March, 2023: Freedom is breaking through, but we haven’t achieved it yet
March has been a difficult month for me to document links for a number of reasons. A short history to help explain: I began posting news links from largely-unknown sources/citizen journalists in January of 2021 following the fraudulent 2020 Presidential Election results because only on the outskirts of journalism was anyone asking genuine questions and offering genuine and multiple instances of voter fraud which could have impacted the result. I wanted to share the information so that people realized there were, indeed, two sides to the widely-supported mainstream media “story.”
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect that the clearly-compromised/illegally engineered result would install a globalist puppet government whose mission it was to basically destroy the America I knew and believed in. I never assumed that lawfulness would be thwarted when believable and multiple photos/statements of evidence were presented. I did not anticipate that the election results would “stand” and that charlatans would be given administrative control of our Republic. It was unthinkable to me that the Supreme Court would step back from its job and refuse to hear voter fraud cases; I never believed that the corruption of our District Attorneys, Judges, collective media, elected representatives and Federal institutions would so thoroughly support an illegitimate governing body — for these components are the circumstances of fiction, not fact. And all this is before we come to COVID, during which our Constitutional rights were violated right-and-left on an individual, rather than national, level. And again, nearly total media silence on statistics that proved alternative medicines could indeed be effective, that “the vax” was NOT safe as proclaimed large-and-wide, and that to at least some degree, COVID was not only planned, but also released to further globalist political goals removing worldwide individual freedoms. These are truly the elements of science fiction, not real-time-life-in-America. And yet here we are, in the midst of this sorrowful and frightening novel.
But the national playing field has changed with the election of the new House members. Streams of information are beginning to be pried free from the False Narrative’s icy grip. There are now growing numbers of outlets which can no longer be stopped/blocked/censored from sharing both “the truth” and additional scenarios which bring us motivation and encouragement as we continue to machete through this tangled jungle of political evil and ill intent. In a certain measure, I have a sense that “the job is done” regarding what I set out to do….AND YET….unexpected suppression of information continues to both be revealed and still active. We are beginning another Presidential election cycle which will bombard us with plenty of falsehood and propaganda for the next 18-month stretch. All indications at this point is that it will again be rife with corruption, voter fraud, and potential international interference. Some states have stepped up to ensure the safety of their election vote, but the majority have not.
In some ways I have a sense that “the job is done,” as information is now flowing much more freely through numerous outlets, enabling people to decide for themselves what is fact and fiction, whether the gate we are being herded through is beneficial or harmful.
AND YET…..suppression of information continues to pop its head up in unexpected instances. In addition, we have another Presidential Election Cycle in 18 months, with all indications being that it will again be rife with corruption, voter fraud, and potential international interference. I am not sure what direction to go. In the meantime, I will be posting miscellaneous March posts I have already collected but not yet published, and additional links as I find them of significance.
I am as tired as anyone else of the unending pressures that are unrelentingly polluting the air we breathe. I long for “normalcy” in our country. How do I define that term? The Message version of I Timothy 2:2 describes, “we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation.” This is a worthy goal. So I encourage everyone (including myself), to stand strong! We press on, in faith and in His love, in worship and expectation of His Mercy, Kindness, and Justice to be released. We are NOT at the end of His patience, but rather beginning a new stage of fulfilling His plans.
August 16, 2021: It cannot be that we have entered the last six weeks of “official” summertime.
Yes, the front deck garden has been really beautiful, this year. Short-lived, with a snowstorm falling the first week of June, yet really beautiful. As the “time for summer” is growing painfully short, I ask myself why I am perceriving the time as being both very tedious and simultaneously frustratingly short since June 22. I think I have decided that it is for the same reason that the Fourth of July felt like any other day of the year, only with a proliferation of red, white and blue decor.
The integrity of the nation remains on standby. Transformations to our nation that are both illegal and unconstitutional continue to move forward. Within different church gatherings, scriptural interpretation and subsequent action on the part of the congregants is split between those who believe that aggressively stepping out to defend freedom is a task given by Divine commission, and those who say to remain subject to the government, praying for peace, praying for the nation but essentially letting God “work everything out.”
The indecision and disunity is costing all of us. It is as if we are standing in the corner of a room as a slow, stinky slime keeps crawling forward, intent on devouring whatever comes into its path. We know that we are in its path. Freedom-loving nations across the world are in its path. There are instances in which the slime is being resisted and to some degree pushed back…..but it has yet to be neutralized or sent recoiling in the opposite direction.
