Occupation

    

   Many of you know well of the time when Daniel prayed fervently for his people near the end of their exile to Babylon* (Daniel 10). Nothing seemed to be happening in response to his prayers and fasting, until finally Gabriel appeared before him and told him how God had responded immediately to Daniel’s prayers before he had even finished speaking, but demonic intervention had waylaid his arrival. 

   This morning as I was rereading this section of Daniel, I heard God promoting me to stop and see something new. In this passage. The word occupation came strongly to mind. Gabriel was kept occupied by the enemy so he couldn’t get to Daniel. Holy Spirit pointed out to me that the enemy of our souls does the same thing today in our minds and in our lives. If he can keep us otherwise occupied and distracted from connecting with Him, we won’t hear His messages of direction and encouragement or receive the strengthening He is sending us. 

   It isn’t that He hasn’t immediately responded to our prayers. His help has gone forth, but we haven’t put ourselves in battle position to receive it. Yes, thankfully we have angels to help us, but we must do battle, also, in order to receive what the Father wants us to have.

   Sometimes this means, in addition to intercession, the putting aside of various activities, entertainment, all-consuming worry, self-pity, lack of trust, or the demand to understand….to have answers to the ‘whys’. Occupation can take so many forms. The Lord wants us aware that these can all be ‘spiritual battles in the heavenlies’. We must treat them as such and fight accordingly, knowing that He is on our side. He doesn’t want us to be passive victims of attacks masquerading as busyness, soundbites, escapism, or simple distractions. Our very lifeblood, our very breath come from our connection with and trust in The Lover of our Souls. 

   He has also given us authority to fight powerfully, to fight effectively, and to win. To stand up, to decree, to declare what His Word says. Yes! But also to be still and commune with Him. To speak to Him of our abiding trust and love, and even more, to listen. I know this word just now was for me, but I share it because it may well speak to you, also.

   Yes, “the battle belongs to Him,” but it also belongs to us. Let’s ponder our part and not find ourselves passive victims by being ‘otherwise occupied’.  Let’s make it our first priority to be occupied by Him.

+++++++++++

 “You man so greatly loved, don’t be afraid. Shalom to you; and be strong, yes, truly strong.” His speaking to me strengthened me, and I said, “My lord, keep speaking; because you’ve given me strength.” —Daniel 10: 19

“Don’t be afraid, Dani’el; because since the first day that you determined to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard; and I have come because of what you said. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia prevented me from coming for twenty-one days; but Mikha’el, one of the chief princes, came to assist me; so that I was no longer needed there with the kings of Persia. —Daniel 10: 12-13

“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world..”** [1John 4:4]

“For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.” Ephesians 6:12 

+++++++

+after the Persian takeover from the Babylonians

Perplexed in Advent

    

   What would it have been like, 9 months pregnant, bouncing on the back of a donkey for days, only to find there was nowhere to lay your head, not to mention give birth? Or for Joseph, charged with protecting the Savior of the World, as well as His human mother, and yet at a total loss for how to do so? We know the rest of the story. They didn’t. “No worries, Joseph,” we say. “Help is on the way!” [“What are you afraid of, Moses? That sea is going to stand up and separate any second now!”] But they could only stand still, trusting and waiting for deliverance. And that is precisely what they awaited….in fact what we all awaited in this birth.

   You and I may at this very moment have worries, disappointments, griefs, fears, or frustrations swirling through our heads. Yet It never ceases to stop me short in Advent…..never ceases to put circumstances, disappointments, joys, longings, thanksgivings, mistakes, and concerns of all kinds in the perspective of eternity. Not just ‘the sweet by and by’ of someday in heaven, but now’s eternity. That is where our true Shalom lies………entrusted to the Trustworthy One, the one and only Three-in-One. Knowing He knows the end of every story and has already prepared an Abigail for us. Wise men are already heading our way with provision. Seas are ready to stand up at His command.. He’s about to give angelic direction for our protection. All we need do is listen, receive, and obey.. Though we may be clueless about how things will play out, our ABBA is not. Trusting Him goes hand-in-hand with doing what we best understand of His will for us at the moment. Our ‘faith of a child’ warms His heart.

   I am fond of the following passage from one of my favorite Max Lucado books, In the Grip of Grace: 

“Stepping from the throne, he removed his robe of light and wrapped himself in skin: pigmented, human skin. The light of the universe entered a dark, wet womb. He whom angels worship nestled himself in the placenta of a peasant, was birthed into a cold night, and then slept on cow’s hay.

Mary didn’t know whether to give him milk or give him praise, but she gave him both since he was, as near as she could figure, hungry and holy. Joseph didn’t know whether to call him Junior or Father. But in the end he called him Jesus, since that’s what the angel had said and since he didn’t have the faintest idea what to name a God he could cradle in his arms . .” .

