: I’m not taking jabs at participants of diets or weight loss programs. We all have our “things” that we insist on doing in our own effort. Just making a point about the divided life we all live.)

I’ve had a job since I was 14 years old and for most of the years since, I viewed my job as something separate from my spiritual life. I viewed college life as separate from my church life. I viewed vacation trips as distinctly different than “mission” trips.  I viewed time in my car on the way to work as something less valuable than time in my prayer closet. The list goes on. Why did I ever hold such confusing and detrimental views, cleaving my natural life from that of my spiritual?  How long have I forfeited the easy yoke and the light burden that comes from abiding in Jesus Christ both in natural and spiritual areas in life?

I know I’ve said dozens of times in my life “Oh if I just had more time to spend with God! Oh if I could just read more and pray more and worship more. Oh if I didn’t have to work so much and then go exercise and then fulfill my wifely duties and household chores…Oh how close me and the Father could be!”  I’ve often wished that I could just stay at home everyday and just “be with God.”  Foolishness!  I feel a fool for having ever been of the mindset that “being with God” was a formula that contained only spiritual variables: prayer + Bible study x 3 times per day = Being closer to God.  Oh satan, that cunning mathematician! He loves formulas, and he loves for us to be duped into thinking that there is only a certain “magic formula” that can put us on a path to this God Who seemingly resides outside our natural life.  I finally got real with God in my life and said “It ain’t happenin’! I don’t feel like reading, I don’t have time to study the Word, I’m not in the mood to praise or pray because I’ve got 3,000 things going on, so I’m sorry…this relationship’s just not gonna work out.”  Please don’t think God was offended by such transparency. I’m certain He’s the One who got me to that point of surrender. I envision high fives going on between the Trinity when a child of God says “I give up!”  As Andrew Murray says “Oh that we would glory in our helplessness!”

I hope to bring relief to many a pursuer of God tonight!  Abiding in Christ is something that should not be divided between two worlds. When God came in flesh form through Jesus, Jesus did not come and live a divided life. His life in the natural, in the same human flesh we reside in, was a life lived fully surrendered to God. Everything He did, whether it was eating a meal, going fishing, vacationing on the beach of the Mediterranean, working as  carpenter, visiting with family, hanging out with friends, or praying to His Father…He did it all using the same resource: the Almighty Vine. Jesus never felt guilty about not spending enough time with God because He allowed God to be part of everything, from the smallest to the greatest task in life. I don’t imagine Jesus ever thought “Well, I may not need to go lay hands on that person because I haven’t read my Bible but once this week so my healing power might not work.” Jesus knew that it was never “his power” to begin with. Jesus knew He had no effort of His own apart from that which His Father gave Him. He knew to go to His job and work in His own effort would be a lot more worrisome and toilsome than if He just depended on in His Father’s efforts while He was on the job. He simply trusted that He was not His own; that He was a branch existing on a Vine and that the Vine would do all the work; that He was in the Father and the Father was in Him.

At this point, we’d argue “But that was Jesus. He had “special powers” to lead the life He led.”  That argument won’t work because Romans 8:11 states The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.    Ephesians 2:6 states For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Take those scriptures for exactly what they mean: You have been given the same supernatural abilities, efforts, power, and authority on this earth that Jesus had. Satan has no ground to stand on in telling us that living a life in Christ can only be done if the majority of hours in our days are spent praying and reading God’s Word.

God’s holy presence is no longer confined to a Temple (a man-made building), behind a veil (a dividing wall between sacred and secular), limited to a box called an ark (a remote location like church, a physical object like a book called the Bible, or in one certain person like a man who went to seminary.) Did you know that the veil (the division between us and God’s presence) was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died? There are no more rituals or formulas that will grant us access to His presence throughout our days. Jesus fulfilled the ”formula” for us!  Not only have we been remitted of sin, we’ve been given resurrection power to live our natural lives in communion with our Father.

Because of this blessed, unhindered, undivided, inseparable access to the Creator, our work is worship, our eating and drinking is worship, our exercising is worship, our going to Wal Mart is worship, our washing dishes is worship, our having sex with our spouse is worship, our walking the dog is worship, and even our bowel movements are worship!  I’m not exagerrating either. I’m also not trying to “defile” the term “worship.”  Check out this conversation in John’s gospel, chapter 4, between Jesus and the Samaritan woman who was walking the same tight rope we are, in thinking that worshiping God can only be done this way, in this place, on this day at this time.

Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,where our ancestors worshiped?”

Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem [whether at work or at church, whether reading the Bible or using the restroom.]…. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”

Man, how unfortunate it is that we are still of the belief held here by the Samaritan woman. We say “Yeah, well, sure there’ll be a day when we all see Jesus that we can finally rest and just worship God and not worry about work and the kids and the dog and the bank account.” But look what Jesus said to this belief…He said “Look! I’m right here! I’ve already come! You’re free to worship right now, this minute, in everything that you do,  you’re free to commune with the Father. The Father has sent Me that you may abide in Me and depend on Him in all that you do! He wants to do the work! He wants to raise the kids! He wants to teach you proper eating and drinking habits! He wants to pay the bills! He wants to do the laundry and mow the grass!”  No doubt our Father loves prayer time. He loves when we worship Him in song and with words of adoration in our prayer closets. He is exalted in our corporate assemblies as we gather in His name. He loves it! He is pleased with it. But He equally accepts, is equally as pleased and equally as satisfied with our communion with Him in our daily affairs. Do you, as a parent, have your child’s back only when he or she is spending time with you, one-on-one? Or do you not equally as much have that child’s back when he or she is at school all day, out of your presence, and too preoccupied to talk to you and tell you that he or she loves you? No doubt you have that child’s back whether at work or at play, whether within or without your presence!