We cry as the Psalmist cries, “Give us help against the enemy, for deliverance by man is worthless” (Psa. 108:12) as we simultaneously heed the warning of I Corinthians. 14:8 — “For if the trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?”
Lord, send the clear notes of Your trumpet that we may stand united and advance under Your guidance, Spirit and Anointing.
July 4, 2021: It does not feel like Independence Day.
Oh, the decor is up and everything looks quite beautiful….but the deeply resounding inner truth is that all the surroundings, the speeches, the articles, another year of “virtual fireworks except in designated locations” — all feel hollow and vacant.
The election results from months ago remain seriously contested, and with substantial reasons to be contested. Those who maintain the existing vote count aas accurate wrestle violently with those who bring forth evidentiary document and fact after evidentiary document and fact to the contrary.
Progress is gridlocked as lawsuit counters lawsuit and executive orders from the designated head of country continue to undermine our Constitution and America’s freedom. Truly it feels as if two prize-fighters are taking turns landing their near-knockout blows on the other….while the world waits.
It is not pleasant. It is not relaxing.
In the book of Daniel, the prophet has a startling vision-encounter that throws him into a deep slumber. He was touched by a hand that, he writes, “shook me on my hands and knees.” (Dan. 10:10) The retelling continues, “Then he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” (Dan. 10:12-13)
Our vision of the heavenly conflict is nearly non-existent, though many prophetic voices bring encouragement that God is “in the process” of carrying out His plans and His declarations for good and not evil upon the country, upon the world.
This process, however — it is not pleasant. And it is not relaxing. In Exodus, Moses is recorded as saying, “Do not fear! Stand by the see the salvation of the Lord, Which He will perform for you, today.” (Ex. 14:13)
We are standing by, Lord, we are standing by.
April 15: Vindicate America, O God
I was reading Psalm 43 and saw the power of personalizing the words towards our nation, rather than an individual, jumped out at me:
“Vindicate America, O God, and plead her case against those who want to turn her into an ungodly nation; O deliver her from the deceitful and injust man. For You are the God of her strength; why have You rejected her? Why does she go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
“O send Your Light and Your truth, let them lead her; let them bring her to Your holy hill, and to Your dwelling places. Then she will go to Your dwelling places. Then she will go to the altar of God, to God her exceeding joy; and upon the lyre she shall praise You, O God my God.
“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” (Psa. 43:1-5)
Short. Simple. Profound.
Hope in God, when despair is seen all around us, infiltrating the very air we breathe.
The soul of America is in deep mourning under the oppression of the enemy, who is using his agents and schemes for great harm to its citizenry. The attack has been sustained, irrational, crushing to multitudes. He thinks he will win. The enemy believes the wound after wound being inflicted upon this nation cannot be healed or mended or undone.
The enemy underestimated and gloated at the Crucifixion of Jesus and at the fall of Adam. I believe he is gloating now and he surveys the American landscape.
Hope in God.
Psalm 40 states, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He reached down to me and heard my cry. He brought me out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay. And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.” (Psa. 40:1-3)
His salvation for our nation is coming. He has spoken through many of His prophets and through other less-known but Kingdom-connected voices that America is His and it will not be taken from His hand. He will not abandon that which is the brightest beacon of His love and Gospel-bearing upon this world. I believe He is bringing down strongholds and fortresses in the hearts and lives of millions of people across this nation.
“Revival” will be not only in our hearts, but also in the institutions around us. The enemy is continuing to play his hand, and in the spiritual — it is weak! It is weak and insipid compared to the unimaginable power and majesty of sovereign, Almighty God, Redeemer, Creator of the universe, and partner in this great vindication.
75 days until America’s Independence Day, July 4, 2021. God is raising His army to do His will in this nation He is visiting hearts and creating vision for His outpouring of justice.
“For though we walk in the flesh we do not wage battle according to the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arguments raised up against the knowledge of God.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5)
We stand in a time of great anticipation….and great evil-slaying…..
Labor Day 2020, last entry before I jump to my Fall-Winter Journal.
An unexpected snowstorm from Canada-way is dropping down tomorrow to give us four below-freezing nights and the first white stuff on the ground. In a year of never-befores and not-for-a-long-times, the trend is continuing. It will be the First September snowstorm to hit Colorado Springs in twenty years.
I’m not mentally prepared to empty and wrap up the garden fountain, to move the stained glass table and bird bath to safe shelter.
It does not yet feel like “summer” should be ending. It never really got started. This summer season has felt like we are all flowers that started to bloom but immediately had their petals begin to wither, drop and all to the ground as much-anticipated celebrations and activities continued to be canceled due to COVID and political unrest.