*****

“For only a God could create a plan this mad. Only a Creator beyond the fence of logic could offer such a gift of love. What man can’t do, God does. So, when it comes to goodies and candy, cherub cheeks and red noses, go to the North Pole. But when it comes to eternity, forgiveness, purpose, and truth, go to the manger. Kneel with the shepherds. Worship the God who dared to do what man dared not dream. “

——-And the Angels Were Silent, Max Lucado

 ***

“This isn’t the way I planned it, God. Not at all. My child being born in a stable? This isn’t the way I thought it would be. A cave with sheep and donkeys, hay and straw? My wife giving birth with only the stars to hear her pain? This isn’t at all what I imagined. No, I imagined family. I imagined grandmothers. I imagined neighbors clustered outside the door and friends standing at my side. I imagined the house erupting with the first cry of the infant. Slaps on the back. Loud laughter. Jubilation. That’s how I thought it would be. The midwife would hand me my child, and all the people would applaud. Mary would rest and we would celebrate. All of Nazareth would celebrate. But now. Now look. Nazareth is five days’ journey away. And here we are in a . . . in a sheep pasture. Who will celebrate with us? The sheep? The shepherds? The stars? This doesn’t seem right. What kind of husband am I? I provide no midwife to aid my wife. No bed to rest her back. Her pillow is a blanket from my donkey. My house for her is a shed of hay and straw. The smell is bad, the animals are loud. Why, I even smell like a shepherd myself. Did I miss something? Did I, God?     

—Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life and He Still Moves Stones  

***

“I could not comprehend God’s plan, but my understanding was not essential. My obedience was.” —-Gabriel, from An Angel’s Story; Max Lucado

***

“…why would you say, “Yahweh isn’t paying attention to my situation. He has lost all interest in what happens to me.?” Isaiah 40: 27

“…Yahweh….is never puzzled over what to do! He empowers the feeble and infuses the powerless with increasing strength” Ibid  29

***

May the rest of your Advent season be a tender, obedient, and trusting one.

Julie

Breath of Heaven:  

https://youtu.be/TOQRtYYERGo?si=wUd_DdOS3PGth-On

Mary, Did You Know?   https://youtu.be/trW_lD9sBt0?si=JpDYwYHdpEF6jABg

Keep Swimming

   

   Remember Dorie from “Finding Nemo”? Such a loveable fish. The older I get, the more I am identifying with her short term memory issues. God brought her to mind this morning as He spoke to me about being free from anxiety in my daily life. 

   My sisters and I are sometimes attacked by what psychologists call “free-floating anxiety.” We all know the definition of anxiety in general, but with this type, there is no reason to be anxious, no circumstance in particular causing concern. There is just this sense that there is something wrong, that we are not doing all we should be doing, that we aren’t keeping up with needs or necessities somewhere, somehow. It’s almost as if we are reaching out and searching for what we should be concerned about.

   This, of course, is the exact opposite of how our Father wants us to live. He knows us inside out…our struggles, our vulnerabilities, our hearts’ desires. He longs for us to live in the Shalom of the abundant life He suffered and died for us to have. Anxiety, worry, and fretfulness are not part of His plan for us.

   Lately, in my retired state, I have become aware of my underlying concern that I am spending my life the way He wants me to. Am I wasting the gift of time He has given me? Am I fulfilling the destiny and meeting the divine appointments He has planned for me? Am I leaving untapped some of the. gifts He placed in me before I was born?  Are there people whose lives He wants me to touch that I am too lazy or too uncomfortable to pursue? Will He speak over me when I come Home to Him, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? Sometimes I feel like Dorie that I need to “just keep swimming,” but maybe even harder.

   He knows my heart and those of all His children. He is merciful and forgiving and full of lovingkindness. This I know. That is the very reason I want to please Him by the way I live my life. This morning, because He always reads my heart, He told me (as best I can record: “I love you. Don’t fret. I will show you (and remind you ha ha^) what to do. Flow in the river of My grace. You don’t need to do laps. Settle into My grace and float on your back. I will keep you buoyant. Your head will not go under water. It is panic and anxiety that can lead to drowning.”

   Have you ever felt that you were “not enough”? Are you, too, sometimes attacked by “free-floating” anxiety or awash in the sense that you aren’t doing enough, that you must keep swimming harder to please others…or, more, importantly, your Heavenly Father? 

   Turn over on your back and float in His grace. Keep your ear attuned to Him. He won’t allow your head to go under water. You will find the true Shalom of His abundant life. There, floating peacefully on your back, look up.

*********

• Here is one of my drawings for God from my journal from 2020. No fair making fun of my ‘art.’  

• For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].  —John 1:16 AMP
• 
  
• Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb —Revelation 22:1

• Ezekiel 47 also describes the river flowing from under the throne of God

• “To “drink deeply” of the Spirit is the same as receiving his power and gifts until rivers of living water flow from the inside of us. See John 3:34; 7:37.” —Brian Simmons, TPT note from 1. Corinthians p-12-13
• 
  
• ^I have difficulty, sometimes, recording the chuckle or outright laughter I hear from Him. He is also a great punster. (To remind ‘Dorie’ is worth a guffaw.)
  

