Fresh Hope

It is a new day and there is fresh expectation in the atmosphere.
The hand of the Lord outstretched for us even now.
His protection and hedge all around
He gives us fresh hope – by giving a right understanding and revelation of “The Wilderness”
It is a consecrated and Holy time

This is a season Holy unto the Lord
Because this is where, this is how; this is the path of drawing
This is the place of crushing – but it is sweet
This is the place of answered prayers – a Yes from the Lord

The longer, the harder, the deeper, the more intense – so will be the outcome
Sowing into the Wilderness only reaps Heavenly rewards
This is the time when we stay
We accept, we embrace, we rejoice because the Lord is worth it
We fall on the rock. And the rock is love, the rock is Holy, the rock is Good

This is how we come into the deep places of the Heart of God
Jesus set the example
Life was never going to be lived without pain
Our example is the Cross, have we forgotten?

So here, now, in the Wilderness – it is good
Can you feel the heartbeat of the Father?
Can you sense Him all around you?
Can you see Him working?
Trust. Let go. Let go. Let go of it all.

Holy encounters
As fire falls down from Heaven
Letting go of everything the world says we should pursue
Letting go of everyone I have ever tried to please
Letting go of my own self and of directing my own life
Father,
Here it is. What do You want?
What is it that You desire?
Find here, in me a willing servant, find in me a willing heart, find in me one who will give it up and who will choose You
Father here, have my heart. Father, here, have my spirit and my soul and my will.
I feel the weight of the Holy Spirit.
Direct my path. Guide my steps. I awaken to You now. You’re beautiful.
Colors of the dawn, openness of the sky, depths of the sea and distances of the wide expanses of the earth
Am I not amazed when I consider Your works?
Am I not perplexed when I try to comprehend who You are?
Take me deeper. Take me higher. More, always more…
You went to the Cross, could I hold back my life?
What is the appropriate response –
Is it not love?
Is it not a life that is lived with the knowledge of love?
Is it not letting You love us as You would?
Is it not letting Your delight in us and Your words for us come and overwhelm?
You’re beautiful.

Waiting

This is the only time we get to choose God
In the waiting
This is the only time we get to demonstrate our love for Him
In the waiting

Do we know the way it moves Him?
When we’re weary from the journey
When we still keep coming after Him
Day after day after day

When we come before Him
When we have no elegant words to say
When all we can do is pray
It is Ok to come to Him in weakness

God, could it be that in this place
This is right where You want us to be
Do You wait for all of our strength to go away?
Do You wait till it falls completely away?

You wait until we come to this place
You wait and You say
“Now I have you right where I want you - in utter dependence on Me”
Now life begins
Now life begins because then we are with You and You alone

I will press on
I shall yet Praise You
This is the place where I want to be.
This is where I am no longer looking to my own strength
This is not the place of failure, that I had done something wrong
I shall yet press on
I shall yet praise You

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are those who mourn
Happy are those who hide in the Secret Place

If we want to find Your Kingdom – this is the way
Waiting here, hidden in You
Just as the deer pants for the water
So pants my soul for You oh God
This is the path You have chosen
I will keep pressing on

“To walk in the cool of the day with You
To gaze on the beauty of all You do
To meditate on Your Glorious Splendour
I was made for You”

A Devotion to the King

It doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t even have to be eloquent
You are more interested in the heart, than in the words

I love You oh my King
As best as I know how and as fully as I now can – I love You
I willingly give You my heart, my life, my soul, my mind, my strength
All that I am able to give.
Let Your love rain down on me
Let my love and devotion rise to You as a fragrant offering.
Let my days be lived in such a way that draws out Your Heart in desire
Let me live and move and have my being so that
You are moved to joy from my desire for You

Draw me even more
Have me even more
Oh God, even more
Teach me to love

Father, I long for You
I have tasted You and I have been with You
Now I can be satisfied with nothing else and nothing less.
The world tries so hard to imitate You
To imitate the Love that You so freely give
But there is no love, there is no rest...
There is no peace with the love the world promises
Father! Here I am!
Have me! Will You take me! Will You use me!
Come and rapture my heart.
Captivate and ransom my affections
Lay siege to the places in my heart that are not fully Yours
Raise the battlements and let loose the catapults
Let no time be lost on negotiating
Let no energy be spent on waiting for another resolution
Break in and break forth now
Write Your Name upon my heart and upon my soul and claim what it Yours
You make all things NEW!
So come and do a new work and a new affection
A new place in my heart for You
I am a willing vessel. I am a surrendered servant. I am a longing lover.
I give myself over to who You are.
Even More! Exceedingly and Abundantly!
Great and Mighty! More than Enough!