And now the Autumn equinox is less than two weeks away. I am simply not in the mood for changing leaves and stacks of pumpkins. It is a year in which so much of significance has been stolen from the public trust, from the unity of the American populace, from the Constitutional rights of each individual.
I want my personal “normal” back. I want my national “normal” back. And I am tired of being told it will never return. I stand in faith that the Creator and Defender of our nation is in the midst of fighting for us and our country; that He is releasing wave after wave of His Spirit, changing lives and bringing freedom and deliverance in the midst of a politically-driven culture whose wolves are viciously demanding that “we the people” accept loss, violence, failure and denigration and praise it as “progress.”
Rise up, our God and King, rise up and move through each one of us who have been called “for such a time as this,” to walk in the good works and deeds you are setting before us daily. Rise up, Holy and Magnificent One, and use each of us to participate in a massive Great Reconciliation across our nation. Rise up, Great Comforter and Lover, that as Your Ambassadors we boldly and with certainty extend Your healing, Your revelation, Your Justice and Mercy and Love throughout this land. Rise up, great Nation Builder and Nation Aligner, and strengthen Your people to be Your instruments in this great work you are performing.
(previous post: Psalm 2:4, God laughs at those in rebellion against Him; seeking the laughter of the Lord as a spiritual weapon.)
July 31: It is a beautiful day of bright sunshine, scurrying squirrels and chipmunks, singing birds and a chilly 49 degrees.
Sitting by the fire pit with its dancing flames makes the scene almost idyllic. Nearly all the populations of the world continue to suffer various debilitations and deaths from COVID. Our American culture and the institutions which bring us the normalcy of everyday life are sustaining one assault after another. The very concept of “normal routine” seems to be mocked in each day’s news.
God is not the instigator of our national woes, but I do believe He is in the process of redeeming them –therefore, He is surely in the midst of a great refashioning and great realignment which we have not yet fully discerned.
Prophetic voice Johnny Enlow wrote in mid-June that 2020 will be known as “the year God greatly used satan” and satan’s plans for destruction. Why? To achieve longtime goals and make inroads into situations and issues that were troubling to His heart. Enlow compares it to the crucifixion in the sense that if the enemy had seen the Last Act, he would never have started Jesus down the road to Golgotha.
That is a comparison worth thinking about.
The Passion Translation phrases Psalm 2:4, “God-enthroned merely laughs at them; the Sovereign One mocks their madness.”
“Madness” seems to be an appropriate one-word summation of the political and cultural times we are experiencing. Perhaps the laughter of God, then, is an encouraging focal point on which to meditate as we see untrustworthy leaders push us and our nation towards a “cultural Golgotha.”
This week I read a prophetic insight from Russ Walden that stood in agreement with Enlow. He wrote that the Lord said to him, “What of those problems and situations that seem to loom so large over your life? Open your mouth and laugh. Laugh the laugh of faith. I am seated in the heavens and I laugh, and you are seated in Me in Christ, so LET MY LIFE in the HEAVENS be heard on earth and even in your circumstance.”
That is tough advice in the midst of a nation and people who are suffering.
Let me briefly return to Psalm 2. Verses 1-3 read, “How dare the nations plan a rebellion. Their foolish plots are futile! Look at how the power brokers of the world rise up to hold their summit as the rulers scheme and confer together against Yahweh and his Anointed King, saying: ‘Let’s come together and break away from the Creator. Once and for all let’s cast off these controlling chains of God and His Christ.” (Psa 2:1-3, TPT)
It is easy to point towards the earthly perpetrators of our current state of unrest and dis-ease. Our guidance in Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NASB)
The Passion Translation expands out the verse in this manner: “Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms. For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage.”
And it is against these that we are encouraged to manifest God’s laughter as a tool of spiritual warfare, slicing-and-dicing their ranks in the invisible realm. To those we see and touch, we share the encouragement and proclamation of His love, His ongoing deliverance, His faithfulness to walk with them through these trials, and His unwavering character of goodness.
(previous post: an encouragement to walk in His Peace as we discern “our portion” of the “good works which God prepared beforehand” in the midst of these days)
June 30: The near-silence is so pleasant this morning.
Little except the sporadic wind bursts waving branches and flowing through the rounded green aspen leaves can be easily heard. Occasionally, in the distance, the sound of cars ascending and descending the busy nearby pass to the high mountains float through the air.
The sunshine is warm and relaxing, and I am drawn into thinking about the fact that we as a nation are in desperate need of relaxation.
