The Power In Relationship

(2 Peter 1:3-4) His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

This morning I was feeling so down and my allergies were definitely not helping. But...the moment, the very moment, I said a prayer and opened up my Bible God's truth flooded my heart and renewed my thinking. King Solomon was right when he wrote that the end of a matter was better than it's beginning. You might start off pretty sucky or just plain terrible but how will you decide to end the matter? What the Holy Spirit spoke to me this morning was that He could care less about how I was feeling: He wanted to know what I planned to do about it. In order to mature in Christ's nature, that overcame this world, we are asked to believe God's promises that were born out of His glory that transforms us and His goodness that molds us. When His glory fills a room and encounters me I can never be the same, and likewise, when the simplicity of His goodness is revealed to me my heart has no where else to run except toward Him. The verses I'm sharing immediately shifted my focus and brought me into God's heart and way of thinking. According the the first portion of this verse, The more I pursue knowing Jesus and doing life with Him the more power I have to overcome the situation I'm facing. The truth of Jesus sets us free. There is power in relationship with Jesus and we need that. I don't know about you, but I want to turn those sucky days around and prove the enemy wrong. I want to be so much fuller of His truth each day that it overflows into every single nook and cranny of my life. 

(2 Peter 1:5-8) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 To believe what God has spoken is faith. So God is saying, you believe what I say which is awesome but I want more from you. There's always more to learn about God and because there's always more to learn, there's always more to give. You believe? Now reflect His goodness that makes Him who He is. And now that truth has filled you go ahead and experience Him and learn what He desires. And because the truth of Jesus has set you free now go ahead and start diciplining yourself and striking blows to your flesh so you can walk in the spirit. And now don't give up and keep moving forward and maturing. Oh and at this point, your showing Jesus to the point that others are taking notice...learn to live in peace with those around you and above all now show the love that Jesus showed you. Action. Doing these things will keep our relationship with Jesus living and breathing. Relationship changes everything. Truly getting to know someone bonds us and true loyalty and love are born. And where there is love there is a force to be reckoned with. After all, it is Christ's love that covered multitudes of sins and that still does. Because he did it, we can do it too.

Worship Freely Tunes {22}

I'm a little late on the music pick for this week but here it is and I guarantee that it was worth the wait...I love these people's hearts for the Lord. Their music makes me smile and I agree: There's something about what's homemade that makes things so much better. Bringing our intimacy with God to the public. Love it, truly.

"Second Chance"- Rend Collective Experiment

Bringing My Lamp & My Oil

(Matthew 25:1-4)

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins 

who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 

Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones 

took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, 

however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 

The Lord has really been pressing in my spirit the story of the ten virgins toward the end of the Book of Matthew. Even though I continued to read ahead I always seemed to make my way back to that small passage in the 25th chapter. This is one of my favorite parables that Jesus taught just because it mirrors the church as His bride, Jesus as the bridegroom, and He gives us another little glimpse of what bringing His kingdom down to earth looks like. I got some info about the tradition of Jewish weddings online because I really wanted to understand the context of what Jesus was talking about: "In Jewish society, the parents of the betrothed generally drew up the marriage contract. The bride and groom would meet, perhaps for the first time, when this contract was signed. The couple was considered married at this point, but they would separate until the actual time of the ceremony. The bride would remain with her parents, and the groom would leave to prepare their home. This could take quite a while. When the home was all ready, the groom would return for his bride without notice. The marriage ceremony would then take place, and the wedding banquet would follow."

When I started to read, a picture was painted in my head of these ten young ladies, half careless and the other half expectantly waiting for the groom to arrive. I imagined their talks of what he looked like standing at the altar, of where they would live together, and when he was coming. I imagined them pacing back and forth looking out of the windows to be the first ones to run to His side. At this point he could be right around the corner or far off in the distance: It was a total surprise visit waiting to happen. For any girl it's hard to wait, can I get an amen? I can picture joy turning into expectancy, expectancy turning into impatience, and impatience turning into boredom. The young women became so tired of waiting that they fell asleep. When the bridegroom arrived at midnight to take the ladies to the banquet to celebrate, the ones that were prepared followed with their well-oiled lamps while the one's that weren't were left behind and denied entrance into the feast.

