Pierce the Darkness

2Co 4:3  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.

2Co 4:4  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2Co 4:5  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

2Co 4:6  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 During my Prayer Room service hours as I sat praying for a young African American man whom I saw pacing and praying.  I began to think of other young African American men and their struggles especially my sons and soon it led to my crying out to God to save my family members.  The scripture that stood out to me was verse 6 of the above mentioned scriptures. Suddenly, the revelation that God’s light shines out of darkness came alive with a greater clarity of truth and I began to pray God, PIERCE the DARKNESS!!!!!

Gen 1:1  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:2  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Gen 1:3  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Although, I could take off on a rabbit trail here as to why (my own beliefs-opinions) the earth was without form and void I will remain on course.  In reading the verses mentioned it shows God spoke-commanded light to come forth out of darkness.  We know that God, Himself, is Light and in Him there is no darkness; in saying this it shows that darkness can in no way overshadow light.  Light always dispels darkness. So in reading the scriptures and several others that were referenced my heart became encouraged, strengthened, and hopeful in God’s desire to deliver those whom I was praying for and calling forth out of all darkness.

Act 26:13  At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

Act 26:14  And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

Act 26:15  And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

Act 26:16  But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

Act 26:17  delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles--to whom I am sending you

Act 26:18  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

 The power of God’s ability to “PIERCE THE DARKNESS” can be seen above as Paul shares with King Agrippa what took place with him on the road to Damascus.  Before Saul’s (Paul’s) encounter he was so sure that he was in fact a servant of God and he was determined to annihilate and rid the nation (Jewish) of all whom had become followers of Jesus Christ.  Saul believed that he was the “enlightened” one and that all others had been deceived and believed in a false doctrine. You could say that he was under the conviction that their eyes were darkened / closed and his were opened.  It wasn’t until he had an encounter with the “light” of heaven piercing his darkness, blinding him (closing his eyes) to his religious error and opening his eyes (enlightening his understanding) of the truth of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Worthy rabbit trail – confirmation taking place at the moment: As I sit here writing this a chorus is being song by Misty Edwards and it is: Praise the Lord oh my soul and all my deepest parts, give praise to the One who pulled you out of darkness; He pulled you out of darkness.

This is what I was asking God when saying to Him “PIERCE THE DARKNESS.”  I want God to bring my family out of darkness---God loves me and I love the way He directs me in prayer!!!!!

In these following chapters and verses (2 Cor 4:3-4; 2 Thess 2:9-10; Matt 13:15) we see reasons for being ensnared in darkness  to both the god of this world, the lawless one (same as god of this world), and self (because of the choices that we make). It is the same old story. The same enemy who was in the garden in the beginning is in the garden of our hearts today speaking lies and causing doubt which leads to disobedience and death.  He opposes and exalts himself above everything that is called God or that is worship unto the true and living God. His kingdom is that of chaos, confusion, without form and void, deception, and DARKNESS! He is the lawless one, the one who gives the false impression that everything and anything goes and a man has the right to do what is right in his own eyes. But that’s the lie, the deception, the darkness. He blinds you to TRUTH. The truth that in doing so you will pay a dear price, your life – death!

Light causes transformation:

2Co 3:18  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

In the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we see where the veil of the temple was rent apart from the very top to its bottom by the hand of Almighty God. This spoke symbolically that there is no longer any separation between us and God. God, Himself, has made a way for us to come forth out of darkness and into the light of His presence through His Son.  As we allow the WORD of TRUTH to PIERCE our DARKNESS and renew our minds (unveil our face) we will surely behold the glory of the Lord and be transformed into the same image.  We become who God made us to be from creations beginning.  “IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS – Gen 1:26.

 
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!!!!! AMEN!!!!!

Until He Returns....
Beverly (Timbra-Isa 56:7)

The Transition Shawl

Transition: movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, to another; CHANGE.

On yesterday while fulfilling my Prayer Room service hours I was passed the message below by Anita Hensley, my Native American, Mohican friend who also made the “transition shawl.” I was told to take the shawl home for a while and use it in prayer if I wanted to. Of course, I wanted too…you all know me…I love tools and this would prove to be one.