Overboard: Is it fear or wisdom?

   

  A friend recently shared her dream with me. (I am deliberately keeping any identities vague.) She and a loved one were on a cruise, but the ship was traveling not in a warm climate but in a colder one, with waves fomenting around them. Somehow (as one can in dreams) they were high on the ship above these waters, almost as if in a crow’s nest of a sailing ship.  Her loved one was wearing a backpack 🎒 chocked full, which she suddenly removed from her shoulders and hurled into the churning sea. In the dream, my friend was at first totally aghast, because the backpack’s contents had included a large number of provisions. However, she then began to wonder….

   As soon as she described the dream, I knew the hurling of the backpack was a good thing, despite the provisions it carried. I knew that backpacks often represent burdens weighing us down. But provisions? How do they fit in the picture?

   Obvious candidates for burdens include: unforgiveness, hurts, offenses, financial worries, concerns about our families, health issues, anxieties about the future, unshakable guilt, old mistakes and outright sins. We could all generate a list of more backpack items which need to be thrown overboard to free us from their weight. We know the Lord does not want us carrying these things wherever we go, especially since He suffered so to deliver us from them. 

   But back to my question: why “provisions”? Aren’t they good? Doesn’t God promise to provide for us? Doesn’t He declare Himself our Yahweh Yireh?* Yes, indeed! However, suddenly it hit me that we don’t carry His provision around on our backs. He is our ongoing  Provider. Are the provisions we’re lugging around on our own shoulders jammed in there out of fear that He won’t provide? Is the rock of anxiety in our packs, for example, our reason for trying to supply our own protection from loss? Ouch, Lord. Do we ‘hedge our bets’ just in case You don’t come through? Like Sarah+, do we try with our own human solutions to make Your Word come to pass? Help You along a bit since things might not take place as You said? 

  I know He wants us to be good stewards of what He has given us++, to ‘be wise as serpents and innocent as doves’, to plan ahead and not to be spendthrifts, to refrain from wasting what He is providing for us. He wants us to work hard ‘as unto Him’ in our jobs. Yet we are to do these things not out of fear but out of heeding His Scriptural truth for us, out of our thankfulness and duty to be responsible in using His gifts. 

   When we truly examine our hearts, what motivates us to carry around our own provision on our backs, whether comprised of our own solutions, our own ‘bootstraps,’ our own righteousness, our own wealth, the filling of our own barns+++? 

   Is it fear that God will disappoint us, that His Word (Logos or Rhema) is not reliable, that it might indeed ‘come back void,’? That He may love others that way but us, not so much? Do we in our heart of hearts trust more in the non-Biblical adage that ‘God helps those who help themselves’ than we do in Jesus’ promises regarding the lilies and the sparrows or the loaves and fishes? Yes, we offer our little fishes and some paltry loaves of bread, and He does not sneer at them.. He’s delighted with our offering. But we both know it is He that feeds us, body and soul.

   Let’s ask Him to show us if we have in our packs things of which we may be unaware, things which need to be not just tossed but hurled overboard. These may even be  as subtle as our backup provisions, cleverly disguised as proverbial wisdom. 

   Go ahead and hurl that thing, Feel the lightness on your shoulders and the wind in your hair!

******************

+Genesis 16

++Matthew 25

+++Luke 12

++++Matthew 6

*Genesis 22:4 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

*Colossians 3: 23-24Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

When it’s never TMI

  

       I am continuing to slowly work my way through “The Names of God” book* by Ann Spangler. I arrived today at Philos, “Friend” or “Relative.” It never fails to astound me that Yeshua calls those who believe, obey, and trust in Him, friends. He is after all Creator and King of the Cosmos. I know He loves us deeply, but friends? This condescension+ is almost too great for me to grasp, yet I rejoice in it. 

   This morning I began a list of what a relationship with a close friend is like. (Jesus is not just an ‘acquaintance’.) As I did, I compared each aspect to my current interactions with Him. Yes, He is my trusted Savior and Lord, but in what ways, if any, is He truly my closest friend? Here is what I came up with so far as characteristic of a close friendship:

• I share my foibles
• I share funny stories, mostly at my own expense
• I share my deepest hopes and fears (the kind I wouldn’t tell others)
• I share my disappointments, without explaining that I know I shouldn’t feel the way I do
• I don’t keep things back from sheer embarrassment or TMI
• I share my true self without fear of judgment, criticism or rejection
• I ask for prayer, for guidance, for discernment 
• I ask my friend about what she is going through and how I can pray for her. I listen to her hopes, fears, and funny stories. I reciprocate all of the above.
• It is not a one-sided relationship, with her doing all the listening, all the caring, all the carrying of my burdens.
• I want to know what is on her heart, not just have her listen to mine. (I have experienced ‘friendships’ like the latter.)

