Prayer for today

Thank you, God that you have created me and anointed me. You tell me that you have established me and given me free access to stand in your Holy of Holies, that you have known me to wash your feet with my tears and that you have washed my feet so they would be clean to enter that holy place. Thank you Jesus that by the power of your shed blood, I am free to walk in righteousness and truth, that grace and mercy abounds for me and that You are The Rock on which I stand.

I praise You, God, as Lord, Master, Creator, King of Kings, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, the Ultimate Authority and Ruler over all things. Yet I am in such awe that even though you are all those things, you still reach down and pick me up as Abba – my Daddy! You know my every move and thought. You gather my tears in a bottle and when I am humbled before you, I am pouring them out on your feet. The blessing that comes from those times is so amazingly sweet that I sometimes never want to stand up and leave your sweet comforting presence.

Yet you have called me to other things after those times of comfort and refreshing. So as I go about this day of work, play and rest, I know that you will guide me with your Spirit, usher in divine appointments and use me in a way that will be utterly amazing!

Thank you, God for taking charge of this day in my life and letting me see you work!

Rain

I love how God walks with us and comforts us in the storms of life!! Watch this video that shows how good God is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koutUz0Im48&feature

Patti

The Shelter of the Most High

Yesterday afternoon, two eagles spent a long time in our field. I could see them pretty well just looking out the window, but when I looked through the field glasses, it was like they were right there next to me. God uses eagles to express attributes of our relationship with Him, so they have such significance to me when I see them in person. I feel like God put them there at that particular time as a blessing for me to see.

I have been so drawn to Psalm 91 lately. And as I watched the eagles, I was reminded of that chapter again. It seems that if I am involved in a conversation with someone for any length of time lately or if I am praying for someone or counseling someone, Psalm 91 comes up! It is such a wonderful wonderful picture of so many facets of our relationship with God and has such incredible power to dispel fear and anxiety - especially when spoken aloud. I am focusing on just the first four verses today. They go like this:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

Psalm 91 talks about dealing with fear and the power and authority we have as His followers. These first 4 verses make us aware that the key to walking in God-given authority is being in close fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The authority God has given us is delegated and not something we can operate with independent of him. We, as members of the body of Christ, must be connected to the Head of the body, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit in order to function as we were intended to. If we try to separate from the source of power in our lives and still operate as the were connected it will be just a matter of time until we fall flat. In the New testament, this thought is constantly reinforced. One example is in John 15, where Jesus talks about abiding in Him. Then in chapter 17, verse 24, Jesus prays for all believers as He says:

 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." 

If we make a habit of spending more time with him, He will turn that habit into a desire. We will truly hunger and thirst for Him as our daily sustenance. We will learn to hear more clearly to discern what is behind the fears we face and the hard times that come.  Then we can take bold action against our enemy using the authority he has freely given every believer in Christ.

In my next post I will move on to the next few verses in Psalm 91 to talk about that authority. In the meantime, "draw near to Him and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8)

Hurts

This morning as I was spending time in the word, I read Psalm 16:8-9 and felt it was a really important one to soak deep into my heart and mind. It says, "I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope."  

As I began to memorize and meditate on that, I began speaking out loud to God about His goodness and praising Him for who He is. I began praising Him and saying, "You have unlimited power, love, grace, mercy ..." Then I began making statements about the fact that He never abandons me, never condemns me, never forsakes me, etc. When it came to my mind to state that He never hurts me, I found that I did not have the steadfast assurance to say it right away. So I began asking Him why that was such a hard thing for me to proclain.

He showed me that all my life, I have heard how God disciplines us to sharpen us and strengthen us. I have heard how He tests us and that he is a stern God who punishes us just like He punished Israel. He showed me that I have always related those things with emotion. For instance, when a parent spanks their child or slaps their hand to protect them from putting something in the light socket, etc, there is always an emotional reaction involved besides pure love. The parent is usually reacting out of anger or frustration or fear.  Because of my human nature, I cannot perceive true unlimited and unconditional love, where discipline and trials are part of the big picture that I cannot see. But He can. He truly will not "hurt" me, even though I may perceive it as such, because of my limited knowlege and understanding.

I then spoke and forgave my parents for punishing me and disciplining me with reactive negative emotion, I forgave those who have spoken those words that made that impression of God for me. I forgave myself for the times that I have beat up my own self. I asked Him to forgive me for perceiving Him as someone who would hurt me, when I know that is not true.

Though I still cannot completely fathom the depths of this, I do know that I am not the only one who struggles with this notion. I know that He wants me to know Him for the good God that He is - that He wants me to fear Him with a fear that drives me TO Him, not away from Him. And I know that this particular issue is HUGE when it comes to the ability to completely and absolutely trust Him for everything, in every circumstance.

That fear of hurt holds many of us back from "always setting the Lord before us" (as it says in the scripture above), or always thinking of Him as we go about our daily life. Sometimes we hope that He is going to spare us from painful situations if we just can slip by under His radar and not make waves. Sometimes we get so consumed by the pain that we can only look up and say "why, God - why does this have to be?" And deep in our heart we grasp at anything to resolve - or at least - cover up the pain.

But that scripture says that when I set God always before me - keep my eyes on Him and walk in His Kingdom every minute:

• I am glad, filled with His joy;
• My glory rejoices  - the bible dictionary defines glory in this context as the external things upon which the people depend, and the possession of which is the ground of their confidence.
• My flesh will rest in hope - stress and anxiety will not affect my body.

By understanding that the thought that He will hurt me is a lie, I replace it with the truth of His word - that I have been redeemed and forgiven (Col 1:14), I am free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1-2), I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39), I can find grace and mercy in time of need (Heb 4:16), I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Eph 2:6), and that I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph 3:12).

All this does not mean we won't go through times of pain and trial - we know that we will (God's word says that too) but that those situations are the times we can go to God for His peace and help - and He will extend His amazing grace to us for the things we suffer because of this fallen world. He does discipline us too - but Jesus came to show us that this discipline is imparted out of love instead of fear, anger or frustration. He weeps with us and rejoices with us - and the angels do too!

More than ever, I am determined to take worldly thoughts captive and turn my thoughts back to Him in every part of my day. I thank God that He is showing me more of who He is minute by minute. As Paul said in Philippians 3:12-14  ^"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. (The message bible)

Love and blessings to all who read this post!

Patti