Wednesday, May 22, 2013

IMITATE or INHABIT

Written in 2010 and moved up into 2012. We were created to become like Christ, to grow in the LIKENESS of our loving creator, our Father. To become strong and vigorous in His way, in His word, while we inhabit the truth. We are not to merely imitate purity, but we are to INHABIT His purity of intention, His holy motive to love us as we are, that we may love how He created us, so that we can embrace His love within us, and show His love to others, to touch others with a tender hug, to release the Spirit of His love into others with kindness in our eyes. As we reflect on our childhood, on our best days, and our foolish ways, we can admit some choices were to seek pleasure for ourselves instead of God's will ~ and in those times we can see some of our best imitations of what the world promotes as the way. Looking in the rear view mirror we may see how God has used people, events and His word to conform us as we inhabit the living Christ. "We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created." Col 1:15 (The Message) God's plan is to draw us into Him so that we become like His son Jesus. His intention to prosper us, not harm us is His master plan! WOW! Our Father gives us divine guidance into His purpose for our life. "Let us make human beings in our likeness." We are the priviledged creation. We have been set apart by God with dignity, to be like God. We are immortal spirit filled beings ~ and our souls will outlast our bodies. Like God, we are relational and we were designed to give and receive love. We were gifted the ability to think and solve problems with a moral compass that gives us His distinction between what is right and wrong. Even lost souls "feel" that murder is wrong. Jesus is the visible image of our invisible Father and the exact representation of His holy being. "Like Father like Son" God wants His children to bear His image. BELIEVING like children, we do not question our ancestors, and His story contained in the bible. Difficult events in our lives are His purpose packed GIFTS! His hope through our trials is that we will look UP and INSIDE to the One who created us for His purpose. According to His purpose, all things are permitted to build our character, to transform us from a catapillar to a butterfly. What happens to us in this fallen world gives us the choice to IMITATE the foolishness of the world, or to INHABIT the IMAGE of God. Becoming LIKE CHRIST does not mean losing our God given personality. He did not create us to become a mindless clone! Christ likeness is taking on His character traits and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The BE attitudes in Matthew chapter five tells us the truth! We will be blessed when we become like Christ, when we INHABIT His teaching: Poor in spirit, mourning, and meek. When we hunger for His righteousness, when we show mercy to others, when our hearts are pure, as we make peace with others and ourselves, and when we are persecuted for our faith. We are not poor in spirit when we attempt to control our circumstances, or as we manipulate people to get our way. We do not see God in all creation when we proudly compare ourselves to the lost. Pride is a HUGE tree trunk that blinds our vision of God. When we nit pick the speck of error in those around us, His character is far from us. When we do NOT mourn the blight of our sight, when we boast that "our ways" are superior ~ we are not meek as we seek to position ourselves to obtain favor from man. When we hunger for more of what the world has to offer, we are not righteous. When we hold grudges, we do not show mercy. When we believe that our selfish intentions are justified, our hearts are not purely reflecting Christ. When we ban toxic people, we are not making peace with others. When we conform to the world so that we blend in, we are never persecuted. If we desire to become like the hero's on TV, or to imitate the rich and famous, we have lost sight of the Jesus who stripped himself to serve His disciples. Our Father's WILL for us is NOT that we become like Gods, but that we become Holy. To be holy is to INHABIT His character, His values. To inhabit means to be infused, to become one with a way of being, of doing. As we deny our selfish desires, we strip our pride and become naked before God. We choose to put on an entirely new way of life, a God fashioned life. As we renew our minds by the reading of God's word, we are changed into His likeness. We are renewed and restored as we INHABIT His will. With great graditude for His sacrifice, we humbly wear His garment of righteousness. Our Lord asks that we boldly approach His mercy seat with assurance that He inhabits all those who stand before Him. The truth is that we bring God pleasure and glory as we choose to conduct our lives in obedience to His living word. God is to be praised for accurately reproducing His character in us. Jesus said “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16 ~ Therefore, let us willingly INHABIT His grace and bring Him great pleasure as we engage in "real" relationships that welcome accountability through struggle.Life is grandest when we claim victory inside the difficult times! Growth bursts forth from a tiny seed only as it exerts effort against the hard shell. We must remember that Earth is NOT heaven. The abundant life does NOT mean perfect health, a comfortable life, constant happiness, the full realization of our best dreams, and instant relief and gratificaiton through prayer and faith. This self-absorbed fantasy makes God a genie who exists only to fulfill our will, not His. Many choose to live in denial and adopt the delusion of the world, that God does not care about us. It is a lie that God does not care about His creation. His care in the formation of LIFE within a mother's womb, His care in making a snowflake, a butterfly, a thunder storm, all creation exhibits His immense care and love! Let the lie that God does not care about YOU become His CALL for YOU to INHABIT this everlasting TRUTH: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His One and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 To be the utmost for His highest, through His sanctification: we are set apart for sacred use; we are in relationship and we are consecrated to God:
1. By Him we are made holy; His Holy Spirit purifies us
2. We give sanction to, we vow to obey and depend on His grace
3. To produce holiness or be a spiritual blessing to those He draws to the LIGHT in us. God moved His living and active LIGHT into our souls by giving us the wisdom, comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit. He uses us for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. As long as we maintain our own personal interests and ambitions, we cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests. By giving up or by our willing surrende of all of our personal plans, we then allow God to take us directly into His purpose for the world. Our understanding of what is best must also be surrendered, because our understanding must be filtered through His word. The truth is that we simply cannot know for certain how, exactly, God plans to use us. God might use us in exactly the way we expect… or His plans for our lives might be completely at odds with what we want or imagine. INHABITANTS of CHRIST must be prepared for the possibility that God, in His timing, might pull us out of our carefully planned routines and present us with challenges and unexpected opportunities. Thank You Lord for giving me hands to serve and the talent to write what You reveal in photo and word.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

