How Much Do You Want HIM?

How much do you want HIM? How great is your desire for HIS treasures? Seek HIS face. Desire to see HIS beauty. Yearn for a touch and a glimpse of HIS glory. The revelation of the depth of HIS love and the magnitude of HIS otherness is what sustains me.

Oh, LORD! YOU said to seek YOUR face and to chase after the prize that is found in YOUR eyes. This one thing will my heart desire- to dwell in the heart of the fire and to embrace the flame of intimate love. Initiate the chase. LORD set the pace at which this mortal heart beats and lace my praise with glory. Lost in YOUR gaze, I am amazed at the length, the depth, the width, the height of this great mystery made known to me. Love perfected and grace directed toward this swooning, lovesick bride.

Forget about your goal salary, dream car, and perfect family. The American dream is a lie! My dream has become a reality. Jesus Christ living in me. He's coming. He's coming for HIS bride. Will you be alert and ready? Or will you be stuck in your dream world- a sleeping, empty vessel. Let GOD smash your American dream. Let HIM wake you up to the reality of the Blood, the Cross, the LOVE, the Judgement to come. Yearn for more revelation and insight. Desire HIS love to consume you, incinerating any worldly debris that may pollute you. HE is jealous for HIS bride. Look into HIS eyes of love, and let all the distractions fade away. Focus on the reality of JESUS.

Blew My Mind!

GET THIS

Psalm 16:5
O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.

Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

The Lord is my cup. The Lord is infinite and eternal, therefore, my cup is infinitely and eternally large in its capacity.
The Lord makes my cup run over. He takes that infinite space and doesn't just pour a little bit into it. He fills it to overflowing!
He infinitely fills me to a point of constant overflow!

Pour it out- let it overflow, Jesus- WHOA!!!!!!

Ecclesiates 7:1-2

Ecclesiastes 7:1-2
A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;
Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.

A good name- A name is an identity- a means by which a person is identified. What better name/ identity to assume than that of Jesus?! All men were created in God’s own image, but Christians have assumed the role of namesake. We have been adopted into sonship by the ransom price of Jesus’ innocent, perfect, royal blood that was spilt.

Day of death- The moment real life begins is the moment in which you let your self die. Abandon what you once were and don the identity of Christ. Forget your old dreams, aspirations, and plans- toss it all on the altar and burn it before your Savior. His life is so much sweeter and more fulfilling! You were first born into sin, but because of Jesus’ victory over death, we are able to kill our selfish identity and take on the mind of Christ. What a happy day that is!

The end of all men- Every person must face death on the earth. Would you rather be on your deathbed dwelling regretfully on your past, or excitedly envision an eternal future with the One who created, ransomed, and redeemed you? This world is not in the state that it was originally created in. the majority of the world rejects its own Creator and is doomed for eternal death and agony. Is that not reason enough to mourn? Mourn and cry out for mercy! They are blind and deaf, walking straight into an open pit of fire. Mourn, for your Beloved is being openly mocked. Mourn for the return of the Bridegroom. Mourn for the reclaiming of the earth! Do not live ignorant of the looming destruction of the wicked! Be alert and prayerful. Cry out for mercy!

Tid Bits To Chew On

A few random thoughts I picked out of my journals:

-Marination is the key to a juicy relationship with the Lord.

-When the Spirit plucks at the strings of your heart, the result is a most beautiful melody.

-When you face a stormy sea, remember, the safest place to be is resting at the feet of your Heavenly Daddy.

-Tarry in the presence of the Lord, and the sweet aroma of His glory will linger with you.

-Jesus didn't don human flesh and die a murder's death to make you happy- He did it to make you holy.

-Let His glory shatter your selfish dreams and replace them with visions of His splendor.

-To be humble is to be so filled and consumed with Jesus, that pride has no place to lurk.

-When God said, "Let there be light," He was saying, "Let the brightness of My glory illuminate this process of redemption."

-Knowledge of God and His word may be obtained through stillness; quiet yourselves in His presence and listen.