The details of this parable are so important. What the Spirit pressed in my heart was that the wise virgins that were prepared with their lamps and oil are a symbol of God's church being ready through the filling of His Word and His Holy Spirit. Psalm 119:105 automatically popped up into my head word by word and I was like yes Lord, I understand. But right after He revealed that the lamp was talking about God's Word He then spoke this strongly into my spirit: The ladies that were left out had their lamps but lacked the oil...that oil is my Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit to breathe a new revelation of God's Word into our lives we the church will not see the glory of Jesus manifested here on earth. This is like supplementing His signs and wonders for a Bible study. We need the combination. We can't have one without the other. It is His desire for all of His children to move in the power of the Holy Spirit. These ten women, symbolizing the church, knew that without the oil eventually the fire was going to burn out and they would not be able to see their bridegroom coming and would either miss Him or get lost trying to go out to meet Him.

(Psalm 119:105)

Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light on my path.

The Bible is the instrument that The Lord provides us with so that we can follow the path that He's marked out before us and His Holy Spirit is the source of power that is needed to turn keep the fire burning. His anointing in our lives is his seal of ownership because knowing the word alone won't do it, this just opens the door for religion. We need His Word + His Holy Spirit anointing in order to produce fire (power) in our lives.

(2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. 

He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit 

in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

.

We have one of those antique oil lamps at home on top of our fridge that we've conserved for years for those stormy nights when the power goes out. I want to talk a little bit about the maintenance of an oil lamp. Humor me guys I promise it's important. After you've filled the bottom glass end with oil the wick (rectangular thick stringy thingy) has to be trimmed if it's been previously used because it's all burned up. In the the parable of the ten virgins I noticed that the moment the ladies heard that the bridegroom was coming they woke up and the first thing they did was trim their lamps. They had left their lamps burning the whole time that now the time came for them to re-fuel them with some oil and a clean wick. You know that moment when you read through something but then stop, make a curious face, and then read back again? That was my aha moment. I knew that this portion of was important somehow so I said, "Holy Spirit show me, explain why this is important." He likes to flood me and that's exactly what happened and continues to happen. Just like that "wick" our spiritual lives reach points of burn out when we're stuck on old revelations and past experiences when the Holy Spirit wants to give us something fresh and new. I've been there and gosh I'm sure we all have but what He spoke into my spirit was that we need to trim off the old burned up wick. We need to throw away what we think we know about God through what we've learned so far, to make room for Him to show up in our lives a new way. We need to throw out the window what we've heard of God and prepare ourselves for daily encounters. And I'm not talking about shutting out readings or men and women of God, not at all. But I am saying that living off of second hand information is scary and not enough. We need to have a personal relationship with God and then let second hand information serve as a compliment and as confirmation for what the Holy Spirit has already revealed to us first. Let's just let our bridegroom pay us a surprise visit. Let's be ready for that visit. I'm excited!

In Pursuit of True Love

*~*~*

An unending love I seek.

A beloved with whom my heart can beat.

To feel complete.

To overflow.

An unending true love I seek.

That which this world can not offer.

For that I hunger.

I ran and ran to look for love.

I searched and searched with no one to hug.

I was tossed around by the wind.

Then suddenly I fell into true loves first kiss.

Heaven and earth once again met.

Outstretched arms held me tight.

I lifted up my eyes.

My best friend.

My lover. My prince. 

All in one.

I will pursue Him with all my love.

*~*~*

(Hosea 2:14) 

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; 

I will lead her into the wilderness 

and speak tenderly to her.

(Hosea 2:16)

“In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.

(Hosea 2:19-20)

I will betroth you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in righteousness 

and justice, in love and compassion.
 I will betroth you in faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge the Lord.

 I'm browsing through my Itunes and listening to some songs by Bethel, Eunice Rodriguez, and United Pursuit. Busy busy but a good break does the heart some good. I've been thinking...