My meditation began with my wrapping the “transition shawl” around my shoulders and thinking that I would read of the time when the glory of the Lord filled the temple and the priests could not stand to minister. Unbeknown to me this was a divine set up by Holy Spirit. While searching for the passage I came upon Exodus 40:34-38

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

In reading these verses Holy Spirit reminded me of my recent post “Direct My Heart into Your Love” about the new wine being put in new wineskin. The fact that these scriptures speak of how the cloud (glory/presence/spirit) of God was settled (upon) the tabernacle and that the tabernacle was “filled” with the glory (spirit-presence) reveals the desire of God (Spirit being upon and within) to do the same with us, the earthly tabernacle. As I pondered this the divine set-up began to unfold. I found myself thinking of how the Israelites had so many signs and wonders done amongst them, so much evidence that God was for them yet they fell into such unbelief that it caused there to be a veil placed upon their hearts-minds in knowing their God. Then the blow was struck, CONVICTION. For months I have sought after a sign from the Lord as to whether or not I had made the right decision to move here. For months I have battled the demons of doubt and unbelief in spite of the many signs that the Lord has given to assure me of His hand being not only upon this move but my life. Oh, how I have cried rivers (really rivers of tears) night after night, day after day over having stepped out of the boat to follow the Lord. Then another blow of CONVICTION – John 20:29 was given and I was told that if the Israelites failure to believe and acknowledge God’s favor and goodness towards them for 40 years led to their being snared by doubt and unbelief how much more could this happen to me if I did not step out of this place and walk this journey by faith.

 

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Conviction had done its job and now I was broken and repentant. Afterwards, God’s loving-kindness began to lift me out of the valley of CONVICTION and REPENTANCE to the banqueting table. I was told to now place the shawl over my head and read aloud certain passages from Psalm 91 and the entire book of Ruth. In Psalm 91 Holy Spirit highlighted what I call the “I will’s of God” so I prayed them back to the Father. But the most awesome event of all while feasting at the table was the reading of the book of Ruth.  I have read this book often during the 28 years of my “being” saved and each time the Lord reveals something that I had not seen before. Here I am sitting-covered in a “transition shawl” and in verse 15 of chapter 3 it reads:

15 He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and put it on her. Then he went back to town.

Now, I am weeping again but not in despair but in sheer joy of how the Lord favors me and has determined to show me His great love. At this point in the story Ruth is about to have another transition in her life take place. One of her transitions was her choosing to leave her people and follow Naomi back to Bethlehem. Once she is in Bethlehem she remains faithful to her mother-in-law and does exactly as she is told and goes and gleans whatever is left behind by the shearers of the field so that the two of them will have food.  In her obedience and love for Naomi she has placed herself in the position for another transition to take place (by faith) at the feet of Boaz; a transition that would place her in the lineage of Jesus (Matt 1:5).

Of course, I removed the shawl and held it out to receive by faith all that “Boaz,” my redeemer, (Jesus) has for me knowing that as Ruth; He has so much more in store. One day those of you who are walking with me and those of you watching me travel along this journey will also share in my joy as those who shared in the joy of Naomi when the Lord restored and blessed her through Ruth & Boaz.

Until He Returns…..

~Timbra

Direct My Heart into Your Love

One of the many illustrations that Jesus used when answering questions of those who were either troubled with His way of doing things or merely trying to catch Him in a fault was the illustration of the new wine & new wineskins.  Though this illustration came about in regards to “fasting” what has captured my attention is the statement that Jesus made when He said “new wine is ­put in new wineskins.”

Mat 9:17 Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; else the wineskins burst, and the wine runs out, and the wineskins perish. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved together.

 Although Jesus is using an illustration to explain to John’s disciples why His disciples were not fasting at that time; I am of the impression that He is also speaking of something beyond mere fasting. This something more is the indwelling Holy Spirit (new wine) within the new man-new creation (new wineskin). There is much said and / or written on the subject of the promise of the Father whereby the “Holy Spirit is poured out upon us” - Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 and though this is good there is more. Understanding the importance of the Spirit of God being upon and within is vitally important to the new man / new creation. God has faithfully kept His word and “poured” out His Spirit not only on the day of Pentecost but many today have experienced this outpouring yet I see why Jesus also made the statement of not putting new wine in old wineskins. When we fail to understand the need for the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence and merely experience the outpouring of the Spirit we can easily end up operating as psychics, palm readers, false prophets, false teachers, and more.  The outpouring of Holy Spirit is an “anointing” with power and the enemy knows this and this is why he would love for us to remain blind to our need for the indwelling work of the Spirit of God within us. The purpose of Holy Spirit being put (new wine) within us is to keep us from perishing and becoming prey for the enemy which is what he desires. We know that God calls those things that be not as though they are –Rom 4:17 and we also know that God says old things have passed away and behold all things have been made new – 2Cor 5:17 but there is still a transformation process needed (Rom 12:1) along with the working out of our salvation until the day we die or Jesus returns. The good news is that God has promised to not only pour out His Spirit but to put His Spirit in us.

