Affectionate Reverence

   "Affectionate reverence." That is how the Amplified Bible translates 'the fear of the Lord'. Ever since I read that years ago, I've been struck by the truth of it. This morning the Lord reminded me that one without the other is insufficient. Reverence without love reduces us to simple fear. Affection without reverence makes us presumptive and cavalier in His presence. Only in combination do deep reverence and whole-hearted affection bring us into the right kind of relationship with Him who loves us tenderly yet causes us to fall at His feet in awe, wonder and utter humility.

   Let’s not forget that, in the image of the book of Esther, the Father chooses to ‘extend His scepter to us’ in the grace we received through His Son. It is not a deserved right, but a privilege. One in which He also delights, but something not to be received without full appreciation of what it took for that ‘acceptance in the beloved’ to be extended to us.
   As we progress through this Advent season of preparation, may we simultaneously fall on our faces and hug the stuffin's out of Him.

Enough

   Doctors told my mother before I was born I was a threat to her health. Thankfully, she trusted God to see her through.
   However, if one presidential candidate had her way, I would have suffered excruciating pain in a slow death in my mother's womb, either being burned to death or by being torn limb from limb.  If I had been a puppy or a kitten, the animal rights activists would have screamed bloody murder, and rightfully so, for so it would have been...and so it is now,
   How is it that we believe all sorts of scientific facts without question but stop our ears and blindfold our eyes to the clearly proven fact that unborn children are just that....children. They have heartbeats and brains and nervous systems. They receive nourishment, move, kick, respond to the voices of their parents, and turn away from medical instruments inserted to destroy them. There is no lack of evidence, including videos, that even a toddler could perceive as truth.
   There would have been no Julie on earth, and, in turn, no Joshua, no Danielle, no Peter. God saved My husband through his premature birth at only two pounds in 1947.  If he had been still inside his mother's womb in this decade, they could have legally murdered him instead of putting him in an incubator and trying to keep him alive.
   Why have so many Americans and others around the world agreed either overtly or complicitly in recent decades  to what was previously considered a horrific form of homicide?  Because it's convenient for us to do so. And if we took off our blindfolds and removed our earplugs, we'd have to face the truth of what we've allowed to happen. We haven't screamed 'bloody murder' because it would require personal sacrifice to do so. I know I, personally, have not done anywhere enough to stop this barbaric practice.
   I could never look my Heavenly Father in the eye again if I were to vote for this woman, not by any means for this reason alone, but this reason itself is absolutely and most certainly enough.

Shaken

   Someone mentioned on Facebook that she thought the hurricane was God's wrath being poured out. But Jesus is our Mediator (our One and Only), who saves us from the punishment we deserve. We are in a New Covenant, for which I am and will be eternally grateful.  What I do believe, however, is that God loves us so much, He will allow whatever it takes to get our attention so we take necessary action. not just storing survival supplies, but taking a look at our spiritual survival. This call is especially for those who don't even know He exists or know they have need of Him, but it applies to all of us who claim to trust in Him but who have slipped back into lukewarm, half-hearted devotion, with one foot following the world's values and dictates and the other trying to still touch heaven by tiptoe.
   Early on in the storm news, before I even knew how severe the prediction would become, He told me that there would be a great shaking.  People would wake up to the danger.  But the real danger, they would come to realize, wouldn't be the hurricane. It would be rejecting and cutting themselves off from their Savior...the One and Only Lover of their souls who gave everything so that they could be rescued from the hands of the evil one and live with Him forever...now in this life and in the next.
For those of us who have already made that commitment to Him, how much of our actual walk with Him is pretense?  What do we truly believe in our heart of hearts. How much of what we have been given do we really entrust to Him? How much of our lives do we spend seeking His will and His heart?
   The true danger is one that can't be seen on a TV meteorological report or in the economic news or in an approaching storm cloud.  It is in turning from the hand of God being extended to us, from the acknowledgement of our own sin and helplessness to save ourselves and, instead, making ourself our own god.   Every other religion of the world, from the formal major religions to new age philosophies and popular cults of the moment, demands that you raise yourself up to that god's height to attain what is promised, to avoid the wrath of its god, or to attain that status for yourself. Only in pure, unadulterated Christianity does God reach down to rescue, demanding nothing but
acknowledgement of His Kingship and grateful receipt of His Gift, His Sacrifice of Love. This is the One I've come to know. The One Who even now rescues us from The Eternal Danger, as well as caring for and protecting us in the temporal.  I'm grateful for both, but I know which is crucial.
   Yeshua said that His desire was and is that no one be lost. I believe this includes those who have treated their declaration of trust as more of an insurance policy than a vital and active daily relationship.  It's time to have a 'come to Jesus meeting'....literally.
   If  we must endure the shaking, let us be confident in knowing it comes from a heart of Love, not one of Vengeance. After the shaking, one thing remains....