Back in February of this year, Adam wanted to go skiing for his 30th birthday. Mind you, it’s the middle of tax season for me and I felt that needless stress coming on as to how I’d maintain my workload while across the country in the Rocky Mountains!   God sent me the following passage written by Andrew Murray to remind me that my He “has my back” in everything, in all things:

You say is it really possible for a man in business, for a woman in the midst of a large and difficult household, for a poor man full of care; is it really possible? Can I always be thinking of Jesus? Thank God, you need not always be thinking of Him. You may be the manager of a bank, and your whole attention may be required to carry out the business that you have to do. But thank God, while I have to think of my business, Jesus will think of me, and He will come in and will take charge of me. That little child, three months old, as it sleeps in its mother’s arms, lies helplessly there; it hardly knows its mother, it does not think of her, but the mother thinks of the child. And this is the blessed mystery of love, that Jesus the God-man waits to come in to me in the greatness of His love; and as He gets possession of my heart, he embraces me in those divine arms and tells me, “My child, I the Faithful One, I the Mighty One will abide with thee, will watch over thee and keep the all thy days.”

That brought me to tears when I read it. Blessed my heart!  Oh what a Savior!  To be able to stay in His arms, to trust Him to work in me both to will and to do His good pleasure in all of my undertakings each day…That is rest! That is peace!  That takes all the pressure off me to walk that tightrope that divided my life in two and stole all my focus and concentration as I tried to balance the natural and the spiritual. They’re both His!  Both worlds are His!  Special time of prayer, long hours reading the Word, singing praises to His name, setting apart certain days as “holy days”…what blessed privileges and paths of holiness. But the veil has been rent! The ark has found its final resting spot and it’s IN me! It’s IN you! You are free to worship the living God in spirit and in truth, meaning, no matter where you are and what you’re doing, you can access His presence and abide in Jesus Christ. Rest!  Dear child, rest!

Consider yourselves warned though by Mr. A.W. Tozer:

That old serpent the devil will be there in the cab or at the desk or in the field to remind the Christian that he is giving the better part of his day to the things of this world and allotting to his religious duties only a trifling portion of his time. And unless great care is taken this will create confusion and bring discouragement and heaviness of heart. We can meet this successfully only by the exercise of an aggressive faith. We must offer all our acts to God and believe that He accepts them. Then hold firmly to that position and keep insisting that every act of every  hour of the day and night be included in the transaction. Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.

 

The Day’s Portion for Its Day

I just had to clear all the tumbleweeds out of my blog site. Shame on me. I told God last night “I don’t feel like writing. I just want to read. Can I just read?”  He said “Reading is fine, but what are you doing with all that I’ve poured into you in your times of reading? Have you been pouring it back out?”  Well, clearly I’ve been a “dead sea” now haven’t I?

All I know to share with you all is what burns the hottest within me. Honestly, a lot is burning in me lately, and even better than that, a lot of me is burning up. I’ve been somewhat overwhelmed in this pursuit of God I’m on. I’ve become spiritually full and fat with all that He’s so faithfully poured into me. So much revelation has come that I have a hard time knowing where to start; not just where to start this post, but where to start in my life; how to continually advance the Kingdom of God on this earth in my goings and my comings; where to start acting upon the new and renewed knowledge; when to make a move, and when to sit still; when to strike the rock; when to speak to the rock; when to open my mouth and when to shut up; when to read, when to write. I find myself in this same overwhelming position concerning even the most mundane things in life. After we a eat a big family meal at my Mom’s, all the women go to the kitchen to clean up, and I feel myself turning in circles. There are just so many dirty dishes, so many crumbs, so much leftover food. I don’t even know where to start. My Mama says I’m the type of person who has to “get a mess organized before I clean it up.” Lol.

I feel the same way spiritually sometimes. I want to “organize” the streams of living water flowing from God’s throne into my life!  Go figure. He brings to the doorstep of my heart so many things to learn, so much to give, so many people with needs, so many opportunities to obey Him, and so many privileges to be an intercessor. Sometimes I feel myself turning in those circles spiritually. “Father!  What do you want me to do with all this? I can’t remember to talk to you about all these things as often as I’d like to. I can’t remember all the acts of kindness you’d like to use me for. I can’t follow through on all the visits and texts and phone calls to others. I can’t obey in all these areas I’d like to obey You in or keep all these commands I’d truly like to keep. How in the world?” I ask. How gracious is He that He’d even take the time to answer me. He has done just that. He answers me. Every morning He answers “Rest in me. Abide in Me. Only do what I say do today, and only say what I tell you to say today. One thing at a time. Today has as many seconds, minutes, and hours as yesterday, and I only ask for obedience one second, one minute, one hour, one day at a time. Fear not if you disobey in one minute of this day. My mercy has made way for a brand new minute for you to confess, change your mind, and obey Me, your loving Father.”  Lamentations 3:22-23 states “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  Thank God for that!

This time of year, beloved tax season always carries with it the temptation to stress myself out, cry, melt down, you name it. It’s only been in the past two years or so, God has taught me a “new way” to conquer this season. It’s called “One day at time, child. One day at a time.” Those words are some of the most delivering words on earth, and since adopting them as my tax season anthem, I’ve not had one meltdown, and I’ve seen my work be completed in ways that I still have no explanation for!  All I know is I take it one day at a time, and somewhere in there God supernaturally takes over! H&R Block ain’t got nothin’ on that!

There is a good reason Jesus told us not to take thought for tomorrow. He knew we didn’t have the capacity to endure what tomorrow could potentially bring. He knew we’d be tempted to ask for tomorrow’s manna (provision from on High) today. Tomorrow’s mercy and provision are not meant for today. We are simply fools if we become concerned for tomorrow when He specifically told us not to.