 Eze 11:19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh,

Eze 36:27  And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them.

 Jas 4:5  Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?

Holy Spirit has been given to do more than give us experiences of the presence of God coming upon our flesh, He has also been sent to help us.  The Spirit of God within me is my only hope of staying on course, on the path of righteousness. Having the Spirit of God within me convicting me of my sins, giving me understanding, wisdom, counsel, knowledge and revelation of God and His ways keeps me rooted in the love of God. I can settle for fleeting moments of experiencing the anointing upon me or I can live in continuous communion with God through His Spirit resulting in an overflow of the anointing and becoming clothed with His presence (which is what I am pursuing). The Spirit of God dwelling on the inside of me gives me direct access to the mind of God for it is written “  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” – 1 Cor 2:9-12.  God gives us the freedom to choose whether or not we will give Him lordship of our lives and yield to the work of the Spirit within us or we can be lord of our own lives and exploit His anointing for sheer pleasurable experiences. Only by and through the work of the Holy Spirit within me will I be able to do that which the Lord has purposed in His heart for me to do before time began. Only by and through the work of the Holy Spirit within me will I become a whole hearted lover of the Son of God. Oh, that you, Holy Spirit would work the work of the Lord in me and cause my heart to be DIRECTED into the love of God and the patience of Christ.

2Thess 3:5

 I pray Father God that you would consider me new wineskin and put new wine within me...and take me from glory to glory…

Knowing God’s mind is… knowing God’s heart…knowing God’s heart is knowing God’s mind…..

Until He Returns

Timbra

Heir of God

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, "Abba, Father." For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share His suffering. (Romans 8:15-17 / NLT)

Each sentence in the scriptures above is filled with so much knowledge that you could spend weeks marveling at the revelations that Holy Spirit would unfold as you meditated on them. Although, there is the mentioning of sharing in the suffering of Christ as also sharing in His glory I would like to address something other than the glory that we as heirs-children of God have inherited and that is “faith.”

Since the writing of my last blog entry the LORD has been relentless in speaking to me in regards to my faith. For the first time ever I have almost completed the reading of 3 entire books in a week’s time that are true stories of some amazing people in our day and time who stepped out on faith with hardly anything to their names accept the belief that they had heard from God and the things that they accomplished were unfathomable. They all suffered in the undertaking of their obedience to God and without a doubt not only did they share in His glory upon this earth but will share in the greater glory that’s too come. Mind you I know that we should not compare ourselves amongst ourselves but as I read their stories I saw my own situation as being very minute yet here was God breaking in day by day speaking to me to not only keep the faith but build up my faith, hold on to my faith, and stand by faith.

What I clearly see now is that God has been “lifting up a standard” against the enemy. Day after day it seems as if I have been in a continuous personal battle and at times felt as though I would suffer defeat. In my obedience to God when told to “re-dig the wells of my salvation" I began to feel a refreshing within my spirit as though living waters were stirring once again. But no sooner than I would experience it I would be hit harder by the enemy. Not only was I being hit but I began to hear from other friends and family members of their troubles with some experiencing sickness-disease, and even the unexpected death of a friend’s close family member. As I contemplated these occurrences and what was taking place with the relentlessness of God and the issue of faith the Lord spoke to me about the war that was taking place with us.