Father! Here is Your son and here is Your servant calling out for You
Would You answer love?
Would You answer Your son’s cry for depths of love with You?
Would You give me all of Yourself?
Just come.
I would do some great work for You. I would go on some great quest to prove my love. I would climb a foreign mountain and pick a rare flower if that is what You required. But You, You do not desire some great feat of strength and courage. You are God.

You say “Come Away with Me”
You say “Come and listen to My Heartbeat”
You say “Come and let Me hold you”
You say “Come and let Me show You love”
You say “My ways are not the ways of men”
You say “My paths and My thoughts are not the thoughts of mankind”
I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
I desire devotion more than great feats.
I desire you to just sit before Me and gaze at My beauty and let me love you.
Nothing more is required.
So come away with Me. Come away from that which glitters on this earth, come away from that which the earth says “this is love”. Come away with Me.
Come to the desert and let me speak kindly to you.
Come to the secret place and let me ravage your heart.
I would give all of Myself – but only to those who come away.
I would give everything that you desire – but it is reserved for those who love and choose Me above the things of this world.
Do not be swept away with money, do not be swept away with position or title, do not be swept away by status or things. Do not be swept away with that which is over quickly.
Answer a greater and a deeper call.
You say “I love You” – have you given yourself to the reading of My Word?
You say “I want to love you” – have you done what I said to do in My Scriptures?
Have you, would you – minister to the lonely, the broken, the orphan, and the widow?
Would you help the poor?
Would you go to the imprisoned?
Would you be my words of encouragement and comfort to those who are ready to give up?Would you preach My Word – here is life.

I say “Here I am, oh God.” Here I am, send me.
Let me love You and let me love Your people.

This is what it is to be a father – one, who protects, one who lifts up the brokenhearted, one who helps the needy, one who goes to those who cannot speak or fight for themselves.

Here is a ready heart. Here is a willing hand.
Here is one who would say “Oh God, have it all.”
I burn for You. Have me. Use me. Draw me. Take me.
Work in me. Speak through me. Help me.
I asked for intimacy and You answered by giving me trials that I would draw closer to You.
Still, I must have You! Even now, I must be with You!
You are all that I want and all that I desire!
Father, Oh King, Oh God – rapture my heart

Have all of me
You are no respecter of persons
I’m so in love with You, Jesus
Enflame my heart in Love
Arouse passion and desire in me to the heights of human capability
Let me close my eyes and be with You in the Throne Room
Let me live my life – never leaving the secret place
Make much of Yourself in me
Make much of Yourself in my life
Make much of Yourself through me
I want to waste my life to be with You
I want to pour out everything that I have and everything that I am
I want to have fixed gaze
I want to have single purpose
I want to be where You are
I want to do what You are doing

King and Master of my life
Commander of my soul
Lover who called me before the earth’s foundations were set
Wonderful One who is altogether lovely
Beautiful counselor
All I want is You. I want all of You
Will You give me all of You?
Take all of me. I hold nothing back for myself
Have my love, have my energy, have my resources, have my strength, have my time, have my sleep, have my heart, have my mind, have my thoughts, have my soul, have me.
Come, oh God.

You are Relentless
Your Love and Desire do not relent
There is no giving up and there is no giving in.
Come King and rend my heart
I give all that I am to You.
There is so much that I wish for and so much that I hope for
Oh King! I surrender. I hope in You.
I desire You. I do not even know what is the best path to take
I do not even know and cannot even see all that You have
I look and there is so much that I cannot see.

Living flame of Love come baptize me
All consuming fire – come now and consume even me
All consuming love – come now and burn
All consuming beauty – come and overtake me
There is no one better and there is nothing that I want more
Father, have mercy and grace on Your servant
Beauty, Arise!