One night last month, I got in bed, did my tax season sigh of relief to have my head on a pillow, and the thought immediately occurred to me like a light bulb going off, that our Creator took so much careful, compassionate forethought in creating the earth that He saw fit to make distinct divisions in time called “Day” and “Night.” I kept pondering on that thought and said to God “Thank you so much! Thank you sooo much for creating the night time! Thank you so much for setting apart a time in each day for me to cease from all activity, shut my mind down and truly rest. Thank you for each new morning too!” I thought about how terrible it would be if the days never ended. What if they just kept going? Where would refreshment and relief come from? How would we ever quit thinking about that thing or that person that’s driving us up the wall if the day never came to an end? Worry would be endless. Fret would consume us. Concern would rob us blind. But God in His infinite wisdom said “No. That’s not going to be necessary. I will simply command rest. My people will rest. My yoke will be easy and My burden will be light. I will create a sun that will always shine in a permanent position, but I will put my people on a rotating sphere called earth, and I will spin this sphere with my own finger at a certain speed, so that for repeated slivers of time in eternity, the sun will not shine on all of the earth at once, and my people will not have enough light to live by or to work by.” Of course, He knew Adam and Eve shouldn’t have this problem of stressful work, crazy families, financial problems to worry over, sicknesses to be healed etc. But thank God He’s God, and in His omniscience, He knew Adam & Eve would forfeit the life of the carefree, worry-free Garden life, and thus knew He’d better create not only a Sabbath, but also a daily ”night time” if the human race would ever survive this physical life. How merciful are you, oh God!

That night lying in bed, I entered a whole new level of rest in God. Just appreciating that each day would end and a new one would begin, I could be certain of His tender love and care over me. Just a few days later, I was reading a book and came upon a chapter entitled “Day by Day.” I thought “Glory to God! He’s always faithful to expound on all that He shares with us!”  I want to share with you how God saw fit to speak to a man named Andrew Murray, who lived in the 1800′s and early 1900′s, about this very same issue I pondered in my bed that night, over 100 years later:

First he cited Exodus 16:4 which states “And the people shall go out and gather the portion of a day in its day.” Then he writes:

It was, without doubt, with a view to meet man’s weakness, that God graciously appointed the change of day and night. If time had been given to man in the form of one long unbroken day, it would have exhausted and overwhelmed him. The change of day and night continually recruits and recreates his [man's] powers. As a child easily masters the lessons in a book when each day he is only given one lesson to learn, but would be utterly helpless if the whole book were given him at once, so it would be with man if there were no divisions in time. Broken small and divided into fragments, he can bear them; only the care and the work of each day have to be undertaken– the day’s portion in its day. The rest of the night fits him for making a fresh start with each new morning; the mistakes of the past can be avoided, its lessons improved. And each day he has only to be faithful for the one short day, and long years and a long life take care of themselves without the sense of their length or their weight ever being a burden.

Does that not just take your breath away as you reckon simple things such as day and night as nothing less than God’s divine mercy and provision for His beloved children?  Sometimes we seek this super-spiritual knowledge of deep and lofty theology, thinking that when we attain it, we’ll have the answer to all life’s problems. But God saw fit to simply illuminate to me, and apparently to this man from a century ago and who knows who else, such a mind-renewing, peace-bringing, life-giving, rest-entering thought about something so simple as day and night. I am humbled, and all I can say in response to my merciful, loving Abba Father is ”Thank you, and Amen.”

So what is consuming you or overwhelming you on this day, this sliver of time in eternity?  Are you turning in circles as you face an overload on your job? Do you melt down at the thought of ever having a God-given mate to spend your life with? Are you running from pillar to post trying to scrounge up money to pay the next bill? Are you on the edge of major depression because you feel rejected and orphaned by the world and by God Himself?  Do you think often about how you’ll get your next high, whether it be a drug-induced high, a food-induced high, a shopping-induced high or a sex-induced high? Are you somebody who knows to do better but can’t do better to save your life? Are your days consumed by everyone else’s personal business? Do you constantly worry about whether so and so likes you or dislikes you? Are you anxious about how your visions and dreams will manifest themselves? Do you worry about how your children will turn out? Are you fearing death because of sickness? Are you actively pursuing God but distracted by what you haven’t received, while ignoring all that you have received? 

If anything under the sun has become a burdensome load that you were not created or intended by God to carry, I hope you find the rest you need in what I’ve posted. May God illuminate these written words into life-giving, transforming, rhema words!  Purpose today to live minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. Each of our days makes up the whole of our lives. If just one day is wasted or misused for fear of worrying about tomorrow, we could be altering the landscape of the whole of our lives!

I plan to continue writing in this vein of resting and abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ, assuming that He doesn’t return before I have the chance to do so. Please stay tuned!  In the meanwhile, let’s sing in spirit together:

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.

 

Sealed Orders

I am so fascinated by anything related to the military. I love to hear stories or watch movies or documentaries that involve military tactics or special operations, snipers, bombs, Navy SEALs and anything of the sort. I’m that girl who will place movies like The Rock, Mission Impossible, Saving Private Ryan, and Shooter over movies like The Notebook, Titanic, and Dear John. I have no idea why I’m so fascinated with these types of things outside of the fact that I’m in the Lord’s army, and I’d like to think I’m “cool enough” to be on His special ops team!  Lol!  Forgive me in advance, members of the military, if I seem clueless as I use military terminology to try to get a point across in this post. I’m only going by A)what I’ve seen on the movies and B)what God says to say.

We’ve all read or heard the scripture in which Jesus was telling His followers what it would require to be a true disciple of His. He knew they were very sincere and earnest about knowing Him and trusting Him and getting to know and trust Him even more. But only Jesus knew the path each one of them would be asked to take for His sake, and as earnest and sincere as they may have been, Jesus still felt the need to give them further clarification on what they were “signing up for.” He said to them “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.“ (Luke 9:23-24)  I like to think of this part in Jesus’ life as Him recruiting an army. He’d gone and handpicked these twelve men who were minding their own business but who all apparently had at least one thing in common: they wanted something more than what their current life was offering them.

