Psalm 23 -- Precious!

Why Suffering?

What is the cost of another person’s soul? Less than the cost of mine? What amount of suffering would I be willing to go through to get the message of Life to another person so that he or she could have the opportunity to be saved from eternal death?

God sent His own Son for the very purpose of suffering and dying - for me. Do I think that He would not ever allow me to be bruised?

The question, in suffering, must be: "What are YOU doing here, Lord?" What do you intend to accomplish in and through me? And my response, in suffering, must be: "I am Your servant, Lord. Do in me as You will, not as I will."

In times of difficulty, I must get a word from the Lord – His very specific and personal word to me about what He wants to do through the situation. If I pursue God – and God alone – He will show me the answer. He does not want His children to be in the dark, but in the Light. It is His greatest desire to reveal Himself to us. He is the great Revealer of Mysteries (See Daniel 2:27,28). And a mystery is not something to be hidden, but something to be revealed.

He will throw the devil out, and He will empower me to crucify my flesh – every day. He will accomplish these things in my life as I pursue Him, no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the cost.

Tags: Spirituality, Christianity, Suffering, Mystery

Teapot

When I was a little girl – 3, 4, or 5 years old – I sang this song:

I’m a little teapot, short and stout.
Here is my handle – here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout!
Just tip me over, pour me out!

I had no idea how prophetic that little song was. How amazing God is!
All of my life He’s been pursuing me, lovingly guiding me in His direction, all the while asking my permission to get a hold of my handle – my heart – to fill me up with His satisfying holiness, until my life is ringing with shouts of His praise, to baptize me with His purifying fire, to lift me up, and to pour me out. What a beautiful Savior. What a wonderful King. Now my little preschool song is the prayer of my life.

Here I am, Lord.
Get a hold of my whole being.
Fill me with Your incredible Self, until I can’t help shouting Your praises.
Pick me up.
Hold me in Your Hands.
Turn me upside down and pour Your life out of me.

Tags: Spirituality, Christianity, Worship, Holy Spirit

Don't be Overwhelmed

Do you ever feel like circumstances and people around you are creeping up and overtaking you? Do you feel bogged down and overwhelmed? In order to keep people and things from getting to you, first you have to get to God! Things and people will keep dogging you in your mind. In your subconscious thinking, they'll catch you and tag you and say, "Ha! You're it!" You will feel caught, obligated in your mind to those things, unless every day you start by running straight for the safe base and begin the day there.

Every day, run to home base and linger there until you're filled up with the Spirit of God and equipped, ready with the game plan for the coming day. Yesterday's manna is now stale -- it was for yesterday. We need new bread for each new day.

Jesus said, "I assure you. Moses didn't give them bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "give us that bread every day of our lives."

Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst. But you haven't believed in me even though you have seen me. However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them." -- John 6:32-37 (NLT)

Never stop coming to Jesus.

Never be Shaken

Press into God -- Be resolute in this.
Get deeply rooted in Him.
Immerse yourself in His presence.
Soak in His Word.
Be filled with His Spirit.
Rest in His everlasting arms.
Be planted by His river of living water.
Resolve to be influenced only by His Holy Spirit.
Drink deep from the well of the Savior's living Word --
Refuse to be pushed off balance by worldly thinking or to let God's peace and joy be compromised by external satanic oppression.
Place your feet firmly on the Rock, so that you will never be moved, never shaken from that place.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instucts me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:7,8)

My soul finds rest in God alone. My salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1)

Draw Me Deeper

Draw me deeper, Lord --
You are my Deliverer.
Pour into me Your Presence --
You are my Peace.
Settle my spirit --
You are my Strength.
Hover over me, Holy One --
You hush my uncertain heart.
Dance and sing over Your servant --
You saturate me, a deluge of joy.
Wash me in the water of Your Word --
You bring steady waves of wholeness to my soul.
Blood of Jesus, flood my being --
You rescue, You cleanse, You preserve and heal me.
Shelter me, my Strong Tower --
You are my safe hiding place, my Stability.

Isaiah 33:6a - He will be the stability of your times.

Tags: Spirituality, Christianity, Worship

Blessed or Cursed?

Have you read Deuteronomy 28 lately?

Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God.

After this Moses lists the tremendous blessings that will overtake us if we obey the Lord as he teaches us. Did you get that? The blessings will overtake us. We don’t seek the blessings. We seek to obey the Lord. The blessings will overtake us -- come upon us. Then he continues in verse 9:

...if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. [and in verse 13]...if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

The above verses outline my part in this process of walking in blessed relationship with the Lord. Read for yourself in Deuteronomy 28 the amazing things God does when we obey Him. Then read in verses 16 through 68 all of the curses that come upon us when we don’t obey Him in everything. Wow. 12 verses of incredible blessing, encompassing every area of life; 53 verses of cursing if we are disobedient to the Lord.

So here’s how to apply it. It starts in my morning prayer time with the Lord. It is established in my life during this time. By praying over it, God gives me the motivation and empowers me to obey. In the first two verses, Moses tells us what we need to do: Diligently obey the Lord, being careful to do all His commandments which you are commanded today.

First, I must review the two greatest commandments, which are the eternal foundation of God’s law: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all our soul, and all your strength. Then, love your neighbor as yourself. So first I ask the Lord to look over my relationship to Him, my relationship to myself, and my relationships to others, and I ask Him to reveal to me anything that needs to be mended. I let His Spirit hover and work in me to show me anything I need to do here. On any given day, if I am keeping very short accounts, this will take only a few seconds, and He will give me overwhelming assurance that I am walking in His Spirit and my relationships are healthy and Spirit-led. If there is something wrong, I will need to repent, ask forgiveness, and/or make restitution for something. The Lord will show me. It may take some time, and I must give Him that time.

If I follow the two greatest commandments, I won’t be worshiping anything other than God or taking Him too lightly, I won’t be lying, stealing, committing adultery, hurting other people. I will honor my parents and those in authority over me and I will be setting aside one day in seven exclusively for worshiping the Lord and fellowshipping with other believers, not involved in secular pursuits on that day. And I will not be going after anything in this world, for this world has nothing for me.

After I know this is all taken care of, then I can ask the Lord what specific commands He has for me today, just like Moses said. I can ask the Lord, “What word do you have for me to live by today? Is there any specific instruction you have for me? What issues and what people should I especially give my attention to today?” He may give instruction that I can write down at that moment, or He may not. He will order my steps according to His Word as I go through the day. By practicing this regularly, I will know when He has something to speak into my heart and I will know when it is time to get up and go. He will lead me in the rest of my prayer time and study of His Word, to intercede on behalf of all the saints everywhere and to receive instruction for daily living and for ministering to those I come in contact with in person or in prayer. He will guide me by the umpire of His peace that will rule in my heart.


By practicing these things in prayer, God will eliminate, day by day, every manifestation of residual curses that have been present in my life because of past disobedience. Read Deuteronomy 28. Identify some of the curses that may be hanging on in your life. Determine to diligently obey God in everything, and allow Him to replace every curse with His blessing. Your life will never be the same – every day!

Tags: Spirituality, Christianity, Bible, Blessing