   As I ran the lyrics to the hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus through my mind, I began to ponder if the song accurately described a close friendship. Are there aspects missing in this wonderful hymn?

1. 
   
2. What a friend we have in Jesus,
   All our sins and griefs to bear!
   What a privilege to carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
   Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
   Oh, what needless pain we bear,
   All because we do not carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
3. Have we trials and temptations?
   Is there trouble anywhere?
   We should never be discouraged—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Can we find a friend so faithful,
   Who will all our sorrows share?
   Jesus knows our every weakness;
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
4. Are we weak and heavy-laden,
   Cumbered with a load of care?
   Precious Savior, still our refuge—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
   Take it to the Lord in prayer!
   In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
   Thou wilt find a solace there.
5. Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
   Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
   May we ever, Lord, be bringing
   All to Thee in earnest prayer.
   Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
   There will be no need for prayer—
   Rapture, praise, and endless worship
   Will be our sweet portion there.
6. —lyrics, Joseph Scriven; tune: Charles Converse
7.   Beautiful, right? True, right? But Is our friendship with Yeshua (in fact, with the whole of the Trinity) reciprocal? Do we ask Him what is on His heart, what He wants us to pray for, declare, and decree? Are we truly partnering with Him for His will to be done? Do we pray for those He loves, listening for His prompts? (Obeying His prompts even when we don’t want to) Do we do so in the same way in which we pray for those on the hearts of our close human friends? Do our hearts hurt and celebrate when His does? Do we mourn when He mourns and rejoice when He rejoices?** Reach out to help someone for whom He is concerned? Or is our ‘friendship’ with Him more one-sided? Do we share our needs, give him our burdens, and then turn and walk on with our own lives and agendas, checking back in from time to see if our prayers have been properly addressed?
8.    I know I am guilty of this sometimes. But I don’t want to be that kind of ‘friend’. I want to be a close friend ‘who sticks closer than a brother.’ One who is willing to lay down her life for her Friend. One who is as concerned for what is on His heart as for what is on hers. Maybe more.
9.    I love sharing all the funny things with Yeshua, as well as the heart-wrenching ones…and the ones that would be TMI for anyone else. He knows it all anyway, but we laugh and cry together about them. I know He holds my tears in a bottle***,  as well as giving me the kind of belly laughs that ‘do good like medicine.’ I want it all with Him. I want Him to say when I see Him in person, “Truly, you have been My close friend. Welcome Home and know Me even better.”
10. **************
11. *See post “When it’s ok to be gluttonous” from April 15, 2025
12. + condescension’s original meaning: to “voluntarily waive ceremony or dignity proper to one's superior position or rank and willingly assume equality with inferiors”….”make gracious allowance for human frailty”
13. ** “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. —Romans 12:15
14. 
    8 ***”You number my wanderings;
    Put my tears into Your bottle;
    Are they not in Your book?”  —Psalm 56:8
15. “It is almost unimaginable that the Creator of the entire universe, Almighty God HIMSELF, invites and even encourages us to come and commune ans communicate with Him.” —Bobby Corner 
16. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” —John 15:13-15
17. “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” —Proverbs 18:24
18. “Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the sweetness of a friend is a fragrant forest.” —Proverbs 27:9
19. “Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house.” —Job 29:4
    “Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” —Proverbs 17:9
    
    22 “ A happy heart is good medicine,
        but low spirits sap one’s strength —Proverbs 17:22
    From Ann Spangler, author of The Names of God : “Confess any complacency toward those who are lost. Ask Jesus to assign your heart with His purposes.”
20. Related words: to Philos: Phileo: “to love”; Philema: “to kiss” 
21. Jadon Lavik singing What a Friend We Have in Jesus:
22. https://youtu.be/5XsXYTWVdGE?si=
23. 
    
24. 
    

Divine Love

   

 Today’s highlighted hymn is “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” (Charles Wesley, 1747). There is more than one tune for this hymn, but my favorite is Rowland Hugh Pritchard’s Hyfrydol. This same tune is used for other great hymns, as well. Better known, however, by those not connected to the UK, is Beecher’s Zundel. (Evidently the earliest tune used for this hymn might have been one composed by Henry Purcell in 1691.)

   One of the beautiful things about great hymns is the poetry of their lyrics. It is difficult to truly ponder them while actually singing, so I sometimes like to speak them as praise or declarations of God’s character. (Lyrics below)

Enjoy!

