Do you ever wonder why folks love to go out on the water? Many find they are so happy just sitting on a boat floating on the water, whether it be on a lake, a river or bigger still.....an ocean. People that usually stay so tense and controlled on land, even when they are not working.....they find that being on the water, doing nothing, is so calming, so soothing.
Wondering however, as so many of us don't have the option of getting out on the water when we feel stressed, downtrodden or a need to just get away from it all. What can we do?
Scripture tells us to come to the waters, water that is healing, where thirst is quenched and souls are satisfied. Our minds are a wonderful thing. Yes, I know our minds can battle our spirit on a continual basis when we are under attack by the enemy....or just life, but those of us who are the "children of God", we have the mind of Christ and He will help us overcome the thoughts of the evil one. We can use our mind to spiritually dip into the waters of the River of Live, the river where the Spirit abides. We can let ourselves spiritually float on that river....the river that flows from the throne room of God. On that river, as we float, all things that are keeping us from having peace are lifted off of us. As we drift along, our bodies can be healed, so many illnesses are stress related....God can now let His healing waters flow through our bodies and we are reminded there is nothing that God cannot and will not do to heal us. When we feel those waters rolling over us, cooling, soothing waters......our souls are restored with His Word, as scripture after scripture comes through us, reminding us of His faithfulness, His goodness. As we let ourselves be saturated in the healing waters of our God, we feel His love flowing anew into our hearts causing them to heal of all hurts and unforgiveness. As we let go of those things we begin to float above all the earth's heaviness and our faith and trust is strengthened.
Need to get away......fall into the waters of the Lord. Take a spiritual cruise with the Lover of our souls....be it for a moment or longer, it is live changing.
Isaiah 55:1b "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters"
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Thirst No More
John 18:28b "I Thirst"
As our precious Savior hung on that rugged cross, moments before death would claim Him, He said "I thirst". One of those responsible for putting Jesus on this very cross dipped hyssop into sour wine and lifted it up to Him, after which He said "It is finished!" and gave up His spirit.
This morning as these words filled my mind, I saw that our Lord was not thirsty for water but in fact was thirsty for the Presence, the Presence of His Father that had left Him when He took on the sins of the world. That immense emptiness His spirit felt when His Father, His God, who could not look at sin, turned His back. Can you just imagine how God felt? Loving His Son so deeply, His Son who knew no sin.....His Son, perfect and unsoiled......Heaven's own joy....and having to turn away.....because He took on the sins of the world......all sin...past, present, future sin....my sin.....your sin. I believe the earthquake that preceded was the very breaking of God's heart as the reason He sent Jesus to earth.....knowing death was the result.....was finished.
I have known parents who, for reasons they knew was the right thing to do, have turned their child, their grown child, out and refused their cries for help, turning from them with their own hearts breaking.....and they were not taking on the sins of all the world. You may know how this feels also, my friends, as a time when you have had to refuse your child something even though it broke your heart to do so. Your tears shed.....I believe my Father in Heaven shed tears, heartbreaking tears.
"I thirst". Serious spiritual thirst when a separation came between the Son and the Father. This is the deep thirst so many feel because of a lack of relationship with the Lord. As these words came to me this morning, I could see....I could feel the estranged cry of Jesus as the relationship was severed.....even though it would be for a short period of time....a minute would be too long to be separated from the Father. People search for lifetimes trying to satisfy that emptiness, that thirst they seek and so many never find it as they are unwilling to let themselves go.....just give up the control they have worked so hard to maintain.....just let themselves call on the Lord and surrender their all to Him. One call and their thirst would be satisfied for eternity with "Living Water" that would cease their thirst forever.
The dictionary says thirst is a dry, painful feeling caused by having nothing to drink......a dry, painful feeling. Have you ever come in, so thirsty, and drank a bottle of water to find that you were still thirsty? So you drank more to find that it did not seem to quench that thirst? Only One can truly satisfy the thirst of a child of God. Only One can truly fill the vessel to the top calming the need for anymore. Only One can calm that dry, painful feeling, replacing it with a joy unknown before. Only One can give everlasting, never-ending "Living Water" so that you thirst no more.
As our precious Savior hung on that rugged cross, moments before death would claim Him, He said "I thirst". One of those responsible for putting Jesus on this very cross dipped hyssop into sour wine and lifted it up to Him, after which He said "It is finished!" and gave up His spirit.
This morning as these words filled my mind, I saw that our Lord was not thirsty for water but in fact was thirsty for the Presence, the Presence of His Father that had left Him when He took on the sins of the world. That immense emptiness His spirit felt when His Father, His God, who could not look at sin, turned His back. Can you just imagine how God felt? Loving His Son so deeply, His Son who knew no sin.....His Son, perfect and unsoiled......Heaven's own joy....and having to turn away.....because He took on the sins of the world......all sin...past, present, future sin....my sin.....your sin. I believe the earthquake that preceded was the very breaking of God's heart as the reason He sent Jesus to earth.....knowing death was the result.....was finished.
I have known parents who, for reasons they knew was the right thing to do, have turned their child, their grown child, out and refused their cries for help, turning from them with their own hearts breaking.....and they were not taking on the sins of all the world. You may know how this feels also, my friends, as a time when you have had to refuse your child something even though it broke your heart to do so. Your tears shed.....I believe my Father in Heaven shed tears, heartbreaking tears.
"I thirst". Serious spiritual thirst when a separation came between the Son and the Father. This is the deep thirst so many feel because of a lack of relationship with the Lord. As these words came to me this morning, I could see....I could feel the estranged cry of Jesus as the relationship was severed.....even though it would be for a short period of time....a minute would be too long to be separated from the Father. People search for lifetimes trying to satisfy that emptiness, that thirst they seek and so many never find it as they are unwilling to let themselves go.....just give up the control they have worked so hard to maintain.....just let themselves call on the Lord and surrender their all to Him. One call and their thirst would be satisfied for eternity with "Living Water" that would cease their thirst forever.
The dictionary says thirst is a dry, painful feeling caused by having nothing to drink......a dry, painful feeling. Have you ever come in, so thirsty, and drank a bottle of water to find that you were still thirsty? So you drank more to find that it did not seem to quench that thirst? Only One can truly satisfy the thirst of a child of God. Only One can truly fill the vessel to the top calming the need for anymore. Only One can calm that dry, painful feeling, replacing it with a joy unknown before. Only One can give everlasting, never-ending "Living Water" so that you thirst no more.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
CREAM ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP
This
is the word the Lord gave me yesterday and it has been on my mind ever
since. I could not imagine what this
phrase could possible mean in regards to my (our) Christian walk. As the phrase would not let go of me, I decided
to sit down and put some serious thought to it.
I googled the phrase but of course there was nothing to reflect the Word
of God. That is all it took. A serious decision to find out what the Lord
was telling me and the answer began to come.
Cream
is the rich portion of the milk when fresh before anything is done to it. I can remember as a child and seeing my
grandmothers bring in the milk from the dairy man. They would pour off the top of the bottled
milk as this was where the beautiful cream was.
It was always at the top, even though when it was poured into the bottle
it sank to the bottom as it was heavier.
But the richness of it, the buttery goodness of it, slowly began to rise
upwards.
Often
when we are under attack from the enemy, all the good that has been poured into
us by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, all the beauty of God’s Word,
His love and His faithfulness at times begins to slowly flow to the bottom of
our hearts, our spirits. As the attacks
become heavier and we become discouraged, faith beginning to falter, our
spirits become heavy and our knowing….our vision….darkness can begin to
overtake us. We call out to our Father, “help
us Lord”.
Here’s
the good part, dear friends……we are the children of a Mighty God…..of a Father
whose hand never leaves us……we are inhabited by His very own Spirit……and the
Spirit of God, dwelling in us does not fail us but begins to rise above the
circumstances….begins to exalt Himself above the darkness that has tried to
fill us….and His Light comes rising to the top of any and all situations that
have bound us. Like the cream rising to
the top of milk – the richness of the Holy Spirit cannot be held down in the
hearts of those who worship the Lord with their whole hearts……the goodness of
God will draw His Spirit up in us and lift us higher than our problems…..and
the joy and peace that only can come from our Lord begins to fill us again.
