Stillness and Simplicity

Given the opportunity to talk to about 15 men of God at a nearby prison, God seemed to lead a very simple time of sharing.  

Guys it says in Col. 3:12 that you are "chosen by God, set apart as holy by God, and beloved of God".

Make sure that is the tape that is playing in your head,
"I am chosen, holy and beloved."

Now that you know that add to that there is coming a day called the day of the Lord, when God will execute true justice and everything that is wrong will be made right.  We are moving toward that day and nothing can stop it.  Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 the Psalms most quoted by the Apostles were both very much centered on the kingdom of God and the Day of the Lord.  It is a very strong encouragement to hearts that are not seeing justice or righteousness in any of the systems of our day.

And my time of sharing was complete.

God is making me more and more simple.  Thank you God.

Tone of Voice or My Problem with the Bible

Before you pick up your Bible, there is something very important that you need, something that will make all the difference in the words that you read.
A revelation of the heart of God and the tone of voice behind the words!
When the prodigal son thought about returning home the conversation he had in his head was that he would bargain for the place of a servant, just to have his basic needs provided for in exchange for his working the fields.  The tone of voice he thought would respond to his return home was way, way, way off.

The prodigal son didn't get to fully finish his prepared speech, he was met with a Father's heart who ran to him, who had been looking down the road for him. The father was so busy showering him with hugs and tear stained kisses that he could not have told you what one word of that speech was.

Immediate and total restoration occurred because gathering in, total restoration, forgiveness and love are the heart of God. 

Come Home!

Humility (lower still)

     Do we gladly glory in weakness?   Do we take pleasure in injuries, necessities, distresses?  Do we regard reproof (just or unjust) and correction as an opportunity to prove how Jesus is all to us with no care of our own honor or the humiliation?  Oh to be so free of self that we are lost in the thought that Jesus is all.  We take pleasure in the things that bring us low, because low is where the protection of God is, low is where the glory of God is, low is where the anointing of God is.  True worship comes from a heart that is low, that understands that ultimately, “the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

 

       Andrew Murray's audio book continues to bless me.  "Humility"

             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLuWJc_VR8c

Trials Redeemed into Precious Stones

.I wonder if the beautiful precious stones in the wall of the Holy City will be made up of the times in our life when we went under a trial with trust and faith in God alone. I wonder if for all eternity there will be a precious stone of remembrance sparkling and telling the story of a broken, confused, seemingly forsaken child, who cried out from the depth of very real pain, "Carry me Daddy, carry me!"

Isaiah 54:12  "Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of crystal,
And your entire wall of precious stones"

1 Cor. 3:12,13 "Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work."

1 Chron. 29:8 "Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite."

1 Kings 10:2 "So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart."

 Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants."  The "precious" in this verse is the same word as the one used for the precious stones, so it seems right
that in our dying daily God sees a precious stone that He chooses to remember!

 These thoughts were inspired by a section of the book, "To Trace a Rising Sun" by Stephanie Quick I am very grateful for the body, for a faithful wife, for amazing friends and for costly mercy from my Brother!  I am grateful for a kind and gentle God who would bend down to consider as very precious the times of darkness, the times of crushing and the times of purifying fire.