These days are not ordinary days.

February 14, 2022: These days are not “ordinary days”. The absence of Nativity symbols or Christian references on last year’s “Peoples’ Capitol” Christ-mas tree was an unsung and virtually unnoticed symbol of the days we have endured….and are continuing to endure.

A Christmas with no mention of Christ…..and now, as the fraudulent Resident continues his reckless agenda of trying to destabilize and minimize the world’s greatest and free-est country, our return-to-freedom and return-to-God struggle in America is far from over. The installed head of country and his fellow globalists would like nothing more than for this beacon of God’s goodness and salvation to be permanently dimmed, then extinguished.

My Spring-Summer Journal and, now, Fall-Winter Journal, have had few entries because my concerns and focus have not varied since my last post many months ago: our nation is in trouble. An illegally-manipulated/impacted 2020 election has been allowed to stand and operate in America for over a year. This remains inconceivable to me, to my sense of justice and faith in our American structure of governance — in spite of the reality before my eyes. I intellectually understand the various factors, the misrepresentations, the misinformation, the soulless cowardice and deliberate inaction on the part of those elected to maintain a Constitutional Republic. Yet I remain in disbelief of its continued reality even as increasing days of illegitimate governance add up on a new-year calendar.

I remain in disbelief because of the firm conviction that God is in the midst of this turmoil and this is NOT the slow winding down of “the American story.” God founded our nation through our Founding Fathers, God sealed our nation unto Him as our forefathers covenanted with Him, and He has intervened at various points of our history to draw us back to Him and reset us on a steady path.

And He is in the process of doing it again.

I actually began this post back in December, then updated it in January. Yet I did not publish it in either month because it “felt incomplete.” For the very reason mentioned above, I think I now know why — God’s move of victory in this nerve-wracking saga also remains incomplete.

Yet I believe we are currently feeling the stirring of the waters around us being reversed, un-muddied, infused with the freshness of His Spirit in a river that flows to Him and from Him. My faith in the unwavering intention of God to intervene, to work through and bring about the just and right end to this nightmare remains unshaken.

In that well-known Ephesians scripture, Paul explained that our battle is “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) I have never seen this principle play out on the world and national stage more clearly than watching the daily/weekly events of the last year.

Virtually every nation in what has been called “the free world” has been subjected to a tyranny of governmental control beneath the guise of a health-required “vaccine mandate”, and now the citizens of those nations continue to emerge in unified marches by the tens of thousands to resist the destruction of their liberty. Canada, Australia, Poland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy — we as American news consumers do not know the true extent of the number and scope of freedom marches across the globe because our mainstream sources of information — the supposed bastions of support for our First Amendment — choose not to reveal that particular truth as it unfolds.

And I sit back and ask why. Why would such worldwide movement result in virtually no mention among mainstream media outlets?

I have formed a bit of an hypothesis: to reveal such impassioned expressions demanding freedom would bring courage and hope to others, and it is hope that the enemy resists at all costs. Romans 5:5 proclaims that “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

I believe we are seeing a manifestation of the march of God’s Spirit and the prayers of His elect, taking physical form; of His angelic hosts carrying on warfare in the unseen realm, His servants carrying on warfare in the visible world, all working together in unison — and in unison, re-taking ground that was unwittingly yielded and calculatingly stolen. God is claiming back what is His, as the psalmist states in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who live in it.” (NASB)

The Lord has spoken recently through many prophets that “the harvest has begun.” His Glory is being released in greater and greater measure upon people, ethnic groups, nations. This epic era we are in is more than a painfully slow, worldwide political transformation; God-given freedoms are being rediscovered and fought for, but not within a carnal void. This position in time is ushering in great spiritual renewal as hopeless people find their only direction to seek guidance and deliverance is to look upwards, to seek the Creator of heaven and earth.

And this, in unison with the spiritual forces of righteousness calling out to each nation, “Lift up your heads, you gates, and be lifted up, you ancient (everlasting) doors, that the King of Glory may come in! Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.” (Psa. 24:7-8, NASB

He is not leaving His world and people bereft of His action and intervention.