I believe most young men and maybe even some women make the decision to sign up for the military not necessarily because they’re passionate about their country but maybe because the options facing them in their life at the time are not enough to satisfy and sustain them. I’m sure many of them sign up before they’re ever really sure what they’re getting themselves into. Do you, in your spiritual walk, ever feel that way?  Please say I’m not the only one who’s ever had the thought “Wow. I didn’t sign up for this! Can I just go back to “normal” life?”  I don’t doubt for a second that the twelve men that decided to follow Jesus ever arrived “at work” one day and wondered “What in the world? This is not what I thought it was. This is not what I was told…This is not what I heard this would be like. I thought…”  And fill in the blank there, Christian. What did you think the life of a true disciple called for?

Jesus made it very clear for the ones wanting to follow: Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.  He didn’t tell them this to scare them or make them fearful of what their future held. I feel He simply wanted to help them understand up front that in the life of the one who follows Jesus, each day could hold surprises and twists and turns; somedays good, somedays evil, somedays possibilities, somedays impossibilities, somedays laughter, somedays tears, somedays wisdom, somedays stupidity, somedays order, somedays disorder, somedays understanding, somedays misunderstanding, somedays clarity, somedays confusion, somedays freedom and somedays captivity. Everyone’s cross may be different everyday. But will we deny ourselves and take it anyway in order to continue following Jesus?

Adam and I watched a documentary a few months ago which reenacted May 2, 2011 when the U.S. Navy SEALs in cooperation with the CIA led a covert operation to kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.  I was so intrigued!  A unit within the special operations forces was called in to launch this mission. Of course the orders came from high up, all the way up to the President, to be exact. Mr. Obama gave sealed orders down the command chain to this unit to fly to a location and prepare to kill a suspected terrorist. The Navy SEALs upon first being assigned to this mission were not told the details of the mission. They were just told to go. That’s what sealed orders are. The orders are given to the commanding officer, but the orders cannot be opened until the assigned team reaches a certain distance on the way to their mission. This helps to ensure secrecy of the mission and also aids in demanding a sort of “no turning back now” policy. You’re either in, or you’re not. If you’re not, you can go back home, but good luck catching a ride back!  The SEALs were all in. But they had resolved to be all in before they got the orders, and thus, they were all in even after they heard the details of the orders, which just so happened to mention the word “kill” and the name “Osama bin Laden” in the same sentence. Can you imagine the intimidation? The fear? The temptation to call yo Mama and be like “Maammma…I need a ride home!” But no. These guys live for this! They trained for this!  They pushed that fear back to wherever it came from and they stayed focused on the mission. They went and did exactly what was expected of them and returned back to the U.S.

This team of Navy SEALs had already “signed up” so to speak when they went through years of training, swore their allegiance to the United States and forsook their families and friends in order to serve the President and his people. They were told up front what would be expected, and they agreed to comply with the terms and conditions even though the fine print was in actuality too fine to even be legible or understandable. I’m sure at some point, someone with experience and wisdom told the recruits, as Jesus did His disciples, “Look. Earnest hearts and sincerity aside, you will need to be willing to deny yourself, align your will with your commander’s will, and follow orders.” The commander can never tell a recruit upfront exactly what to expect each day, and nor did Jesus tell each disciple what “cross” he’d have to bear on any given day. True surrender, true sincerity, true devotion and true soldiers/disciples can only be proven on a day by day, order by order basis.

Sometimes God hands out sealed orders to His disciples. He gives us a very vague, need-to-know-basis description as to what kind of mission we’ve been assigned to, and after we reach a certain distance in our spiritual walk, He’ll reveal more details of the orders. Don’t you just love it when that happens?  Here you are minding your own business (surrendered to His service no less)… He calls you unto Himself, puts you on a “helicopter” so to speak, sends you halfway across the Atlantic… You get excited, you envision and imagine how great it’s going to be when you reach the destination and the “bigger picture” is revealed. But at that halfway point, out there in the quiet and solitude of the ocean, just you and your comrades, all getting excited about the same thing…  POP!  The bubble you’re all living in in that moment is burst by the voice of the Commander who’s opened the “sealed orders” and begun to unveil further requirements on your behalf. He only unveils as much as is needful at that moment. But it’s not what you expected. It’s not what you envisioned. As a matter of fact, the orders being given you, the details being unveiled to you little by little almost seem as though they go against standard protocol. You don’t remember reading this in your “manual” (i.e. Bible) when you signed up. You can’t think of any examples that your manual or your mentors gave you that could help you know what comes next in this situation you find yourself in. Moses didn’t have to face this. Abraham? What about Paul? God didn’t say this to them. How can He say it to me? “Is this even Biblical” you might sometimes say! Fear knocks on the door. Anxiety came with him. Then they invited two friends called Worry and Fret. They all knocked at the door and asked you “What are you going to do? How are you going to follow through? How will you survive? Who’s going to have your back? Who’s going to take your side? What if you fail?” The questions are endless. We can all fill in the blank. But the decision is simple: Will we obey the orders? Will we take the cross offered us that day and follow the Commander onto the battlefield, trusting He knows best and that it’s He that’s responsible for us and not the other way around?

Of course we will obey! Not us, but Jesus Christ IN us, will accomplish the purposes for which He sent us!  Our Commander will never command or demand from us what He can’t do Himself in us!  Andrew Murray, a 19th century Christian writer, taught me that it’s the voice of our God that empowers us to obey our God. It’s Christ’s perfect obedience living in us in spirit form that causes us to be able to obey. In Ezekiel 36:27, He says “I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.” Glory to God. I get to rest!  I don’t have to depend on my own willpower to carry out those sealed or unsealed orders. It used to really intimidate me to hear a pastor tell me to deny myself and take up my cross. I remember thinking at times “Um. I don’t think so. I’m not really up for that. I like myself too much to deny myself, and I’m not so sure what kind of cross we’re talking about… Is it anything like Jesus’ cross? If so, I’m not interested.”  But now…Oh, now that I know that it’s not me who has to will and to work out my own salvation, but that’s it’s Christ within me that wills and works in me and through me (Phil 2:13)…Now that I understand this, I am empowered to pick up each day’s cross, strap it to my back, deny my own flesh and follow my Savior wherever He goes.