It
is difficult at times to put in exact words what the Lord shows me…..I can only
pray you can close your earthly eyes and let your spiritual eyes join me in
seeing the Lord, in His rich glory, rising up in us when we come against
worldly attacks. Join me in thanksgiving
and gratitude to our God, who time after time shows His faithfulness and love….His
abiding love.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
JESUS WALKED ON WATER.....HE DANCED IN THE FIRE
As I was worshiping in church this morning, the song was about being an overcomer......through Jesus. I saw a scene before my eyes and it was Jesus dancing in the fires of hell. There is nothing that tells us what happened between the time Jesus died on the cross and the time He rose again. To be honest, I had never thought of it. But this morning, there during worship, I saw Jesus dancing in the fire, the flames all around Him, but nothing could touch Him or harm Him. As satan was rejoicing in what he believed was his great victory, Jesus came into hell with the power of the Living God. As I sit here writing, that is what has come to me. He was showing satan that he, had won nothing, that death....hell....fire.....nothing could keep the Son of God down. Jesus had said He would rise again in three days and satan could not prevent that. We know that Jesus took the keys to death and hell and He was the Conqueror, not satan. Can you imagine the tormented mind of satan while Jesus spent that length of time down there. I believe satan cowered in fear when he saw the Light descend into that darkness. Jesus wasn't there for a few minutes, but sufficient time to make known the Glory of the Lord in the depths of hell. Neither death nor hell could keep Jesus down. Victory was in His hands.
I think the word given me here was to let me know.....let you know.....that just because satan thinks he has the victory over our lives, it is not his decision at all. He has no authority over the children of God. Yes, he and his evil ones can make our lives difficult......but he does not have authority over our lives. Our Father in Heaven has us in His hands, we are His. He is there to protect us. Jesus went to hell and rose again.....did you ever think there was a reason He did this....that He just didn't get buried and then lay there for a couple of days and then rise up? I believe our Savior wanted to show us that there is a real hell.....that satan is real.....and satan wants to bring us there. But Jesus conquered death....He conquered the grave....and He conquered hell. Jesus has put on us His stamp of forgiveness and mercy.....His righteousness is upon us.....and we, just as He, have the victory over satan. We should not fear what satan can do to us.....we are the victors. It is time we take into our hearts, into our spirits the realization of the victory that was won for us when Jesus descended into that dark pit aglow with flames.
Right now the song "Victory is mine, Victory is mine, Victory today is mine, I told satan to get thee behind, Victory today is mine" is resounding through my spirit.
Dear friends, I believe it is time we see ALL that Jesus did while in the grave, and realize that we have the victory. Jesus has given us the victory.
08/07/16
As I was worshiping in church this morning, the song was about being an overcomer......through Jesus. I saw a scene before my eyes and it was Jesus dancing in the fires of hell. There is nothing that tells us what happened between the time Jesus died on the cross and the time He rose again. To be honest, I had never thought of it. But this morning, there during worship, I saw Jesus dancing in the fire, the flames all around Him, but nothing could touch Him or harm Him. As satan was rejoicing in what he believed was his great victory, Jesus came into hell with the power of the Living God. As I sit here writing, that is what has come to me. He was showing satan that he, had won nothing, that death....hell....fire.....nothing could keep the Son of God down. Jesus had said He would rise again in three days and satan could not prevent that. We know that Jesus took the keys to death and hell and He was the Conqueror, not satan. Can you imagine the tormented mind of satan while Jesus spent that length of time down there. I believe satan cowered in fear when he saw the Light descend into that darkness. Jesus wasn't there for a few minutes, but sufficient time to make known the Glory of the Lord in the depths of hell. Neither death nor hell could keep Jesus down. Victory was in His hands.
I think the word given me here was to let me know.....let you know.....that just because satan thinks he has the victory over our lives, it is not his decision at all. He has no authority over the children of God. Yes, he and his evil ones can make our lives difficult......but he does not have authority over our lives. Our Father in Heaven has us in His hands, we are His. He is there to protect us. Jesus went to hell and rose again.....did you ever think there was a reason He did this....that He just didn't get buried and then lay there for a couple of days and then rise up? I believe our Savior wanted to show us that there is a real hell.....that satan is real.....and satan wants to bring us there. But Jesus conquered death....He conquered the grave....and He conquered hell. Jesus has put on us His stamp of forgiveness and mercy.....His righteousness is upon us.....and we, just as He, have the victory over satan. We should not fear what satan can do to us.....we are the victors. It is time we take into our hearts, into our spirits the realization of the victory that was won for us when Jesus descended into that dark pit aglow with flames.
Right now the song "Victory is mine, Victory is mine, Victory today is mine, I told satan to get thee behind, Victory today is mine" is resounding through my spirit.
Dear friends, I believe it is time we see ALL that Jesus did while in the grave, and realize that we have the victory. Jesus has given us the victory.
08/07/16
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
FORT KNOX - TRUE GOLD OR GONE
Acts 3:6 "Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you..."
I can remember a time when just the name of Fort Knox brought up visions of gold bars stacked in rows and rows in support of our economy. With our economy such as it is, with our nation's debt so far out of reach, I find it hard to believe in the structure once set up by our forefathers.
So many people through out the years have put their hopes, their dreams in gold....or for us every day folks, dollars. We have seen so often those hopes, those dreams, shattered as disaster in one form or another has struck our families, our homes.....our lives. Illness can wipe away savings in an instant, even for those with insurance. Fires, floods....so many things can take away the tangible assets of our personal funds.... a nations funds gone as they overspend to try and compensate for the lack of planning, the lack of trust in solid gold has long been gone. The only difference between personal and national funds is that we face the hard fact of what is no longer there.....nations funds (money tax payers have supported) .....well, we have no way of really knowing what is there or what is gone, the value goes up and down daily. Trust has been lost over the years.....faith in a nation that was once built on Godly principles has deteriorated. We have no idea of what gold is really at Ft. Knox.
Could it be when fear arises.....when these times of anxiety rise up taking over our thoughts, our lives....could it be that perhaps we have our trust in the wrong gold source? The gold in Ft. Knox will not be what is going to save our nation.....save us. It could be gone in an instant!
Our hopes.....our trust.....should only be placed in One.....in Jesus Christ our Lord. When all the riches of the world fade away.....when physical assets are gone......when what we know as our daily living is no longer.....there is One who, from the beginning.....and to the end.....will be there for us.
Our Provider, dear friends, has no intention of leaving us.....nor will he deceive us as to what His riches are and their availability to us.....our trust in Him is solvent. The debts of this world are man- made.....the debt we could never pay.....was paid for us at Calvary. When we leave this world, when Father calls us home.....debts that ensnare so many on this earth will stay here......our sin.....the debt that was paid for with the shedding of the precious blood of our Savior, Jesus.....has washed us white as snow and we are received into the welcoming arms of our Lord.....debt free.....silver and gold could not do this......only the love and grace of God did this......
Put your trust......your hope......your faith in the riches of the Father, our God in heaven......He has paid the price for your salvation.....this can never be taken from you......it is the purest means of gold that is stored up in His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that lives in you.....we are rich, dear friends, beyond measure.
I can remember a time when just the name of Fort Knox brought up visions of gold bars stacked in rows and rows in support of our economy. With our economy such as it is, with our nation's debt so far out of reach, I find it hard to believe in the structure once set up by our forefathers.
So many people through out the years have put their hopes, their dreams in gold....or for us every day folks, dollars. We have seen so often those hopes, those dreams, shattered as disaster in one form or another has struck our families, our homes.....our lives. Illness can wipe away savings in an instant, even for those with insurance. Fires, floods....so many things can take away the tangible assets of our personal funds.... a nations funds gone as they overspend to try and compensate for the lack of planning, the lack of trust in solid gold has long been gone. The only difference between personal and national funds is that we face the hard fact of what is no longer there.....nations funds (money tax payers have supported) .....well, we have no way of really knowing what is there or what is gone, the value goes up and down daily. Trust has been lost over the years.....faith in a nation that was once built on Godly principles has deteriorated. We have no idea of what gold is really at Ft. Knox.
Could it be when fear arises.....when these times of anxiety rise up taking over our thoughts, our lives....could it be that perhaps we have our trust in the wrong gold source? The gold in Ft. Knox will not be what is going to save our nation.....save us. It could be gone in an instant!
Our hopes.....our trust.....should only be placed in One.....in Jesus Christ our Lord. When all the riches of the world fade away.....when physical assets are gone......when what we know as our daily living is no longer.....there is One who, from the beginning.....and to the end.....will be there for us.
Our Provider, dear friends, has no intention of leaving us.....nor will he deceive us as to what His riches are and their availability to us.....our trust in Him is solvent. The debts of this world are man- made.....the debt we could never pay.....was paid for us at Calvary. When we leave this world, when Father calls us home.....debts that ensnare so many on this earth will stay here......our sin.....the debt that was paid for with the shedding of the precious blood of our Savior, Jesus.....has washed us white as snow and we are received into the welcoming arms of our Lord.....debt free.....silver and gold could not do this......only the love and grace of God did this......