Stay the Course. Believe the Love I Have for You

September 18, 2021: Prophetic voice Gina Gholston is quoted by Dutch Sheets in mid-September as having had a word from the Lord that read, “I hear the Lord saying: ‘In the days ahead, I’m going to remove the covering where evil has been hiding. Up from that will rise a stench. But I say to My church, stay the course, for I am giving beauty for ashes. This is MY time. I will come, and I will make things right again, but you must stay the course.’”

Her accompanying vision included a fighter pilot flying his jet while being divinely protected from incoming missiles which hit an invisible barrier just before reaching him, exploding all around him. The repeated phrase she heard was “stay the course.”

Gina’s encounter occurred in February, 2020, just before the lockdowns began across our country and across the world. At first, I moved on after reading it – but God kept bringing it to my mind and her vision has really dug deeply into my thinking and perspective. And I find it helpful.

We are definitely living in a time when the stench of evil is nearly everywhere we look or listen. Corruption—corruption “on steroids”, to utilize a popular phrase—is being revealed from school boards to the illegitimate regime overseeing our American government; from clinical workers in local settings to the powerful heads of medical conglomerates and pharmaceutical mega-companies; from small, independent nonprofit organizations to powerful, over-arching and intertwined Foundations; from local government officials to the highest national political Conventions and Parties; from all these (and more-such as illegal censorship, oppressive taxation, unvetted non-citizens with no loyalty to American ideals imported by the thousands to undermine the strength of national unity) the stench of evil is daily in our sight, our nostrils, impacting our lives with a constant buffeting of fear, anxiety and confusion.

Our individual “fighter planes” are being assaulted and rocked endlessly.

Stay the course. Are you kidding, Lord? Have you taken a peek down here to see what that entails?

He is not kidding, for we are His hands and feet on this earth, His voice to proclaim. I read a 9-16-21 prophetic word from Johnny Enlow, who said he asked the Lord, ‘Why is this taking so long?’ The answer he reportedly heard in his spirit was lengthy, but centered around a central theme, “I am still interested in My Kingdom ways being demonstrated on earth as it is in heaven, I need My church awake and in agreement with My mandate. My message hasn’t changed, ‘You are the light of the world,” “you are the salt of the earth.” You must from now on TARGET darkness in your society. That is what an Ekklesia does. Enough with the doctrines which permit you to excuse yourself from My Kingdom Mandate. I did not say, ‘Speculate until I return,’ I said ‘Occupy until I return.’ “Occupy” is a military term. Doctrinally-induced sleep and escapism has made My church almost irrelevant compared to what I made her to be…I have held Myself back from your quick rescue at this difficult time as I am thinking of your children, and their children, and your children’s children. You will awaken, you will make the shift, you will arise and shine.”

Godless evil is not new. Adam and Eve faced it. Moses faced it. Noah faced it. King David faced it. Elijah and Daniel faced it. Jesus faced it. Each of the disciples faced it. And history since those centuries has had its own representatives of goodness and freedom facing the forces of evil and enslavement.

Just as the evil has had many names throughout ages, it is called by many names today. John correctly discerned in I John 2:18, “even now many antichrists have appeared” – even though we, as an American society, tend to think of ourselves as “too sophisticated” to boil down complex issues as being a conflict of good vs. evil. Yes, there are many antichrists in our midst, and it is a perspective we should, perhaps, relearn.

There is more to Gina Gholston’s word: “What is coming in the days ahead, will cause a great temptation to abort the mission. But the Lord says, believe the love I have for you. My love will carry you through unscathed if you STAY THE COURSE. The danger is when you get off the course, says the Lord. My peace is on this course. My mercy is on this course. My grave is on the course. Do not focus on what you see in front of you in these days.”

I was thinking about that phrase – My love will carry you through unscathed. “unscathed” is a tough word to process in today’s crisis-laden world. Forced chemical injections. Forced job losses. Forced compliance. Forced loss of different freedoms. Forced educational indoctrination. Forced financial parameters. Forced awareness of genuine dangers inside and outside our national borders. There is even a sense that we are being pressured into “forced faith.”