" 'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you."
-- Isaiah 54:10

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever."
--Psalm 125:1

"I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."
--Psalm 16:8

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken
--Psalm 55:22

"Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
--Psalm 62:6

Before the Storm

   As I gratefully reside at my daughter and son-in-law's home outside of the path of the hurricane, I am once again reminded of the transitory nature of the things of earth. One of the most difficult aspects of letting go for me involves those irreplaceable things tied to memories..tied to love.  Photo albums, old videotapes of the kids, treasured birthday and Mother's Day cards which I meant to grab when I hurriedly evacuated  yesterday after work, trying to beat the highway evacuation parking lot. I think of those items left behind, along with my prayer journals containing God's specific messages to me.
   Yes, it's also difficult to deal with the thought that everything, including the house itself, could soon lie ruined.  But what my mind goes to first are the 'old treasures,' not the large screen TV, antiques, or even the car just finally paid for. When you are forced to evacuate, you quickly realize where your treasure lies:  in the hearts of your family and friends and, more importantly,  in the hands of your loving Heavenly Father from Whom all gifts come, including the gift of those you treasure.
   I am rebuking and cursing this storm in His Name, because He's given those who believe and trust  in Him the authority to do so.  He is the calmer of every kind of storm, including those taking place in our minds and hearts and bodies. I know He can stop this storm,  and if we better understood the authority designated to us by Him, we could calm the storm in His Name. I also; like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; declare that even if it doesn't stop, still I will trust in Him. Everything I have comes from Him, and nothing can remove or diminish His love and care for me. I may not understand the whys and wherefores, but I know I am His, and I know Whom I have believed...and that He is able to guard what in His sight are my greatest treasures on earth and in Heaven....

2 Timothy 1:12

Dancing with Yeshua

   I have danced in my mind with Yeshua on many occasions, but somehow this morning was different.  We were 'ballroom' dancing in classic style with Him holding my left hand in His. But instead of my right hand settling on His shoulder, He took it and bent it inward, entwined with His, so that my head rested just over His heart. He then rested the side of His face on my hair.  I then saw that I was wearing a wedding dress. I felt unworthy to wear this dress of purity of body and heart, yet He seemed to have no such qualms. He had provided the dress, after all. It was nothing I had purchased.
   I tried to describe to Him in my journal just how it felt to dance with Him in this way. I stopped midsentence, because no adequate word came to mind.  Dancing with Him was simply 'divine' ? [I could hear His chuckle.].  I told Him I was so happy He was willing to dance with me.  Very clearly He told me He wasn't just willing, but wanting, to dance with me...with each of us. Intimacy with Him isn't just His blessing us, but also our blessing Him.
   I know many have shared with me how they dance with Jesus.  If it's been awhile since you've put on your dancing shoes, step out onto the ballroom floor. He's waiting there for you....and He bought you a dress just for the occasion.

Hitting a Nerve

   Are you old enough to remember the game Operation?  You tried to remove a body part without setting off the buzzer. If you made a mistake, it was as if you had hit a nerve during surgery. I experienced something similar this morning listening to Lysa Terkeurst and James Robinson share their experiences of rejection. James describes repeatedly wanting so much to play in a game of sports but never being chosen and walking home crying while the others played. Lysa relates her story of feeling rejected by her father when he deserted their family.
   Whether it was periods of being overweight, gangly, uncoordinated, socially inept, or having unloveable personalities...or circumstances of poverty, broken relationships, and struggle in our families...there are probably few who of us who haven't endured such pain. As may be so with many of you, I have experienced both sides of this coin:  periods of my life when I was rejected and lonely...and periods when I found myself suddenly  'popular'.  This popularity was related to circumstances over which I had no control, and I was acutely aware of the fickleness of human acceptance.  I might have basked in it for awhile, but I knew its nature.  It also made me sensitive to the hearts of those either left on the fringe or outright discarded.
    There is no rejection with our Heavenly Father. He doesn't reject, He accepts.  He not only accepts, He  chooses you. He singles you out and says "I pick you!"  I planned you before you were born and I am delighted with you. You are My Chosen One. I want you. I have great plans for you. Plans and purposes aside, I just plain enjoy you. I think you're wonderful.
     Take a gander at Lysa's new bok Uninvited...or listen to what she has to say on Life Today (www.lifetoday.org). And while you're at it, give a cup of water to those who aren't worried about acceptance or rejection. They just want their precious children to survive another day.