Friends and family and people of all walks… Do not be intimidated a day longer. Do not question what you’ve signed up for because you are a soldier in the Lord’s Army!  He didn’t recruit you and then leave it to you to accomplish His assignments on your own. He gives the assignments and He also gives the power to complete the assignments. If our President was gracious enough to send with those Navy SEALs an abundance of intelligence both on land and in the air, an excess of ammunition, a commanding officer to guide them, financial support, moral support and sufficient information for each day….  Is not our God’s grace sufficient for thee?

The lyrics to an old song by Whittle Moody sum up beautifully what I’m trying to say:

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine
Living with Jesus, a new life divine
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine

Moment by moment I’m kept in His love
Moment by moment I’ve life from above
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine

Never a trial that He is not there
Never a burden that He doth not bear
Never a sorrow that He doth not share
Moment by moment, I’m under His care

Never a heartache, and never a groan
Never a teardrop and never a moan
Never a danger but there on the throne
Moment by moment He thinks of His own
Never a weakness that He doth not feel
Never a sickness that He cannot heal
Moment by moment, in woe or in weal
Jesus my Savior, abides with me still!

 

Come To the Shop

I thought I was getting ready for bed tonight, but when it’s time to write, it’s time to write. (My fatigue just reared it’s ugly face on the very first sentence which I originally typed ”when it’s time to right, it’s time to right.)   Lord Jesus, help me. Holy Spirit, write through me!  River of living water flow through me to the person(s) for whom You saw fit to send this forth so late on a Sunday night. While the rest of the community is snoozing, pour out Your love, Your compassion, Your warm embrace and Your comfort, oh precious Comforter, precious, Lover of our souls.

I was reading a post from my journal earlier tonight, thinking I’d just make my next post and call it a night. But what I read, I feel God has instructed me to share. I wasn’t so sure about sharing what I feel is personal and very intimate to me. But now, I’m finding it amazing that when God speaks to us, when He brings things to our remembrance, there may be a point at which He does it, a season at which He does it, that encourages us and strengthens us personally. We may feel “Oh man! This was just for me and for nobody else! Oh how God loves me that He’d tell me this just for me!”  Then there may be another point, maybe the next week or maybe the next year, that He brings that same thing back to the forefront of your thoughts in order for you to strengthen and encourage someone else. I guess the decision you’re faced with at that point is will you keep what God gave you all to yourself, or will you pour all that He gave you into another soul…a soul whose condition you may think you have a clue about, but only God knows, and He’s dispatched you to pour out that precious ointment that He once gave you. Yes Lord!  Pour!  Pour into the souls of all who read this!

When I was a child, the house that I would consider my childhood home had a shop in the backyard. It was just a little old building, almost like a mini brick house but made of only one room. From the outside, there was nothing to it. I guess to some, it would be considered an eyesore. For whatever reason though, I loved that little shop. I can still smell the sawdust in it as I sit here tonight, close to 15 years later. I can still see my Daddy’s silver old school stereo up on the shelf when you walk in the door. I can still see that blue punching bag and that homeade weight bench, made of wood and a piece of old carpet for “cushion” I guess. My Daddy liked to “hand craft” things. Just cheaper that way.   Maybe I’ll blog one day about my “handcrafted” dollhouse made of 2×4′s and plywood and equipped with two “beds” made of 2×4′s cut in half. I believe this was the Christmas I stopped believing in Santa Claus, or that I at least started believing my Daddy had been hired as an elf. Lol! (Daddy, I did love that dollhouse, ghetto as it was.) Sorry…  off subject.

In this particular journal post I was reading, I had posed a question to God. I said “How do YOU see me?” Sometimes I think we see ourselves from such a different perspective than our heavenly Father. From our perspective, we may view ourselves as strong, independent, pushing through life full force, on fire for God, etc. We may see ourselves pitiful, lonely, afraid, etc. For the sake of transparency, I will tell you that at the point I made that journal post, I viewed myself as a strong and mighty warrior for God. I felt like I was just totally focused and that I had my heels dug in for the cause of Christ. But I knew, deep in my soul, other feelings were wanting to push themselves to the surface: feelings of loneliness, rejection, and vulnerability. So rather than be confused about how I was seeing myself at that moment, I just wanted to know how God saw me. After all, that’s all that should matter. That’s reality for me these days. God’s view of me can be my only reality. All else, any other view, my view, your view is subject to change or fluctuate depending on circumstances. But how He sees me will never change.

At the moment I asked Him how He saw me, He flooded my thoughts with images of that old shop. He took me back to a day that I remembered so very vividly. It was a tough day; maybe one of the toughest, saddest, most hurtful days in my childhood. I guesstimate I was around 12 or 13 years old. I had been hunting for a folder in my bedroom that contained all my awards certificates from school. This folder was a prized possession of mine. I found a lot of my worth in that folder. I had worked hard for the contents of that folder, and my Daddy, whose approval I sought most, was proud of those awards, and thus, I too was proud to make him so proud, and so I protected that folder with my life (or so I thought.) That day I was hunting for it, I went to the place I knew I’d “hid” it. I’d placed it with some other folders of “important stuff” (mind you I’m a 12yr old…lol) under a bedside table in my room. Boy I turned that room upside down and couldn’t find it anywhere. Think about going to find your “stash” of hidden money and it not being there when you get there, then multiply that state of frantic behavior times ten, and you can possibly sympathize with my losing my honors folder.   What I feared the most about that folder had come upon me. My Mama, God love her, sometimes went on these cleaning frenzies, and I liken it to a gigantic vacuum hovering over my house with mega suction power, and when she got in these modes, whatever was in sight got sucked away into never-neverland, never to be seen again. Many a fight went down in my house about belongings being thrown away without asking permission. Yes, you guessed it. My awards certificates from Kindergarten through nearly 7th grade had been trashed. Bummer.