Hope

Could I write on hope? It has been a theme of my life since I was a child. Always hoping, always looking forward, and always praying for things to come true. We don’t always get what we hope for, but sometimes we do. It is because of those sometimes that I keep on hoping and trying and wishing and praying.

I hope for great things and I hope for small things. Even now I can feel my heart beating, wanting and hoping. It wants so much to come to pass it feels as though it could beat right out of me and keep on beating for a minute straight on it’s own as it lay on the floor.

Romans 5 says “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

This is where we have to stand and this is where we must believe: hope does not disappoint, because God has poured out His love into our hearts… hope does not disappoint.

What do you hope for? What does it mean to hope, anyway? In the very least, when we hope, we can know that we are not alone. Ruth hoped for a new future back in Israel, multiple occasions throughout history the Israelites hoped to return to Jerusalem, Esther hoped for salvation for her people and Job hoped for deliverance from the Hand of the Lord.

To hope is to have the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. To hope is to look forward with desire or reasonable confidence. To hope is to believe, it is to desire, it is to trust. Sometimes, we can even hope against hope… this is to continue to hope, even when the odds are against our favor.

Hope is a powerful emotion. Hope has kept people alive in prison camps, and hope has kept starving people from giving up who were lost at sea. Hope has reunited old friendships and Hope has rekindled flames of love that had been relegated to faint flickers.

We must continue to hope. Hope is the opposite of passivity. Hope is the antithesis of apathy. Hope is how we keep on going. Hope is strength when there only weakness, hope is love when there are only lonely nights, hope is fighting when the mobs have already surrounded, and hope is the next step when we’re lost in the wilderness. Hope is how to really live.

Hope is how you say to life, “I will not give up, and I will not give in.” Hope is the reason you get back up when you have been knocked down. Hope is the reservoir to draw from when the ship has already taken on water. Hope is where we look to when the alarm clock sounds in the morning and a new day calls, beckoning us to get up. We can either charge the day or flee from it. We must hope! Even when all we can do is hope against hope…

Hope! Keep hoping! Look to hope as a mighty warrior, look to hope as a trusted companion, and look to hope as a faithful friend. Remember, hope does not disappoint. Hope, when coupled with prayer and faith can bring even greater things to pass. This is when we bring our hopes before the King of Kings and lay them before His feet.

This is when we take the deep desires of our heats and the great wishes and prayers and hopes and dreams and say to Jesus; “Oh King of My heart and oh Lord of my life. Here are my hopes, here are my dreams, and here is what I want so deeply to come to pass. Would You have them? Would You take them? I don’t know what else to do. To my knowledge, these are noble hopes. As far as I can see, what I lay before You are good things. And even though I call them good and want them to be, I still bow my knee and say ‘Thy will be done’. Thank You Father, for I know that You are good and I now rest in Your love. Be pleased now Oh King. Come and have Your way.”

Keep hoping. Keep believing. Keep going.