Not “entertainment” or “amusement,” but genuine relaxation, unwinding and de-stressing, a national mindset relieved of the ever-prevalent anxiety and strife that are battering our nation from within and without. Baltimore is in chaos; Portland is bearing uncontrolled spasms of furious destruction; New York City is resembling a violent invasion site; and the list of accomplishment for the spirits of fear, violence, murder, and chaos continues to expand.
It is a time when we most need a national soul open before God to hear His voice and receive His comfort, His guidance, His peace.
In John 14:27, Jesus promises, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, or let it be fearful.” (NASB) The Passion Translation states that verse this way: “I leave the gift of peace with you–my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts–instead, be courageous!”
Courageous. I love that word, but it is a description too often reserved for mere physical conflict. We live in the reality of Ephesians 6:12 — “For out struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NASB)
Jesus knew the struggle. He knew — and knows — we need peace, inner strength, resolve residing in the deepest fibers of our being. He clearly differentiated between the giving and fellowship of His Spirit and the “giving” of the world. While He is Living Water, the Source of Life, the world’s system often hovers over us like a giant parasite, always seeking to draw away strength, fervor, vigor.
Yet His reality in our lives both connects and transcends physical and spiritual reality. My God — and yours, if your life is given to, and hidden with, Christ — is my strength and high tower. And as we clothe ourselves in Christ, we can endure, if not relax, in focusing on the counsel of James, who reflected, “The testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance had its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:3-4, NASB)
The Passion Translation elaborates: “For you know that when your faith is tested, it stirs up power within you to endure all things. And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.” (James 1:3-4, TPT)
I wrestle with the small portion, the “good works, which God prepared beforehand” (Eph. 2:10) that I should walk in through these tumultuous and vexing days. I would suspect that you do, too.
Let it be grounded in His peace, which is a foundation for living with courage.
(previous post below: we are called to freedom, serving one another in love, while we are called to pray for – not serve – our government)
May 25. Memorial Day.
I miss the pageantry of a “normal” Memorial Day. I am feeling the absence of parades, people in their big-brimmed summer hats waving miniature flags as Color Guards, ROTC youth, uniformed service members and local government officials pass by.
I am also missing the speaking of honor, respect, appreciation and historical perspective that so often fills our national narrative on this day.
The scripture that keeps coming to my mind this morning is, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke a slavery.” (Gal. 5:1)
Standing firm in freedom. Freedom. A word of shattering implication wherever it is used, wherever it is implemented.
There is no shortage of forces active in our culture, right now, set to derail each and every Christian from that walk and expression of divinely ordained freedom. A Freedom not only for the purpose of personal worship and expanding the Kingdom, but freedom also for the purpose of actively maintaining a society that honors Him and seeks to maintain its principles in a moral universe, on Godly foundations.
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another…but if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” (Gal. 5:13, 15)
I think this latter scripture is most painfully on display, right now. Our culture is calling us, almost seducing us, with the temptation to brutally devour one another whole and without conscience. We are to ignore both the consequences and long-term devastation to either ourselves or to our neighbors while we fulfill this mission.
2020 has been a tough year so far.
Even as we as a nation celebrate the bravery and spilled blood that national freedom costs us, presently, and cost our predecessors who bravely served to protect the interests and freedoms of America, it seems appropriate to also reflect that we are not scripturally instructed toserve the government. Our scriptural instruction, rather, is to pray for those who are entrusted with positions of authority within it, so that the King of Kings might have vessels who possess ears open to hear His voice, hearts open to follow His guidance, and the unwavering courage to lead His nations in justice and mercy.
Our service is to be manifest in serving one another, motivated by a heart of love. “No greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his brothers.” We are not called to sacrifice or destroy the lives of others in our personal pursuits or our personal politics, nor to carry out the same at a governmental behest or act of governmental neglect. Rather, we are called to allow His Life, in us, to be seen as a powerful testimony as we carry His Spirit into the midst of every circumstance, insert His answers into every debate, embody His goals and His ideals as we pursue the re-setting and continuation of a civil society that is God-honoring.
We are called to freedom. We, like Jesus, are called to undo the works of the evil one. It is not a season for passivity. “Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.” (2 Cor. 3:5)
(previous post below: nurturing, releasing and encouraging the strength of our hope in God)
May 1, 2020: We are now halfway between the very first day of spring and the start of summer.
Yet in many ways the past few weeks feel like “winter” never really ended, despite snow boots and shovels being moved away from the front door.
I feel a pall of unrest hovering over our country. The thick mix of frustration, emotional anguish, sense of loss and helplessness mingle together and make the blanket of our COVID-19 individual isolation that much heavier.