Overall playlist: 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-2DzbrW5IS3XolOORxDkajfiqqnT83OL&si=ehOefL5MknAClkMq

Hyfrydol: https://youtu.be/Ij7R_qgeBj0?si=FCBY42_lb4ejvsDo

Zundel (Beecher) https://youtu.be/J-6PMvgJHG0?si=A4iup7W49apkWNoe

20th Century: “We Fall Down” https://youtu.be/A9jhLNDfAKQ?si=Zl8Pow1RUv35nEPM

21st Century: His Name is Jesus (Jeremy Riddle)  

 https://youtu.be/MHhi1m-35r8?si=B3gLkiYdIFCOXC7j

******

1. Love divine, all loves excelling,
   Joy of Heav’n to earth come down;
   Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
   All thy faithful mercies crown!
   Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
   Pure unbounded love Thou art;
   Visit us with Thy salvation,
   Enter every trembling heart.
2. Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit
   Into every troubled breast!
   Let us all in Thee inherit;
   Let us find that second rest.
   Take away our bent to sinning;
   Alpha and Omega be;
   End of faith, as its beginning,
   Set our hearts at liberty.
3. Come, Almighty to deliver,
   Let us all Thy life receive;
   Suddenly return, and never,
   Nevermore Thy temples leave.
   Thee we would be always blessing,
   Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
   Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
   Glory in Thy perfect love.
4. Finish, then, Thy new creation;
   Pure and spotless let us be;
   Let us see Thy great salvation
   Perfectly restored in Thee;
   Changed from glory into glory,
   Till in Heav’n we take our place,
   Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
   Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Praise to the Lord…King of Creation .

Here are today’s worship treasures, old and new:

“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation” (Joachim Neander 1680, originally published in German). [“John Julian, in A Dictionary of Hymnolgy, calls the German original ‘a magnificent hymn of praise to God.”*]   

Overall playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-2DzbrW5IS3lzqkZqcuUo_tVNqPzBwp2&si=ORbQ1xJlMbXYbwEL

Join the Queen https://youtu.be/lXhxbEjfxxc?si=8smsrIe0467j3xai

Kristy Nockels, 21st century https://youtu.be/BNq0WtMSmIY?si=byU27f8j8KXmbRjX

Here’s a recent song called “Creator” by Phil Wickham to enjoy. You need to watch this one, not just listen. Below is also the version with lyrics,, but I really wanted to share the visual, too.

https://youtu.be/8_XyX44Yde4?si=v93ayWWUT8Uxdhsg

https://youtu.be/PV505lho1jA?si=X3SB7MINNoPahq0e  With lyrics (but watch the above, first)

“2Worship Yahweh with gladness. Sing your way into his presence with joy! 3And realize what this really means— we have the privilege of worshiping Yahweh our God. For he is our Creator and we belong to him. We are the people of his pleasure.a 4You can pass through his open gatesb with the password of praise. Come right into his presence with thanksgiving. Come bring your thank offering to him and affectionately bless his beautiful name! 5For Yahweh is always good and ready to receive you. He’s so loving that it will amaze you— so kind that it will astound you! And he is famous for his faithfulness toward all.” —Psalm 100: 2-5 TPT

In the King James’ Version:

“Welcome, Happy Morning!”

    I certainly can’t leave you on Holy Saturday and not celebrate with you on Easter Sunday! Enjoy worshipping with both ancient and modern… (playlist link below)

• Hallelujah Chorus (Handel, 1741)
• Welcome, Happy Morning (Vernantius Honorius Fortunatus,  6th century
• Jesus Christ is Risen Today (Latin, 14th century; translated into English in 1698. Stanza 4 added by Charles Wesley)
• At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing (translated from the Latin in 1849)
• Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain (St. John of Damascus, 8th century)

And a few ‘old’ 20th century classics: 

• He’s Alive (Don Francisco) 
• Because He Lives (Bill and Gloria Gaither), 
• Keith Green’s “Easter Song,” 

For wonderful 21st century Easter worship, enjoy all modern sources, too many to list. I’ve added a few to the playlist. Feel free to choose just the ones with which you want to worship. Enjoy!

He is risen! It is accomplished! Alleluia!

Julie

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-2DzbrW5IS0hEUN0AgpeH9HbfTJSaO_I&si=n7c_pYkjuC7XYFtm

On my father’s shoe

 

   Does anyone else remember grabbing on to your father’s leg and not letting go, so when he tried to walk, he had to drag his leg (and you) behind him? Sometimes you could even manage to ride on his shoe.👞 Surprisingly, he never appeared irritated (at least mine didn't). He just looked down and chuckled. I probably did the same thing with my mother; I just don’t remember it. I’ve seen my toddler granddaughter attach herself to her mom in this way. 

   We were not a demonstrative family. [Hugging wasn’t something you would have seen in our home, both my parents having been raised in a ‘keep your emotions inside’ heritage. Hugging, for example, wasn’t seen in our home until my sister came home from college one day and threw her arms around my neck. I thought to myself, “Wow, I like this hugging thing!”] My father was predominantly of German background and my mother, English. Yet we knew they loved us, and my sisters and I are very grateful to have been blessed with the parents we  had (still have, in heaven).

