Our God is With Us

“I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of His holy hill. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.”  Psalms 3:4-5

Resting Place of GodThere is turmoil and difficulties in our world that continually confront us.  We are challenged every day, and it is often hard to keep our minds and hearts set on God.  We know He is with us, but we often neglect to acknowledge and recognize His blessing in our lives.  He Loves us so much that even as we sometimes ignore Him, He is always there to hear our cries gives us peace in our slumber, and greets us as we rise.

“How precious also are they thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” Psalms 139: 17-18

God’s thoughts towards you are so vast they are more in number than the sand.  The best time to receive His thoughts is when you wake up early in the morning.  His thoughts are higher than your thoughts, so listen to hear His thoughts before you start thinking your own.  When you wake up early you will be able to hear Him speak to you clearly.  Your thoughts are in your soul but your spirit receives God’s thoughts.  Your spirit needs to hear what God is speaking before your own thoughts begin.

Ask God to show you how He sees you and your situation and He will lift you up above it, so you can look from a higher viewpoint and see it clearly.  As you hear what His thoughts are towards you, write them down.

Write down in a Journal what you hear Him saying, and then wait on Him to confirm it.

The Path: Pray asking God to tell you what He thinks about you.

 

Meditate on His Word Day and Night

 “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto they ways. I will delight myself in thy statues: I will not forget they word.” Ps 119:15-16

awaken my faithAs you are spending time daily with the Lord, be prepared for your repositioning.  Instead of sitting in the seat on planet earth, frustrated about life’s problems, you will be seated with Christ in heavenly places. If you are a child of God it is your rightful place.

This seat is where you are to stay seated regardless of all that is going on around you.  This is a seat of perfect peace and rest, high above the turmoil of this world.  Christ is seated on the right hand of the Father and according to Ephesians 2:6 those who trust Him as Savior are seated with Him.  As you read the promises recorded in His Word, meditate on those promises all day long.

The promises of God are not hidden; they can be clearly seen as you meditate on the Word. So today delight in one principle from His word with great expectations of His full blessings.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”   Psalms 1:1-2

 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make they way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Josh 1:8

The right path is: to read and meditate on the word daily with great anticipation.

Resist the Snare

”That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”  2 Timothy 2:26

A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 35: 8-10

resist the snareIf you are aware of the plan of the enemy, you can choose to stay on the path God has set for you. God has a great plan for your life and the way to get there. It is a higher way than you have traveled in the past.  The Highway, like interstate I-85 is a faster and smoother way. The old way is like a back road, a gravel road with holes and traps to fall into.

Resist the fleeting thoughts:

Have you ever been driving down the interstate, and all of a sudden with one fleeting thought you decide to exit off and take the back road? The back roads will slow you down and hinder you from getting to your desired destination. So, we must all resist these thoughts. Take every thought captive, especially those thoughts that lead you astray. The thought may be as simple as, “I would rather take the scenic route,” but you fail to remember it was the scenic road that led you off course before. We must learn from our mistakes so we don’t repeat them. Once you are on the Highway, stay on it and resist fleeting thoughts that get you off track.

Stay on Isaiah 35:8, the Highway of Holiness.

 

Dwelling in His Presence

“Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.”   Psalms 140:1

Dwelling in the presence of the Lord is the lifestyle of a Christian and prayer is the only way to maintaining this lifestyle.  Prayer is how we connect to God and giving thanks is the key to keeping that connection.

The apostle Paul thought prayer was so important that he said to pray without ceasing. You may ask “How can I carry out the everyday tasks of my job, my kids, my home and still pray without ceasing?”

The prayer uttered out of a thankful heart is a prayer that will continue all day. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving…”(Psalm 104).

When you enter into prayer first thing every morning with a prayer of thanksgiving and maintain an attitude of thankfulness, you will find yourself in His presence all day.  It’s all about how you enter in.  If we enter into His presence with a thankful heart, we will find it easer to continue thanking Him for the rest of the day.  When you stay focused on the blessings of God and thanking Him, your spiritual eyes will only see what He wants you to see. Your spiritual eyes see through thanksgiving.

The secret to staying in the presence of the Lord all the time is determined by the condition of your heart. A heart that is thankful is a heart that can see God in everything. That person can truly pray without ceasing because they are continually giving thanks. Ask God to refocus your eyes so you can see His blessings in everything and give thanks.

Refocus: “…What ever things are pure and whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:21)  

 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

A Continuous Flow

… If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in me out of his inner most being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. John 7:37-38

I began to ponder this morning about the continuous flow of Living Water.  As I read John 7:37-38 I thought; living water is a continuous flow of love and forgiveness.  That is it; that is what I experience daily as I spend time with the Lord.

His love and forgiveness is a “continuous flow” that never stops.  But, is that what others experience when they spend time with me?  I heard the Lord as He spoke in that quiet gentile voice to my heart,  “Can you carry my love and forgiveness to others?  Will you let it flow continuously from you as a river so that people are refreshed by My presence within you.”  My response was: “Yes, Lord!”

I set back and began to fondly think of those people I love; the ones I wanted to share this continuous flow of love and forgiveness.  But, then I thought about people who I no longer have fellowship with.  I began to wonder did the continuous flow apply to these relationships as well.  I heard the Lord gentle say, “Aren’t you glad that even when you were not fellowshipping with Me that My flow of love and forgiveness was still continuous towards you?  Then He said, “What you have freely received freely give them as well.”  I realized very quickly that I needed more of the love of the Lord, because at this point I only have a small creek that runs as far as my close friends and family.