It feels as if the Spring of new beginnings still remains very far off, despite our calendar date.
Yet hope is in our DNA. While our minds wander and our souls are stung by the seemingly endless directions, restrictions, prohibitions and rules, the hope in our spirit remains steadfast.
It is our job to nurture, encourage, release the strength of that hope.
Twice in Psalm 42, the author writes, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him.” (Psa. 42:5,11)
Psalm 31:24 encourages, “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.”
The Apostle Paul spoke to the Romans, “hope does not disappoint.” (Rom. 5:5, NASB)
The Passion Translation takes Romans 5:1-6 and proclaims, “Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us. Our faith guarantees us access to His permanent kindness that has given us a perfect relationship with God.
“What incredible joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s glory! But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”
Hope in our DNA. Courage in our DNA. God’s glory in our DNA.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. So that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13, NASB)
(previous post below: Worshiping God as part of His amazing creation)
April 18, 2020: Today is one week after Easter.
The snowstorms have taken a break, and I’m listening to a wonderful variety of bird songs. A baby chipmunk winds his way cautiously through the chair legs on the deck. The strains of “How Great is Our God” fill my soul with its words.
An old song, yes. But timeless. God is always “clothed in majesty” and the earth is created to resound with rejoicing at His Name. At His Breath. At His Presence. At His great and wondrous deeds. At His Glory.
It is a privilege that we each have the opportunity to help carry the harmony, providing depth and crescendo to Nature’s gratitude, to release His transforming glory through praise wherever we go.
Let all the earth rejoice!
(previous post below: Our nation has faced multiple assaults from the enemy since the new year of 2020 began; are we in the midst of a Habbakuk moment? )
April 14, 2020: Winter flipped into Spring nearly a month ago. The snowy terrain did not change, however. And this year’s Easter did not “feel” like Easter any more than the calendar date made Spring “feel” as if it had arrived. I think maybe Puxatawny Phil missed his mark this year.
This year’s Easter had no colored egg hunts, no get-togethers in the park, no family gatherings. It was unseasonably cold and snowy, a windy and brutal day.
With our country on near-lockdown, there was no warmth of fellowship from those we normally gather with at joyous Easter church services, no sharing the flow and celebration of His love, strength, victory and encouragement on this, a sacred and contemplative day of reflection.
The enemy’s attack and enforcement of his will has had a terrible impact on this year.
But I believe the Lord has turned the tide. the schemes and destructions of the enemy are being turned against him, and his deceptions are being ripped off to reveal evil in unexpected places, a defining revelation of where it has gained root.
I also believe we are in an Habakkuk 1:5 moment: “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am dong something in your days–You would not believe if you were told.”
Yes, I know that is “Old Testament” and we live within and under the New Covenant. Yet He is eternal, consistent, melding together the unity of past, present and future into one — indeed, into One–so that our task is to partner with Him in our segment of His eternal time as He brings significant changes throughout the world; as He brings a realigning of this nation’s priorities with those of America’s foundation.
We who walk with Him are sensing the ferocity of this heavenly battle over our American soil — a turmoil which none of us anticipated slamming into and flooding our country with such great devastation.
The incomparable Resurrection Power we celebrate and proclaim on Easter is continuing to rearrange and realign nations, refocus national priorities, and make significant inroads in breaking down artificially created divisions among our populace. “Neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free man, neither male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) That is God’s proclamation of “social justice,” the God-ordained, true unity in Christ that cannot be legislated but can become physical reality as we who are His bearers of Light advance His Kingdom with deliberation and purpose.
One hope. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. (Eph 4:4-5) The battle remains ongoing, still raging. And as this scheme of the enemy is dismantled — a scheme to destroy freedom, a scheme designed to destroy the proclamation of His Name, to destroy the brightest collective Light yet sent into this physical earth, is — yet another scheme will likely be concocted. Jesus, our Lord, and our Abba, Father, come to dwell among us even now — fill Your people with Your love, strength, wisdom, discernment, resolve, and courage to bring Your Light and Truth into the public arena.
I had a visual image about a month ago. As I was praying, an image similar to the famous painting, “George Washington Crossing the Delaware” came to me. The boat in my image was less crowded, wider, the water less littered with ice chunks. Donald Trump, dressed in his typical long black coat, was standing near the front of the boat, on the right side, while George Washington stood on the other. Trump was carrying a staff. As the boat progressed, unseen objects would bump into the boat, rocking it slightly and slowing it down. One encounter left a dent in the side of the boat. The impact caused Trump to steady himself with the staff, continuing to peer into the waters ahead. After a pause, the boat’s forward momentum slowly continued. The “USS America-2020” continues to navigate a difficult, treacherous course.