Paul described to those in Corinth, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:7-9, NASB) I like The Passion translation of the same scripture: “Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed; at times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out. We continually share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.” (TPT, 2 Cor. 4:7-10)

The Message translation of 2 Cor. 10:3-6 teaches, “The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way – never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”

Stay the course. Seek Him as to what and where to occupy ground that the enemy has claimed, and TARGET that darkness. His love will carry us through.

Does Anyone Think Church Gatherings are ‘Essential’? Who’s Speaking Up?

Does Anyone Think Church Gatherings are ‘Essential’? Who’s Speaking Up?

I shared a link to my commentary and connected editorial (by Matt Walsh) on Facebook last night — but I know how quickly posts run through a person’s feed and quickly disappear. So I am sending this out as a post because I, like Walsh, am deeply concerned that no specific conversation has occurred regarding the benefit and Constitutional legality of continuing church assemblage — despite the risks — during this coronavirus pandemic.

I had assumed that churches would be considered an “essential social service” and that any mandatory shut down would be resisted. Necessarily, “crowd considerations” would have been evaluated, with churches likely needing to be creative and/or take measures to accommodate the different situations that were arising.

But it never occurred to me that, based on numbers alone, church assemblage would be shuttered as if it were of no benefit to our neighbors, our rich and poor alike, our now-unemployed co-workers, our very society.

Opinion Writer Matt Walsh declares in this article, “As far as I know, no government at any level, anywhere in the nation, has deigned to label churches essential. Our Founding Fathers, who gave the right to assemble and the right to practice religion pride of place in the Bill of Rights seemed to have disagreed.”

This is actually a discussion that SHOULD have been broached at the start of “shelter at home” orders, in my opinion. I am guessing that the original “two-week” duration of time to Shelter-at-home during March was considered “short,” and clearly temporary, therefore becoming a significant factor in the deafening silence regarding this issue. However, that length of time has now been extended for an additional 30 days. And there is no clear statement that it will not, in some fashion, continue to be enforced for an additional and unspecified amount of time.

In a society which considers physical food an essential for physical and mental well being — appropriately so — it is nonetheless truly unfortunate that ‘spiritual food’ is not given equal consideration as to how churches and fellowships might continue to reach out and offer comfort, support and stability to frightened and insecure people in this time of crisis. Actually, I think it is beyond “unfortunate.” I think it is a serious gap through which millions of people are falling with limited or no safety net, below.

Yes, online connection options are definitely “better than nothing.” I give kudos, appreciation, and accolades to those church leaders who have worked diligently to create and maintain contact/support with their people through social media and online opportunities. Yes, Romans 13:1 states, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God , and those which exist are established by God.” (NASB)

Authority established by God: consider that phrase, for just a moment. I propose that our houses of worship — FAR more than any government agency — have been ordained for this very purpose of bearing His authority in the lives of people, and for times just like these. If I may say so, it is each one of us AND our houses of worship who have been bestowed with the mantle of spiritual governorship to address the necessary task at hand with the power, compassion, and efficiency needed.

We all — loudly, as Americans, whether personally involved in spiritual gatherings or not — really should be discussing if stay-at-home orders from state/federal officials should supersede a Constitutional guarantee of freedom in religious assembly (especially since such orders are currently apart from any specific guidelines as to whether or not a stay-at-home order is justified). We should be discussing if this is contrary to the Scriptural admonition for us to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together.” (Heb. 10:24-25, NASB)

There is a purpose and a point in our “assembling together”…and it is not necessarily for US. We are NOT called to live for ourselves. WE have been tasked to be bringers of Light in dark situations; WE have been tasked to share Living Water with those whom the world has wrung dry.

Matt Walsh states in this article, “This is not ‘health and safety.’ This is tyranny.” Walsh subsequently asks the question, “Can the government simply declare all churches non-essential, close them indefinitely, and thus circumvent the First Amendment with so much ease as to render it effectively nullified from here on out?”

THIS is the discussion that we-the-people and we-the-children-of-God need to decide within our congregations and bring to the doors of our local, county, state and federal levels of government.