Put your trust......your hope......your faith in the riches of the Father, our God in heaven......He has paid the price for your salvation.....this can never be taken from you......it is the purest means of gold that is stored up in His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that lives in you.....we are rich, dear friends, beyond measure.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
My Spirit Grieves
Webster defines grieve as "feel grief, be very sad...but also to make very sad, afflict". In Ephesians 4 we find instruction to the "New Man"; putting off the old man, former conduct, thinking, behaviors, lusts and becoming renewed in the spirit of your mind, putting on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. And DO NOT GRIEVE THE SPIRIT. Here is the place that I feel myself now.
As I see the things going on around me, the actions of my brothers and sisters in Christ.....and forgive me Lord, myself included, I have become grieved in my spirit as I see the grieving of the SPIRIT of God. As I feel His heart, aching for the love and passion of His children.....to seek Him first, to leave the things of the world behind....to love Him completely, trusting and obeying. Yes, I know......I understand how easy it is to be caught up in the things of this earth, especially now as elections are coming up and there is so much debate and conflict in who, what, why's of the candidates. As I seek the Lord in who I should support with my vote.....wanting so deeply to do as the Lord would have me do.....seeing all the propaganda that is flashed before me on social media, on the news.....what difficulty lies in this. How sad it is to see so many proposing things of the Lord that makes you wonder if you serve the same God. How strange it is to sit and contemplate what is being said as "God's will" and be confused as to the manner of the candidate which goes again everything of God. Surely this cannot be. These are Christian leaders......these are folks that you have seen write about the love and grace of our Lord.....these are people that you have come to rely on for the truth of the Word.....and now it leaves wonder.....doubt......questions.
This, however, I do know. I do know that God is in control of all things. Satan might rule the earth as we, God's children, continually seem to give him that power.....how grievous is that, my friends, how very grievous is that......But in all things, God is all Power, all Majesty, all Glory. I know all things can turn around in an instant, if we would but return our hearts and minds to our God, our living God. He alone can restore, heal and empower His people to take back what is His, to take back the land He gives to us, and to become Victorious in Him.
Victory can only be found in Jesus. Victory is not in money, power or fame. Victory alone is in Jesus. Eternal life is victory. Life on this earth is victorious when living for the Lord alone. How I desire to be one of the victorious walking on this earth.....letting His Light shine through me....not living in fear but in victory.
When grief comes on me as it has lately, seeing around me the following of man and not of the Lord, it causes the Light in me to dim....not that my Lord has left me, but a mindful thing only of me, hurting.....knowing how much this hurts my God......especially now, just past Resurrection Sunday, the remembrance of the sacrifice made for me....for us....knowing He died for me, loving me so. How I desire to live....live only for my Lord God....daily.....not grieving Him but following Him, listening only to His voice, not being swayed by what I see.....what I hear.....what I feel. But by trusting in His Word....in His Spirit as He leads me in the will of my Father.
As I see the things going on around me, the actions of my brothers and sisters in Christ.....and forgive me Lord, myself included, I have become grieved in my spirit as I see the grieving of the SPIRIT of God. As I feel His heart, aching for the love and passion of His children.....to seek Him first, to leave the things of the world behind....to love Him completely, trusting and obeying. Yes, I know......I understand how easy it is to be caught up in the things of this earth, especially now as elections are coming up and there is so much debate and conflict in who, what, why's of the candidates. As I seek the Lord in who I should support with my vote.....wanting so deeply to do as the Lord would have me do.....seeing all the propaganda that is flashed before me on social media, on the news.....what difficulty lies in this. How sad it is to see so many proposing things of the Lord that makes you wonder if you serve the same God. How strange it is to sit and contemplate what is being said as "God's will" and be confused as to the manner of the candidate which goes again everything of God. Surely this cannot be. These are Christian leaders......these are folks that you have seen write about the love and grace of our Lord.....these are people that you have come to rely on for the truth of the Word.....and now it leaves wonder.....doubt......questions.
This, however, I do know. I do know that God is in control of all things. Satan might rule the earth as we, God's children, continually seem to give him that power.....how grievous is that, my friends, how very grievous is that......But in all things, God is all Power, all Majesty, all Glory. I know all things can turn around in an instant, if we would but return our hearts and minds to our God, our living God. He alone can restore, heal and empower His people to take back what is His, to take back the land He gives to us, and to become Victorious in Him.
Victory can only be found in Jesus. Victory is not in money, power or fame. Victory alone is in Jesus. Eternal life is victory. Life on this earth is victorious when living for the Lord alone. How I desire to be one of the victorious walking on this earth.....letting His Light shine through me....not living in fear but in victory.
When grief comes on me as it has lately, seeing around me the following of man and not of the Lord, it causes the Light in me to dim....not that my Lord has left me, but a mindful thing only of me, hurting.....knowing how much this hurts my God......especially now, just past Resurrection Sunday, the remembrance of the sacrifice made for me....for us....knowing He died for me, loving me so. How I desire to live....live only for my Lord God....daily.....not grieving Him but following Him, listening only to His voice, not being swayed by what I see.....what I hear.....what I feel. But by trusting in His Word....in His Spirit as He leads me in the will of my Father.
True Identity Make Over
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
As I was dressing for the day, I looked into the mirror and the old Dionne Warwick song popped into my head "Don't Make Me Over". I was a bit stunned and wondered.....where did that come from? As I stood there, Holy Spirit began to show me how as we go through life, there are many that try to do just that. And of course, being the humans we are, most of us fight it tooth and nail. Parents try to do that with their children, a number of times to keep their child from making the same mistakes they made so they can have a better life. Some to fulfill themselves in their child for things they desired and did not achieve. Then in school, friends tend to want us to be like them in order to gain a group around them that will do as they do.....you know this is true also. But most individuals, as we grow older, want to break that shell and be who we feel we are to be, we fight to be that person. To have our own identity.
My trusty old dictionary gives the definition of identity as this: individuality; who a person is; exact likeness, sameness; state of being the same one.
Just the definition of identity gives a lot to think about! I think due to the way so many of us grew up as we came to know our Lord, giving up the identity we perceived for ourselves has put road blocks in our path to becoming like Him. Does anyone feel this? We have had years, even those of us that grew up in church.....have had years of teaching that we either rejected or objected to and developed a mind set of who we are and who we should be. Some had teaching that were so legalistic it gave a feeling of never being able to measure up to what the Lord expected of us. What we should be...who we should be....how we should be. If we were not a certain way, how could we expect to be truly accepted by the Lord, much less....be like Him? We can become captive in these thoughts.....the enemy helps this along by constantly bringing your past to mind....making you feel that who you were, that identity, is what you are and what you always will be. I know people that are wonderful people, loving the Lord, but having trouble with smoking, drinking, cursing.......they just don't seem to be able to realize that those curses can be broken.....it is not who they are!
We are not destined to be what our minds tell us. If we come to the Lord Jesus, lay our burdens before Him, confess our sins, and receive Him as Lord and Savior, He will show us who we are, who we really are....our true identity. We are the children of God, the Father. We are loved for who we are, even as we are....we have been loved since before we were born here on earth. When Jesus was on the cross, He took all our sin - yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's. He did this so once and for all there would no longer be a barrier between us and our heavenly Father. He gave us access to our God. He filled us with His Spirit the day we accepted Him as Lord and Savior....and on that day.... our true identity became known to us. We were filled with unconditional love and grace. Mercy filled the atmosphere and the blood of Jesus cleansed us inside and out. No longer who we thought we would be......no longer the person that accepted the way things were.....but now new creations in the Christ Jesus. A newness of mind was ours. Yes, satan still tries to fill our mind with garbage but we have the Name of Jesus that we can call on instantly to defeat him with.
No longer are the confines of the past binding us, we can now walk in who we were meant to be, in the likeness of Jesus. Don't be fooled by what you see in the mirror.....look at yourself through the eyes of our Lord God.....as He sees us through Jesus. Look into the eyes of love and mercy.....see your true identity......dearest child of God.
As I was dressing for the day, I looked into the mirror and the old Dionne Warwick song popped into my head "Don't Make Me Over". I was a bit stunned and wondered.....where did that come from? As I stood there, Holy Spirit began to show me how as we go through life, there are many that try to do just that. And of course, being the humans we are, most of us fight it tooth and nail. Parents try to do that with their children, a number of times to keep their child from making the same mistakes they made so they can have a better life. Some to fulfill themselves in their child for things they desired and did not achieve. Then in school, friends tend to want us to be like them in order to gain a group around them that will do as they do.....you know this is true also. But most individuals, as we grow older, want to break that shell and be who we feel we are to be, we fight to be that person. To have our own identity.
My trusty old dictionary gives the definition of identity as this: individuality; who a person is; exact likeness, sameness; state of being the same one.
