Lord...do you feel my pain?...There's a part of me that KNOWS that you do...and there's a part of me that is standing here crying out your name...Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...hear my cry.

I have come to see that there is no depth in the walk I've been walking...It is because of my simple and uncircumstantial life Lord,,,and now I've stepped off and into deep waters where there is no footing...the current of the unforeseen has caught me and would pull me under, along with others who have suffered in the midst of this same fate....

I have known only light afflictions in comparison to this trial...I have been at ease and comfort, not knowing it...there is no depth in me... You my Lord were a man of sorrows and familiar with grief...You have said that, "it is better to agree with the Word knowing that we cannot enter Your Kingdom except through much tribulation...and that if we (I) want to reign with You...then I must suffer with You...

Lord...tell me...how do I tell these devastated and hurting souls how to surrender to more pain...how do I tell them that they must enter in to the straight gate, the narrow gate, when they are already being pressed to the uttermost...?

I do not want to tell them anything that would compromise Your Truth, that would compromise your Holiness, your sacrifice, your grace...I stand back and I am frozen and helpless to speak....HELP ME LORD! HELP ME!

Beloved of my soul...give me depth, and wisdom and the compassion and understanding that leads to Your Life, Eternal Life....make me a soul winner...a laborer in Your Harvest Fields...

Holy Spirit, reveal Christ, in all of this...that I and this family may come to know You in the power of Your Resurrection....that we might in turn declare your wondrous works and the heights and depths of Your Love.

Establish in me the promises of Your Word...1 Peter 2:9

Let us drink from your eternal springs, and be renewed...may we sing your high praises, even a sacrifice of praise...here in the depths, where there is no footing...bear us up in Your Faith...commanding this storm, "Peace, be still".......and I will rejoice with thanksgiving and in the joy of my salvation, and the salvation of my household, and Your household Lord....this I ask and pray, in Your Holy and Trustworthy name...amen and amen..........

A STONE IN THE HEART

I would like to dedicate this blog to a someone that I was introduced to in the Lord today....It is a re-post of the same blog I wrote much earlier...His love and mine to you dear Jacqueline.....

THIS MORNING AS I WAS TAKING MY MORNING WALK...THE LORD, IN HIS USUAL WAY, HAS TO GET THROUGH TO ME BY COMPARING SOMETHING IN THE NATURAL TO THE SPIRITUAL.
I HAD A SMALL PEBBLE IN MY SHOE THAT WAS MAKING IT VERY PAINFUL TO WALK. I STOPPED SEVERAL TIMES TO TAP MY FOOT, TRYING TO SHAKE IT DOWN OUT OF THE WAY, UNTIL I COULD GET HOME AND DISPOSE OF IT.
BECAUSE I WAS WALKING THE DOG, AND THERE WASN'T ANYWHERE THAT I COULD STOP AND REMOVE MY SHOE, (AT LEAST THAT WAS MY EXCUSE) I CONTINUED ON TRYING TO IGNORE THE OBVIOUS IRRITATION.
I'VE BEEN ASKING THE LORD TO GIVE ME HIS INTERCEDING HEART...WHEN YOU ARE NEARLY SHUT AWAY WITH HIM...AND NOT OUT IN THE WORLD, YOU FEEL YOU ARE NOT IN TOUCH WITH IT'S PAIN AS YOU COULD BE...AND GOD FORGIVE ME...YOU GET INSENSITIVE TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS.
THIS IS WHAT I THOUGHT WAS KEEPING ME FROM RECEIVING AN ANSWER TO THIS PRAYER...
THIS IS THE PICTURE THAT HOLY SPIRIT REVEALED IN MY MIND CONCERNING THIS...
"JOY...LISTEN! YOU PREPARED FOR THIS WALK, BY PUTTING ON YOUR SHOES...YOU DID NOT LOOK INSIDE TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING THAT COULD HINDER YOUR WALK. THE SMALLEST STONE CAN HINDER YOUR WALK WITH ME. LOOK INSIDE! LOOK INSIDE!
YES, I SAID THAT YOU COULD COME BOLDLY BEFORE MY THRONE...IN THIS I WILL COMMAND YOU TO REMOVE YOUR SHOES, FOR YOU WILL WALK ON HOLY GROUND...EVEN SO...TO WALK WITH ME, TO INTERCEDE WITH ME...YOU MUST LOOK FOR AND REMOVE THE STONES THAT MAY BE HIDING IN YOUR HEART.
YOU HAVE IGNORED THE STONE IN YOUR HEART, THINKING TO REMOVE IT LATER...
REMOVE IT NOW!....REMOVE IT NOW....STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING, AND REMOVE IT NOW!
THEN COME AND FEEL THE PAIN OF A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART...THAT WHICH IS MY OWN HEART THAT INTERCEDES IN YOUR BEHALF...AND THAT FOR THE WHOLE WORLD...

Swallowed Up

Lord, these two pictures struck my heart in a strange way this evening...the first one made me feel lost and swallowed up...like I feel in this world most of the time...I see people full of life and comfortable in their skin...they communicate well with others and are very knowledgeable...some aren't even Christians...and here I am some particle of dust in the unimaginable and measure-less expanses of human life...an empty brain...no purpose...no aspirations...just the endless longing of the your green pastures, your quiet waters of peace.