4-2-20 UPDATE: After Hillsborough County arrested Pastor Howard-Browne of Revival International Ministries, the local government has done a 180-turnaround. According to lc.com (site of Liberty Council), “The council voted to recognize churches as ‘essential,'” reversing an earlier decision which resulted in Pastor Howard-Browne’s arrest. In addition, “Any future guidance the county may issue will be recommendations and not enforceable.” The site also reports that Florida Ron DeSantis amended his April 1 executive order for shelter-in-place to recognize that “‘religious services conducted in churches, synagogues, and houses of worship” are “Essential activities.” Liberty Council was in the process of filing a federal lawsuit against Hillsborough County.

Your Future Self and a New Day of Destiny

New Year’s Day.

I am thinking about a poster I photographed on my camera phone, which read, “Do something today which your future self will thank you for.” I posted that picture on social media and subsequently deleted it from my storage…but I have thought of it often in the year or two since then.

Your future self.

Sometimes it’s difficult to think of yourself as anything except “what” or “who” or even “where” you are, right now – and the details of that identity probably involve considerable time and energy to fulfill the routine and responsibility that is attached.

I certainly fit that category. But I know there is “more to me” than what I currently see and express, because there is “more of Him in me” that is constantly seeking to be released.

Envisioning my “future self” can be a tangible motivation to seek my heavenly Father Hope candle w flowers and ask His participation in bringing me to those steps, that growth, training, discipline and focus necessary to “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” (2 Cor. 3:18)

The “same image,” of course, is His – “Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.” But He chooses our individual and unique flavor of “the glory of God” to tangibly display His amazing, multifaceted love, mercy and transformative power to the world and populations He loves.

New Year’s Day is a fitting time to take a few minutes and think about that concept. Of the many tasks and engagements involving you, right now – which of them touch others with His Presence or cooperate with Him to develop those giftings, opportunities, assignments He has for each of us? Which are those activities which Paul describes to those of us who are “His workmanship” as being “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10)

It is our ability to “walk in them” that is impaired by endless routine and responsibility which the world’s system is happy to throw our way. It is one of the enemy’s schemes that we are so thoroughly deterred and drained by earthly focus and demands that we have no energy or vision for heavenly opportunities. No energy or vision to make preparations for “your future self”…a forthcoming, fresh release of His Presence, Christ in us, “the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27)

Today is a good day to “take a stand.” Today is a great day to ask His guidance in sifting through the necessary and the assumed-necessary.

The Passion Translation begins Romans 13:12 with the words, “Night’s darkness is dissolving away as a new day of destiny dawns.”

I like that phrase, “new day of destiny.” As 2020 starts, we actually face a new decade of destiny.

In this New Year’s Day context, I think of “night’s darkness” as being those deceptions and busy-work the enemy endlessly shovels onto our path to drown out His Word and stifle His “light to my path.” (Psa. 119:105)

Today is the perfect day to consider your plans and strategies with a future thanksgiving in mind.

The Switched Nativity

Jesus in the center.

I was carefully setting up this year’s Nativity display on the wooden shelf by the fireplace. I meticulously turned individual pieces in incremental degrees until each one faced Baby Jesus in a stance that reflected wonder and adoration.

With a sense of satisfaction, I stepped back to view the final arrangement.

I sort of chuckled at myself, knowing full well that Biblical timelines do not place Jesus’ birth, first shepherds, and traveling kings all arriving in Bethlehem at the same time. Still, I love creating a niche every year that displays that time-condensed version of the events as described.

Unexpectedly, I felt like the Spirit whispered, That’s not what it looks like today. After that statement, a clear image flashed into my mind. In that image, each of my Nativity pieces had been switched around and now stood in a completely different configuration.

Instead of all attention focused towards Jesus, I saw Joseph, Mary, all three kings and even the shepherd, all facing one another in a circle of earnest conversation. Their circle was closed and turned away from the Messiah. He and the manger had been positioned at the opposite end of the shelf…alone, except for the company of a glass donkey and lamb.

The redesigned arrangement was thought-provoking.