As the Lord encourages me, so I encourage each one of us to continue to pray God’s protection, guidance and Divine intervention over our country and our President, thanking Him for the wondrous works He is engaged in.
(previous post below: The Lord walks with us through the most challenging and difficult part of our lives)
September 7, 2019: I am starting to see tiny patches of gold leaves in a few of the trees. I don’t want to admit the truth: Summer is already ending.
It’s a beautiful concept — summertime in the garden and the rewarding work of preparing, planting, and enjoying the flowers or vegetables that result. But this was not that kind of year.
With snows lasting until almost the end of May and rain throughout most of June and July, part of the garden suffered from too little sun and too much water. June hailstones beat up blooms that are normally safe until nearly August.
But it wasn’t simply the physical side of gardening that presented a challenge, this summer. I discovered that this was the summer I needed to be putting more work into the “garden” of my 85-year-old mother’s life. Seeds and weeding, maintenance of a different sort needs to be taking place, and it is a process that will go far beyond the boundaries of normal planting cycles.
Psalm 28 states, “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.” (Psa. 28:6-7)
Like the cold of winter returning too quickly, this is not a season I am anticipating with any enthusiasm. I will have need of unfailing compassion and endurance, and trust my Jesus that this particular, drawn-out event, will bear spiritual fruit that will be of use and benefit to His body — “so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Cor. 1:4)
The shoes need to go on. The laces need to be tied. The road needs to be walked.
“But as for me, I will sing of Your strength; yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.” (Psa. 59:16)
And Lord, let my days of distress be brightened and lightened by Your Presence, Your comforting touch, Your special measure of joy sprinkled — no, generously poured — over me as I walk through this valley shrouded by the shadow of death.
(previous post below: The never ending, inspiring beauty of our amazing God)
Welcome, Spring 2019.
And the forecast so far: snow this week, snow last week, snow for weeks to come.
The indoor Christmas cactus are blooming in colorful array. Matthew 6:8, in part, states, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (NASB) The Lord knows the emotional perk-up I experience from the beauty of bright petals popping out from plain green stems…and here they come.
The flowering plants were a gift from a friend…a very beautiful gift that keeps on giving, often in unexpected seasons.
But let me jump back to Matthew 6:8, and share that same Scripture from The Amplified Bible, for it leads into a wonderful rendition of Jesus’ example of prayer: “This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: “Our Father who is in heaven, reveal who You are. Set the world right; Do what’s best–as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with You and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty!”
Exalting God with the phrase, “You’re ablaze in beauty” speaks deeply to my heart. And every time I examine a new array of bright petals, that phrase flashes through my mind. My God, my heavenly-loving-kind-generous-best-friend Father…You are ablaze in never ending beauty!
(previous post below: Thanks be to God, who rescues us, protects us, and always provides the path to victory)
September 15, 2018: although it’s still quite warm, there are fewer chipmunks scampering up our walls, I haven’t seen a hummingbird in a couple of weeks, and the Blue Jays are noticing a scarcity of easy-prey bugs and visiting the bird feeder more regularly.
But it was not a Jay to catch my attention one morning. I was watching an active little bird lean forward on the perch farther…farther…farther…until POP! right into the center glass cylinder he fell.
What had first appeared to him as an undisturbed time of feasting was quickly discovered to be a trap.
As small feathery wings flapped hard against the glass and its dark head flailed around in sudden fear of its unexpected predicament, I shook my head in disbelief even as I moved to set him free.
Even though birds have necessarily small brains–how could that bird not have seen what would come next? I asked myself, and then I chuckled, thinking how often we bring trouble onto ourselves through similar short-sightedness.
I wonder how often God has those similar head-shaking moments with us, as we lean farther…farther into something we want, something we think we will find satisfying, a perfect something — only to discover we have put ourselves in a pickle, so to speak, and are caught in a situation we can’t easily escape.
Carefully and slowly I worked on the rescue: off with the tightly-attached top. Twisting carefully and without shaking the glass, I slowly tilted the cylinder until just the right angle for successful flight was achieved. With a loud screeching chirp of either joyful success or total panic, the small chickadee flew out with a burst of great energy.
I watched the bird as it landed in a nearby tree, loudly chattering all the time in a language I wished I understood. And in the humor of that moment, I had compassion for the animal’s apparent fury, and I thought of Jesus’ compassion towards people who felt trapped and without hope.