Just the definition of identity gives a lot to think about! I think due to the way so many of us grew up as we came to know our Lord, giving up the identity we perceived for ourselves has put road blocks in our path to becoming like Him. Does anyone feel this? We have had years, even those of us that grew up in church.....have had years of teaching that we either rejected or objected to and developed a mind set of who we are and who we should be. Some had teaching that were so legalistic it gave a feeling of never being able to measure up to what the Lord expected of us. What we should be...who we should be....how we should be. If we were not a certain way, how could we expect to be truly accepted by the Lord, much less....be like Him? We can become captive in these thoughts.....the enemy helps this along by constantly bringing your past to mind....making you feel that who you were, that identity, is what you are and what you always will be. I know people that are wonderful people, loving the Lord, but having trouble with smoking, drinking, cursing.......they just don't seem to be able to realize that those curses can be broken.....it is not who they are!
We are not destined to be what our minds tell us. If we come to the Lord Jesus, lay our burdens before Him, confess our sins, and receive Him as Lord and Savior, He will show us who we are, who we really are....our true identity. We are the children of God, the Father. We are loved for who we are, even as we are....we have been loved since before we were born here on earth. When Jesus was on the cross, He took all our sin - yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's. He did this so once and for all there would no longer be a barrier between us and our heavenly Father. He gave us access to our God. He filled us with His Spirit the day we accepted Him as Lord and Savior....and on that day.... our true identity became known to us. We were filled with unconditional love and grace. Mercy filled the atmosphere and the blood of Jesus cleansed us inside and out. No longer who we thought we would be......no longer the person that accepted the way things were.....but now new creations in the Christ Jesus. A newness of mind was ours. Yes, satan still tries to fill our mind with garbage but we have the Name of Jesus that we can call on instantly to defeat him with.
No longer are the confines of the past binding us, we can now walk in who we were meant to be, in the likeness of Jesus. Don't be fooled by what you see in the mirror.....look at yourself through the eyes of our Lord God.....as He sees us through Jesus. Look into the eyes of love and mercy.....see your true identity......dearest child of God.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
THE AGONY OF VICTORY
Psalm 51:11 "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me."
I am reading a new book on my Kindle about Jesus. There are a lot of books about Jesus out there, and some I can just not seem to get into, but then there are the books that are written by folks that have a heart of worship, a heart so like mine.....well, these are the books that I can just fall into, almost as though I am writing the book myself. I see myself in every other line.....so it was this morning early, as I took a few moments to spend time learning more about my Savior. I say all this, and yet, it was not Jesus to whom my attention was drawn but to my God instead. As I was reading in the book, about the walk Jesus had on earth, about His life, and then about His death.....I was drawn into another realm where I seemed to sit in the presence of God as He told me what He had gone through while Jesus was on earth.
My Father told me His most agonizing moments when Jesus was being beaten, spit upon, cursed.....all those horrific things that my precious Savior suffered BEFORE He was hung on the cross.....this paled in comparison to the moment.....that heartbreaking moment as Jesus took on the sins of the world, those minutes as He hung there, sin draped over Him like a second skin.....and He was alone....totally alone..... nothing compared to those moments, because He could not look upon sin, because sin caused a breach between His Beloved Son and Himself, and God turned away.....those moments were heartbreaking to our God. But it was necessary, for the final sacrifice to be made, so death could be defeated, sickness and pain could be conquered.....and so sin would no longer be an unbreachible bridge between our God and ourselves. Jesus paid the price to restore man's relationship with God. But our God paid a price too..... Can you imagine giving up part of yourself, and that is what a child is....part of you....but giving this child, perfect in all aspects, no sin......no defilement.....completely without sin.....for a world of Christians that just decided that living in sin was easier, decidedly safer......no rules......no commitment.....no responsibility..... and you were going to give your child to die for these people......I am not sure I know a human that would, much less could, do this. But God did, and He suffered such agony when He was forced to turn from His precious Son.
Every blow was felt by God, every accusation cut deep as His Son, the Innocent One was making the way, doing what He was sent to do. It was necessary, sad to say, but necessary for the Christian to know what victory over sin is, what victory over death, over sickness, over heartache, over disappointment.....to know victory today, it took the suffering of our Lord Jesus then.....and our Father....our God.
As we are walking the path the Lord has set before us....the way that God, our Father, has made for us, His plan for our lives.....every hurt, every accusation, every disappointment and heartbreak.....they are felt by the Father's heart. He grieves when we cry....I believe He knows every tear I have shed in my life time....just think on this.....if the Lord knows every hair on your head by number, how many there are, how many there use to be, what has been lost.....then don't you think He would know, so very well, how many tears you have shed.....don't you think He would know every time that you wanted to just quit....give up.....but your love for Him, your passion for His presence, for His touch on your life......made you get back up and keep going, refusing to quit because the One who called you had never quit on you.
We will suffer agony in this life......our Lord Jesus suffered great agony......and our God, perhaps the greatest agony of all. Victory requires sacrifice.....sacrifice of our thoughts for His, sacrifice of our plans for His....and the ultimate giving up of our will, for His will for us. It truly is the agony of victory....but in victory agony turns sweet.....turns precious.......turns into eternal life.
Pats Pennings
11-12-13
I am reading a new book on my Kindle about Jesus. There are a lot of books about Jesus out there, and some I can just not seem to get into, but then there are the books that are written by folks that have a heart of worship, a heart so like mine.....well, these are the books that I can just fall into, almost as though I am writing the book myself. I see myself in every other line.....so it was this morning early, as I took a few moments to spend time learning more about my Savior. I say all this, and yet, it was not Jesus to whom my attention was drawn but to my God instead. As I was reading in the book, about the walk Jesus had on earth, about His life, and then about His death.....I was drawn into another realm where I seemed to sit in the presence of God as He told me what He had gone through while Jesus was on earth.
My Father told me His most agonizing moments when Jesus was being beaten, spit upon, cursed.....all those horrific things that my precious Savior suffered BEFORE He was hung on the cross.....this paled in comparison to the moment.....that heartbreaking moment as Jesus took on the sins of the world, those minutes as He hung there, sin draped over Him like a second skin.....and He was alone....totally alone..... nothing compared to those moments, because He could not look upon sin, because sin caused a breach between His Beloved Son and Himself, and God turned away.....those moments were heartbreaking to our God. But it was necessary, for the final sacrifice to be made, so death could be defeated, sickness and pain could be conquered.....and so sin would no longer be an unbreachible bridge between our God and ourselves. Jesus paid the price to restore man's relationship with God. But our God paid a price too..... Can you imagine giving up part of yourself, and that is what a child is....part of you....but giving this child, perfect in all aspects, no sin......no defilement.....completely without sin.....for a world of Christians that just decided that living in sin was easier, decidedly safer......no rules......no commitment.....no responsibility..... and you were going to give your child to die for these people......I am not sure I know a human that would, much less could, do this. But God did, and He suffered such agony when He was forced to turn from His precious Son.
Every blow was felt by God, every accusation cut deep as His Son, the Innocent One was making the way, doing what He was sent to do. It was necessary, sad to say, but necessary for the Christian to know what victory over sin is, what victory over death, over sickness, over heartache, over disappointment.....to know victory today, it took the suffering of our Lord Jesus then.....and our Father....our God.
As we are walking the path the Lord has set before us....the way that God, our Father, has made for us, His plan for our lives.....every hurt, every accusation, every disappointment and heartbreak.....they are felt by the Father's heart. He grieves when we cry....I believe He knows every tear I have shed in my life time....just think on this.....if the Lord knows every hair on your head by number, how many there are, how many there use to be, what has been lost.....then don't you think He would know, so very well, how many tears you have shed.....don't you think He would know every time that you wanted to just quit....give up.....but your love for Him, your passion for His presence, for His touch on your life......made you get back up and keep going, refusing to quit because the One who called you had never quit on you.
We will suffer agony in this life......our Lord Jesus suffered great agony......and our God, perhaps the greatest agony of all. Victory requires sacrifice.....sacrifice of our thoughts for His, sacrifice of our plans for His....and the ultimate giving up of our will, for His will for us. It truly is the agony of victory....but in victory agony turns sweet.....turns precious.......turns into eternal life.
Pats Pennings
11-12-13
Sunday, August 4, 2013
DANCE LIKE DAVID
2 Samuel 6:14 "Then
David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen
ephod”; v16: “Now as the ark of the Lord
came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window
and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him
in her heart”.
I always go to church expecting, I always expect the Lord to
show up, and to give me something, a new word.
Sometimes a word from the Lord is personal, but I find most times, it is
a word He means to be shared with others, to give them the same clarity, the
same new wisdom that He gives you.
Understand me please, I do not take credit at any time for any of this….I
only know that if I am prepared, if I am expectant, if I do my part, the Lord ALWAYS does
His. So before I went into church, I
made sure I tore some pages from my little notebook, tucked them inside my
Bible and had my pen within easy reach.