Lord, I want a river, a big river of Living Water; a continuous flow of love and forgiveness that will flow everywhere You send me.

It’s Time For Truth

One morning, I overslept.  The sun was already out, shining brightly through the window.  I ran to the garden, and as I ran down the sidewalk I saw that the dew was gone.  I had missed meeting with God.   I immediately had an old thought, a lie I had believed for years.  The lie was: “If I mess up, God will not speak to me.”  To my surprise, when I set down in the swing, I saw one drop of dew on the tip of a leaf.  I reached my hand out and the last pearl of the morning dropped into my hand as the Lord lovingly said, “I have been waiting for you.”

The enemy could not use this lie anymore. God did love me, and He wanted to bless me. The truth I received had finally replaced the lie that if I messed up He would not be the re for me. God’s presence was there.  The lie was exposed and the enemy was defeated.

The enemy plants many lies in our minds. One lie is connected to another like a chain; that’s why one thought leads to another, and then another. If you did not receive affirmation from your father as a child, you may have believed the lie of rejection. “There is something wrong with me” is just one example. If you have this lie, it is hidden away from sight, but is silently working to convince you that you are not good enough. If you struggle with this lie, it must been seen as a lie and not the truth. You must recognize the voice of your enemy and stop listening to him.

Fully receive the truth, deep in your innermost being, that you are deeply loved and fully accepted by God. God is for you, and He accepts you because of who you are, not because of your accomplishments. With this truth deep in your spirit, the motivation for everything you do will change. From this point on, you will serve God because you are accepted and not in order to be accepted.

Each lie has a structure of set behaviors and responses. We are transformed daily by the renewing of our mind. We tear down the old house and replace it with a brand new house full of the promises of God. Every thought that comes from a lie must be replaced with truth if you want to live in peace. Taking one lie at a time and replacing it daily with truth is key. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16 that if we renew our mind daily, we will not faint when adversity comes.  Today, you can begin to tear down the lies that the enemy has planted in your mind.

In Troubled Times, He Sends Help!

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high and defend you. Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh and strengthen you from Zion.   Psalm 20:1-2

There are times that we need supernatural support and strength to make it through the challenge of the day.  When we call on the Lord He will dispatch help from His throne.  In Psalm 20:2 we read, He sends help from the sanctuary. He will send help, angelic assistance.

Scripture tells us that the angels of the Lord excel in strength at His command.  They are like an emergency back up support system that is on call twenty four-seven waiting for the next assignment.  When we call out to the Lord for help, He sends them forth in strength.

In the 2 Kings: 6:16, Elisha prayed and asked that his servant’s eyes would be opened to see what He saw.  God had sent thousands of angels.  The prophet looked and could see a literal army surrounding him.

Scripture tells us the angels of the Lord are encamped round about us.  A house cannot stand without a strong support system. You cannot see the support beams but you know they are there.  It would seem foolish to sit in your living room fearful the house will cave in.

When you put your trust in the Lord you can be assured the house will stand, the support system is in place and you shall not be moved. The Lord is our support He will give you the strength to stand even when the strong winds of adversity come.  We cannot see with our natural eyes but we know the support is there when the winds blow.

A New Beginning

“I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, I will hold thine hand, and I will keep thee. …Behold the former things are come to pass and the new things do I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them.”  Isaiah 42:6-9

 

Place of peaceI knew the Lord had told me that He would allow me to experience days of Heaven upon the earth, that I would be able to say that I have seen a glimpse of Heaven and it is glorious.

As the former things all passed away I soon realized that I was being prepared for the new thing God had prepared for me and my family.  The new thing that sprang forth was the fulfillment of a desire for a retreat ministry, a place where people could come and experience for themselves an earthly example of what it is like to live in the Father’s House, a special place that God has set apart where people can come and experience healing though His love.   In our Father’s House, love never fails and every person who receives His love will be changed.

Thank you for allowing me to share my journey of healing, and this wonderful discovery, with you.  I pray you will have a new beginning into a new way of life.

A new way of life, the abundant life of God’s love is possible for every believer. When we open our hearts and ask God to cleanse every area, we can love others with a pure heart as He loves us.

It’s a new way of life, loving others as God loves you.  A person who has been healed of the pain of the past can now live this abundant life.  It is the higher way.

If you have experienced healing, this is a new beginning for you.  It is a new way of thinking, feeling and acting, living in a higher place, a place of peace, trusting totally in Him.

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

You have said, in Revelations 21:5, “Behold, I make all things new.” I want to behold, and see the Lord.  So, I ask you to open my eyes as You make all things in my life new. Help me to continue trusting in You and expecting to see Your goodness. 

In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Stay in Your Seat

“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” Ephesians 1:20

Jesus is seated by the right hand of the Father and He doesn’t get up out of His seat.  But we get up, just as a little kid has a hard time sitting still in church.  They squirm, wiggle and always need to get a drink of water or go to the bathroom.  Maturity is all about learning how to sit down, and stay seated in our seat, our place of authority, not distracted and pulled by our fleshly needs and the world around us.

Once you finally find your seat, your position or God’s purpose for your life, you need to stay seated in your seat.  God’s power that worked in Christ and raised Him from the dead also raised Him into His final seat of authority.  The power of God placed Jesus at His right hand in heavenly places.  That same power is working in me to lift me up out of sin and to break behavior patterns that have been learned and embraced due to generational iniquities.  As I overcome these sins and the pull of iniquity, I can feel myself getting lighter and lighter, until I am seated in heavenly places, high above my circumstances, high above principalities and powers of darkness.

“And He has raised us up together and made us sit together in Christ Jesus”.  Ephesians 2:6