As Jesus encountered large crowds of curious, questioning people, His internal response to them is recorded more than once: He “felt compassion for them, for they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36)
Then I thought about the concept of being trapped, and of Paul’s reminder to the Gentile Ephesians that they had been “strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12)
Those two thoughts intertwined and seemed to be visually summed up in the little bird’s pitiful situation: trapped in a cylinder with no perch to climb out.
And then I heard this phrase run through my mind: But thanks be to God.
The rest of the scripture followed quickly. “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.” (Rom. 6:17)
Paul’s phrase is recorded twice in the Book of Romans and four times he spoke it as he addressed the church at Corinth.
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ…” (I Cor. 15:57)
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” (2 Cor. 2:14)
Thanks be to God, who rescued us from the “cylinders” of our lives apart from Him, not simply tilting the container, but destroying it altogether.
“For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household.” (Eph. 2:18-19)
Thanks be to God, indeed!
(previous post below: God’s Presence and walk with us through the different seasons and transitions of our lives)
August 15: the world has moved into August.
The pastel, jubilant blooms of June have faded and fallen. In their place, small flowery faces have emerged from foliage and the dark soil.
I have a sense of time’s cycle clicking forward a notch.
Although I am often annoyed by the random manner I hear parts of Ecclesiastes 3 quoted, as I look at the changing floral landscape, those same words echo in my thoughts: “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” The second verse states, “A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.” (Ecc. 3:2)
I don’t plan to spend much time uprooting, but the changing colors and new growth definitely herald a changing season ahead.
“He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.” (Ecc. 3:11, NASB) The New International Version translates, “He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecc. 3:11)
I genuinely enjoy thinking about the concept of eternity being set in my heart. Although I admittedly will never fully fathom “what God has done,” there is much about His doing, His creating, His salvation, His Person, His love towards me that I can fathom. And that is cause to rejoice. It is cause to look beyond myself in times of challenging circumstances and blue-mood days to realize that though my current “blooms” are always in the process of fading and falling, He is constantly in the process of setting new buds in my life – and in yours – to come forth.
In Isaiah 43:13 the Lord proclaims, “Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
I act and who can reverse it…the verse that jumps into my thoughts is Paul proclaiming, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31-32)
I look back at my flowers in their ongoing cycles of blooming and dying. He freely gives us all things — during each of our seasons. During each of our transitions. Throughout all the different cycles of our lives.
(previous post, below: celebrating our independence from the grip of sin)
July 4: The Journal entry that would have been written here actually became my July post about “Shining On”….but there’s one more more brief statement I want to add about walking out our ability to be “lights in the dark.” Philippians 2:15 states, “Prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.” (italics added)
Our American Independence Day brings a special addition in meaning. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” (Rom. 6:6)
We celebrate our independence from Great Britain….but as the fireworks go off, it is also a great time to think of how Jesus’ victory has give us independence from sin, a freedom that comes only from being in Him!
(previous post, below: watching expectantly to see God at work in our lives)
June 21: I was observing the profile of a particular soon-to-bloom daisy, the curve and angle of its lean, long stems. And I struggled to find just the word to describe their stance.
Then it came to me, with a chuckle. They looked expectant.
“Expectant” as in looking for something eagerly, earnestly leaning into the sun from its position of semi-shade. Firmly rooted in good soil and seeking the warmth and catalyst needed for growth and bloom.
Romans 8:15-17 has Paul teaching, “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’ God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.” (The Message) In Psalm 119, the psalmist wrote, “For those who love what You have revealed, everything fits — no stumbling around in the dark for them. I wait expectantly for Your salvation.” (Psa 119:166, Msg) In Psalm 5, the author gives this testimony: “In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you and watch expectantly.” (Psa 5:3, Christian Standard Bible)
Watching expectantly…what a beautiful encouragement to embrace.
(previous post, below: God’s anticipation of our blooming with His fragrance and our beauty in His eyes)
JUNE 14: I am particularly fond of watching the Mtn. Lupine develop. First, the breaking of the soil and the tip of green pushing upward. Then the unfurling of small, jagged-edged leaves. A quick spurt of growth follows and the first-bloom structure forms.
I often think to myself, I see you coming up. I know what you will look like when you are in full bloom. You will stand taller and fuller than most of the other flowers and bushes around you — and oh, your beauty; that profuse growth of tiny little flowers encircling your stalk will create a magnificent display and provide a sweet, drifting scent.
I wait with anticipation…and I think that perhaps our Heavenly Father, who knitted us together in our mother’s wombs, thinks of us in the same way. He watches us with anticipation and expectation. He knows our potential, He knows the plans He will lay out before us, He knows the “good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10)
He walks beside us and, through His spirit, encourages us as He waits with anticipation and expectation for each day of our future together.