Onslaught, intruder, and invasion were the words that He spoke to me about the attack of the enemy. None of those words were spoken frivolously. God spoke them strongly and I knew that I was not to take them lightly. That which has been happening to me has in fact been a relentless onslaught of the enemy against my mind and my faith in God and His ability to honor His WORD when it comes to ME personally. This rigorous onslaught by the intruder-enemy was an attempt for total invasion of my mind, will, and my emotions which if successful would have led to his robbing me of my inheritance. BUT GOD!!!!!! In lifting up the standard of faith, He enabled to me see and reminded me of the fact that I am an “heir.” Because of the death of Jesus I not only inherited the glory but His Holy Spirit, His WORD, His blood, His name, His righteousness, His faith, His authority and power but that which blessed me the most was the truth that I inherited GOD. God dwells in me and I dwell in Him. When that refreshing revelation began to sink in a holy indignation arose and I began to pray for one of my friends in particular who has entered a battle with a certain (intruder) disease. My thoughts were hold up (as my New Orleans daughter-in-love would say) this invasion of doubt, unbelief, lack, and some others intruders that have attempted to afflict me and the invasion of the disease that is attempting to afflict my friend are unwelcome intruders and as God is my / our inheritance. He alone should be the one doing the invading. So, I have decided to enter into the relentlessness of God and take my stand in hot pursuit against every intruder and rigorously make use of that which Jesus died and left me as my inheritance. For just as with father Abraham who believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness so shall I. May my precious Gathering sons and daughters stand up, shake off the dust, pick up that which has been given you thru the death of Jesus and let us dare not call God a liar. His covenant-the will has been sealed by the blood of the Lamb and the one with whom we are joint-heirs with has said…."Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

~Even if it be so....our God is able to deliver~

 Until He Returns

BAH / Timbra

Re- Digging the Wells

This journey to Kansas is proving to be quite an adventure and honestly not one that neither my flesh nor my soul is presently enjoying but my spirit man is proving to be quite valiant.  If you recall from an earlier writing (Joy Fears –Dec 24, 2010) the Lord spoke of my having an area of fear and since that time I have come to see that I have several areas of deep rooted fear. One in particular, is in believing that God really desires to cause the latter years of my life to be the best years of my life. Putting it in those terms is my way of not disclosing what He has truly said that He wants to bring and do for me. To be very open I struggled recently even repeating something back to God that He wanted me to say not that I refused to say it out of rebellion it was more out of “FEAR” that it just could not possibly be true. I suppose that at that moment it would appear that my actions were like that as Zechariah when the Lord told him that he and Elizabeth would soon have a son but Jesus was surely interceding for me and God’s response to my present behavior was a scripture reminding me that what was impossible with man was not impossible with Him (Mark 10:27). So, I graciously took on the mind of Mary and the promise is now as a babe in the womb of my heart and awaits its manifestation according to God’s timing.  Now you would think that with this taking place that I would have been off running to share my good news as Mary did…BUT…oh NO…this occurrence was used of God to draw my attention to something that God wanted to reveal that has taken place in my heart over the years.

I heard the words “unclog” the wells of your salvation. As I waited upon the Lord for further clarification He reminded me of the time when Isaac had to re-dig the wells of his father, Abraham, after they had been filled up with dirt by the Philistines.  In this analogy the Lord spoke and said that over the years I have allowed frustrations, difficulties, hurts, disappointments, deferred hope, and more to subtly fill up areas of my heart and they in fact were the cause of my struggle with doubt and unbelief when it comes to “me” (how often I have even said to God that He answers my prayers for others but somehow the personal ones for me seem to not get any results-now I see why).  This was the root of why I struggled to repeat that which the Lord wanted me to believe earlier because it clearly seemed too wonderful for me. I was willing to settle for living the remainder of my life serving the Lord and delighting in bringing Him pleasure. This sounds all well and good yet here I was denying God an opportunity to be pleased by doing something pleasurable for me. I was reminded of how during the early years of my salvation there was nothing that God would say or tell me to do that I wouldn’t hesitate to do or say. I devoured His word during that time for hours and I loved spending hours reading of the lives of such saints as William Seymour, Kathryn Kuhlman, John G. Lake, and my favorite was Smith Wigglesworth.  I would pray for hours and ask God to let me do great things like these guys and once I even pulled an Ezekiel (I will not say which one) but it worked.  God’s word was girl…unclog your wells of salvation for these are the things that fueled your faith. You believed me for anything no matter what anyone would say or think. Go back to your wells and remove those things that are hindering you…return and drink again from those writings and pump those wells. So, I obeyed and decided to go and visit my favorite, Mr. Wigglesworth, and what’s the first thing that I find in the first chapter of one of his books….Mark 10:27, for with man it is impossible but not with God, for with God all things are possible. Not only am I unclogging my wells but I am anticipating a visit from my Jesus who will come sit at my well and ask me for a drink of water and when He does I will oblige as well as receive from Him….