I Am A New Creation

As the Spirit hovered over the unformed waters of the earth, so the Spirit hovers over me in my broken state, like an expectant mother hen awaiting the emergence of her chicks; brooding over this new creation that I have become; awaiting my emergence into the calling He is preparing for me. Where He hovers, there will I tarry. He energizes this lifeless heap, bringing forth unbelievable life. Into the dusty wasteland of my soul He breathes His life.
Let the pungent, sweet aroma of Your glory linger with me. Energize my inner man that I may come to know the length, height, depth and width of this Love which my abstract mind cannot yet fully comprehend. Fill me and form me according to the perfect model of Christ.

Grasping the Concept of Eternity

Until recently, I had always viewed eternity as an unlimited span of time… Wrong! Eternity has nothing to do with time. Time is for this world that we know, which will eventually cease to exist. Time is a measurement based on the orbit of stars, moons, and planets, changing of seasons, aging of matter, and so on. Eternity, on the other hand, is a habitat (Isaiah 57:15). Time is rigid and linear. At this particular point in time, only one direction can be clearly seen- the past.
The best way I have found to describe eternity is as a faceted realm. From any point in eternity, everything can be seen. God is omnipresent and omniscient. He inhabits eternity and sees everything and knows everything. This puts my mind into a bit of a pretzel! This is why people can be touched when watching, reading, or listening to a powerful teaching or worship service long past- the Holy Spirit knows no bounds. He weaves around and moves throughout our time. God sees our time in entirety, as well as the age to come.
Therefore, we must not think of what God was doing or where He was before Genesis 1:1 as an endless time span of thought or endless nothingness, but rather, think of Him as dwelling in His faceted, glory-filled habitation, surrounding this realm in which we now reside. He has more of a “bird’s eye” perspective, in comparison to our linear, one way perspective.
Well, what did God think before He created? Another wrong thought! A.W. Tozer states in Knowledge of the Holy, “In Him word and idea are indivisible.” God is perfect and without fault. Hence, He has no need to think about or plan out anything, because it will always be perfect! I believe He created the universe in seven literal days and laid out the idea of time for our sake. To Him, all of history is but a flash, quick as a snap of the fingers (2Peter 3:8). The aspect of a time span just shows us how much care He has taken in creating all that we see.

Move With The Cloud

Your body is a temple, a tabernacle for the Lord to dwell in. A temple is a place for worship and sacrifice. Therefore, daily offer your life to the Lord as a sacrifice in worship of His holy name. The Glory Cloud of the Holy One always hovered over the tabernacle. When the Cloud moved, the whole camp moved. It is the Cloud of protection and sanctification. Where the Cloud settled, there the camp settled. When you sense the Holy Spirit moving or leading you in a certain direction, you had better be quick to pick up and move- no questions asked. Why would you want to stay settled when your covering, your protection, your crown of glory is moving elsewhere, urging you to move with it? When you stay and the Spirit moves, you are in danger. That means you are too comfortable with your current surroundings- that’s complacency. Do not be settled in complacency! It is a dangerous place to be!

John 2:19-22
Revelation 21:22-23
1Corinthians 3:16-17
Acts 7:48-50
Revelation 3:16
Zephaniah 1:12

Confession Time

When I am faced with a difficult situation, I often find myself on my face throwing a temper tantrum with God, when I should be finding a way to bring Him glory in the midst of my tribulation. My prayers sound more like a whiny 2 year old that didn't get to ride the pony at Wal-Mart than a 23 year old desperate for more Jesus. I know it is the devil telling me I am just not good enough and will always be a screw up, but for some reason I keep buying into it! Self pity is a ploy of the devil. Satan hates you! He wants you to focus on your mistakes and downfalls and not the Love and Mercy and Grace of Jesus. He wants you to hate yourself and resent God.

I have found a very simple yet effective weapon for battling this particular attack from the devil. Make 2 lists. On one, write all of your worries and troubles. On the other, write everything God has blessed you with and promised to bless you with. I guarantee, after writing just a couple of blessing from God, you will feel exponentially better.

My Lists:
Woes
-don’t make nearly enough money
-on the verge of losing my job
-in debt
-don’t get to spend much time with my son
-too much nagging from people around me
-no spouse to help out

Blessings/Promises
-a perfectly healthy, happy son
-a roof over my head
-a nice vehicle
-never worry about going hungry
-awesome friends and mentors
-lots of job prospects
-lots of odd jobs to pay urgent bills
-promise of financial provision
-promise of a father for my son
-promise of deeper revelation of God’s nature
-promise of eternity with Jesus


"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11

"The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him." -Nahum 1:7

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." -Romans 8:28

"For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." -Psalm 30:5

Remember!
Jesus loves you more than you even know. When you feel as though you are at the end of your rope, just let go. Jesus will be there to catch you and lift you up. He won't leave you hanging. Just trust Him. Listen to the still, small voice, and let His Spirit guide you through your wilderness!