As we were praising the Lord, the song began “When the
Spirit of the Lord comes upon my heart, I will dance like David danced”. As we sang, the Lord began to speak to
me. David was stripped down to just his
linen ephod, it was a short garment that was worn over their clothing, but it
gave freedom for dancing; nothing fine or kingly about the one he wore. The Lord showed me that as David wore this
unrefined garment, he was setting aside all there was about himself, about his
worldly status, and worshiping the Lord in sheer abandonment, and that this is
the same attitude that the Lord wants us to come before him to worship
Him. Yes, you say, well we have no royal
attire so we are already stripped down to commonness. That is not what the Lord was telling
me. He wants us to abandon ourselves,
abandon those self-righteous attitudes, fear NOT what others think about us as
we give ourselves into complete glorification of our God, into total surrender
of self unto Him. Just let go of all our
inhibitions and religious chains of propriety, of the “proper” behavior in
church we have been taught since childhood, but to just relax and rejoice in
His presence and dance, dance, dance like David did.
Just as Michal did……rise herself up in religious attitude,
in her “position”, her “status” in life….
There are some folks in churches that have this “status” and think they have to
be on guard of how they behave at all times.
Behavior that is expected of a Christian is not the same thing as
behavior of a child of God dancing before Him, praising, worshiping Him with
all their heart. No one should ever feel
they are above the call of sheer abandonment to worship God. What a disappointment they will feel, and
truth be told, I have a feeling there was a part of Michal that wanted to be
that free….although nothing was ever said like this….and I am sure at that time
if you had asked her, she would deny it….if you met her today….it might be a
total different story. The reason I can
say this openly is that I know that feeling.
There was a day when I thought I could not abandon myself to worship,
what would people think, how would it look.
Yes, foolish I was….but no longer.
However, the people that will seem to despise you for this behavior are
mostly the people that wish, they too, could be free to worship in complete and
total abandonment to the Lord.
We are meant to be free in the Lord…..we are meant to be
free from fear of what other’s think of our worshiping the Lord with all our
hearts….we are to be free to show the love we have for our Lord and to be a
testimony of that love, that freedom of worship….an example for others to see,
to desire, and to join in.
When the Spirit of the Lord comes upon my heart, and He does
very often, I will dance like David dances, I will shout like David shouts and
I will worship like David worships. I
use the word in the present tense, because…..if this is how David, or I, or you
worship on earth, it will only intensify when we get to Heaven. I know David is leading throngs of people,
dressed in righteousness, in complete abandonment, worshiping our Lord, giving
Him all the honor, all the glory, for He alone is worthy of all our worship,
all the time….true worship in complete giving of ourselves, complete and
unashamed abandonment…….it is all about HIM!
Patspennings 8-04-13
Sunday, July 28, 2013
THE OBSESSION WITH HORROR
Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."
You cannot look around you.....at what is on television, what is at the movies, on the news...it seems like everything now is beginning to have a common theme.....horror. I can remember as a child, movies that were considered horror movies were designed to frighten, scare you....but momentarily, the horror faded as soon as you walked out of the movie as you knew it was not real, not conceivable. But not today....for a long time now, I have noticed the building up of movies, shows that played off what was happening in the world....and if it was not happening, then after watching some of these movies, shows, it was enacted in fact. And people literally ate it up.....people are fascinated by evil, wrong doing, horror.
Yes, I can feel some of you will disagree with me, but think about this. What is it about things that are so horrible, devastating to people, hurtful.....sinful....that draws people to watch, again and again? If folks did not watch these things, trust me, eventually movie makers, television producers would begin to see, and to do more of what was desired. They only produce what sells.....and it sells, because?
What we see, what we watch, these things are what begin to abide inside of us. As I have never enjoyed horror movies.....why would I intentionally want to cause myself to be frightened, fearful? But these things begin to take root inside. I can remember when video games were about frogs, silly men in hats wanting to climb to higher levels....but then they became about shooting robots....and then the robots took on the form of humans. And kids, and adults all over the world began to shoot humans on video games, the horror of it. Just could not get enough of it. The more you killed, the better you were. And they wonder why kids, grownups can just shoot people in mass and be unaffected by it. Total obsession with horror till it no longer bothers you....it just feeds that lustful spirit.
Do you want to be obsessed with a horror that I feel was the most horrible scene ever known? Place yourself on that middle cross, the one Jesus hung on.....feel the horror of the sin of every person, past life, present life and the sin of those lives to come....our sin...as they were flung, as they whipped the body, the heart, the Spirit of our Lord Jesus.....and if that horror is not enough, feel past the physical pain and feel the horror of your Beloved Father turning away as you were too "horrible, sinful" to see, to know. Then descend into the true horror of the world, of the universe...and YES IT IS REAL... descend into HELL. Here is true horror, the horror I cannot think of any Christian wanting to experience....descend into hell and see what our Lord saw there.....He saw those there that had not chosen Him, that had turned from the Lord, from our God, and now would live eternally in a horror that never ends. Feed your obsession here.
These types of movies, shows of horror, they satisfy a lustful spirit. I cannot tell you what to do if these are things you enjoy watching....I can only ask that you look at them as our Lord would have you look at them....with His heart, through His eyes, in His Spirit..... One day there will be a line drawn in the sand...... why wait till that day.... Choose your obsession...will it be of our Lord, His Spirit, or will it be of the lust of the world.
Thank You, Lord, for being my All.
Patspennings
07-28-13
You cannot look around you.....at what is on television, what is at the movies, on the news...it seems like everything now is beginning to have a common theme.....horror. I can remember as a child, movies that were considered horror movies were designed to frighten, scare you....but momentarily, the horror faded as soon as you walked out of the movie as you knew it was not real, not conceivable. But not today....for a long time now, I have noticed the building up of movies, shows that played off what was happening in the world....and if it was not happening, then after watching some of these movies, shows, it was enacted in fact. And people literally ate it up.....people are fascinated by evil, wrong doing, horror.
Yes, I can feel some of you will disagree with me, but think about this. What is it about things that are so horrible, devastating to people, hurtful.....sinful....that draws people to watch, again and again? If folks did not watch these things, trust me, eventually movie makers, television producers would begin to see, and to do more of what was desired. They only produce what sells.....and it sells, because?
What we see, what we watch, these things are what begin to abide inside of us. As I have never enjoyed horror movies.....why would I intentionally want to cause myself to be frightened, fearful? But these things begin to take root inside. I can remember when video games were about frogs, silly men in hats wanting to climb to higher levels....but then they became about shooting robots....and then the robots took on the form of humans. And kids, and adults all over the world began to shoot humans on video games, the horror of it. Just could not get enough of it. The more you killed, the better you were. And they wonder why kids, grownups can just shoot people in mass and be unaffected by it. Total obsession with horror till it no longer bothers you....it just feeds that lustful spirit.
Do you want to be obsessed with a horror that I feel was the most horrible scene ever known? Place yourself on that middle cross, the one Jesus hung on.....feel the horror of the sin of every person, past life, present life and the sin of those lives to come....our sin...as they were flung, as they whipped the body, the heart, the Spirit of our Lord Jesus.....and if that horror is not enough, feel past the physical pain and feel the horror of your Beloved Father turning away as you were too "horrible, sinful" to see, to know. Then descend into the true horror of the world, of the universe...and YES IT IS REAL... descend into HELL. Here is true horror, the horror I cannot think of any Christian wanting to experience....descend into hell and see what our Lord saw there.....He saw those there that had not chosen Him, that had turned from the Lord, from our God, and now would live eternally in a horror that never ends. Feed your obsession here.
These types of movies, shows of horror, they satisfy a lustful spirit. I cannot tell you what to do if these are things you enjoy watching....I can only ask that you look at them as our Lord would have you look at them....with His heart, through His eyes, in His Spirit..... One day there will be a line drawn in the sand...... why wait till that day.... Choose your obsession...will it be of our Lord, His Spirit, or will it be of the lust of the world.
Thank You, Lord, for being my All.
Patspennings
07-28-13
Sunday, July 14, 2013
SIGHT AND SOUND
Hebrews 12:14-15 "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord, looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled...."
I am so uncertain as to this scripture....but as I looked to see what the Lord said about what He had spoken to me just a couple of hours ago, this is the one He led me to. I am sure, though, as I write, it will become plain to me....and I pray to you also.
I struggled since yesterday about where to attend church this morning....I still have not found where I feel the Lord would have me go......as I am looking for a church locally, one nearby where I can become more of a part of than just Sunday morning worship when I drive 30 or 40 miles to get to.......so I struggled.....did I want to go where beginning of the service is not set in stone (I am so on- time oriented.....well, I just feel others should feel that way also....you can see what the Lord puts up with me....He is dealing with me on so many things, breaking the chains of my thoughts.....showing me His thoughts), but here the people are loving, and it is a church the size I am seeking; or was I going to attend a much larger church, actually a satellite church but the worship leaves my heart aching and needing more. Well, I piddled around too long to attend the first and so I went to the second option.