Today, we stopped for a quick burger...and I could hardly stand the noise and chatter...it was garbled and irritating...getting on the internet and seeing the endless and numberless attempts at sharing testimonies (and my own) personal relationship with you...their convictions, their interpretations...on and on...works, works, works...

"Restore my soul Lord"...hear my cry...Break me, crush me in your hand and make me into that vessel that once received Your Holy Word, that was filled with Your Holy Spirit Word...that Word that was poured out and running over...bring me to that secret place, in the deeps of my heart...come sanctuary in me, be my dwelling place...I have nothing else to say...Let my only words, be your very own...words of Life and Love and Grace...

I cannot live, if you do not Come my Lord...I am worthless without you...I love you, with such pitiful love...but it is all that I have...I give you all that I have...Be my vision, my revelation, my one desire....Bless everyone and anyone who hears what I am saying and is crying out to you for the answer to this same prayer, in Your Holy Name......jOY

LORD...GIVE US EARS THAT HEAR...AND HEARTS TO RECIEVE

"ARISE, AWAKE!...AWAKE!...COME AWAY MY BELOVED, NOW IS THE TIME TO COME AWAY...COME NEAR TO ME, EVEN INTO MY ARMS. LISTEN, LISTEN, AND YOU WILL HEAR MY VERY HEART BEAT. DO YOU FEEL MY TEARS FALLING UPON YOUR FLESH...UPON YOUR FLESH?...I HAVE TOLD YOU THAT FLESH AND BLOOD WILL NOT INHERIT MY KINGDOM... I WANT YOU TO BE FLESH OF MY FLESH AND BONE OF MY BONE...I WANT YOU TO FEEL MY TEARS UPON YOUR SPIRIT...MY SPIRIT AS FALLING RAIN UPON A THIRSTY GROUND...I DESIRE TO GIVE YOU OF MY INCREASE...BE PREPARED, BE READY, BE STILL

I HAVE SEEN YOUR DEVOTION, YOUR HEART ON FIRE...

MY BELOVED...I WOULD HAVE YOU LIFT YOUR HEAD AND BEHOLD MY BROKEN BODY..THE WOUNDS IN MY HAND, THE WOUNDS IN MY FEET, THE WOUND IN MY SIDE..

MY PRECIOUS ONE, LOOK, LOOK, LOOK AGAIN...MY WORK ON THE CROSS WAS FINISHED...WHAT YOU SEE IS THE BROKEN LIVES OF MY CHILDREN...THEIR HANDS, THEIR FEET, THEIR SIDES PIERCED FOR MY SAKE...THEIR SUFFERINGS ARE BUT THE FEAR THAT COMES FROM WALKING IN DARKNESS. THEIR ENEMIES ARE DEAF AND BLIND...TWICE DEAD. MY CHILDREN HAVE TAKEN THE HAND OF THEIR ENEMIES TO LEAD THEM...AND BOTH WALK ABOUT IN THE DARKNESS, THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND...

BUT I TELL YOU THIS...MY LIGHT IS COME, AND THE BRANCHES OF THE VINE WILL BURN AND NOT BE CONSUMED...

BELOVED BRANCH OF THE VINE, THE FIRE YOU FEEL IN YOUR HEART IS MY CONSUMING FIRE...SEE,.... YOU ARE NOT CONSUMED...THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I HAVE MADE WITH MY BELOVED WHO WILL TURN ASIDE AND APPROACH ME...

NOW TAKE OFF YOUR FLESHLY SHOES, SO THAT YOU MAY WALK ON HOLY GROUND...YES, YOUR WORKS YOUR IMAGININGS, YOUR FEARS...

FEAR NOT...DOUBT NOT...

COME BOLDLY BEFORE ME...

LEAN NOT TO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING

TRUST ME, AS I PREPARE YOU FOR THE WORK

THAT I AM ABOUT TO DO

BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

EPHISIANS 3:16-21

Dear God:I want to thank You for what you have already done.I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards, I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better, I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me, I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears, I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves, I am going to thank you right now.

I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet, I am going to thank you right now.

I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job,I am going to thank you right now.

I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief, I am going to thank you right now.

I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed. I am thanking you right now.

I am thanking you because I am alive. I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties. I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles. I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better. I'm thanking you because Father, you haven't given up on me.........Author Unknown

LORD BE THE GATE KEEPER OF OUR MOUTHS

Understand this: No prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; for never has a prophecy come as a result of human willing - on the contrary, people moved by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) spoke a message from God. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

** But the person who has the Spirit can evaluate everything, while no one is in a position to evaluate Him. For who has known the mind of ADONAI? Who will counsel Him? But we have the mind of the Messiah! (1 Corinthians 2:15)

LORD, STRENGTHEN US IN OUR WAITING...WE HALT IN BEING QUICK IN THE LAYING ON OF HANDS...IN SPEAKING A WORD OUT OF SEASON...

GIVE US YOUR DISCERNMENT LORD...THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE THAT SURPASSES OUR OWN AND IS ABOVE OUR OWN THINKING AND WAY...MAY WE SURRENDER IN OBEDIENCE.... FOLLOWING AFTER YOU BLESSED SHEPHERD AND KING...LET YOUR ROD AND STAFF GUIDE US IN THE WAY...LET OUR LIPS BE FILLED WITH HIGH PRAISES AND JOY EVER MORE...AMEN