Abide In Me....

Abide in Me

Abide in Me today, this Sabbath Day, and all days

Let My Peace reign in all things for which you pray

I will not leave you or let you fall

I Am your strength your All in All

© Piper 2013

Don’t let the worries of the world choke the Word I have spoken into the wells of your spirit

I have planted that dream down in the depths of your heart and  I will bring it to fruition. I have planted, you must water it with the Word, prayer and praying My promises, and I will cause the growth, and I will cause you to bear the fruit.

Do not look here or there; there is no need for you to search any further; I am He that created you and formed you. While you were inside your mother’s  womb, I knit you together; I formed a path for you to follow. I have set your feet upon The Rock. When trouble comes I AM your Rock of Escape.

Life is hard. Carrying dreams and visions for God come with trials; they come with a price. It is worth the sacrifice. God will churn up the soil in your heart to pull the weeds that keep us from growing; that choke the Word.

So Moses told the people of Israel what the LORD had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery. Exodus 6:9 NLT

When we are in a trial, it can feel as though we are in slavery, stuck in our mud pit. We cry out to God for deliverance, yet when He answers, the cruelty of our circumstances drowns out His voice. It is vital to our spiritual walk and life, for us to abide in Jesus; to hide in the shelter of His wings. 

He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield. Psalm 91:4 Holman

Exodus 6:9; 1 Samuel 23:28; Job 22:28; Psalm 27:5; Psalm 91:4 ;Psalm 126: 1-6; Psalm 139:13; Jeremiah 1:5;  Matthew 13:22; 1 Corinthians  3:7; Galatians 6:9

Abide in Christ today,

Encounter With The Spectacular

Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.  He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.

 When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reachingthe knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. Ezekiel 47:1-4 NASB

This was an incredible experience for Ezekiel, God touched him in a spectacular way. I am in such a place now; I long for God to touch me in the spectacular realm. I know, I am supposed to be deep and humble and tell you how thankful I am to see God in the mundane, that I don’t need a spectacular experience to believe God. I don’t need one to believe Him, I need one to know Him more. I am grateful for the mundane, but anticipate the spectacular. 

The spectacular does not mean God’s power. Moses witnessed God’s power, provision, and miracles in the wilderness, yet,  He still prayed and asked God to show him His glory. He wanted to know God on a deeper level; not His hand, but His face.  

Elijah, while hiding in a cave in fear of his life, had just witnessed God’s power on Mt. Carmel, but he came to know God in a deeper way in the cave. He saw God in the earthquake, fire, whirlwind, and the still small voice. When you study the original Hebrew in 1 Kings 19:11-14, Elijah did not hear God’s voice, but actually heard God’s thoughts. A spectacular experience indeed. In case you don’t believe that is possible let’s read:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 NASB.

God continues to reveal Himself to His people that seek Him.

Not all of us will encounter God in the spectacular way that Ezekiel did, however, He does want to reveal Himself to us deeper as we grow in Him. He revealed Himself to Moses at different times in deeper ways during each step of his journey to the promise land. 

We need to discipline ourselves to recognize God in the mundane, but He does not expect us to stay in the mundane, mediocrity of life. If He did, He would not have established the Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle; He would have built the outer and inner courts only. The deeper you journey into the Tabernacle, the deeper you experience Jesus and commune with Him. (I will talk in depth about the Tabernacle soon). If God did not want us to experience the spectacular, Peter and John would not have witnessed Christ’s transfiguration. 

God brought Ezekiel through the waters at different levels, first his ankles, then knees, and up to his loins. Continue on into the next verses and the water exceeds his head. God wants to take us deeper and deeper in Him; not so that we can have an experience, but that we can experience Him. He wants to know us face to face just as He did Moses.  These men that experienced God in the spectacular, did not have an experience, they had an encounter. My spirit cries out for an encounter. 

Witnessing the Divine

Witnessing the Divine is to witness the goodness of God in life. God is moving on our behalf even when we can't see. God's hand is glorious; when His workings manifest, it is stunning. Life changing.

God revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush; Elijah, a still small voice; Job a whirlwind. He revealed Himself at Christ's baptism, a voice endorsing His Son; the apostles by tongues of fire; John the Revelator, a loud voice. God reveals Himself in the mundane and the spectacular.

Regardless how He chooses to reveal Himself, you can be certain of this; His promises are yes and amen...

For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 2 Corinthians 1:20 NASB

He promises to abide with us forever—a yes promise. Many distractions are fired our way, deep from inside the enemy's camp, purposed to cause us to take our eyes off Christ, and like Peter, in the thrust of the storm, we sink. He is faithful to reach forth His hand to save us when we cry out to Him to save us. That is His promise.

Witnessing God moving in my life, that is my hope for this journal in the vastness of cyberspace. So many voices writing, speaking, singing. I pray we all write, speak, and sing for the glory of God. My sincere prayer is that as I see God revealed in my life, the mundane and the spectacular, you see Him revealed in your life as well. A Hebrew blessing I speak often, reminds me;

Blessed are you, Breath of Life, who makes every human throat a shofar for the breathing of Your Truth.

I pray my throat, my voice, be used for His glory.