“That which seems impossible and too wonderful for me to believe”

   

God’s dream

As I sat praying to the Lord today and asking Him to have His way with my life; wanting to know what was His desire for my life? What was His will and wanting to fulfill it? I began to ponder “what is it about my life that God so desired that He would pay such a high price as the LIFE of His very own SON!  Why would God go to such an extreme to purchase me back? Of course, I know the OBVIOUS which is I was His from the beginning and He has every right to take back what was rightly His; His desire to have a family so that He could lavish His love on them and more. But other than the OBVIOUS why…what moved His heart so that He willingly made himself nothing, taking the form of a HUMBLE SERVANT and became a MAN (Phil 2:7).  In John 17:5 He even asks the Father to glorify Him with the glory that He had before the world existed. Are you hearing me…does this not imply that the LORD, Jesus Christ, gave up His glory to become a Servant; a servant to and for His Father to redeem mankind. What then? Why? It has to be more than the obvious. It has to be for more than what we have been fed from the church’s menu. The delicacies from this menu are filled with “blessings” and they are not the blessings of the “beatitudes” which is found in the Sermon on the Mount. Rather, these blessings are of those that constantly tell me that I am blessed and highly favored of the Lord and God has plans to “give” me all the (material) blessings that I want. When good things happen to or for me such as finding the right mate, getting a promotion on my job, increased finances, having a nice home, nice cars, rearing obedient, outstanding children, even being in good health and more then it clearly identifies me as being “blessed and highly favored of the Lord.” Now, mind you, I don’t have a problem with these things because all throughout the Bible we can see where God delights in blessing His children. BUT! Is this the dream of God’s heart? Is that it? Did God send His Son to die to give me things? Did Jesus die just so that I could have a luxurious, worry free, happy, woohoo, I’m better than you lifestyle. Am I supposed to become rich, wealthy, and full of the blessings of God just to be able to show people that I belong to God or is there more?

Throughout the Christian community there is an increased emphasis on the fact that the world is in chaos and that greater chaos is coming. This scripture (amongst many) is proof enough of that and to me it seems that those material things will not mean a hill of beans when the shakings increase....

Heb 12:26  At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."

With that being said does it not strike the heart as to there being something more to being a child of God other than my ability to prove that I am “blessed and highly favored of the Lord” by all of the goods that I have accumulated through my prosperous well paying, easy going, job or my increased finances-riches, or better yet my bragolicious, boastful, (unknowingly) prideful, tithing which gives me a RIGHT to God’s blessings.  Before I go on let me say this: I CAN NOT EARN MATERIAL BLESSINGS FROM GOD…WHEN HE DIED…THEY CAME WITH THE PACKAGE…ACCORDING TO HIS WORD…HE HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING THAT PERTAINS TO LIFE AND GODLINESS and for the naysayers and religious who will roll their necks and say…well why are there children of God who seem to be in want and need? Why are there children of God who suffer and more?  Well, I say, read the BOOK meaning the BIBLE and you will see WHY.

In my search to understand more fully “why” God would go to such lengths as to take on “flesh;” I have come to believe that God has a dream for my life. That there is something inside the heart and mind of God that delights Him so and He desires to bring it to pass through me.  I believe that this dream although it encompasses blessings has more to do with God being made known in the earth.  That God desires to be seen in the earth and that He has chosen to be seen through ME. God is more than big houses, fine cars, fat bank accounts, and other material things that we acquire in an effort to prove to the world that we belong to Christ.  There is an image that the LORD is looking to restore in the earth and this is why He died as far as I am concerned (you see I am speaking for myself here) and that image is HIS IMAGE and HIS LIKENESS. Before the fall of man God prepared a place in a garden that was said to be good and very good for such a one who would be fashioned in HIS IMAGE and HIS LIKENESS.  Why did God do that? I believe (and again I speak for myself) that the LORD longs to come to earth AGAIN and walk and talk with us the way He did before so that the people who are sitting in darkness will see HIS GREAT LIGHT-HIS GLORY. To me those who are blinded by the god of this world, bound in prisons of pain, sickness, despair, discouragement, anger, rage, deception, and more would be helped in a greater way through encountering God than encountering those of us who are so caught up and bound by the self- focused Christianity message that we are being constantly fed.  