I mused regarding the role each character might represent in today’s world: the three kings would still represent leaders of nations, countries, and their respective political systems. Joseph – perhaps a representation of men stepping forward to mentor, to “father” others, to model godly masculinity and leadership to the next generation; Mary — carrying the concerns, responsibilities and unique callings of women? And the shepherd – would he represent a segment of the less fortunate in this world, or those who dedicate themselves to finding and winning lost hearts back to God?

In this Nativity’s switched layout, the people and those they stood for were not seeking wisdom or guidance from the Miracle Worker, the King of Kings who has government “rest on His shoulders,” the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6) though He was very near to all of them.

Instead, they talk-talk-talked only amongst themselves, solidifying their own worldview in which each was a captive, both a victim and perpetrator of the worldly system’s injustices.

But God is never static and never distant. “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8) One of my favorite Old Testament verses is Habakkuk 1:5 – “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! For I am doing something in your days – you would not believe it even if you were told!”

God is always “doing something” in whatever days we find ourselves.

Good days. Bad days. Days we anticipate with joy and even those days we face with dread and prayer. A “perfect Nativity” in this life has yet to be fully implemented or fully manifested in any area of our earthly walk, our sojourner’s path through both the marvelous and the horrific.

“The reason the Son of God was revealed was to undo and destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8, The Passion Translation)

God is never without purpose.

The essence of “The Christmas Story” is not diminished even towards those nations whose cultures and calendars forbid its acknowledgement or celebration. God is always seeking His lost sheep, His captured children held deep inside satanic fortresses. As the grace of the Holy Spirit is poured out on those who seek it, so it is also poured out on those who are standing with their backs turned away from Him.

There is a resounding “Glory to God in the highest” that is constantly shed abroad, a sharing to step into the announcement “I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.”

Heavenly Peace in the Afternoon

It’s December 1, and my first post in a fairly long time. I have missed the act of sharing small insights the Lord has shared with me, with you and others.

In a timespan that started on October 28, I can now count two family surgeries, two-out-of-three craft shows, and one major holiday as “in the past.” Whew! I had really underestimated the emotional and physical toll all that would take.

But today, December 1, feels different. After a week or so of brutal winds, considerable snowfall and walkways covered with ice, the sun is shining and it is relatively warm to sit outside. This California-Arizona sunshine girl is thoroughy enjoying what heat can creep through a midweight sweatshirt and sweatpants on this wonderful bright afternoon.

I am sitting on the front garden deck. A few birds swing by to pay their respects and share their songs…then they pause to gauge how much birdseed remains in the feeder before moving on to nearby pine branches.

My garden blooms do not sit with me, of course.

And the garden sign is wrapped with Christmas lights, not greenery. But no matter. Even without glorious blooms and bright colors, this remains a garden. Dormant roots rest before vigorously pursuing their production again in a few months. Each brown stalk reminds me of a green one yet to come. My snow-covered containers are tubs filled with a hopeful future, each one waiting for its season to transform anew into an object of beauty.

Although it is daytime, I hear the refrain of “Silent night, holy night; all is calm, all is bright,” run through my mind.

It occurs to me that sometimes as we sit in the dormant garden of our lives, we most clearly see, and most deeply appreciate, our Savior, Comforter and Encourager.

Jesus always sees our snow-covered brown stalks as promises of the next season to come, of new life and new vigor, new glory and new strength.

Heavenly peace. I may not be sleeping, but I can certainly sense it all around me…

“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)

The Lord’s Song Over Me

The warm smell of multiple brews of coffee enticed me to wait for my companion in the bistro area of the grocery store. I approached the multiple 3-person tables and sat down at the only unoccupied set of chairs. An unexpected sense of ease and peace rushed over me.

I mused that maybe it was simply the act of sitting and doing nothing that brought on that unanticipated calm, as the week just ended had been intensely focused on tasks and chores, long hours and short nights.

Yet what I experienced felt intensely social. It was as if I were actually part of the small-table community and had stepped in to visit a familiar group of friends. The sensation was both pleasant and curious, as I knew no one there and was sitting alone. But that friendly hum of background voices was ministering to me like an uplifting song.

Then came an ah-ha moment…maybe it “felt” like a song because the Lord was actually singing over me right there, in the midst of the commonest of situations.

