I Give Myself Away

Isaiah 58:9-11
"Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."

This passage just grabs me. He seems to be saying that if we will remove the yoke, whatever is binding us, holding us back... if we'd stop looking at other people, judging what they're doing & NOT doing... if we would just give of ourselves to the hungry, hurting, afflicted (wounded) souls, THEN He will make the darkness in our lives as the brightness of noonday. He will guide us continually. Our resources will not end.

Let me ask you (& myself) this question: Do you have days when you feel sad, blue, somewhat depressed? In that moment, stop and ask yourself, "Am I giving of myself to someone else who is hurting? Am I trying to find ways to make someone else's journey less painful? Am I being a peacespeaker in someone else's life?" This is a definite cure to push back the dark days and let His light shine through us. If He's shining through us, there's no room for darkness for He is the light!

Another question... are you struggling financially? We all have those moments. Now I must ask, are you (am I?) giving of your resources to someone in need? I have personally found that when I am giving out of what He's given me, my resources continue to flow. Remember the widow lady in I Kings 17? God instructed Elijah to go to her for what he needed. She only had enough to fix for herself and her son.

I Kings 17:12 "And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

Times were hard. She didn't give unto him out of her abundance. She gave out of the very resources that were sustaining her life. Because of this obedience to the man of God and her sacrifice, verse 16 tells us,

"And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah."

These are hard economic times and most everyone is trying to be cautious and cut back all spending. This is a great plan, but I know that when we give even a cup of water to those in need, we are doing it as unto Him (Matthew 25). Try it. Don't wait until you have extra money. Take a portion of your grocery budget and help someone out. Cook a meal for someone. It is amazing how He replenishes what you thought would be a financial loss.

This reminds me of this song... if we would give ourselves away, He could fully use us as He pleases. I give myself away so You can use me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha3JbND1Sqg&feature=related

Pray + Believe = Receive!

Matthew 21:22 "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

We all have probably quoted this verse at some time or another, but lately, it has become so real to me. The key word is "believing". Remember what the Word says in Matthew 13:58: "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

I believe one of the reasons our prayers go unanswered so many times is because we don't truly believe He is going to do it. Of course, I have a story...

About a week or so ago on a Sunday morning, I got up early and had my morning prayer time. That particular morning I asked God to mend a friendship. I have two friends who have really had a strained relationship over the last six months or so. I had even tried to think of ways that I could help the mending process along, but God keeps reminding me to let Him work. Leave it with Him. He can do more in a few minutes than we can do with all our best time and efforts. I asked Him to let me see just even a small sign that He was working in this situation. Later that day... NOT the next day, not a week later, but THAT day my sweet husband told me he had seen them together. The next day I ran into one of them in the store and found out that things were miraculously beginning to heal. PRAYER WORKS!

Transporter of the Treasure

Can you believe today starts the month of March? I have no idea where all the time goes, but I am going to be more diligent about posting on this blog. I have written enough stuff in my prayer journal to write several books, but I never take the time to sit down and put it here. I am making a "Spring resolution" today... I WILL do better!

Last night I had a prayer shift at our church. I love those times because you're shut away for a few hours and have lots of time to meditate. I went back through my journal and that's when I realized how much I haven't shared and how much I had forgotten of what He has been speaking to me. I will randomly start posting some of these days in no particular order. This one is from almost six months ago.

Psalm 141: 2-3 "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips."

I felt Him say to me...
You are pushing through, pushing back the forces of darkness when you pray in the Spirit. Allow Me to flow freely through you, speak through you. Be My earthen vessel. I've placed treasure inside of you. Be a transporter of the treasure. Let My fragrance flow forth from your innermost being. Be filled with My truth in your inward parts, through and through. Let the fire of My Presence burn out self. I've given you access into the most holy place. Flesh can't abide there. Push past your flesh. You decide how much anointing you allow to flow in your life by how much flesh you're willing to die to. Leave it behind with it's demands and desires. Let Me fill your desires.

The things of earth can't touch you, can't affect you in this secret place. Here I align all things in your life perfectly according to My will. Get caught away in the rapture of My Presence. Rest in the shadow of My wings. Fresh anointing, fresh oil of My anointing here...

New authority
new territories
new favor
healing for you mind, body & spirit...
I am healing you. Things gained in the Spirit are pressed for, sought after diligently. You must always press on to new dimensions in Me. Deeper depths than before... they require a greater sacrifice.

2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

You MUST read this whole chapter! We don't even realize the treasure He has placed within all of us who have given our lives to Him. It is no longer you, no longer me, but...

Colossians 1:27 "...Christ in you, the hope of glory"

I know this post is lengthy, but I can't begin to tell you what it's like to go back and read this and then know what has happened in the six months since then. He has done so much! I'll tell more later...

The Language of Tears

Have you ever just stood in awe of the sweet presence of God and all you could is weep? This is how I felt this morning. There were no words. My heart was filled with such gratitude of His grace, mercy & blessings in my life that I just had to stand and weep. I remember all the times that the tears represented hurt from circumstances that caused me to break before Him. Today was different. I felt broken before Him because of my gratefulness for all the times He kept me during the deep hurts, sicknesses, disappointments, grief, fear... He understands our tears.

I was reminded of this old song:

Often we wonder why/ tears flow into our eyes,
And burden seems to be much more than we can stand,
But God is standing near/ he sees those falling tears,
Tears are a language God understands.

God sees the tears of a broken hearted soul,
He sees those tears/ and hears them when they fall,
God weeps along with man/ and takes him by the hand,
Tears are a language God understands.

When grief has left you low/ it causes tears to flow,
Things have not turned out the way that you had planned,
But God won't forget you/ his promises are true,
Tears are a language God understands

Whatever the cause for your tears today, He knows and understands.

Romans 8:26-28 from The Message "...the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."

"Plan A" Faith

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and for ever."

He does not change. What He did for the early church and His disciples, He longs to do for those who will believe. Our unbelief stops Him from doing all that He has planned for us.

In Matthew 17: 19-20, His disciples asked why they were unable to cast the devil from the young child. He told them, "because of your unbelief." It is time for us to believe again. We need to believe for greater demonstrations of His Spirit and His power. The more we believe, the more miracles He brings. The more miracles He brings, the more our faith grows. We need to allow Him to work, to increase our faith.

Matthew 17:20 "...if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

We always have "Plan B" faith, when He wants to do Plan A! "NOTHING shall be impossible unto you!" What are you believing Him for? Are you believing big enough or asking for the plan that you think He'll do? Why not say, "God, do it your way! I trust you. I take the limits off. I want ALL of your plan. Stop any prayer of mine that goes against the perfect way that you want to handle my circumstance."