I believe that there is a call for God’s children to make an about face or better yet remove the cart from in front of the horse and let him lead. I believe that the Lord desires a people who will stop talking about dying to their flesh and do it.  In other words, return to TRUTH and HIS WAY. Let Holy Spirit take His rightful place in our lives and begin to instruct us, to reveal to us the dream that is on the heart of God.  This dream has to include “perfection and holiness.” This dream has to include living our lives as Jesus did when He walked the earth. Impossible to do, I think not, Jesus showed us that it truly is possible to live in this world but not be “of” it.

LORD, there is so much of ME, MY, and I that is so very much alive…and I know that this is a scary prayer to pray because it will cost me...ME.  But I cost you…YOU. Holy Spirit come and teach me, help me, show me, how to become the very fulfillment of the dream of God’s heart. Help me to yield to the molding of His mighty hand as He once again forms His IMAGE and LIKENESS in me.

Until He Returns

Anemone

As “in the days of Noah?”

 (Note: I received this while in the Prayer Room on 4-10-11 and felt impressed to write about it but I forgot and today it was confirmed when I received a phone call telling me of a drama that was done in a church in Alabama on yesterday about “the days of Noah.”)

“God-Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever?” Heb 13:8

 God-Jesus, “the Righteous Judge?”2 Tim 4:8; Rev 19:11

Mt. 24:37-39; 1 Pe 3:18-20

According to 1 Peter 3:20 only eight souls were saved by water.  It is by this same water that we are saved now…the water which is the WORD of God…Jesus declared that He was the Living Water. Just as Jesus went into the depths of the earth and preached the gospel to those in prison – 1 Pe 3:19…He is doing the same now through His anointed “preachers of righteousness” who preach the message of the CROSS. BUT, are we hearing? Are we yet so asleep, or have we become so dull by the preaching of the Bless me-give me – Santa Claus gospel until we are unable to receive TRUTH.  Have our ministers, preachers, men/women of God, priests, shepherds become like Eli, so FAT and BLIND from living off of the good things of God’s house that they are unable or rather refuse to deal with their sons and daughters for fear of losing their contributions when they know that their behavior does not bring glory to our Holy God. Have we watered down the gospel so much so and made it suitable for our taste that we are refusing to see the God of the BIBLE?  Don’t get me wrong…He is a very GOOD, KIND, and LOVING GOD. Yet, He says in His WORD that He is the same God and He changes not. Let’s reason together for a second. According to scripture the last days will be as “in the days of Noah,” well what does that mean? It means take a look around with your own eyes, listen or watch your local news, ride around your local city, look at that which is offered as entertainment…nothing is off limits now…it’s all or nothing. Does this not clearly speak of the same as “in the days of Noah?”

The Righteous Judge

First of all let me clarify something here, I believe that God’s judgment and wrath was poured out upon His son for the sin of mankind. I prefer to see this as a divine exchange, my wretchedness, darkness, iniquity, SIN, for His righteousness, glory, and more.  I am the redeemed of the Lord and I have received His mercy, grace, and forgiveness that came THROUGH HIS SON’S DEATH ON THE CROSS therefore, I do not stand in fear of His righteous judgment and neither should you if you have embraced the work of the CROSS, made the exchange… His life for your death.  His love for me causes me to love Him and this cycle of love from Him to me and me to Him produces obedience to His Will and His Word causing my faith to be anchored and strengthens my foundation…it is the rock upon which I stand. His love has not imprisoned me but given me freedom. Not freedom as a license to do whatever I want to do but a desire to live and be who He created me to be.  A child, a bride, a friend, and lover of God.  With that being said, it does not change the TRUTH that God is still a Righteous Judge and because He cannot be anything other than WHO He is. He has to judge wickedness. In the days of Noah it is written that “it grieved the heart of God that He had made man-(Gen 6:6).”  As then so now the wickedness of man does in fact grieve the heart of God.  If you don’t believe this then take a look at the scene of Jesus on the cross. The word states that Jesus cried out when feeling forsaken by God as He hung there bearing God’s wrath because of our sin….our-my sin upon His Son.  God, the Son, grieved. If we are permitted to continue in our liberties living as if there are no consequences for our behavior then God killed His Son for nothing.  God has to judge wickedness…WHY…because the price for it has been paid...and the price was God’s own LIFE.           