Hearing God's Voice

Yesterday:
"Sometimes My 'Voice' is not in words you can take down in dictation. Sometimes My Voice is a Message, one which you receive into your soul through your spirit from My Spirit. It's like an infusion via IV, instead of you eating and digesting discrete foods. When you chew food, not all of it is actually digested and its nutrients absorbed. Some parts pass through whole. With an infusion, the nutrients or pharmakeia*  pass into and through you in their entirety.  Receive the infusion I wish to give you and be transfused with My Peace, My Wisdom, My Joy, that your spiritual marrow may be built up, enriched, and fortified."
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"Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."  --Psalm 90:14
"I Am the Vine; you are the branches..if you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing..."
--John 15:5
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*pharmakeia: Greek for administering medicine.  Also has secondary occult meaning, which I know was not what was meant here. However, if one were to seek that dangerous and deceptive path, infusion would also be involved, to the total detriment of one's soul and spirit. The evil one always makes available an alluring imitation.
**panpharmecon:  "Cure for everything."  That's Yeshua

God Stoops Down

Psalm 18 says that the Creator of the Universe 'stooped down to make us great' (perhaps better translated as 'significant'). As he bends His knee to look us lovingly in the eye on this speck of a perfectly planned planet, let us also kneel down...and then be raised up to throw our arms around His neck in grateful abandon to His very personal love.  Squeeze the stuffin's out of Him and see His slow and tender smile in return. Go ahead, make His day.

Hot Coals Instead of Flames

I loved two analogies and one other quote from David Benham (Benham brothers) today on Life Today (www.lifetoday.org*).
>Boldness without brokenness makes a bully.
>We are to be like chocolate chips in cookies.  Chocolate chips, you say?  Watch it and find out.
>We are to be like hot coals adjacent to one another, rather than single flames.  When the wind blows, we are not snuffed out but, instead, ignited.

Funny guys...
Their new book is "Living Among Lions," available for a donation towards a water well.
*Scroll down to see "This Week on Life Today"....Thursday's broadcast

Are you a Mentsh?

Are you a mentsh? My Complete Jewish Bible (David Stern) defines a mentsh as " a good, reliable person; a real human being, energetic, moral, and compassionate."
1 Corinthians 15:13:  "Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, behave like a mentsh, grow strong. Let everything you do be done in love."
I like this.

Communing with God

   I was reading this morning in Exodus 33, once again, about the Tent of Meeting which Moses set up outside the camp. "Everyone who wanted to consult with the Lord would go there" (v. 7). However, it was then Moses and Joshua who would actually enter the tent and experience God's manifest Presence. "Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses...as a man speaks to his friend" (v. 11). What I never noticed was that after Moses left the tent, Joshua remained behind. In fact, I had never thought about Joshua even being there with Moses. This struck me because I wondered what it must have been like for Joshua to be present in the midst of God's glory and to experience the interchange between YHWH and Moses.  Who wouldn't want to remain behind in that place?  Why was he allowed to, I wonder?  What did he experience when he did? So many questions to ask people in Heaven when we get there.
   We now sometimes take for granted that we have access to God's ear and loving Presence every single moment of our lives, if we enter through our faith in the sacrificial gift of His Son (begotten from His love).  The Tent of Meeting is our body, our spirit within us able to commune with Him whenever we turn our face to His. He is willing to speak to us all as a friend, not just to the few chosen ones.
   People sometimes ask me 'where I go' when I close my eyes in worship. They can tell I'm someplace else at times. When I pray for people now, in my more 'advanced' years, I tend not to say very much anymore. I don't start speaking a prayer aloud right away. Sometimes they wonder if I'm stuck for what to say.  But that isn't it.  Well, in a way, it is, because I've found through the years it's better if I wait to 'connect' with God first and just let His Spirit wash over the person for whom I'm praying.  Then, if He gives me something to pray aloud, I do.  Many times, I pray only 'in the Spirit' and my words in English, if any, are few. As we invite His Presence, His Canopy covers us and we are awash in His love.  Who wouldn't want to linger there?

Hurtful Memories Buried Alive?

   After I sent the last post winging its way into cyberspace, I stood on our deck basking in soft sunlight with a gentle breeze swirling around me and heard God's whisper:  "Let the memories you've now given to me lie down in peace.  Feel My Shalom in your heart concerning them. No longer will they be buried alive, attempting to resurrect themselves.  I will carry them off with Me, where I know how to receive them. There is nothing I can't use for good, nothing out of which I cannot make something beautiful, not the least of which are compassion and mercy toward others."
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"What is God asking of us? Unabashed, unhindered, completely abandoned repentance. No faking. No hedging. No blaming. No excuses. Just, 'Have mercy on me, a sinner...' "*  
 --Beth Moore, When Godly People Do Ungodly Things

*Luke 18: 9-17