   This morning I was reading and pondering Psalm 65, The first 2 verses read, 

   “Oh God in Zion, to you even silence is praise! You who answers  prayer…”] 

Brian Simmons (The Passion Translation) noted: 

The root of the Hebrew word for ‘prayer’ is palal, which also means ‘tent peg.’ Jewish tradition views palal prayer (intercession) as a means of attaching yourself to God. In the same way a tent peg establishes a tent and fastens it securely, so palal prayer fastens the soul to God. Palal prayer is when you grab hold of God and attach yourself to him in surrender and humility. Hold on to God like a tent peg holds on to a tent.

I thought this was wonderful. However, instead I pictured myself riding on God’s shoe, with my arms attached to His leg. I could hear Him chuckle. Certainly, He wants us to pray ‘face to face,’ but I believe it also pleases Him when we attach ourselves to Him and don’t let go. 

   Go ahead, pray, holding on tight, and make sure your humility, gratefulness, and love towards Him abound with His every step. I believe He will laugh out loud and most surely respond tenderly to your prayer.

    

Fireworks with two-fold significance

I saw fireworks before my eyes and believe I heard:

1) revelations, confessions, and exposures will come so fast that one will still be happening as the next begins. They will be seen far and wide. 

2) We, His faithful remnant, will be celebrating the manifestation of His Victory for us, using them to rejoice around the world.

Two pictures to warm your soul (to be remembered in the days ahead)

It is often when we are just drifting off to sleep or just waking up that we are especially open to Holy Spirit’s messages for us.  Last night as I lay under the covers, He gave me these comforting images, especially delightful to me in the midst of America’s evilly-engendered turmoil:

The Father tucks us (His believing, beloved children) into bed, pulling the covers up to our chins. We turn to the side, snuggling in. He brushes His hand tenderly over our hair, full of love for us, and tells us to sleep well. We hear noises outside the window, but He says not to be afraid...it is just the wind. There is a scratching at the front door, but He tells us again not to be fearful because He is our Protector and Guard, and His arm is strong. “Rest well, My precious ones. ABBA is near.”

We are surrounded by a circle of vicious enemies who are agitated and threatening us in various ways, but the Father is just chuckling. He even has His back to them as He goes about preparing a magnificent table for us, with an array of luscious-looking foods. The wine stands ready at each end, and the bread is fresh from the oven. “Eat! Enjoy!” He says. “Don’t be concerned about them. They cannot touch you.” As I pull the 🥖 apart, steam rises from it, and I lather yellow Irish butter across the end. A soft light is shining on our table, creating a lovely ambience for our celebratory feast...the Feast He has personally and lavishly laid for us, under His Tabernacle Tent.

Do not be afraid!

 Isaiah 41:10-14.....believe, pray, and see it come to pass before your eyes 

Cleaning your windshield

This is an image and word God gave me early Sunday morning:

   I woke up this morning with an image in my mind from the Lord. I know it was from Him. I was in a convertible and there was a very dirty windshield in front of me. It was cloudy and covered with grime. You couldn't see through it, but I could see that they were presents piled up on the right-hand side on the frame of the car, to the right of the windshield, and the Lord was laughing.

   “Clean your windshield,” He said. “Your windshield is cloudy.  How can you see where you are going when your windshield is cloudy? Clean it with vinegar and with water.  Make it sparkle. I am piling my gifts up high. Make sure they are up high.  You need to proclaim and help distribute them from a higher place. We are picking up speed.  Rejoice! I am laughing with joy flinging those gifts.  I am flinging those gifts through you [the believing Church] out to the people of your nation, to the people the world.

   See the astounding grace of my gifts! Use your muscle to clean that windshield. Use the muscle of My Spirit to clean that windshield. Make it shiny squeaky clean so you can see where I am taking you and where you need to go as you help me distribute my gifts, gifts that will astound. Proclaim them, speak them forth. Do not be afraid to proclaim them; proclaim them from up high above the circumstances. They must be proclaimed from up high above the circumstances that people see and hear and feel and touch because my gifts are coming from the heavens. Believe and do not doubt; do not resign yourself to circumstances which seem to be beyond your control. Speak forth what I say, trust in what I say, see what I see, hear what I am telling you, hear my voice and proclaim my truth, my Reality. Receive what I have for you in faith and believing the truth without doubting that I am doing a new and amazing thing. Watch in wonder as it breaks forth! Be a part of it, be a part of it, Ecclesia. Be a part of it.  Don't speak against it; don't deny it; don't carry doubt in your heart but believe that I am able to do this, that nothing is impossible for Me. I am doing an amazing thing for you, a great gift. The big gift contains many smaller gifts. Rejoice and Merry Christmas! Your windshield is cloudy and grimy with dirt and deception, with the lies of many which you have believed. Clean the windshield to see what I see and believe what I am telling you… to not be deluded. Do not be deceived. Do not believe a lie but my Truth. You must clean the windshield. I cannot clean it for you. You must make a choice to clean the windshield. Partner with me to distribute my gifts. I have chosen to partner with those who believe and who trust in me. I have shared my authority with you. Those who believe partner with me to distribute the gifts.”