The Bible calls Noah a “preacher of righteousness.” The righteous message declared that something never seen nor heard of before was going to take place and that God was vying for their deliverance.  It stands to reason that God is gracious and longsuffering for we know that it took Noah at least 100 years to complete the building of the Ark. The same resistance to Noah’s message in the days of old exists today in what the Bible calls “the last days.”  God has begun to raises up  voices that are speaking of things that are in direct conflict with the Santa Claus, bless me-give me gospel and there will be resistance.

Noah, his family, and the animals (I believe that this speaks of every tribe, tongue, and nation-remember Peter on the roof of the tanner house) entered INto the Ark. The Ark represented a place of safety, protection, deliverance. The Ark spoke of God as a refuge, a shelter in a time of storm, a place where life is preserved.  The Ark was God’s righteous dwelling place that He prepared through Noah for His creation. The righteous message: Judgment upon the earth, because of “sin,” will take place BUT God has a place prepared for those who will enter in and find safety. Yet, unbelief and doubt caused the people to harden their hearts, close their eyes, and shut their ears up from hearing this and do business as usual. WHAT are the true preachers of righteousness crying out today? The message of repentance, the message of being a friend of the Bridegroom, the message of true holiness, the message of love which leads to obedience, the message of death to self and living unto a Holy God, the message of turning away from the things of this world and living for another day, the message of understanding that we are eternal beings and not merely here to live for our own self-gratification, the message that Jesus is going to return again.  BUT will we miss Him like His own (the Jews) who rejected Him because He did not come as they EXPECTED. The Jews were expecting a KING…but He came as a SERVANT, a LAMB…are we EXPECTING the humble man who rose from the grave and ascended into heaven? He is coming back, as the King of Kings and LORD of Lords, with eyes like a flame of fire. It is written…I did not make that up.

The message of RIGHTEOUSNESS today is “THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS”…the ARK today is...JESUS.  He is our Ark of safety, protection, deliverance, salvation, redeemer, and the propitiation for our sin, our peace, our righteousness, our life.  We are told that our lives are “HIDDEN” IN HIM. To me this means that not only must I receive the Lamb of God as my Savior but I must also enter INto Him in order to have life. Better yet, in order for me to know who I am I must discover who I am IN Him. With that being said I find peace in that the message of the cross anchors my house, my dwelling place, which is “IN” Jesus, who is the rock, and rest assured the rains are coming and only the house that is built on the ROCK will remain standing…just as only those who were IN Noah’s Ark were able to survive the storm.

One of the saddest things to me is something I believe grieves the heart of God and that is this:

Upon providing a way of escape from death there are those who will refuse The WAY and yet BLAME God when He permits them to reap what they have sown.

Until He Returns......

In the hand of the Potter

And the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it over, reworking it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it.

Jeremiah 18:4

My transition to Kansas has definitely not been an easy one. The snow and bitter cold weather was a key player as to why I “did not” want to move here. It was one thing to submit my will to the Father and say yes to moving but it is a different story actually experiencing it. The impact of the weather, not knowing my way around town, no longer having my church and Gathering family, leaving my children and grandbabies, and everything else that was so familiar too me affected me more than I expected.

For several weeks I fought what I kept hearing in my head – the words “you are depressed”…in fact I tried to “faith” it away and/or deny it.  Instead of facing it and dealing with a “truth” I ended up in a place that I thought I would never see again. Before I knew it I was in a deep, dark place and beyond a despair that seemed worse than when I lost my friend and husband, Gregory Henley. When I finally acknowledged my feelings as being real I had fallen too far and had no faith to pray. All I could think of was that this is the “valley of dry bones.” Once I admitted it the Lord began to confirm it on numerous occasions, even thru someone who had no clue of what they were saying when they sent me something in reference to that very thing “valley of dry bones” via a text message. I was now at the point where it was impossible for me to pray for myself. I was spiritually bankrupt….I had nothing…and I was not willing to tell anyone and I had shut down.