True Love. I want this so bad. Whether God has someone in the future for me or not I hit a place in my heart where I just said, Lord I'm going to love you regardless, I'm going to worship you regardless. When we're called to God's purposes all of the crazy, messy, beautiful, and just plain odd things will come together in the end for our good. His word says it so I believe it. I've seen it before so why would any other case be different? I'm in the pursuit of true love. I want to constantly keep the fire burning in my heart so that the joy of my salvation never fades. And trust, things have tried to burn out my handy dandy candle. What The Lord has been placing in my heart is that He is my husband. This really hit me hard. For so long I wanted someone to touch when all this time that special someone was walking right beside me. I'm married. Bam! Right? It was like He was saying: Be faithful to me, I'm your best friend, be a friend back because it's my utmost desire to be with you. My love life???...hmmm...I want God to be my love life right now. I want the well and I need the well right now, not a bucket. I'm in pursuit of true love and the definition of love is my sweet Jesus. He's The One I need right now. Some days these words resonate while other days my heart aches because of what my heart wants but in that wilderness, in that visible solitude God is at work. The moment we feed our Spirit Man He takes over and our heart is at peace and the way we perceive our surroundings changes. I pray for a mind renewal in the wildernesses of our lives and for true love to come forth. That's a good place to start, falling in love with The Lord. And if we're already head over heals in love, let's go further and deeper. There's no end. There's always more we can give and there's always more we can be given.



"The wilderness will contain our greatest difficulties,
but also some of our most glorious experiences."

                                                                                                      

                                                                                               -Rick Joyner 

One Of Those Weekends...

Rainy Day///College Life///Baked Tomatoes///

Hallmark Movies///Rehab Homework///new playlist///

Acai Mango Tea///Quiet Time///Bible Reading///Journaling

Life is in the journey...the details matter...

God is in the details.

It's Not A Religion, It's A Relationship

If there's one thing God cannot stand it's religion. God is God and His Son walked our walk and took our place so that we could freely enter His presence. Jesus did it so that we would no longer need any other intercessor but Him. He flung the gate wide open for those willing to approach. I just can't downgrade that at all. It was such a huge and hurtful price to pay but Jesus loved us. He hated the idols, and the unfaithful hearts were just too much for His heart to bear, and the sin was all too opposite of His holy nature but He loved us enough. Where sin resided His grace over abounded. He denied His own nature to come after us. Jesus with one glance could look past our mess and just see who our Father made us to be. Because He loved and continues to love us for us His message is so clear: Will we let His perfect love really transform us and break every wall? Trespass all obstacles we've set up? Will we dare let our Savior get close enough? You see it doesn't matter if you can't look at Him because He's looking right at you loving you at this moment knowing that when you let Him have His way in you you'll begin to love who He created you to be also. It's about setting aside who we think He is and just giving Him that chance to show us and reveal Himself to us, regardless of whether He comes the way we were expecting Him to or not. We've just got to let His Holy Spirit show up in our lives the way He desires to. 

As I read the Book of Amos a week back one thing really just stood out to me. God was addressing His people with pain that turned into anger because of the way they were living, because of the sin that was all too undeniable to ignore. One day they bowed down and worshipped other man-made gods and idols and the next day they were in the temple praising the living God in their fancy robes. God couldn't stand watching how they played both cards generation after generation and how they participated in such a masquerade. It was just a strong feeling of I love you so much, but why don't you truly love me back? If we pay close enough attention is this not happening today? I was this person at one point in my teenage years, showing up to church forcefully and putting on a pretty face only waiting for that last prayer in the afternoon to storm off and get back to what I called "reality". My idols weren't wood or painted plastic the way some are today but they had names: unfaithfulness, shame, and insecurity to say the least. Clapping my hands one morning and then singing anything but christian music the rest of the day. One day His love was just so big and so in my face, shining through that it woke me up to not just sort of live for Him but to live in the day to day to know His heart. If He was willing to inundate my life that night in such a powerful manner then I knew right then and there that I wanted this every single day of my life. 

God said to His people:

*~*~*

(Amos 5:21-23) 

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. 

Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, 

I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, 

I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! 

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

(Amos 6:5) 

You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy 

yourselves to be great musicians like David. 

*~*~*

God wasn't saying that He didn't love music or fellowship but He was saying that He hated the fact that these things were being done out of religion, not because of true love for God, out of tradition and man-made regulation. Their lips were praising because they had to but there hearts were piled up sky high with idols. The music delighted the ear but the person playing the music, which is what God truly cared about, was so far from knowing God. Religion comes in all colors, sometimes it's so obvious and other times it's very neatly tucked away. The fact that God can just see right through us is why I think we feel the need to hide and why man-kind has always felt the need to hide. I think it's hard for us to fathom how holiness can look straight at us, touch us, and love on us. We don't need to hide anymore. This is to worship in truth. Let your heart be true so that He can begin to work. He loves you and I more than any song we could ever sing. In fact, he loves our music simply because we're the ones who are singing it. Without our hearts being in His hand it's just noise. You see, God offered us His Innocent Son so that through His amazing sacrifice we could have direct access to the Father once again. Since before time existed and we were in the heart of God He wanted to bring us into existence to be in relation with Him, to simply be with us and that was worship. To this day mankind has strayed. What causes us to hide from our creator, our Father, our friend? Sin. After sin crept in and we gave the enemy a foothold in our lives out came religion to invent rules so that we could earn enough merit to maybe have eternal life. maybe. Religion puts a price tag on us that Jesus already paid. God hates religion because it is only through His Son Jesus that we have access to Him. Access that isn't just offered after death, but every day of our lives. 