    He wanted me to fling them out as we travelled but told me we couldn’t go until I could see clearly:

“You must clean your windshield. Without cleaning your windshield you'll crash and burn.” That's what our nation (and the world) will do without Him, but he has a much better plan. He doesn't want us to crash and burn; he wants us to reflect his glory to the world, to speak forth His truth and demonstrate, manifest to the nations. We must clean our windshields to see what He sees, to hear what He says, to do what He wants us to do.  We must believe what He is telling us and act on that.

   “If you don't clean your windshields you will just sit in your car and be taken where you don't want to go. Your nation will be taken to very bad places, instead of to where I want you to go. The paths are diametrically different from one another.  You don't have to stay in the car with the dirty windshield and be driven by others where I don't want you to go. I want you to be free. The Truth, as I have told you, will set you free.

My gifts are Victory and Triumph, gifts of Mercy, gifts of Resetting to the original Covenant of your nation with Me. Gifts of Deliverance, gifts of Revival, gifts of Justice and and Vindication. Fling them from on high,” says the Lord.  Rejoice, rejoice, believers and let your light appear! Proclaim from the rooftops, from the highest places, that I am delivering you.  I am freeing you in the name of my Son, Jesus Christ! Proclaim my truth, proclaim my gifts and see me flinging them from high places, flinging them out, seeing them burst open to the people.  Receive them, believe them, and rejoice!” 

 

Seeing what God sees

A dear friend needs prayer for the healing of her lungs. The Lord told me to picture her breathing in His Holy Spirit and being healed while doing so. I heard about her need for prayer as I was praying for our nation. After guiding me to picture her healed by breathing Him in, the Lord showed me an analogous prayer for our wounded and suffering land:

“In the same way you are now picturing Mary breathing in My Holy Spirit and being healed, picture your nation breathing in My Spirit and being restored and redeemed; healed of fractures, treachery, lies, and immorality, of evil fruit of all kinds...delivered, pure, and at peace.”

I have learned from Andrew Wommack’s teachings, including his series on Imagination, that He calls us to picture in our minds what He sees, to picture His will accomplished. Biblical meditation can also be translated imagination. Not the fantasy, wishful-thinking of current parlor, but a means of decreeing and asserting His Word and His Will. 

In order to accomplish this, we cannot spend time watching, seeing and listening to what man says, or we will be like two horses pulling in opposite directions, getting nowhere. Let’s turn off our televisions, close our mouths to rehearsing what is wrong, and close our apps, except those prophetic visions, testimonies, and intercessions which foster His Reality. As difficult as it is to hold not only faith in our hearts but belief in our minds, we are called to persevere, to persistently speak forth, both in the Spirit and in Our native language. To  see and say what Adonai Elohim...the Great I Am says, sees, and wills.

Amen and amen, to the ages of ages...Amen

The Candle and the flame

 I spent a long, hot, sweaty weekend sharing a booth at an outdoor market, trying to sell my books*, cards, and paintings. I sold no art and only two books over two very long days, with the second being a mercy purchase by one of the event planners.  There was a carnival incorporated at the Octoberfest, and it unexpectedly sucked the people to the rides and away from the vendors, much to the vendors’ (and organizers’) dismay.

I WAS able to hand out cards and flyers for my two books(online), which I pray will bear fruit.  It’s not just the loss of the money invested, but the desire to share God’s heart with people through these books (and art). I feel strongly that He inspired me to create them, so it was discouraging to spend all that time and effort and appear to get nowhere.  

Thankfully, God had warned me before the event not to be become discouraged but to simply be faithful and persistent, and that His economy was not the same as the world's.  I have to confess to still waking up discouraged.  He knew I needed a ‘nugget’ from Him, and as usual He was faithful to encourage me... with this: 

Hmmm...a candle, ok.  Significance? It's not lit.

Somehow the light in the room is making the candle appear to be alight.  As I write this, it still 'burns'. "Ok, God.  Tell me what this means."

"The candle is a reminder of what I can do supernaturally, far above what you can do in the natural. You didn't light that candle but yet it appears to be lit, and is, indeed, shining forth. Don't rely on what you see and experience with your senses. Visualize...SEE in your mind's eye, your imagination, what I Am doing--what I SEE in the spiritual realm.  Believe it. Have faith to see it come to pass."

"Cool. Thank you. You are so kind and gracious. Help me SEE what You SEE.

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*Who You Are and Let All Creation Rejoice! [Bearfoot Books for the Shepherd @JEddyWales]

Fear and two lions

   Did you watch the newer Jumanji movie? That’s not usually my genre of choice, but I enjoyed not only its humor, but some Biblical analogies I found there.  1Peter 5:8 warns us that our Enemy prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone he may devour. That image seems even more vivid in current times, doesn’t it?