Today, I can still see myself again as the little girl whose worth, whose value had just been trashed. At the time, I truly thought “How will anyone ever be proud of me if I don’t have the proof to show them all these awards I have?”  Silly, I understand that now. But I flew out of the house, tears rolling like Niagra Falls down my cheeks, me blessing Mama out on my way out the door, and I ran up to that old shop, slammed the door behind me, climbed up on that homeade weight bench and cried until I was nearly gagging. Man, it hurt me to the core. I guess I felt like a pretty worthless, lonely, pitiful human being at that point. What in the world was I going to do? I couldn’t get that folder back. Nothing in the world could bring it back, and I thought that would be the only way to soothe the pain.

A knock comes at the shop door amidst my top ten meltdowns in 27 years. My Daddy had come to console me. He sat beside me on the bench, held me tight and assured me it would be okay. He didn’t know how exactly to tell me it would be okay because he knew the certificates were gone, so all he could do was remind me of his love for me; remind me that he was still so proud of me, with or without the “proof” of accomplishments. All he could do was let me just feel the comfort of his presence when I thought all was lost. We sat there in the shop for a while, until he felt it was “safe” for me to go out again. But even when we went out, he still stayed close by me for a while. He took me to Pine Mountain, just me and him. We got an ice cream and went to a state park just to get away for awhile. It was sooo refreshing. It didn’t bring the folder back, but to feel loved, to feel compassion, to feel a warm embrace was something that would stick with me much longer than pieces of paper.

This is the day that God brought back to mind when I asked Him how He saw me. Here is how He answered me specifically:

“I see you just like the little girl you’ve always been to Me: the little girl who longed to please her Daddy, except now that you are older, you long to please Me, your Daddy God more than you ever longed to please your earthly father. You may think you’ve grown up, but I still see a little girl. I still see that little girl who needs her Daddy. Don’t forget that day you were hurting so badly. Your heart was broken, and you were angry. Your awards, honors and recognition had been trashed. You went up to your Daddy’s shop and cried and cried. He did not delay. He came and comforted you. Hold that day tightly, and be reminded that I’m that kind of Daddy EVERYDAY!  You’ll have more of those days…days you feel betrayed, lonely, hurt, stripped, weary, frustrated, and wronged. But child…come to the “shop.” It’s your “secret place” with Me, the Most High. Stay here. I want you to stay here in this rest. But if you must go sometimes, please come back soon. Don’t tarry long. If you will abide in Me, you won’t grow weary. You’ll stand strong in the face of opposition. You’ll be girded up in Truth, and you will not be confused or deceived. We’ll commune together. It’ll be just like when I walked with Adam in the cool of the day in the Garden. Child, it’s a peace you’ve only tasted. But it’s a peace in which I’d have you remain from now throughout eternity. I love you, Kathryn.”

—-Timeout for Kleenex break.—-

I told my Mama not too long ago, “Only the people who really really know me and love me call me Kathryn.” I I love it! 

Y’all there is more revelation, more words of wisdom and knowledge in that answer from God about how he sees me than I can even begin to talk about right now. It contains words that speak deeply into my spirit and concern major confirmation of revelations I’ve had over the past few years. I don’t feel at liberty to go into all that for now. I felt permission only to beckon the hurting, the lonely, the betrayed, the rejected, the orphaned, the insecure individual who may be reading to “come to the shop.” The Lord says to you, “Precious child, come to the shop.”  He’s waiting there for you. He’s tried to be part of all your circumstances, but being the Gentleman that He is, He only comes when invited, and kindly escorts Himself out when He no longer feels needed. Not to say He leaves us, for He promises never to leave. He’s still there, He’s on your “property.” He’s hovering close by, but He’s in a place of peace and tranquility. He’s in a secret place. He’s in a place of rest. He’s calling to where you are, and in a soft, yet unmistakeable whisper, He says ”Come. Come here to where I am. Come to the shop.”

I don’t know where your “shop” is. If you don’t have one, you should “build” one. These days, my shop is where I’m at right now: in my bedroom, my sanctuary, behind closed/locked door, away from all distractions, my holy of Holies, my place of refuge, my place of vulnerability, my tent of meeting. If I could spend every minute of every day here I would because I feel safe here. I feel that warm embrace of my Daddy as the rest of the world crumbles around me. I’m licking my ice cream at the park, sitting beside my Daddy as he pours his love and compassion into me, telling me “It’s gonna be okay. I promise you it will be okay. I’m your Daddy and I know best. I’ve already seen your story play out and your ending cannot be a bad one for the simple fact that you’re my child. Do you not know whose you are? You are mine. I’ve made a contract and signed it with my blood concerning you, your life, your inheritance and your eternity. It ends good every time for the child of God. I will cease to be God before I break my covenant with you. Abide in me. Stay at the shop with me.”

You’re likely thinking “I don’t have time to go to the shop, and if I do go there, I can’t stay there all the time. I have a job. I have kids. I have a husband. I have duties. I can’t just sit in my bedroom all day with God.”  No worries. That’s what’s so cool about serving an omnipotent, omnipresent God. Everywhere we go, He goes. If we are saved children of God, He dwells within us. The shop is within us. Wow!  The shop is within me!  This means everything and everyone around me could cease to exist, and I could still go to the shop. I can be buying groceries and go to the shop. I can sit on the toilet and go to the shop. I can be stranded in the desert or buried in the deepest hole you can dig and still go to the shop. I don’t have to wait to get to my bedroom. His presence is heaven to me. If I waited for opportunities to get to my bedroom, I’d miss out on heaven on earth! I’d miss out on that warm embrace when I needed it most. I’d miss out on that “I love you, child” when I needed to hear it most.