Religion in all it's splendor and glorious tradition didn't humble itself to die on a cross for us, it does not have life to give. Jesus bled until His very last breathe with you and I on His mind. The same eyes that saw our unformed body came to give us His body in exchange so that we could have the option to live forever by His side. Even after all that, He's not forcing us to be with Him...Jesus died to give us the choice.  Every day we have the opportunity to accept the grace of Jesus so that we can boldly approach the thrown of God. Job cried out for this when he was sick wishing and praying that if only there was someone who could plead his case before God for him. Jesus came to give us this. We don't need any other mediators (people, saints, idols). We just need Jesus. We just need His presence. I thank God that we've been given that option every day, to walk in His presence through the Holy Spirit. I thank God for such a love. I invite you to invite the Holy Spirit into your life, not just because you should or because He's just great company, but because your life will just never be the same after He invades every detail of it. I challenge you if you're a part of a worship team to think about this when you find yourself there leading, playing, or maybe in the crowd. Talk to God and let Him know that you desire Him to show up the way He wants to. As you drive He wants to talk to you just like a friend. When you're at work or at school He delights to be with you if you'll let Him. God wants to be with you and I. Beautiful, and honorable thought.

The Beginning Of True Worship: A Circumsized Heart

My Bible reading time is getting so good. I'm so close to The New Testament that I can taste it but the journey has been astonishing, slow paced but full of meditation. As I read through the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel there was one similar focal point that I tuned into: God was telling these anointed men that what He most desired was the heart. The Lord went on to pour out prophecies about how He planned to recapture Israel's hearts, how He desired for His people to circumcise their hearts. God gave them so many literal examples and symbols for what true worship really was but they (with an exception of a few) never got it. The prophet Samuel understood this when he reprimanded King Saul for choosing sacrifices over obedience. David got it when he sang in one of his Psalms about how he finally realized that The Lord takes no pleasure in sacrifices and offerings, but instead, delights in a broken and contrite heart. For a while God used these literal expressions as a shadow of the true meaning of the beginnings of worship. Before anything else, God desires to have our hearts in His hand, because to give someone your heart is to give them all of you. Change came and God was behind this transformation, ready to reveal to all that what He was trying to do this whole time was win over their hearts. The few men that understood this did life with God: walked with Him daily, invited The Lord to be where they were, and followed The Lord wherever He wanted them to go. It's so easy to recognize a move of God when you spend intimate and public time with God. In your secret place as well as the grocery store, church, between classes, at work, and during lunch conversations. This is a picture of what doing life with God is and it all begins with a rendered, devoted, circumcised heart. You see, a circumcision removes the natural protective covering and what God was saying was this: for a while guys I asked you to circumcise your children because I was giving you a picture of what I really wanted and that was for that wall in your heart that you use to keep me out to be removed so that I could come in. God wants to come in to our hearts and dwell there. Worship first involves us giving our hearts over so that His Spirit may dwell there. When Jesus came He later gave the next revelation and that was this: guys, the temple was a symbol for a long time but now I've been sent by my Father to tell you that when I leave His Spirit will now not just be with you and in you...now He's gonna be upon you because your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lord tells us in The Book of Daniel that God is the revealer of mysteries and that He is.

*~*~*

(Ezekiel 11:19-20) I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

*~*~*

My favorite example so far in The Old Testament of what a circumcised heart looks like would have to be in the life story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they're put on the spot and about to be thrown into a burning furnace because they refused to worship anybody/anything else but their God. I mean, I felt empowered as I was reading this.

*~*~*

(Daniel 3:17-18) "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” 

*~*~*

God loves and honors that heart that has let Him completely come in to the point of living a life that screams: My God is the living God and He can do anything for me but even if things don't work out the way I envision I will still love Him and keep my heart open to Him. God just can't resist this genuine heart because we were all created the same fierce and bold potential to love. This is the beginning of true worship that is born from doing life with God.