As worship began, rather I would consider this praise as it was a upbeat, many worded, quick paced song.....I found myself thinking, "O Lord, I just want to worship You with these people, just worship You...." but I tried to enter into the song. Well then I saw the lights flickering on the walls, the music beginning to attack me like noise and I began to notice the way the people on the platform were dressed.....real trendy, men with that kind of actor type of unshaven look....new male wardrobe styles you see on NY runways.... Well, you get the picture....I was sinking fast.
I then heard the words "Sight and Sound" flood my spirit. And I knew what would follow. I knew the Lord was beginning to download into my spirit something I was to write. My first thought, forgive me Lord, was "Not now Lord, I can't sit and begin to write at this time". But, as I have found, the Lord gives when He is ready....NOT when we are ready. And so He began to speak to me. I found by the time He was finished why He was giving this to me at that moment....at that precise moment. Like lots of folks, we have a mind that has learned how to block out what we don't think is meant for ourselves.....You know some of those scriptures that we tend to feel, well that surely doesn't pertain to me.....those times. The Lord wanted to show and tell me these things right then, because that is when I was allowing the enemy......the enemy of my own mind to distract me from Him, from seeking His face, His presence. This, when I think on it, is exactly what I pray and ask the Lord to do for me.....not to let me fall into a sinful place with my mind....my heart.....any part of me that is not of Him. Here I was beginning to fall into the very trap I ask Him to keep me from and I wanted to argue His timing on it. Well, you can imagine how I felt when He was done. All I could think then and now is "Forgive me Lord, forgive me".
I was allowing what I saw.....which there was nothing wrong with, but the enemy knows which of my buttons are still being dealt with by the Holy Spirit, he knew just what to show me.....just what to let me hear, twisting and turning so that I would begin to find fault, displeasure, dislike with and to....to distract me from the very reason I went to church. I went to join in with the others there in a corporate time of worship to my Lord, to my God. I went to join with the body of Christ.....to become united with them to pray and worship the King of kings, the Lord of my life. Not all music will be the kind of worship music that I find draws me instantly into the presence of the Lord, the worship music that I cannot hear without drawing me right into worship from my spirit, from my heart.....I don't understand all this, and I am not saying this to make it seem that my preferences are right and others wrong....that is not what I am saying. I am just saying that I, we, should never let anything distract us when we are "with the body of believers" to keep us from the object of our being there....to corporately worship, corporately pray, corporately seek the Lord.
When our hearts, when our spirits are seeking the Lord.....truly seeking the Lord, we must be so careful not to let what differences in our worship preferences, our dress preferences, any of our personal preferences to interfere or take our minds off of the importance of joining together in church. Keep our hearts, keep our minds on the Lord. Ignore what is around you in worldly form and concentrate on the spirits that are reaching out to the Lord.....that is what the Lord was showing me. It is the spirits of those around me that is important, not what they look like.......it is the spirit of the music.....the words being sung......praises to the Lord, our God......that is what is important.
Now that I believe I have put down all the Lord wants me to.....I looked back up at the scripture He gave me.....bitterness.....like unrest so easily can spring up within you when differences.....sights and sounds.....abound. Keeping my eyes on Him, dear friends, keeping your eyes on Him....our only sure way to keep our hearts pure, our spirits undefiled....the only way.
Thank You, Lord, for Your words to me........I know You, with loving grace, have forgiven me for what wanted to rise up in me......You touched me with Your immediate word, as I have asked You to do.....and took me eyes off the world and drew them back to You, where I always want them to be. I love You so much. Thank You, Lord.
patspennings
07-14-13
I am so uncertain as to this scripture....but as I looked to see what the Lord said about what He had spoken to me just a couple of hours ago, this is the one He led me to. I am sure, though, as I write, it will become plain to me....and I pray to you also.
I struggled since yesterday about where to attend church this morning....I still have not found where I feel the Lord would have me go......as I am looking for a church locally, one nearby where I can become more of a part of than just Sunday morning worship when I drive 30 or 40 miles to get to.......so I struggled.....did I want to go where beginning of the service is not set in stone (I am so on- time oriented.....well, I just feel others should feel that way also....you can see what the Lord puts up with me....He is dealing with me on so many things, breaking the chains of my thoughts.....showing me His thoughts), but here the people are loving, and it is a church the size I am seeking; or was I going to attend a much larger church, actually a satellite church but the worship leaves my heart aching and needing more. Well, I piddled around too long to attend the first and so I went to the second option.
As worship began, rather I would consider this praise as it was a upbeat, many worded, quick paced song.....I found myself thinking, "O Lord, I just want to worship You with these people, just worship You...." but I tried to enter into the song. Well then I saw the lights flickering on the walls, the music beginning to attack me like noise and I began to notice the way the people on the platform were dressed.....real trendy, men with that kind of actor type of unshaven look....new male wardrobe styles you see on NY runways.... Well, you get the picture....I was sinking fast.
I then heard the words "Sight and Sound" flood my spirit. And I knew what would follow. I knew the Lord was beginning to download into my spirit something I was to write. My first thought, forgive me Lord, was "Not now Lord, I can't sit and begin to write at this time". But, as I have found, the Lord gives when He is ready....NOT when we are ready. And so He began to speak to me. I found by the time He was finished why He was giving this to me at that moment....at that precise moment. Like lots of folks, we have a mind that has learned how to block out what we don't think is meant for ourselves.....You know some of those scriptures that we tend to feel, well that surely doesn't pertain to me.....those times. The Lord wanted to show and tell me these things right then, because that is when I was allowing the enemy......the enemy of my own mind to distract me from Him, from seeking His face, His presence. This, when I think on it, is exactly what I pray and ask the Lord to do for me.....not to let me fall into a sinful place with my mind....my heart.....any part of me that is not of Him. Here I was beginning to fall into the very trap I ask Him to keep me from and I wanted to argue His timing on it. Well, you can imagine how I felt when He was done. All I could think then and now is "Forgive me Lord, forgive me".
I was allowing what I saw.....which there was nothing wrong with, but the enemy knows which of my buttons are still being dealt with by the Holy Spirit, he knew just what to show me.....just what to let me hear, twisting and turning so that I would begin to find fault, displeasure, dislike with and to....to distract me from the very reason I went to church. I went to join in with the others there in a corporate time of worship to my Lord, to my God. I went to join with the body of Christ.....to become united with them to pray and worship the King of kings, the Lord of my life. Not all music will be the kind of worship music that I find draws me instantly into the presence of the Lord, the worship music that I cannot hear without drawing me right into worship from my spirit, from my heart.....I don't understand all this, and I am not saying this to make it seem that my preferences are right and others wrong....that is not what I am saying. I am just saying that I, we, should never let anything distract us when we are "with the body of believers" to keep us from the object of our being there....to corporately worship, corporately pray, corporately seek the Lord.
When our hearts, when our spirits are seeking the Lord.....truly seeking the Lord, we must be so careful not to let what differences in our worship preferences, our dress preferences, any of our personal preferences to interfere or take our minds off of the importance of joining together in church. Keep our hearts, keep our minds on the Lord. Ignore what is around you in worldly form and concentrate on the spirits that are reaching out to the Lord.....that is what the Lord was showing me. It is the spirits of those around me that is important, not what they look like.......it is the spirit of the music.....the words being sung......praises to the Lord, our God......that is what is important.
Now that I believe I have put down all the Lord wants me to.....I looked back up at the scripture He gave me.....bitterness.....like unrest so easily can spring up within you when differences.....sights and sounds.....abound. Keeping my eyes on Him, dear friends, keeping your eyes on Him....our only sure way to keep our hearts pure, our spirits undefiled....the only way.
Thank You, Lord, for Your words to me........I know You, with loving grace, have forgiven me for what wanted to rise up in me......You touched me with Your immediate word, as I have asked You to do.....and took me eyes off the world and drew them back to You, where I always want them to be. I love You so much. Thank You, Lord.
patspennings
07-14-13
Saturday, June 15, 2013
MY FATHER.....THOUGHTS OF THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
Ephesians 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land."
Because of tomorrow being Father's Day, I find myself thinking deeply about my father, my daddy. So many thoughts passing through my mind.....daddy teaching me to ride my first bike, how he went round and round the house holding me on the bike....I have to laugh as it was forever before I could ride that bike, in fact, truth be told.....my sis rode it before I did. But daddy tried so hard to help me. I remember one Valentine's Day, daddy came home from work with chocolate hearts with our names on them. A Christmas when he and mama had just finished putting the gifts under the tree at 3:00 in the morning and we woke up.....daddy told us to go back to bed....but a minute later he was up, lighting the fires so it would be warm while we opened our gifts....I can remember he had a hard time saying no.