Zephaniah 3:17 states, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of Joy.” (NASB) The Living Bible translation phrases the end of that scripture with, “It is the Lord Himself exulting over you with happy song.”

I have been touched before by His representatives in nature — through a prolonged bird’s reverie or the ear-catching sound of water navigating its particular path. The Psalms frequently refer to Nature singing praise to its Maker, the Lord: “All the trees in the forest will sing for joy” (Psa. 96:12); “Let the mountains sing together for joy” (Psa. 98:8). In Psalm 96, “Sing to the Lord, all the earth.” (Psa. 96:1)

But this song shared an undeniably Personal touch, weaving His Presence of fellowship and camaraderie into a moment of intimacy just for me, just for that moment. It brought refreshment, energy, a deep sense of thankfulness and reset strength for the day ahead.

Mark 6:8 states, “For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

I definitely needed His song on that day. Each and every one of us have moments, hours, days, when the uplifting of His song in our lives brings much-needed renewal.

And I say, Thank you. “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.” (Psa. 139:2)

Thank you, indeed — my Friend, my Guide, “my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust”! (Psa. 91:2)

The Kingdom and a Cup of Coffee

June 11, 2019: I must be tired this morning, as evidenced by the fact I poured the sugar into my coffee cup…before I poured in the coffee! That may be the common sequence for you or most of my coffee-drinking friends, but not for me. And as I stared at the granulated crystals in disbelief, I started to chuckle.

The Lord often brings Scriptures to my mind at the oddest times. In that moment, glaring into my sugar-only coffee cup, that act represented the futility of effort without purpose, and I thought of Ahimaaz. No, not by his exact name at first…but I recalled the Old Testament incident of the youth who insisted on running a considerable distance to King David as if he had an urgent message — even though he had been given no message to carry.

In 2 Samuel 18:19-32, Ahimaaz the son of Zadok earnestly requested that Joab allow him to carry news of Absalom’s death to King David. Joab refused his request, stating, “You are not the man to carry news this day, but you shall carry news another day.” Ahimaaz repeated his request to run, to which Joab responded, “Why would you run, my son, when you have no reward for going?” Finally, Ahimaaz insisted that even without a message to deliver, “But whatever happens, I will run.” Joab finally gave consent for him to go ahead and carry out his plan.

Ahimaaz not only ran the full distance, but ran with such great speed he actually passed the Cushite messenger Joab had commissioned to perform the task. And, upon arriving, bowed before King David with a greeting of generically good news. Since he was unable to answer the specific questions on the king’s mind, he was instructed to “Turn aside and stand here.” The actual messenger had been observed from a distance and was now approaching.

Sugar in a cup devoid of coffee. That’s what Ahmaaz was, on that day.

And unfortunately, we all fall into that category at one time or another.

The apostle Paul pointed out to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win…therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air…” (I Cor. 9:24, 26)

Tiredness. Distraction. Misdirection. The monotony of too-full days following one after another. The world and the enemy work overtime to procrastinate or eliminate any sense of divine destiny we may contemplate. The goal is to conform us to a role of subservience, being little more than slaves whose lives unceasingly focus on meeting worldly obligation and expectation.

Prayer. Worship. Reflection on His thinking, His priorities, His lifestyle. Aligning choices with His wisdom. Discovering our part in His plans and consciously choosing to focus and move forward in that direction with deliberation, acknowledging that we are His hands, feet, and voice on the road we travel.

In Acts 20:24, Paul makes reference that he needed to “finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus.”

It is not only Paul who had a course and ministry to finish, but the same Christ Jesus also gives to each one of us a course and a ministry. Paul taught those in Ephesus, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10)

Some of our courses are what the world labels “grand” or “extraordinary”…and some are what the world would consider modest, perhaps even inconsequential.

Yet, was Jesus’ command to His disciples, “Permit the children to come to Me” (Mark 10:14) any less holy, God-breathed, or manifesting-the-Father’s-love than His command to Lazarus, “Come forth!”? (John 11:43)

Not really. There is no greater wonder than an omniscient, all-wise and loving God who states that “The kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” with respect to children. As translated in The Message, Romans 9:21-22 asks the question, “Isn’t it perfectly obvious that the potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans?”