My Daddy did not delay in comforting me that day. How much more will my heavenly Daddy comfort me when I’ve run to the shop seeking solace and solitude? He does this for all His children, as He is no respecter of persons. He’ll hold the adult just as tight as He holds the child. He’ll hold the grown man as tight as He holds the little boy. He’ll hold the Daddy, He’ll hold the Mama. He’ll hold the widow. He’ll hold the orphan. He’ll hold the single parent. He’ll hold the woman who’s patiently waiting for a husband. He’ll hold the man who’s been called to be single for the sake of Christ. He’ll hold the husband who can’t seem to be who he wants to be for his wife. He’ll hold the wife who’s too empty to give anything to her husband or children. He’ll hold the family who doesn’t have a clue if they can buy groceries next week. He’ll hold the young woman who thinks she has to be so strong, but who is dying to just be weak for a day. He’ll hold the parents who just lost a child. He’ll hold the weary, the burdened, the hopeless and the broken. All He says is “Precious child of Mine…Come to the shop.”

 

Jesus Said We’d Suffer for Him; Not that We’d be Sick for Him

Praise God! I finally have found the opportunity to carry on the sickness series!  I sure do miss this during the “downtime” in between each post. But thank God for the downtime!  

About three posts ago we began dispelling lies that satan has told us about sickness and God’s view of sickness upon His children. Try to catch up when you have time! We’re coming upon the third lie surrounding sickness, and while this is likely the last one that I will address, the three lies that I’ve listed are certainly not the extent of the numerous lies we’ve been told by the enemy.

Lie #3: The Bible says we must share in the sufferings of Jesus, so we should accept our sickness as part of our sufferings.

I recently read a sermon by a highly-esteemed teacher of the Word, and in this sermon, he used Romans 8:18 (For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us) and some of the other verses in context to explain how Christians should embrace disease, terminal illness, sickness, infirmities, etc. Of course he didn’t come out and use the words “embrace disease,” but I propose that when we give arguments in favor of sickness being “intended by God” for this reason or for that, then we are, in essence, telling the body of Christ to embrace something that, without a doubt, is of satan and not of God.  Any teacher of the Word that equates sickness to Christ’s sufferings (a) does not know the true nature of Christ’s sufferings as they are portrayed in the Bible and (b) does not know the meaning of “sufferings” according to the original languages of the Bible. 

“Sufferings” in this context, and in most New Testament contexts, is the Greek word pathema. According to Strong’s Concordance, sufferings refers to hardships or pains as in afflictions on the emotions or passions; “consequent upon external influences exerted on the mind.” Strong’s also says the concrete character of the word “sufferings” in this context can be found in Hebrews 2:9. So let’s go there:  But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Now, let’s see what the Greek word is for sickness. If the argument is true that we should embrace sickness as part of our “sharing in the sufferings of Christ” then we must assume sickness and sufferings are interchangeable words in the Greek (the original language of the New Testament.)  Strong’s Concordance says the Greek for “sickness” as in “Jesus bore our sickness” (Matt 8:17) is the word nosos. This word describes maladies, diseases, and infirmities. The Greek words pathema and nosos are never, ever used interchangeably. They are very different words. 

You see we must differentiate between sufferings and sickness, or else we will fall prey to the enemy’s lie, pretty as it may be, that if we are truly followers of Christ, we must embrace sickness. I just feel a literal heaviness on my heart that we have arrogantly and ignorantly associated the sufferings of Christ with the powerless, failed attempts of the enemy. We have made the deep emotional pains and passions of Christ an equivalent to the destructive, lethal assignments of satan because we think we’re doing something “unto Christ” by embracing sickness. We love to make it about us, don’t we? ”Go us!” we think. We came down with pancreatic cancer, but we’re gonna “suffer for Christ’s sake” because that’s what we were taught to do when we’re sick. GOD FORGIVE US for making it about us!

There are sick people, diseased people, children and adults alike suffering from terminal illness walking into our churches or being visited by our churches, and what do we have to say to them?  “Oh child of God, Jesus suffered, and we must expect that in this fallen world, we have to suffer too.”  Or we say “Oh child of God, we must expect trials and tribulations in this world.”  Church!  Wake up!  Get your face in the Word of God. We are not telling the whole truth!  Yes, Jesus suffered. Yes, the body of Christ will share in His sufferings. But leaving all the Greek and Hebrew words aside, can you recall any account in the Bible of Jesus “calling in sick” when it was time for Him to preach or teach?  Did Jesus have to tell Peter to fill in for Him on the shores of Galilee because He came down with the flu?  Did He have to go down to the synagogue and get the elders to anoint Him with oil when He was diagnosed with cancer? No, no, and no!  I was talking with Adam about this the other day and I said “Jesus didn’t have to be anointed with oil!” Adam matter-of-factly responded “He WAS the oil!”  Wow!  That’s a whole other blog! 

We cannot deny the scriptures that exhort us to suffer for Christ (as in the case of persecution), but we must deny any lie that calls us to be sick for Christ. There is a big difference. And yes, we will certainly face trials and tribulations, but it perturbs me when teachers of the Word only tell half truths. In John 16:33 Jesus gives us the whole truth: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Now wouldn’t it do a world of good if we would share the whole truth, rather than speaking half truths in order to “explain” people’s experiences? 

