Today is the day

Today Is the day...

    Do you hear His voice calling you?

                He's knocking.

                             And waiting.


He's been waiting for you since the beginning of time. Waiting for you to see Him and recognize that He's always been with you. Even when you felt so alone. Even then. Even now.

              
                                                         The great I AM.

Calling you.

Come.

Take one step.

I'm knocking, don't you hear me?

I want to embrace you.

I want you to know me.

Don't be afraid.

See what I have already done for you.

My hands.

My side.

My life.

For you.

Yes you.

Help! I'm in a rut!

I've been in a bit of a rut lately to be honest. Not feeling much excitement about seeking God's face or spending time listening. Like a stubborn child I moped. I grumbled. I did things half-heartedly. On Sunday we meditated on Proverbs 3:5-6 and I had some serious soul searching to do, searching my heart to see if it was truly open and available to trust in God. You see I, like you, have hopes and dreams in my heart for certain things, things which I have tucked away in a treasure chest in my heart. Is it wrong to have a treasure chest of hopes and dreams? I don't think so, but I'm pretty sure God wants full access to what's inside the treasure chest. Not only that, He wants full access to our hearts. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with most of your hopes and dreams, but God wants to be #1. He wants to be the -I will sell everything I've got for Him treasure. The I don't care about anything else treasure. The I will be complete when I have Him treasure. He wants to fill our hearts and push out worry, fear, anger, disappointment, and everything else that is not from His kingdom, and make our paths straight! Amen and Hallelujah!

So what's holding you back from giving God your hopes and dreams?

How your smart phone can help you hear God's voice

Lately, I've felt a hunger to read God's Word. I had become lazy and failed to fill up my spirit with God's Word on a daily basis. Although I had read the entire bible using a daily plan, I feared making a commitment and the constant failings of missed readings and long catchup sessions. Lo and behold----the Bible app! About two weeks ago I signed up for "The Bible in a Year" on You Version, and I have been loving the daily prompts to read the Word and the ease with which I can do it. I can read it anywhere and anytime with just a few taps on my smart phone. Awesome! So, for those of you out there needing to dip into God's Word, why not read along with me? The clearest way to hear God's voice is in His Word!

http://www.a.youversion.com/free-bible-apps

The value of looking to spiritual markers

The other night I started to look through a workbook I borrowed from my in-laws called Experiencing God as Couples by Henry T. Blackaby. In it Henry Blackaby writes, "When God gets ready for you to take a new step or direction in His activity, it will always be in sequence with what He has already been doing in your life." He goes on to talk about looking to spiritual markers in your life to help you discern God's leading. I kinda like to think of spiritual markers as those piles of stones you see on hikes, pointing you in the right direction toward your destination.

For my husband and I, God has used this workbook as a spiritual marker today. Let me explain. About a year and a half ago, a couple that we knew in ministry asked my husband and I for pre-marital counseling. We were shocked and humbled, to say the least, that this godly couple had asked us to help them prepare for marriage. We had no credentials or degrees or experience in doing this...none whatsoever, but we prayerfully lifted this up to God and waited. To our astonishment, He confirmed that He wanted us to do it. So we prayerfully created some topics to discuss with them, and stepped out in faith. Each meeting we prayed that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide our time with them, and all I can say is WOW. God met us each time, revealing His presence, and showed my husband and I how to work as a team. His gifts and my gifts were like a symphony, complementing and working in perfect unity together. We could do nothing but give God the glory for the miraculous ways he moved and worked in us.

After that amazing experience we began to wonder if God has a special ministry to couples in our future. To make a long story short, several months ago we began a major apartment room change and organization project. Living in New York City, our space is extremely tight. We chose to do this to maximize our space for our family and also to make it big enough to host more groups for ministry in our home. Our project included making our master bedroom into our living room, our living room into our dining room, our office into our bedroom, and our hallway into a large office/storage area! If your head is spinning just thinking about it, imagine what it was like for us! We had to sell furniture, including our beloved king size canopy bed, and add a gazillion bookshelves to our walls, but we are now in the final stages of getting our apartment together. Thank God! 

This morning right after I had prayed for guidance in writing this much overdue blog, my husband called and I told him how much I wanted to order the DVD set and go through the Experiencing God as Couples workbook with him. As I looked into buying the set online and thought about the topic of this blog, the spiritual markers suddenly became clear. We  can use our bigger living space and invite other couples to go through the workbook together! Wow, thanks God!

How about you, what are the spiritual markers in your life? Where might God be directing you?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

It's raining today

...and I'm waiting to hear Your voice. The rain is a reminder of your constant provision to water the earth, to cleanse what is dirty, and restore life to that which grows. Mostly I'm annoyed by the rain. I'm annoyed that my clothes get wet, and that the sky is gray. I want sunshine and blue skies always, and never the rain. Yet our planet needs the rain, just as I need a fresh anointing of Your Spirit.

Lord, fill my parched soul with the refreshing rain of Your Spirit. Cleanse my heart. Heal what is broken. Let no crevice in my being remain unfilled by You. Open my eyes to see You, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus, for Your everlasting love for me demonstrated on the cross. You suffered for my sins, my shortcomings, my bad attitudes, my grumbling, my jealousy, my apathy, my brokenness, my dirtiness, my JUNK. You suffered for the joy of defeating death, defeating sin, and defeating the power of darkness. You died for me and even though I do not deserve it you have proclaimed that I AM YOURS and that YOU ARE MINE!

I pray for all who are reading this. I pray for God's divine anointing on you at this very moment. I pray that the waters of God's healing and forgiveness would wash away the pain, the depression, the anger, the bitterness, the hate, and bring complete healing in Jesus' name. I pray for freedom in Jesus' name! I pray that the eyes of your heart would be opened to know God's great love for you through Jesus. Yes, Lord, come in power. We need you.

Good Morning God

Good morning, God.

This morning I'm thinking of the song I heard on the radio with the lyrics, "Tell me who I am to you."

God, remind me who I am to you.

     (Listen) What do you hear?

     I hear: Beloved daughter, the one I love.


I'm listening, God. Who do you want me to pray for?

     (Listen) What do you hear?

     I hear: Pray for those who don't know me. (Pray)
                Pray for those who are hurting. (Pray)
                Come to me with your own burdens. (Pray)

Water of Life, come fill me up. Show me your face that I might see You. Thank you, Lord.

Amen.

Hearing Together: The Role of Community in Discerning God's Voice

Yesterday during house church, someone asked for prayer to discern where God was sending him in the mission field. He and his wife had visited several different cities abroad and were uncertain about where they should go. While praying on his own he discerned that God was telling him not to go to one particular city. Hearing God clearly speak to him in this way was surprising and he said he didn't know what to do with what he heard. Hearing this, I recommended that we pray as a group and hear from God together.

I've learned from experience that God often speaks through corporate prayer. As concerns are lifted up, God will reveal things through different people using the gifts he has given them. In our group one person has a gift of discernment, another often sees images when praying for others, another has prophetic gifts, another tongues, and I have a gift of intercession.

Praying together with others who use their spiritual gifts is a powerful experience. I am always awed by the way God speaks through each person but in perfect unity, like a perfectly orchestrated symphony. One person may discern, "I sense God will lead you and make this clear to you." Another may say, "I see an open door." Another may pray over unmentioned hardships or struggles. Yes, each voice or petition or discernment is powerful, but together they form the most magnificent symphony.

Are you struggling to hear from God about something? Who can you reach out to in your faith community to help you discern God's voice?