Worship Freely Tunes

Parachute Band- "Run To You ( + meet you )

That Place.

(Lamentations 3:57) You came near when I called you,

    and you said, “Do not fear.”

That place where words just aren't enough so all there is to say is a big bunch of silence. That place where you simply sit quietly and wait for an answer, a touch, something...anything at all. God is in that place with us. Just like there are noticeably glorious moments there are also subtle moments of God's glory being released: you can't quite see those and you can't quite feel those. Those moments are silent but full of life. Combine every single one of those moments in your life and you'll realize that you were never quite the same after them...we're forever changed by God's subtle touch. We don't have to be afraid, God is near. We were created to be in relationship with our Father. That place of intimacy, of stillness, of just not having all the answers...it's ok...God is there and He likes being there with us.

His Rain Falls When We Prepare Our Hearts

 I want to talk about those times when we lead or participate in a praise and worship service in which we feel that God's presence just didn't move. We compare one service to another or one season to another and find ourselves playing the blame game: Yup it was that out of tune guitar, those loud drums, the tired vocalists, and definitely those new songs. It's easy sometimes for us to concoct some crazy-wild explanation for something so simple. I've even found myself saying, "Lord, why? These people needed You to show up...I was dying for You to show up." I don't know if any of you can relate but this is a horrible feeling. You come home and think that you just wasted your time and even worse that you just wasted God's time and probably made Him tear up a bit from how awful that whole service turned out. I've been there and it's because I've been there that I've sought out my Lord's council. I love how he speaks into my heart so clearly. There are specific moments when I've just felt God laugh and I'm pretty sure when I've talked to Him about these things He's been just balling out, shaking His head, ready to just cradle me because the answer is so simple.

*~*~*

(Song of Solomon 1:6) 

Do not stare at me because I am dark,

    because I am darkened by the sun.

My mother’s sons were angry with me

    and made me take care of the vineyards;

    my own vineyard I had to neglect.

(Song of Solomon 2:10)

My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.

*~*~*

What The Lord revealed to me was that we, His children, are the ones who carry His presence and He confirmed this with His Word that says that we are the Temple of The Holy Spirit, His church. We're suppose to be putting the "C', "H", "U", "R", "C", "H" in "church". The only way to do this is through our relationship with God. He is always able to move but we also have the calling to release what He has freely given us. His Spirit is waiting to be releases but if we don't feed our spirit's how can we accomplish this? It's about talking to our Father because His Holy Spirit is with us and longs to be upon all of us, it's about getting into His Word for a fresh and new revelation, and it's about intimate prayer and worship behind closed doors when no one is looking. God is tired of His unfaithful bride who is ravished by many lovers. In Jeremiah 3 The Lord tells His people that "the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen" because of their unfaithfulness. God uses the words prostitution and unfaithfulness to describe our desire to seek another's council and even our own;He refers to anything that occupies the first place in our hearts. 

*~*~*

(Jeremiah 2:13)

“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
    the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

*~*~*

Do we not do this today? We lean on our own past understanding and at some point stop overflowing because we've traded fountains. We think we can survive with what we know but those moments are when we need The Lord the most. Only He can see a heart naked as it is. When He says He wants a worshiper in spirit and in truth, this is what He's referring to. He longs for His worshiper to lay beside Him and hear His heartbeat and the only way for us to do this is to cultivate that relationship. Sometimes we reach moments where we hide our faces from The Lord and sink back. He's calling out. Talk to Him. He just wants to talk to us. He just wants to love us. Our wells can't hold water but His can. He doesn't want us to struggle or get frustrated anymore. When you prepare your heart's garden He will walk in and spend time with you. Because you know Him He will listen and because He knows You His Spirit will be upon you ready to be released.

*~*~*

(Psalm 132:7-8)

“Let us go to his dwelling place,
    let us worship at his footstool, saying,
 ‘Arise, Lord, and come to your resting place,
    you and the ark of your might.

//We are that resting place that 

The Holy Spirit longs to dwell in.//

*~*~*

 "Learn to steward God's presence in stillness, not just in corporate worship." 