I feel like I’m babbling now trying to “explain” this difference in suffering in sickness when what’s truly burning in my heart is that we just don’t know the half of it. Here we are trying to tell sick people to suffer for Christ, but we don’t have a clue what we’re saying. We don’t have the faintest idea what it means to suffer, in the true context of the Word. Cancer, a nasty messenger of satan, is killing off children and adults, believers and non-believers alike, and we call this “suffering for Christ?”  Our precious Savior suffered ridicule, shame, being misunderstood, harsh words and backbiting from others, criticism, lies that attacked His character, insinuations that challenged His integrity, restrictions that emptied Him of His majesty and diety, rejection by his own family and friends, undue punishment, physical beatings, disfigurement beyond recognition, and a wrongful, brutal, yet beautiful death and we….we humans…we mortal beings made of dust…we spoiled rotten Americans…we the mere creation of the Majestic Creator…we have the audacity to call ourselves suffering for Christ by means and by way of the very things our Savior suffered and died to deliver us from: cancer, illness, flu, arthritis, spinal disfiguration, diabetes, the common cold, an ingrown toenail, a paper cut, and a runny nose.  I could cry. I could just cry. Who do we think we are?  We do not have the first clue what it means to truly be called to share in Christ’s sufferings. We’ve relegated the teachings and the perspective of a true sufferer, Paul, to a teaching that embracing the common cold is our civic duty unto Christ. I’m just out of words. All I know to say over and over is that we DO NOT HAVE A CLUE! 

I’m appalled and ashamed at the condition of the church for swallowing such garbage of the enemy. God have mercy on the deputy authority representing God’s authority who may be facing judgment for misrepresenting the sufferings of Christ in this manner. God have mercy on the ones carrying around the blood of all of those who embraced disease and died as a result of being told they were suffering for the cause of Christ. Folks, we cannot afford not to have our faces so deep in the Word of God in these last days!  The attacks of the enemy are not going away. They will only increase as the return of our Savior comes nearer. We must respond to the enemy with the Word of God and not with what we’ve been taught. What we’ve been taught is killing people!  What we’ve been taught ain’t workin’ for us!  We are responsible for our own ignorance. No one else can be blamed. Parents, you are the authority over that sick child! Teenager, you are the authority over that addiction!Adult, you are the authority over that disease in your body! Senior citizen, you are the authority over that arthritis and that clogged artery!  Get the Word of God in front of you; surround yourself with it on every side and take your authority back from satan!  The battle is won!  Have no fear!  GOD reigns here!

I understand that there is absolutely no power behind the words of Katie McClain. I understand that in the fingers that type these words, you will not find any healing power. I understand that apart from God, anything I write here is useless, pointless, and will profit nothing but death. But ohhhh man…  the God that LIVES and DWELLS in Katie has healing in His wings!  His resurrection power working in me and through me can fly off the computer screen into your very body and eliminate everything and anything that’s ailing you or your loved ones. I know there are people out there reading that have a situation of their own or that know a situation that is in desperate need of Jehovah Rapha, our Healer!  I can keep talking to you about the Greek and the Hebrew and the Aramaic and the differences between this word and that word, or I can send forth the healing power of the Word of God to ALL your flesh!  I can go on and tell you about how God can use your sickness for this or that and how sometimes sickness brings more holiness to our lives, or I can offer you a solution to your sickness!  I can come to your house and hold your sweet hand and tell you that if you wouldn’t have done this or said that then maybe you wouldn’t be sick, or I can do what Jesus did and say “Child, you are forgiven and healed!  Now get up and be about the Father’s business!”

Jesus didn’t waste time with all this nonsense we waste time with. He literally carried healing wherever He went!  Jesus didn’t feel the need to explain why so-and-so is sick and proceed to give them the reasons and possibilities behind their sickness. He just healed them!  He never, ever held back His healing. Healing power went forth from Him without Him even making the decision to send it forth. It’s just WHO He is!  He’s life! He’s health!  He’s wholeness! 

This day I declare you healed, whole and prosperous even as your soul prospers!  I declare that the healing power of God go forth from this blog to your eyes and into your heart to bring healing to your whole body!  Jesus bore our sickness and carried our diseases, and I say to you “You will put down that sickness! You will not carry it again!  Put it down!”  You are not being punished, child of God. Spit out the lie that God is punishing you with sickness or disease; for the Word of God says Jesus took punishment in our place!  You are forgiven, and you are healed. It’s not one without the other. Both are yours this day!  You are not suffering with sickness as Christ suffered, child of God, because Christ was never sick!  Release your body from this lie today. Ask the Father to forgive you for arrogantly thinking your sickness was doing Him a favor. We thank You for Your mercy and forgiveness Father God for belittling the sufferings of your precious Son. 

This day, I release fresh, pure, undefiled blood into your body…blood that is free of infirmity, free of deadly agents, free of infection!  I release an infilling of brand new bone marrow, brand new organs, brand new blood cells, brand new hair and brand new energy to the cancer patient. I release relief to the joints and bones of the arthritis patient. I release a back adjustment, a miraculous straightening of the back, hips and legs for the one crippled in the spine!  I release beautiful, radiant skin, free of spot and blemish for the rash-ridden one!  I release perfect blood flow to all parts of the body and command circulation issues to be made new!  I release new healthy, holy desires, the desires of Christ Himself, into the bodies and minds of those addicted to any substance be it drugs, pornography or food! I bind up every infirmity, malady and disease among the readers and their loved ones and I cast it back down to the pits of hell, where it came from!  The Word says we shall bind what is bound in heaven and loose what is loosed in heaven, and in heaven sickness is bound up and healing is loosed. We loose healing in the precious holy name of Jesus, the One Who laid His life down for us, the One Who bore our sicknesses and diseases, the One Who tasted death so we wouldn’t have to!  Praise the name of Jehovah Rapha!  You are worthy to be praised!  We shall not die…We shall live and declare the works of the Lord. We shall live and praise Your holy name. The enemy has been overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, and we testify to the GOODNESS of our God and we plead the blood, we plead the blood, we plead the blood, we plead the precious blood of Jesus!  Hallelujah and AMEN!