And there we are. Some of us shaped as coffee cups that are truly breathtaking in their intricately shaped handle and elaborate gold-leafed, colorful adornment….and some who are one-shaded, simply designed, functional without any specific distinction.

The shape of the cup is not ours to choose…our choice is to liberally be filled with His coffee and not conduct our lives as empty vessels containing only a small scoop of sugar.

Bird Steps and the Path of Wisdom

I was watching a small black bird carefully weave its path through piles of birdseed recently kicked to the deck by a sunflower seed-thieving chipmunk. I was amazed at how carefully the bird chose which seeds to eat, walking right over some kernels while stopping to furiously peck at others. Despite a diverse mixture of shapes, sizes and textures, I consider the round-and-the-long to all fit into a single category: birdseed. Each and every kernel providing a perfect diet fit for any bird to eat.

And then the Lord brought the word wisdom to my mind. That quite-small bird possessed an even tinier brain. Yet its loving Creator had instilled the appropriate amount of divine wisdom within it to recognize and choose which seeds were most beneficial to eat when presented with a wide selection to choose from.

And in that moment, I “got the message” — at least one of the messages: quite often the seeds we choose to accept for our personal life-nourishment lack the wisdom God gave a bird.

Twice in Scripture, the word “leaven” is mentioned and each time it shares the same warning: “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” (I Cor. 5:6, NASB) To the Galatians, Paul spoke, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” (Gal. 5:9)

These are short but significant statements, worthy to serve as launch pads for personal reflection and assessment.

It’s no secret that the world offers us many different seeds; on some occasions, they are hurled in our direction with such force that it feels like we are being blasted by a sandstorm. Like the bird, we need to proceed with caution as we look around us and see what has landed at our feet. For each one will bear its intrinsic destiny of fruit. Just as we have the free will to choose nutrition-anemic Twinkies over vitamin-packed blueberries for our bodies, so we have the same free will to choose “junk food” (or even poison!) to plant the rudiments of future devastation into the soil of our souls, into the gardens of our faith.

Which brings us back to being mindful regarding the leaven in our lives.

Hebrews 5:4 teaches, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” (NASB) The Passion Translation states that scripture in this manner: “But solid food is for the mature, whose spiritual senses perceive heavenly matters. And they have been adequately trained by what they experience to emerge with understanding of the difference between what is truly excellent and what is evil and harmful.”

Perceiving spiritual matters.

The most public current flowing through our culture is to portray “spiritual matters” devoid of any relationship with a relational, holy and good God. Or, to flip the coin, that same current pulls in philosophical and socio-political dregs that attempt to redefine the nature of the phrase “spiritual matters,” blurring and twisting boundaries between “truly excellent” and what may be categorized as “evil and harmful.”

Think about the practical applications of knowing and embracing this discernment: The difference between what is truly excellent and what is evil and harmful.

I sometimes feel like the Ben Gates character in National Treasure, when he reads a key phrase on future destiny from the Declaration of Independence and then states, “Nobody talks like that anymore.”

The truth is, we should.

We breathe and walk in the midst of a generation and culture in desperate need of understanding these two concepts. We carry out our everyday lives in the midst of a generation and culture whose surrounding influences have flipped and twisted the concepts of “truly excellent” and “evil and harmful” nearly beyond recognition, enticing us all to eat that harmful seed of non-distinction.

And some of us have. The leaven of each concept, mixed and roiling internal conflict within us, silences our voices and dulls our convictions.

Yet His Spirit encourages us with the words, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Phil. 4:8, NASB)

These are not mere “good thoughts” to keep a smile on our faces throughout the day. These are terms of warfare. Standards by which crooked paths may be set straight.

Truth. Honor. Right. Purity. Loveliness. Good repute. Excellence. That which is worthy of praise. Each of these is leaven to be stirred into the dough of our conscience, courage, and love towards others. Each of those, once planted, is a seed from which roots will form and a powerful crop will emerge. The enemy is always seeking to supplant each one with a counterfeit, a substitute loyal to himself.

