Spiritual Battles

October 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Dear Child,

In order to overcome you must be active!

In order to win a victory, you must be active in a battle!

Yes, the battle is mine!

Yes, the battle was won at Calvary!

                  But

You must actively be seeking Me,

You must be actively be abiding in Me,

You must actively be yielding to My spirit.

You must actively be identifying with My death.

You must actively put on your armor,

Then you may actively claim the victory!

                                                Thus saith Papa

1 Cor 9:26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

1 Tim 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

 2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

All the above scriptures have the active not passive tense of the verbs! If we want to be mature and be spiritually fit we must actively exercise our spiritual muscles. We are all soldiers in the Lord’s army. Soldiers do not train and prepare in the heat of the battle. The training and preparation is done in the anticipation of war! The rumble of war in the heavenlies is already reverberating in the spiritual realm! Do we hear the call to battle!  Are we actively maturing in the Lord? Are we ready?

“Why should we await the Lord’s return in passive contemplation? It is spiritual fitness which makes us ready for His coming, and that demands an onward progress with Him now.” Watchman Nee

Challenge: Are we all talk and no action? Talk will not stretch, mature or strengthen our spiritual muscles. Many talk about exercising physically but we know that will not get us physically fit! Likewise only talking will not mature us in the faith, it also takes action! We need to enroll in God’s spiritual boot camp to prepare us for battle.

For further reading see my book “Developing a Secret History with God” Pages 25-30

Available from Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ Kindle/ Nook/ Ibooks/ Lulu or a bookstore near you.


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“WHY’S” reverberate through the valleys of our lives

October 23, 2012 by 1 Comment

Dear Child,

I sift and purify you through afflictions, as I pour you out through season to season. I don’t leave you to settle on your *lees. I work situations in My sovereignty to stir you up lest you become  stagnant. Each trial purifies your faith a little more, that on that day it will not burn as hay and stubble but as pure gold! Rejoice in My workings, you are My child and I am teaching you.

                                  Thus saith Papa

Dear Father,

Thank you for refining my life as you faithfully “pour me out” season to season, and love me enough, not to let me rest on my *lees but continually “pour me out” to rid my life of bitterness, that you may gain pleasure from my life. Help me be that vessel of honor, and to rely on You, and not on my works and treasures but only on my confidence in My relationship with You. My trust is in Your faithfulness, a rock that cannot be moved. Help me have spiritual insight to know the reason of the “pouring out” that I might know the bitterness you are purging, and even if I don’t see the “whys” may I just trust your workings is for my good.

Dear Child, 

Each time I “pour you out” you trust Me more, because your faith grows in that valley! Your faith in My sovereign working is more precious than gold.

Do not kick against My workings, yield, submit and rest in My workings, and you will find rest for your soul.

This is the rest you will enter into, relying on and trusting My workings, as you present yourself a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable in My sight. Have a humble heart and quiet confidence.

                                                  Thus saith Papa

Jer 48:11  Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his *lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. 

*The imagery of this verse needs explaining. In wine that is settling on its lees (that which settles during fermentation), stationary and still, the upper level becomes clear; but beneath is a bitter sediment that will muddy it again if shaken. Before the days of filters, to clear the wine it was emptied carefully from one vessel to another, but however skillfully this was done some of the lees would get across. So the process must be repeated again and again to rid it of its unwelcome taste. Moab, Israel’s natural cousins, had escaped that treatment; had not as Israel had, been sifted and purified through afflictions, with the result, God says, that her bitter taste still clung. There is thus value in God’s discipline of us, a little today and a little more tomorrow. The goal is a savor in us, a character that meets with His approval and delights His heart. – Watchman Nee

A loving parent will not leave a child to his own devices but train him that he might mature. Our heavenly Father is so good and patient, He “pours us out over and over again”, in other words, He allows us a chance to take the test over and over again until we pass!

God is not committed to our comfort He is committed to our growth! – Pastor Dale Everist

Challenge: When we can’t see His Plan 

                        Or we can’t feel His Hand

                        We have to trust His Heart

Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.


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Body Ministry

October 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 Eph 5:29-32 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

If  we hurt one of our hands, we carefully touch it, we rub it and cherish that hand ; if our foot is injured we tenderly care for it. Knowing our care for ourselves, we can better grasp how it is that Christ is now engaged in nourishing and cherishing us. We are parts of His Body, the cherished objects of His loving care.

Dear Child,

Be My love extended to the unloved,

Be My strength extended to the weak,

Be My word extended to the despaired,

Be My wisdom extended to the confused.

My church is My Body here on earth,

As My Body, be My hands and feet extended and the answer to someone’s prayer!