He yearns to see the beauty and savor the scent that will be created.
(Previous post, below: the eternal significance of ‘spiritual watering’ and the encouragement we can bring to others)
JUNE 9: It was nearly midnight and I was quite tired. Yet I found myself watering these lovely flower-filled pots, making sure an even flow from the stretched-out hose reached each one of them. Tomorrow I would leave them all in someone else’s care for several days, with a future forecast of hot days and no rain.
Leaving. Returning. Starting their week off with a healthy drink that would nurture them, refresh the dryness of their soil and roots before the relentless heat pressed against them again.
And in that odd time and place, as I thought about giving these flower pots a portion of refreshing, cold water, I thought of Jesus breaking bread with His disciples at the Last Supper: “While they were eating He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for any.'” (Mark 14:22-24) …His prayer in Gethsemane for those disciples and all the ones to follow: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word…”(John 17:20)
Jesus poured over them a healthy portion of Living and Life-giving water for strength and courage as they would endure the withering heat that was to come.
I find the physical act of watering to be personally restorative even as the water benefits that which receives it. Proverbs 11:25 states, “The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters himself will be watered.” Most of the time I do not leave the garden area with wet feet…however, I do experience a certain satisfaction in knowing that roots will grow deeper, stalks and stems will grow stronger and taller, blooms will continue to blossom and display their intrinsic beauty — all because they have been nurtured and prepared to face the heat and dryness ahead.
We live in a universe of natural and spiritual parallels. The proper “spiritual watering” of people yields dramatic and potentially eternal results. The people you and I encounter are encouraged, refreshed, emboldened as we share His Living Water, roiling around deep within us. Words of encouragement, kindness, the sharing of godly perspective and affirmation of worth in the Father’s eyes. Holding up an umbrella of His Word when we encounter the hottest of days — “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (I John 4:4)
We each have a role to play in each other’s lives. The apostle Paul taught, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” (I Cor. 3:6)
Do you plant? Do you water? Do you cultivate or add nutrients? God is working in partnership with us at every step of the process.
(previous post, below: transformation, His glory in our earthen vessels, repeated blooming in the seasons of our lives)
MAY 25, 2018: Spring in the shadow of Pikes Peak sometimes creates a beautiful display in the nature around me…and sometimes less beautiful, depending on the snowfall/rainfall of the previous months. In my corner of drier-than-usual Colorado, it has been a year of the less-beautiful heralding of Spring. Nearby fields of grass are already looking autumnal and wind-blown, despite the fact that the official start-date of summer has not yet begun.
Nevertheless, whether surrounded by a dazzling — or less-dazzling — display of Spring, I eagerly anticipate the arrival of hummingbirds, flowers, butterflies, baby chipmunks. The dark garden soil in my large planters pulls apart to reveal familiar friends, as well as playing host to the roots of fresh, new faces.
This aspect of Spring transformation is part of what makes me anticipate its beginning…from barren, uninspiring pots of brown earth come glorious displays of the most wonderful kind. Two scriptures come to my mind as I meditate on the changes, the growth, the beauty.
2 Corinthians 4:7 states, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (NASB)
Earthen vessels. We are each an earthen vessel of some sort. There are seeds in each of us waiting to sprout forth into glorious bloom. Like my perennial Asiatic lilies, there are also plantings of the Lord in each of us that bloom repeatedly, season after season. Each one may resemble the last one, but at the same time, the “sameness” is swallowed by the newness. Same plant…fresh bloom. Fresh aroma. Fresh color.
The second scripture that comes to my mind is in I Corinthians 15. The apostle Paul states of seeds, “You do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds, a body of its own.” (I Cor. 15:37-38, NASB)
Today I planted some sunflower seeds. I will see no sign of growth for several days, but I expect that the soil will soon reveal very small green stems and leaves sprouting forth…and what I first see will not resemble the bloom to follow in several weeks. Likewise, the tiny yellow flower of my newly planted pepper plant does not represent the slender green pepper to follow.
We are all in process. We all experience seasons of spiritual springtime, burying seeds from His Spirit deep in our lives…and what He has planted may look different than what we expected, as it is fully revealed. This is part of the cycle of our lives.
The apostle John shared, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (I John 3:2, NASB)
Right now, we primarily see us. Sometimes, when we peer closely into the mirror, we can see a faint resemblance of Him. As what has been buried continues to mature and be formed by His hands, His imagination, His love, we will see how He and we are more similar than we now imagine.
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