   The thing is, we can’t be devoured unless we agree to to it. We can never be his tasty meal unless we don’t know who we are as believers in Yeshua. In Jumanji, the ‘weakling’ character in real life becomes the super strong hero within the app. When he is about to be attacked, he freezes in fear and at first fails to fight back. He doesn’t remember  who he is. Suddenly he remembers that the man whose identity he has assumed has all kinds of strength and skill to defeat his attacker. It is only then he is successful in defeating his enemy. 

 

   I believe that happens with us. We allow fear to paralyze us. Fear of present times. Fear of future times.. Fear of speaking out. Fear of man’s opinion. Fear of illness. Fear of what will happen if certain groups take control of our country. Fear for our children and grandchildren. Fear of what kind of death we might die. Fear of that roaring lion. 

   However, it is the great Lion of Judah in whom our trust is securely placed. The other lion’s image is but an illusion, a hologram projected to frighten us into the kind of fear that causes us to leave our weapons lying useless at our sides. The kind of fear that can make us forget who we are. Like the character in Jumanji, we need to wake up to our true identity in Christ and stand up with confidence,  putting on the armor of Christ which He has given us. They are not just defensive weapons but offensive ones. Attired in our identifying  uniform, we find the hologram has as its source only a sickly cat, artificially magnifying its voice like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. 

   Another point of note in the movie as well as in Scripture, is that humility comes before success. Knowing who we are, in and of ourselves, places us in a position to stand up tall in the power coming only

from the Great Lion, the King of Kings.

   Yank that curtain back and unmask the imposter.  He does everything he can to keep us from knowing who he really is, because then we will know that we hold all the power.  Believe it, use it, and speak it forth, mighty ones!

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Matthew 8:26-27

FYI...I recently re-read The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis, the final book in The Chronicles of Narnia series. I highly recommend a current reading, in light of current revelatory events. For example, note that there is not only an imitation Aslan, but also another creature, thinking he has the real power, manipulating behind the scenes. Ultimately, that creature himself is swallowed whole by an evil greater than he. However, as you well know, that is not the end of the story. Further up and further in, everyone!

This lane open

I thought I’d share a short laugh from our Father this morning. He shared an image with me of a grocery store with long lines of socially distanced people. He called out This lane wide open! No need for distancing! No need for less than 10 items of concern! Step right up! There are three Persons all working that lane together, by the way, all with smiles and no masks.

Rabbit Ears

I love to have my prayer time on the porch and listen to all the birds, living in the trees surrounding us. I’ve wondered from which bird each call, song, or cry emanated. So I downloaded an app called BirdNet. I record the birds and then ask the app to analyze and identify the source, if it’s able. So far it’s identified about a dozen birds.  

The challenge in recording is to capture the quieter bird songs between the raucous calls of the crow and the scrub jay. This caused me to ponder what it is like for our Heavenly Father, with billions of voices calling out...some directly to Him and many just plaintively calling.  They don’t realize He hears their every whisper and every inaudible cry.

The Lord knows every one of our voices, as well as the number of hairs on our head.* He longs to have a two-way conversation with us. He hears the human equivalent of the soft coo of a dove at the exact same time as the unlovely cry of the raven. One does not drown out the other. In fact, He recognizes every individual dove, jay, towhee, swallow, starling, and robin as distinct from one another. You are not just part of a species and genus to Him, but rather a creature like no other. He hears every personality-filled call.

But do we hear His? Do we recognize the voice of the Shepherd amidst the cacophony of world events, social media posts, movies, television broadcasts, and conversations with friends and strangers? Do we listen intently amidst the fears, anxieties, dread, rationalizations, and even happy diversions of our minds?

When I was young, my mother called me rabbit ears. She and my father could be whispering 2 rooms away, and I would ask them questions about their conversation. “How do you DO that?” they would ask me. The Lord reminded me of this recently. 

I want you to have rabbit ears again, He said. 

What, Lord?, I replied with consternation.

Rabbit ears...remember? I want you to to listen so intently for me that you can hear me through all the noise and chaos of the world around you, especially when I seem far away..  Even through the fears and anxieties of your soul. It is vital now that you do, and even more so in the future. It will help if you turn off the secular external audio input. However, there’s no OFF switch for the internal voices, except through the power of My Holy Spirit. Tune those rabbit ears to My frequency and fine tune your reception. I AM above the circumstances in which you live, and you can be, too. But you must stay finely tuned.

Spend more time feeding yourself with the good food of My Word, by discerning teaching, and most of all by praying in My Spirit. Your rabbit ear growth comes from these...from My very Presence.  Live higher.  You will hear My whisper in your ear.

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My sheep listen to mu voice; I know them and they follow me.  --John 10:27

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.    --Matthew 10:29-31

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You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain. ...

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

--Psalm 139: 1-6; 17-18