Fervent Prostration

Fervent- having or displaying a passionate intensity; from the Latin word fervere meaning "to boil"
Words associated- wholehearted, hot, burning, glowing
Antonyms- apathy, lethargy


Prostrate- to lay oneself flat on the ground face downward, especially in reverence or submission; from the Latin word prostratus meaning "thrown down"
Words associated- overcome, weaken, devastate
Antonyms- fresh, righteous

--I prostrate myself before the thrown of the One Who Redeems, pleading with fervor for the freedom to be a slave to His righteousness.

When I come before the Almighty, the glory of His presence is so incredibly powerful that I am thrown down, flat on my face. God tells us to pray and to love with fervor. That means to pray and to love with a hot, burning, glowing, wholehearted, intense passion. This is the means of purifying our hearts. It is well known that one of the best ways to purify something is to boil it. Once we are free from sin and death, we are bound to His life in His righteousness. When we pray and love, we should be exploding, boiling over with passion and intensity.

How much brighter than our sun is the Son of God?! We shield our eyes from the sun and wouldn’t dare go any closer to it than we already are, but we dare to stand in the presence of the Maker of that sun? He created this whole universe. We cannot even fathom the full extent of His power and glory. We should be overcome, weakened, and devastated as we stand in our flesh before Him!

Once we are cleansed, we are made fresh… Prostrate yourself and pray with fervor to become righteous.

Exodus 33:12-23
Luke 22:44
Romans 12:11-12
James 5:16
1 Peter 1:22
2 Peter 3:10

I was reading Luke 3 and got to one of those boring genealogies at verse 23. I usually skip over them or just skim through them, but this time I tried something new. I read through it once and prayed, then another time, then again, and again... I just couldn't get enough of it! It was so powerful! The reality of Jesus' humanity hit me like a ton of bricks. Jesus is a HUMAN! He became a child of Adam just like you and me. He took on flesh and mingled with the very creation that was made through Him. How humbling is that! Luke 3:38 really shook me- "... the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of GOD." Jesus is the Son of Man (Adam) and He is the Son of GOD. I am a daughter of Adam because I am human, but God the Father has given me to Jesus (John 17:24). WOW! I am now not only a daughter of Adam, but a daughter of the MOST HIGH GOD!

The Scriptures truly are alive. Even the most boring list of names that I can't pronounce opens up a new corridor of revelation of the awesome depth of God's love for me.

Dead... Or Just Sleeping?

Matthew 9:23-26

I hate to say it, but sometimes I think to myself that some of the people I reach out to are just too dead to understand and receive the gospel. They seem to be completely unreceptive to the Truth. Some openly and often loudly object, while some express their respect for my views and faith, but they would rather stick with their current lifestyle. "They're just too dead!" I say to myself.

But are they really dead, or are they just sleeping? They may seem dead at first glance, but they must be seen through the lenses of the Kingdom. They may just be sleeping- hibernating- comatose- waiting for the Lord to shake them to consciousness.

Intercede on the behalf of those sleepers around you. Have faith and believe that the Lord will bring them out of their slumber, into a place of repentance and abandonment. In the gospels, when Jesus healed or delivered a soul, what did He always declare? It was never a declaration of His power or deity, but a declaration of faith. Have faith- not in the persuasiveness of your words but in the power of the Holy Spirit. He and He alone will break the hardened hearts of men.

What Good Is The Food If You Don't Have The Hunger???

John 4:31-34
If Jesus has food to eat of which we know not of (doing the will of the Father), then He must have a certain hunger which we also know not of.

I desire to know of that food, but what good would it be without the proper hunger for it?

What good is satisfaction if it is not the proper food that is satisfying- What good is food if you do not have the proper hunger for that food?

Food never tastes as good if you do not have the hunger for that particular food. For instance, when I have a craving for ice cream, but chose to eat spinach instead (which I also love), will my craving for ice cream be satisfied? NO- and I'll have a nasty taste left in my mouth. But at the same time, the ice cream is not what will bring proper nourishment to my body. I need to develop a greater hunger for that which will bring the most nourishment to my body.