                                                                                           

                                                                                            —Steffany Gretzinger

When we do this through intimate time with The Lord our services and corporate gatherings will be in continuous overflow. His signs and wonders will be there. The fullness of His Spirit is the key and that key can only be given to us through spirit taught knowledge that comes from the secret place. My secret place sometimes looks like a locked room with soft Bethel or Ihop music playing in the background, or a locked bathroom with me kneeling at the foot of the tub, a car ride, or gardening time outside. The one thing that all these locations have in common is that I am alone with God in order to seek Him. You don't need anything fancy just a place where you can cultivate that relationship with God behind closed doors so that when you do life in the open you will be walking in the fullness of His Spirit and that rain will fall no matter where you find yourself.

A Season Of Seeking Out The Hidden Things

When we find ourselves secluded theses are the seasons where one on one with The Holy Spirit we grow and mature. There is always a lesson to be taught and learned. I find myself in this season right now and The Lord is who He says He is. Faithful and true, holding my hand and walking me through. After some adjustments in my life The Lord revealed to my heart and placed this scenario before me: "There is a bus that is taking you and others to the next season and you got on early. Better to be the first one on than the last because the last ones to get on I had to push and force so they come hurt, scared, and confused. This is a season of seeking out the hidden things." I've been hearing this in my Spirit and then came God's word to confirm His spirit taught words to me:

*~*~*

(Isaiah 26:20) 

Go, my people, enter your rooms 

and shut the doors behind you; 

hide yourselves for a little while 

until his wrath has passed by.

(Isaiah 45:3) 

I will give you hidden treasures, 

riches stored in secret places, 

so that you may know that 

I am the Lord, the God of Israel, 

who summons you by name.

(Isaiah 48:6-7) 

You have heard these things; 

look at them all. Will you not admit them? 

“From now on I will tell you of new things, 

of hidden things unknown to you. 

They are created now, and not long ago; 

you have not heard of them 

before today. So you cannot say, 

‘Yes, I knew of them.’ 

*~*~*

I've been what feels like the last one on the bus and it is not pretty...it hurts. I thought my wounds were going to kill me but my Lord healed me and only the scars remain. I never understood the scripture that reads that God wounded us but now He would heal us until I encountered these seasons. God raises a banner and calls out to us but sometimes we hesitate for too long and enter a zone of false comfortability. And then He is forced to drag us because He loves us and can not sit there and watch us miss the prepared table that He has set before us. The confusion and pain won't last forever because our God is faithful and will bind our wounds and wipe our tears. There is rest in knowing who we are in Christ and what God wants us to really do. We will never be able to fit a man-made mold. That yoke is too heavy and only brings us neverending burdens. They are burdens disguised as servanthood obedience and kingdom obligations but God will not permit His loved ones to be fooled. 

*~*~*

(Psalm 127:1-2) 

Unless the Lord builds the house,

    the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

    the guards stand watch in vain.

2 

In vain you rise early and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat—

    for he grants sleep to those he loves.

*~*~*

Just two Sundays ago I had this vision during the service while the team and I were worshiping in song and what I saw was a beautiful treasure box. I felt my Lord's excitement. He wanted His people to open it. He desired for us to open it. I say "us" because He longs for all of His children to want more of Him. To be curious and child-like in our Daddy's spiritual matters. This makes Him happy. The treasures of our Father's heart are found through communion and relationship with prayer, worship, and reading scripture in spirit and in truth. 

There are things that I've had to step away from because God is dealing in His way with those things and desires to keep me on His track. Those "things" in the natural seem good and should have God's stamp of approval because they are ministry related and done in His name but God's ways are higher and so much sweeter. Can anybody say amen?! Some people won't agree but that's OK, the murmurs just have to roll off your back. In the secret place with The Lord and with the support of those around you who can truly perceive the move of God this period of time will bring a new revelation of who God says you are. In this season, unlike other past seasons, it was easy for me to let go and move with the Spirit of God because I know He's going to teach me something good. I've tasted this very fruit in the past and I've seen God's goodness and the joy that overflows from His dwelling place.

On another note, My Summer II Mexican American Lit class officially starts tomorrow and I couldn't be any more excited. My best friend is also teaching me to play piano, something a few seasons past I thought would be impossible. My excuse was that I'm not a good multi-tasker but God just laughs at my excuses and hugs me before sending me on my way. I've been reading through The Bible so much to the point where it's been a day long thing sometimes. I know I won't always have that kind of time so this season is so important to and for me. It's a step back in order to step in. A hungry heart The Lord cannot resist and that's my purpose in this time...to love on my God and to rest in the fact that my Beloved's desire is for me.