Be sensitive to the leading of the Head!

Your physical body is obedient, even without questioning, to that which your head tells it to do. It is instinctive and spontaneous; if your head tells your feet to walk, you walk; if your head tells your hand to lift, your hand lifts.

Even so as My Mystical Body, obey instinctively and spontaneously in the spiritual realm that which the Head is telling you to do!

                                                                       Thus saith Papa

 Gen.2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

God formed Eve from Adam’s side to be a help meet for him. Likewise God formed the church from Christ’s bleeding side that she might be His help meet here on earth!

CHALLENGE: Discern divine appointments for you may be Christ’s answer to someone’s prayer.

For further reading on the Body see pages 198-204 in my book “Developing a Secret History with God”

Available from Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ Kindle/ Nook/ Ibooks/ Lulu or a bookstore near you.


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Beware of Spiritual Suckers

October 9, 2012 by 4 Comments

 

As I prepare to put my roses “to bed” for the coming winter by covering the root to protect it from freezing temperatures and pruning them back, it is also a time to examine the rose for suckers that must be yanked off least they drain the plant of its strength and nutrients. If not taking care of they will be doubled in number when the rose resurrects in the spring. What a vivid picture of suckers that our spiritual root structure may develop subtly if we don’t take time to examine our lives in the light of the Word and in His presence. My heart returned to a word of warning that my heavenly Papa inspired in my spirit in my intimate time with Him.

Dear Child,

They that wait upon Me and serve Me are renewed,  for while they are serving Me in the Holy Place they are dwelling under the shadow of My wings and the cloud of My presence! They shall be refreshed by the rain from heaven, that while rooted on earth something of heaven will blossom in their lives.

Spiritual seeds can only be watered in My presence, the water from the sweat of the flesh cannot produce life,  flesh can only begat flesh!

Spiritual roots can only be watered by the Holy Spirit otherwise the roots will develop * suckers, that will zap the true life , and the flower will only be a weaker, smaller version of the real thing and it will not produce fruit that is everlasting!

Do not try to water and refresh spiritual roots with the approval of man least the *sucker of pride drains the life of the roots.

Do not try to water and refresh spiritual roots by the sweat of the flesh and manipulation least the *sucker of “burn out” drains the life of the roots.

Walk humbly before Me and let your spiritual roots be watered from heaven!

The life is in the deep hidden roots! In due season those roots will produce an abundant harvest. After years of pruning the harvest will be abundant. The first appearance of blossom in the spring is only a small taste of the harvest to follow.

                                                                   Thus saith Papa

Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

A sucker is a side shoot from the roots that does not bloom or grow on the true stem from the bud union of the plant. It grows independent of the true stem but its flowers are a mere imitation of the real flower, much smaller with no fragrance. A sucker will drain the strength and nutrients from the true plant and weaken its production, thereby making it more susceptible to disease.

Challenge: What sucker is draining your spiritual root structure?

Read more about spiritual suckers on Page 34 and Pages 196-197 in my book “Developing a Secret History with God”.

Available from Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ Kindle/ Nook/ Ibooks or your local bookstore.

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Trust the Great Artist with the Canvas of your Life

October 3, 2012 by 2 Comments

 

As the roses fade in my garden they are replaced by the vibrant color and smell of chrysanthemums. As the warm breezes of summer give way to the cooler temperatures of autumn, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness in all of the seasons. I am not a person who necessarily looks forward to the winter season of snow and a frozen ground in my garden but I do realize God’s purpose for this season as the earth lies in stillness and coldness. This frozen ground is necessary for my bulbs to sprout and bloom in the spring. Winter is a season of hidden internal work both in nature and in our hearts.

Contemplating the coming season of winter the Lord dropped this word in my heart to help me understand the reason for my spiritual winter times when my faith is almost stripped naked of hope as my skeleton white birch trees are stripped of their leaves.

“Every season of your life has its own spring/ to sow; summer/ to water; fall/ to reap; followed by winter. The winter is a time of hidden dormancy on the surface, but oh! under the surface what preparation is going on to burst to life in the spring!

 This time of dormancy and darkness without any fruit, is when you must walk by faith and trust my hand to be working in My sovereignty under the surface, to bring beauty to your life in the spring! Be prepared for the spring, child! You trust me with the seasons of the earth, now trust me with the seasons of your life!”

                                                              Thus saith Papa

Eccl 3:1  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Challenge: As you admire the awesome splendor of the fall color and foliage, or the beauty of the first snow fall decorating the branches of your evergreen trees,  remember who the Artist is! That same Artist is working on the canvas of your life!

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