As a follower of Christ, I crave His Spirit and crave to please Him. Certain things in my life may bring some satisfaction to my flesh, but if it is not pleasing to Jesus and not in His will, I am not truly satisfied deep within. Making lots of money may bring satisfaction to my flesh, but if I am not doing the will of God with that money, it will not satisfy my soul in the end. If I do God's will, but do it begrudgingly, I will definitely not be satisfied.

Deuteronomy 8:3
Pray- cry out to God for a greater hunger for doing His will. He will hear you! When you receive that hunger- that craving for doing the will of God, your satisfaction is so much sweeter!
John 6:48-51
Oh sweet Jesus! I crave You! I so long to do Your will and do it cheerfully- not begrudgingly or with resentment in my heart. I want to feast on the things that are pleasing to You. May the things that break Your heart break mine also. May the things that make You glad make me glad also. You are my Light; You are my Life!

Have You Started Building Your Ark Yet?

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." -Matthew 24:37

Have you started building your ark yet? The end of the age closer than you think. Just watch the news and read the paper. This world is so full of evil. Get ready! He's coming soon to purify the earth with fire! Read the Word, study it, press into God, pray, fast, acknowledge the power of the Blood, keep yourself from poisonous worldly things. Follow what He says in His Word, and He will "shut you in" (Genesis 7:16). He will protect you from the rain; He will keep you afloat; He will cut you off, set you apart from the evil in this world. Just follow the Instruction Manual, and let the Lord speak to you and guide you. Love God, love others. You won't tip over, you won't crash. He will let you rest safely in the mountains.

Devastation

Devastation- shock, ruin,
From the Latin devastare meaning “to thoroughly lay waste”

What causes devastation? Floods, storms, fires, earthquakes… All of these cause noticeable and quite severe changes in the atmosphere and earth when they occur. There is no doubting what has occurred when the aftermath is beheld.

God has devastated, thoroughly lain to waste, and ruined what I once was, and He has rebuilt me with great love and blessings. When I think about what the Lord has done and how He loves me, I am devastated. All my other thoughts and plans are completely ruined. I am ruined by His love towards me. There is no doubting that He has done an amazingly powerful work in my life. I pray that when others look at my life, it is undeniable that God has swept through it and devastated me with His awesomeness!

Isaiah 64
Exodus 34:29

A Brief Version of My Story

It Makes No Sense!

Before the Lord drew me back to Him, I had been running from what I had always known I was meant to be. I explored just about every detrimental lifestyle under the sun. I did so many stupid things that weighed me down. I was sick- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I had these horrible feelings of being lost and empty. I was so dead inside. I wished my life would literally come to an end. That would have made sense. However, God had something very very special in store for me. Last year, right when I decided that I was worthless and destined for failure no matter what I tried, God gave me the most precious gift... He gave me a brand new life... in my tummy! That was all the motivation I needed to push all the crap I had gotten myself into aside.

Now this is where I start getting confused... For five years I had been purposely ruining my life, cursing God, and blaming Him for all my misfortunes. After all of that, He still loved me enough to give me the greatest gift a woman can receive. It makes no sense! I just knew that something would go wrong as a punishment for everything I had done over those years... Nope... Everything went perfectly and William is the most perfect little thing!

This is where it gets confusing for everyone else... God blessed me with this little life, but my life is still what most would describe as difficult and crappy. The baby's father wants nothing to do with us, many of my "friends" went AWOL, financial burdens... But you know what??? I am happier than I have ever been in my whole life! I can't imagine being any happier... It makes no sense! Every time I look into that sweet baby's eyes, I feel God's love pouring all over me. I don't feel the need to worry about anything. Having this baby brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "cast all your cares on Him". If something comes up that I would normally freak out about, I just give it up to God. I know that He will give me peace.

God continues to bless me daily. He is constantly helping me to keep my focus on what is really important- loving God first. Not a cute and innocent love, but a deep, burning, passionate love. This is what I was always meant to be- a lover of God.

It makes no sense that I have this perfect son. It makes no sense that I am so happy. It makes no sense that God loves me as much as He does. But there is one thing that makes perfect sense... that's praising God for all the wonderful things He has done!

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11