I also remember being punished because of bad grades and not getting to go to the dance.....I was in my room and I can remember daddy staying up late, long after the dance would be over....not able to sleep because he knew I was so upset and it hurt him so, ....but he had told me, if my report card was bad, I would be punished.....and daddy was so loving, but he was consistent. He was not one to just let us have our way when he knew what was better for us.
Strange, though, my memories are so different in some ways from that of my brother and sister. I believe all children grow up with different memories, having seen their fathers, their daddies in a different light from each other. I know families where one child will remember a very happy childhood and the other will think it was horrid. I believe it has a lot to do with love....and with forgiveness....and with forgetting, a choice to choose the good memories and let bad ones go, especially when your dad is no longer with you. The Lord gives us the good memories for comfort, at least He has me.
Our Heavenly Father has children that often fall into the same categories. I have a loving Father that I know, no matter what I do, will love me, because I am His child. And yet, some of God's children see Him as a harsh, punishing God.....He gets blamed for all the bad things in the world...and by some of His own children. Can you imagine how that hurts Him. I can hear Him feeling "My children do not know me, not at all". And the sad thing is, so many do not try to know Him personally, get close to Him.....would not dream of spiritually crawling up on His lap to talk to Him. My Father is loving, He is a protecting, gentle Father. But He means what He says in His Word. To be able to respect my daddy.....I learned to respect and fear my Lord. Not fear as to be afraid of Him....how many misinterpret that fear.... it is a study in itself that everyone should do. Get on the right path in your thoughts of our Father in heaven....I believe it will make a difference in your thoughts of your earthly fathers also.
Seems to me I am beginning to ramble here....but so many thoughts going through my head, my heart....my spirit longs to express to you the respect that is due.....even if some do not have fathers that have stayed around, that you feel earned respect from you....the Lord did not say in His Word, to respect your father and mother "IF they deserve it"......He said to respect them so things would go good for you. This is a commandment.....not a choice....and it is the first commandment given with a promise at the end....."that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land". For those that have a hard time doing such....remember all things are possible with God. Let the Holy Spirit lead and show you how to make this possible.
Well, daddy, you always knew I was a loving child and have grown into a loving woman. I love because you taught me love, and because you taught me God is love. How could I not love, unconditionally love, because that is the way you loved me and that is the way my Lord loves me. Love should not depend on what others do for you, or to you.....it is not their heart that controls your love.....it is your heart........ Daddy, it's Father's Day tomorrow.....you are always in my heart.... and tomorrow, more so.....our birthdays are coming up in a few weeks.....remember the parties for both of us with family....they being two days apart.....there I go, memories again. I love you daddy. I love You Father, thank You Father, for these moments in time.
Because of tomorrow being Father's Day, I find myself thinking deeply about my father, my daddy. So many thoughts passing through my mind.....daddy teaching me to ride my first bike, how he went round and round the house holding me on the bike....I have to laugh as it was forever before I could ride that bike, in fact, truth be told.....my sis rode it before I did. But daddy tried so hard to help me. I remember one Valentine's Day, daddy came home from work with chocolate hearts with our names on them. A Christmas when he and mama had just finished putting the gifts under the tree at 3:00 in the morning and we woke up.....daddy told us to go back to bed....but a minute later he was up, lighting the fires so it would be warm while we opened our gifts....I can remember he had a hard time saying no.
I also remember being punished because of bad grades and not getting to go to the dance.....I was in my room and I can remember daddy staying up late, long after the dance would be over....not able to sleep because he knew I was so upset and it hurt him so, ....but he had told me, if my report card was bad, I would be punished.....and daddy was so loving, but he was consistent. He was not one to just let us have our way when he knew what was better for us.
Strange, though, my memories are so different in some ways from that of my brother and sister. I believe all children grow up with different memories, having seen their fathers, their daddies in a different light from each other. I know families where one child will remember a very happy childhood and the other will think it was horrid. I believe it has a lot to do with love....and with forgiveness....and with forgetting, a choice to choose the good memories and let bad ones go, especially when your dad is no longer with you. The Lord gives us the good memories for comfort, at least He has me.
Our Heavenly Father has children that often fall into the same categories. I have a loving Father that I know, no matter what I do, will love me, because I am His child. And yet, some of God's children see Him as a harsh, punishing God.....He gets blamed for all the bad things in the world...and by some of His own children. Can you imagine how that hurts Him. I can hear Him feeling "My children do not know me, not at all". And the sad thing is, so many do not try to know Him personally, get close to Him.....would not dream of spiritually crawling up on His lap to talk to Him. My Father is loving, He is a protecting, gentle Father. But He means what He says in His Word. To be able to respect my daddy.....I learned to respect and fear my Lord. Not fear as to be afraid of Him....how many misinterpret that fear.... it is a study in itself that everyone should do. Get on the right path in your thoughts of our Father in heaven....I believe it will make a difference in your thoughts of your earthly fathers also.
Seems to me I am beginning to ramble here....but so many thoughts going through my head, my heart....my spirit longs to express to you the respect that is due.....even if some do not have fathers that have stayed around, that you feel earned respect from you....the Lord did not say in His Word, to respect your father and mother "IF they deserve it"......He said to respect them so things would go good for you. This is a commandment.....not a choice....and it is the first commandment given with a promise at the end....."that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land". For those that have a hard time doing such....remember all things are possible with God. Let the Holy Spirit lead and show you how to make this possible.
Well, daddy, you always knew I was a loving child and have grown into a loving woman. I love because you taught me love, and because you taught me God is love. How could I not love, unconditionally love, because that is the way you loved me and that is the way my Lord loves me. Love should not depend on what others do for you, or to you.....it is not their heart that controls your love.....it is your heart........ Daddy, it's Father's Day tomorrow.....you are always in my heart.... and tomorrow, more so.....our birthdays are coming up in a few weeks.....remember the parties for both of us with family....they being two days apart.....there I go, memories again. I love you daddy. I love You Father, thank You Father, for these moments in time.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
THE SIN OF SILENCE
Genesis 3:6 "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for good, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."
Once again, as I was reading the
Word, I find that my reading of the scripture has been in error. I have
read this passage so many times and only today, my eyes were opened to the
words "she also gave some to her husband WHO WAS WITH HER, and he ate”.
Adam was right there. I, like so many people, would place the blame of
the sin on Eve, who gave to her husband the forbidden fruit....and the blame is
her’s, it is the serpent’s, and it is Adam’s. But as I view this sin,
this direct disobedience of what the Lord commanded them, I see another
sin. I see the sin of silence. Adam was with her.....have you, as
I, always thought that perhaps Adam was off tending the garden somewhere else,
or resting, or doing what sport might have been done in that day...but no, the
Word of God reports that Adam was right there, with Eve, as the serpent talked
to her, he must have heard every word said.
And what did Adam do? It appears
he did nothing. He did not at any time
question what Eve was doing….he did rebuke the serpent and send him away,
telling him to leave them alone….he did not stand with the Lord and uphold what
the Lord had told them as true….he did not one time say, “I respect my Father
and I will not disobey Him”. And then
when the Lord confronted them, he blamed Eve.
And yet, I feel his sin was as great….his sin of silence.
Now I am not trying here to begin
a discussion on who is truly to blame, or what should have happened….we all
know who is to blame and what should have happened. But before we begin to cast judgment, let’s
look at this in the now-time. How many
times have we seen a friend, brother or sister…..begin to do something, say
something….that we knew was wrong, that we knew was not God’s way…..and yet, we
held our voice, we held our voice from telling them, from advising them of God’s
way, of even perhaps, something we had done similar and how we suffered from
the guilt of disobeying the Lord. As
young people, did you stand by and watch a friend cheat on a test…..perhaps
take a pack of gum or candy from the store…..and said nothing. No mention to that friend that it wasn’t
right….that it was against what was true, what was just, what was Godly. So afraid of their disapproval…their opinion….of
losing that friendship…. So we said
nothing. Sin of silence.
So who has the greater sin? In God’s eyes, all sin is the same…sin is
sin, no degree in His eyes, no sin worse than the other, or least than the
other. Sin is sin. Do you think that when we keep silent about
wrong doings, about sin….we are innocent of the sin? When you see someone mistreating another, do
you say something or do you just turn and pretend not to notice. When someone tells an off color joke…..do you
laugh, or even sit silent but say nothing.
When another wants to tell you “juicy” somethings, commonly known as “gossip”,
do you listen or do you tell them that it is not a Christian thing to do? We all know church folks that “in the guise
of wanting to tell you something about another….for prayer sake”. We all know the difference…. and if you think
you don’t, then get in your prayer closet and pray…the Holy Spirit will teach
you.