FAITH in the UNSEEN

Faith comes by hearing, faith increases with our trust in God, in His plan to bless us, to prosper us. Walking in complete faith requires dependence upon the One who is leading us. In our weakness, He is strong.  In our dependence, He is faithful. "Walk this way" and "Trust in Me" is what compels us to deny our own strength, our own collected experiences and demonstrate our FAITH in CHRIST.  AMEN

Friday, March 22, 2013

PANIC STRIKES STOCKTON

Residents of Stockton grapple with what to do about the insolvency of their city. A record of 34 murders occured in Stockton in the first six months of 2012. BEHOLD His mighty hand is upon our City and He shall deliver us from evil. AMEN ~ A trumpet of prayers has been blown, and God's army of soldiers girded by the truth are thrilled to serve the King of Kings. "But the priest said "Let us inquire of God here." REMEMBER: The Lord rejected Saul as King because of his pride. In this way the Lord answered Sauls prayer "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan" But the men said to Saul "Should Jonathan die - he who has brought about this great deliverance....as surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for Jonathan did this today with God's help." LET His church, His people, the ONE BODY OF CHRIST, rejoice in His power, and in His supernatural Way. Let us take NO PRIDE in what the Lord is doing, for what He began, He will finish with a blaze of His glory! "Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God." 1 Samuel 14:15 ----- then the army of evil began to melt away in all directions ----- the gangs, crooks, and those that seek to defile the City of Stockton, the grumblers, and those who rumble inside with evil desires, all are suddenly filled with a GOD SENT PANIC to run far away! As God's undivided church, His body of believers are unified by His Holy manifested Presence, by the authority GOD gave His faithful followers, we command that all division between His church, that all denominations come together as the Body of Christ and be convicted to confess and be instantly restored, enabled, encouraged and emboldened in their FAITH in GOD. LIKE NEHEMIAH, a great leader prayed: Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to this prayer that Your servant prays before You day and night for Your beloved people living in Stockton, California. I confess the sins we Stocktonians, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against You. We have acted very wickedly toward You. “Remember the instruction You gave Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to Me ~' and obey my commands, then I will gather the lost from the darkness and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name. Lord Jesus we are Your servants and Your people, whom You redeemed by Your great strength and Your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this Your servant and to the prayer of Your servants who delight in revering Your name. Give Your servants, Your priests success today by granting us favor. Let Your living water pour out and like the wicked witch in the land of OZ, may You Lord cause all evil to melt! "He will endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations. He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth. In His days the righteous will flourish; properity will abound till the moon is no more...For He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will resuce them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in His sight." Psalm 72:5-15 NIV ~ In FAITH we circle His promises! Wise are we who look to God, who seek God, who cry out to God in faith ~ for our wonderful Father answers the prayers of His beloved in the City of Stockton. Halleluiah! Now the gates of Stockton are securely barred against all evil. See, that the Lord has delivered Stockton from evil. A band of more than 80 believers became Circle Makers, and this flock of FAITH filled people, stood in a circle, fully dressed in the armor of God, holding onto what they have, their shield of Faith, their firm CONFIDENCE that GOD is a KEEPER of His promises, they wore their Helmet of Salvation with a MIND certain of the powerful, transforming blood of Jesus, they SPOKE words of faith boldly that God would hear their collective cry for His help. Carrying the sword of the Spirit in their hearts, the living Word of God was dispatched to destroy the bondage of evil in Stockton. Standing firmly, wearing the breastplate of His righteousness, this band of believers steadfastly pray for Stockton for the next 21 days, knowing and expecting a supernatural deliverance, united in Christ as His body, we carry His word in front of the cross declaring that the enemy of Stockton is defeated and we shout PRAISE BE TO GOD! "And he ordered the army, “Advance ! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.” For we are called His friends, and we call ourselves His people, and He is our God and we sound the trumpet of triumph! Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" We hereby circle the the city of Stockton with prayer and wait upon the Lord. We shall pray for 21 days expecting a miracle! "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt 14:47 ~ Have mercy on us oh Lord and may you not find any of your priests in Stockton as hypocrites. "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Matt 15: 7 ~ "Many who are first will be last, and the last first...but woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites for you devour widows houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation." Matt 19-23 "Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the FAITH we profess.....let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity." Hebrews chap 5 & 6 ~ The Israelites wailed to Moses that they tired of the manna God provided. Moses was honest with His Father and asked 'why have You brought this trouble on Your servant?...Where can I get meat for all these people? ~ Here I am among 600,000 men on foot and You say 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month! ~ The Lord answered Moses 'Is the Lord's arm too short? ~ FAITH: Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the 70 elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prohesied' ~ "Listen to My words: 'When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal Myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of My servant Moses, he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.' Being disatisfied with what the Lord has provided comes when our focus shifts from what we have, to what we do not have. NUMBERS chap 11 is a BIG lesson regarding Who we are to bring our burdens. When we complain about our hardships, and grumble to our leaders, instead of praying to God about our troubles, our lack of faith in God is our sin, we need to bring our burdens, like Moses to God, not man. JESUS knows our thoughts, He knows our motives and He says to His church, His body of believers "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." God used His prophet Isaiah to speak "Here is My servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in Whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations....In His name the nations will put their hope." Matt chap 12 Our God tells us the truth "I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying "Know the Lord, because they will ALL know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:10