Urgently, brethren, we need to order our path with “bird steps” – carefully examining the seeds that are thrown before us, rejecting as unpalatable those seeds that defy His wisdom. Let us carefully embrace and nurture those that will enable us to walk as He walked, “making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:16, NASB)

Looking Up from an Avalanche: Why God Chooses Rain

The prediction of a significant mid-week “blizzard event” has indeed come to pass and is in progress. As the snow piles up on our deck ledge, pushing upwards of 9-10-11 inches in stature, I am enjoying the view from inside, sitting close to the warmth of the fireplace.

Just twelve hours earlier, at midnight, I had been lulled to sleep by the steady and relaxing sound of rain falling on the deck, the roof, plunking on the outside metal BBQ. As I drifted into a wonderful rest, I unexpectedly recalled the words to a mid-80’s song whose first line was, “It’s beginning to rain, hear the voice of the Father….” The gentle, relaxing melody had whispered me into slumber.

In quick curiosity I looked up the title of the tune and discovered it was a Jimmy Swaggart creation, made perhaps more famous by Bill Gaither a decade later, when I had first heard it. The second line invites, “Saying whosoever will, let him drink of the waters, For He said, ‘I will pour My spirit upon your sons and daughters.’ So if you’re thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, it’s beginning to rain.’”

And as I looked out the window at the fierce downpour of wind-whipped white, I had the whimsical thought, I’m so glad God doesn’t offer us His Spirit as a snow storm instead of a gentle rain.

At first I chuckled at the rather fanciful comparison. Then, as I thought about it, an ah-ha moment of sensing divine wisdom arose. The word that came to my mind was avalanche.

Colorado’s winter-into-spring transition has already birthed a significant number of avalanches due to radical temperature swings: 28-degrees and snow one day, 60-degrees two days later, snow and 28-degrees two days after that. Freeze-thaw-freeze….and then a white cloud billowing dramatically into the air when an avalanche is triggered and sheets of snow recklessly plunge down the mountainside.

This cycle of nature and the intervals of stress-ease-stress in our own lives forms a pretty good parallel. Oftentimes, the triggering point in our lives is just as unexpected – and with little warning, here it comes, a significant emotional slide that leaves us bewildered and sometimes displaced, wondering just-what-happened and facing the uncertainties of what-comes-next.

This is not a back-slide, mind you…but a slide layered by frustration, unmet expectations and exasperation when the things we think we know about God’s nature, His transforming power in our lives and on this earth appear stymied, nullified, thwarted despite our prayers and anticipation of results.

In I Thess. 5:24, Paul teaches, “Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass.” (NASB) The Message translates that verse, “The One Who called you is completely dependable. If He said it, He’ll do it!”

That’s not a bad place to securely hang your hat, once you’ve gone through the effort to retrieve it from the snowfield.

The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition offers a rendering that is the most thought-provoking to me: “Faithful is He who is calling you (to Himself) and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it (fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you).” (I Thess 5:24)

I admit it – I have never spent much time thinking about the specific intent of my heavenly Father hallowing (setting aside for holy use) and keeping me expressly to fulfill His goal that my ears and heart would be open to hear, respond, embrace His persistent and loving call.

In similar theme, Hebrews 12:2 describes Jesus as “the author and perfecter of faith.” (italics added)

What encouragement and hope to strengthen ourselves in Him! In I John 3:2, we are reminded, “Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.”

We are creations in process and He Who saw us before our beginning, also sees us beyond our life on this earth. That fully includes those times before the avalanche, after the avalanche, and – especially — during the avalanche. It is unlikely we can fully declare our lives a “No Avalanche Zone,” and Jesus warned those who listened, “In the world you have tribulation. (John 16:33)

He did, and we do. And He encourages us to “take courage; I have overcome the world.”

His Spirit gently sends us His comfort, loving reassurance and guidance in the soft kindness that mirrors rain, not the chilling touch of snow. It is a metaphorical rain that melts the frozen and hard areas of our hearts and lives and allows us to firmly embrace and stand in the security of His Love.