 In teaching and counseling I have often referred to this place when trying to get people to understand that there is a time for everything under the sun…and one of those is…a time to “die.” When this happens it is best to have relationships with others who will pray and watch for you because when you are dead…you’re dead. I’m not one for fooling myself….one of my favorite songs of all times as a seasoned intercessor is Twila Parish’s –The Warrior Is a Child. I could hear my spirit man saying to God…please don’t let me fall…over and over and over again…that was all I could say. Let me say that I do believe that going to the Prayer Room during this time was more like being on life support even though all I would do while sitting there was cry, I began to get tired of doing that and wanted to use it as an excuse NOT to go. Thankfully, I have some very close and personal friends and family who love me and without any prompting took their stance on the wall, fasted and prayed, yielded their swords, and spoke and sent the words of life into my valley.  About 2 Sunday’s ago, upon my waking I felt breath enter into my chest….I mean literal wind entered my chest and the Lord spoke to me the WORD’s of life.

Death to everything is what He is requiring of me. How often I have said to Him that I would give Him my all. How often I have asked to be used for His glory. How often I have said that my life is not my own, that I “belong” to Jesus and how often has He said to me “daughter, count the cost.” I never knew how deeply bound to me, myself, and I that I was and I still am…but I can recall in my earlier years saying to God, “no matter how hard I strive or resist you...please, don’t let me have my way.”  

While in the valley I was tempted and offered fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and to tell the truth I almost bought the lie. Then the enemy pulled the shame card, I almost bought that one too, BUT…I have a God who listens to my heart instead of the anguish voice of my soul and unlike the first Adam…this Last Adam stepped in to save and deliver.  He kissed me today and sang a beautiful love song to me while in the Prayer Room…and then He reminded me of something:

Chorus (from one of the songs today)

There is a dream in the heart of my Maker….

There is a smile on the face of the Potter…..

There is a dream in the heart of my Maker….

Oh God of hope….

(Personal entry from today’s journal)

While singing this repeatedly I know that there are times when I would like to be taken off of the Potter’s wheel or better yet to just get off because of the pressures that comes with the molding…But as I look into the face of the Potter and see the delight in His eyes and the smile upon His face because He knows what He is doing and He sees already the end product, I can take comfort and heart in that… and remain by “choice” upon the Potter’s wheel.

Bev

  

The Fighter in Me

 Oftentimes I use pictures as examples to give clarity and understanding of what I am trying to get across when I speak, converse with someone, and even when I pray. One picture/example that I love is the boxing ring or a wrestling match.  This came about because of the scripture which says "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" etc.; this scripture became a reality during my early days of spiritual warfare training by the Holy Spirit.


and she lives!!!!!!!





Let me make this plain and clear, I did not go on a demon hunt and neither was I looking for a fight with any demons. It was all God's doing and not only did it grant me personal experience in warfare but it gave me a personal history of experiencing God's overcoming power, might, and strength.

There were times when I would literally feel as though I were in a boxing match and had been hit with such heavy blows until I was down on the mat with the referee standing over me doing the count down. As this would be taking place I would be laying there thinking to myself, just wait until I get up and when I do I will show no mercy. 

Mind you in the natural I am not a fighter.  The story of my childhood would reveal that I was called a "chicken" because I hated fighting. On numerous occasions I was beat up or picked on by kids who knew that they would not be successful at beating up my oldest sister so I would suffer the consequences.  This fear of fighting carried over even into my marriages(s) and for years I suffered physical abuse.  But, for some reason when I started encountering the spirit realm and its demonic hordes, something fierce and tenacious would come over me and I would show no fear in the heat of the battle and I would not and do not relent or show mercy to the enemy. I call it "kick butt." (Note: I made it known often to God that I would have preferred encountering the good angels...)

Although, I have heard many speak of the good things that they either see or believe that the Lord has in store for me with this new phase in my life, there has been another voice speaking even louder causing me to struggle emotionally and mentally to point of near depression. BUT, I should never be counted out and this the tormentor has forgotten. He took my tears as a sign of weakness; he took my silence as a sign of defeat; he took my withdrawal as a sign of retreat. He forgot that I am known for being still until the count is almost over....and then I STAND. When I do, I come up swinging and not like some punk little puny whipped woman. Its full-fledged WARRIOR...filled with the Spirit of God. You see what the enemy has failed to understand is that while I was quiet, while I was withdrawn, while I was weeping; I was talking to my Daddy the entire time. I was drinking from His bosom, my ears were attuned to His chest listening to the life rhythms of His heart, drinking His blood, and letting Him endue me with His power, might, and strength....and that is why and how I am made to "overcome" by the WORD of my testimony and the BLOOD of the Lamb.

……For when I am weak; then I am strong……