Silence is golden, it has been
said. But it is golden when it is you….when
it is you that refuses to repeat that “I heard” you were told. Silence is golden when you refuse to take
part in a group telling off color jokes…..silence is golden when instead of
worrying about friends approval, you silently begin to pray….to ask the Holy
Spirit to lead you, to give you the words to say to your friend, in love, about
what they are doing, the wrong of it.
You can see, dear friends, that as
I was reading these words this morning, the Holy Spirit began to speak very
strongly to me. To show me the error of
my ways and how to walk in the truth. In
the truth of the Lord there is no fear…..”what can man do to me”. To stand for the ways of the Lord, to be a
child of the King who loves others enough to be honest with them about what
they are going to do, are wanting to do….or something they have done….when
asked what you think…. Silence is not golden.
Love others enough to speak God’s Word to them….to help them deny the
enemy (the serpent) and obey our God.
Don’t stand by, as Adam did, and let them sin, then help them indulge in
their sin by doing nothing……and when God comes calling…..you will see who has
done the greater sin….If you’ll remember, not only Eve was punished.
Thank You, Lord, for Your words to
me….for Your forgiveness and mercy given me….let me keep Your ways, Lord, and be
an example, a friend to my friends and family.
Pat’s Pennings
05-26-13
Sunday, May 19, 2013
FOUNDATION OF GRACE
1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love."
My Father and I, through His Holy Spirit, had a conversation today. I love it when my Father takes the time to explain things to me, to show me a word, or a part of scripture that perhaps was being missed. The reference scripture above was not the Word that He was focusing me on, but it is the reason for all the things that He has done for me and for you. His love.
The base, the foundation of all grace is love. The Lord loves us all, even though I like to think of myself, and you also, if being truthful......we like to think of ourselves as God's favorite child. You know, the one that if He looked over a group of us, we would be the first chosen to climb up on His lap to talk to Him. I see that as me.....you see that one as you. It's okay, I think as He loves us all the same, He doesn't mind one bit that we know we are special to Him...we are!
But as love is the foundation for grace, then the grace differs. Each of us has needs that are different from one another. The Lord treats us individually. What I need in my life will be so different from your needs. Grace, I believe, is applied daily according to the need we have for that day. Where I may rise in the morning, after a bad nights rest, I may need grace for strength of body, clarity of mind.....and you may have slept a full eight hours and wake up refreshed but are going to have a long day at work....you may need grace for extra body strength and stamina. We have individual needs and God's grace is applied to each of us accordingly.
I have been studying the Holy Spirit, reading and seeing that grace applied to me through the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:3, the Word tells us "Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat on each of them." Again, we are treated individually......we, when we are born again, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given our own spiritual tongue. No one's is alike. I have seen folks mimic the tongue of another, but it is not theirs, their true spiritual tongue is unlike another. I like knowing that when I am praying in my prayer language, my own prayer language, instantly the Lord knows it is me, just as He knows your voice, He knows your spiritual language voice. How special we are to the Lord, that He takes the time to treat us special, individual.
What a horrible thing it would be, I feel, if we were lumped into one big group and dealt with as such. I shudder to think of any of you, my dear friends, being judged for my sin. I would not have wanted that for any of you. Nor do I believe you would want someone else paying for your sin in the past. But the Lord treats us separately, He deals with us individually, and He keeps those things to Himself, and after the sin was purged from us by the blood of our Savior, Jesus, the Lord, our God, threw those things as far from Him, never to be reminded of them again. We do not treat our eyes as we would our hand, but they are all parts of our body. The Lord treats us all special, individual, and yet we are all a special, important part of the body of Christ, the Bride of our Lord.
The foundation of grace is love. Love is the foundation for all that transpires between the Lord and us. Thank You, Lord, for treating us in love, with divine mercy that comes anew each morning, Your grace is flowing down to us from a never ending river of love and that love that is shown gives us a glimpse into what is waiting for us in You.....eternal life. What grace is mine, given from Your love divine.
Friends, when you think of how the Lord treats us, all different, individually, but with the same love behind His affections, His gifts, His blessings, His mercy and His wondrous grace. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, my Father.
05-19-13
My Father and I, through His Holy Spirit, had a conversation today. I love it when my Father takes the time to explain things to me, to show me a word, or a part of scripture that perhaps was being missed. The reference scripture above was not the Word that He was focusing me on, but it is the reason for all the things that He has done for me and for you. His love.
The base, the foundation of all grace is love. The Lord loves us all, even though I like to think of myself, and you also, if being truthful......we like to think of ourselves as God's favorite child. You know, the one that if He looked over a group of us, we would be the first chosen to climb up on His lap to talk to Him. I see that as me.....you see that one as you. It's okay, I think as He loves us all the same, He doesn't mind one bit that we know we are special to Him...we are!
But as love is the foundation for grace, then the grace differs. Each of us has needs that are different from one another. The Lord treats us individually. What I need in my life will be so different from your needs. Grace, I believe, is applied daily according to the need we have for that day. Where I may rise in the morning, after a bad nights rest, I may need grace for strength of body, clarity of mind.....and you may have slept a full eight hours and wake up refreshed but are going to have a long day at work....you may need grace for extra body strength and stamina. We have individual needs and God's grace is applied to each of us accordingly.
I have been studying the Holy Spirit, reading and seeing that grace applied to me through the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:3, the Word tells us "Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat on each of them." Again, we are treated individually......we, when we are born again, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given our own spiritual tongue. No one's is alike. I have seen folks mimic the tongue of another, but it is not theirs, their true spiritual tongue is unlike another. I like knowing that when I am praying in my prayer language, my own prayer language, instantly the Lord knows it is me, just as He knows your voice, He knows your spiritual language voice. How special we are to the Lord, that He takes the time to treat us special, individual.
What a horrible thing it would be, I feel, if we were lumped into one big group and dealt with as such. I shudder to think of any of you, my dear friends, being judged for my sin. I would not have wanted that for any of you. Nor do I believe you would want someone else paying for your sin in the past. But the Lord treats us separately, He deals with us individually, and He keeps those things to Himself, and after the sin was purged from us by the blood of our Savior, Jesus, the Lord, our God, threw those things as far from Him, never to be reminded of them again. We do not treat our eyes as we would our hand, but they are all parts of our body. The Lord treats us all special, individual, and yet we are all a special, important part of the body of Christ, the Bride of our Lord.
The foundation of grace is love. Love is the foundation for all that transpires between the Lord and us. Thank You, Lord, for treating us in love, with divine mercy that comes anew each morning, Your grace is flowing down to us from a never ending river of love and that love that is shown gives us a glimpse into what is waiting for us in You.....eternal life. What grace is mine, given from Your love divine.
Friends, when you think of how the Lord treats us, all different, individually, but with the same love behind His affections, His gifts, His blessings, His mercy and His wondrous grace. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, my Father.
05-19-13
Monday, April 29, 2013
COMPLACENCY AND ACCEPTANCE - GREVIOUS TO OUR GOD
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name,
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked
ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal
their land.”
The Lord has been pouring into me for the last few days,
just keeps having me look at the things I see on television, the things I read
on Facebook, and the way this world is headed.
Calling me to write, to put His heart in words as He gives to me. As I kept putting it off, then the Lord began
to bring Jonah to mind. When He wants me
to write something, He works on me with one thought after another until He
shows me where I am headed. And so
tonight, ……
As I read the Word of God, as I look at this scripture in
particular, God is speaking to His people, who are called by His Name…..us,
Christians….He is not even speaking to those who have rejected Him, who do not
worship Him, who do not call Him Lord.
It is grievous to me when I see the sin of this earth, as I
know it grieves the Lord. But what is
even more grievous to the Lord is the complacency and the acceptance of the
sins of the world. The more it is put
before us, the more things become ingrained in our subconscious, and the more
it sinks in, the less it is thought about.
It becomes a part of everyday life….but it is sin. Complacency, acceptance toward things that
are contrary to the Word of God becomes as sin in us.
It is God’s people, those of us who call Him Lord that He
speaks to. It is for us to come out from
the crowd, to step out and make a stand for the things of God, not the things
of the world. He calls to us to pray,
not to judge others for their sin, not to criticize, but to pray for the
opening of their eyes, their hearing to be awakened to the things of God, not
the world, to step away from their sinful ways and to repent of their sin. And IF we are walking as we should before
God, IF we are praying for these lost in sin, then WE WILL be able to lead them
to the foot of the cross, where in repentance….they too, will receive
forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Father, I pray this is as You would have me write, that Your
thoughts will be seen here, not mine, and that Your Word will be instilled upon
the hearts of those who call upon You as their Father. I pray that our sins of complacency and
acceptance will be repented of, as we seek Your forgiveness and thank You for
Your mercy and grace on our lives. Let
us then Lord, be as One with You, to show Your love, to show Your mercy and be
a roadmap that others can see to find their way to You.
Patspennings 04-29-13
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