An uprising

Oh God, You said that You never leave and You never forsake.
What is going on now?
I cry out. A heart, torn and rent. I know You are near, but my heart still breaks.
Day after day I wonder when You will draw back Your hand.
My strength has left me. I keep no more hope for myself.
Hour after hour I long and hope. I seek rest, but it escapes me.
Now I only find solace when I am not awake – a life on the edge of utter exhaustion.
My strength runs on the brink of despair. I fall to the ground. I can see no end.
I thought it was over. I thought it was done. Now, I see it was only a lull. It was only an ebb in the work You are doing. Now the full force of the flow of Your Hand goes forth.
I can not stand. I keep no strength, no hope, and no confidence in my own ability.
In the morning I am forced to trust in You.
There is only one remedy, and there is only one cure.
Not on my own, I command faith to arise. Deep calls out to deep.
Deep has now visited. Deep upon deep sets the table and takes counsel.
I see beauty all around me. I am hemmed in, before and behind.
There is a hedge around me. Its walls are thick and sure.
What do I believe? Oh God, I believe in Your love.
There is no other safe place.
Hope for a future… it hurts worse than I ever thought it could.
Opened up once more, the first time in years, and the hope was shut off.
Yet, even now, in brokenness, it was worth it… that another may know of the beauty they posses, that another may know love – like a breaking dawn – if for only that, all was worth it.
I look in the mirror and do not recognize my eyes any more. They carry a great weight that they have not yet carried. I listen to my own voice and it too carries a weight that I have not yet known.
I walk, more and less sure. I approach each day, with more and less confidence. My entire outlook has shifted. I keep utterly no confidence in my own ability. I only walk in the strength of my God. I no longer run to close ones when great pain comes. I run to the arms of One who is greater. I no longer worry about my own life. I have given it up. I see each day as a day that does not belong to me. I walk with great pain.
Each movement, each word, each hour… I can feel come and go. I used to rush in life, I have found I have to slow down. The only words that I now heed are the words of the One who died for me when He says “Come Away My Beloved”. I go to that place.
It is in the wilderness, it is at the olive press, it is at the breaking point, it is in the praetorians’ cell, it is in a cave in the Negev, it is in the house of mourning.
Why does God work so hard to answer our prayers for intimacy with Him…? I cried out for it. I pleaded for it. I prayed and fasted for it. I said “Oh God, I want You. Take all else away. Call me, draw me, bring me to Your inner chambers and Your inner courts! Have my life!”
And then He answered that prayer.
Who could have guessed that it would look like this? …to share in Christ’s sufferings… to be made more like Him… for Him to increase and for us to decrease… it comes at a cost.
We can’t have something for nothing. We can’t be brought into the inner chambers of the King and live our own life.
He has to work in the heart to build the integrity and character and dependence on Him to handle such treasure as intimacy with Him. Intimacy comes at a price.
It is connected and can not be separated from the dying to the flesh.
The more of the Spirit, the more of the world has to go.
Hope deferred… is not hope destroyed.
Defer by definition is to pass on to another time.
It will still come to pass.
So the only appropriate response is to press into the King.
The only thing left to do is to pray, is to fast, is to answer His call to come away as Beloved. Though my lip quivers, though my teeth shake, though my knees tremble, though my strength wanes… I call faith to arise. With nothing left… faith arise. With no hope, with no strength, with less than nothing left… faith, arise.
Faith, Arise!

God’s work on my heart: an outpouring

Something has changed in the atmosphere.
I can feel it.
There has been a breakthrough.
The time of testing is over.
The time of refreshing is at hand – it is here.

It is a season of coming into destiny.
It is a season of coming into joy.
It is propulsion to greater things.
They begin now – they start now – they go forth from this place.

I can hear the sound of a different drum beat.
I can see the marching formation of a new army.
It is a new day.

Destiny and dreams coming true.
The answer was sent from Heaven and now it has reached Earth.
It goes forth now, It is in the air, It has arrived.

Earlier, it was on the way and could not be stopped.
Earlier, things had been set in motion.

Now, it is here.
Now, it has come.
Now, is the time for living out dreams and destiny!

Something happened inside me, something on the inside.
A work from Heaven, divine hands performing surgery.
It’s over. I feel like a great battle was raging, and now it is over.
God has called a ceasefire.
God has called an end.
God has said “it is done”

I don’t care about it any more – trying to make things happen.
I finally surrendered. I finally let go.
No longer, am I enamored by mankind.
No longer, do I place my hopes for a future with humanity.
No longer, do I look to flesh to bring about destiny.

I look forward.
I look upwards.
I look to the King.
Promotion, influence, provision, dreams, all things… come from Him and Him alone.

Can you see it? Can you hear it?
The sound of many rushing waters; it is the sound of God.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has arisen.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is on the move.

Power breaks forth now.
Rumblings and lightnings and terror and splendor.
Holiness manifested, Glory revealed.
Heaven has invaded Earth.
The supernatural invaded the natural.
God has come.

The power is when I am on my knees before the Lord.
The power is in the prayers.
The power is in my weakness.
The power is God on the move.

He said “My Grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect in weakness.”
I don’t know that I fully understand, but I embrace it.
It is the power of God that I hold, I keep none for myself.

I finally let go.
And instantaneously, God was there.
I bow my knees, I bow my head, I close my eyes, and I walk into my destiny.
He propels me.
It is done. I can’t get away from it. He will do it.
The God of all. Amen.

Mark Anthony

Take me up in the Spirit oh God

I want to be filled with the knowledge of God, with the knowledge of You,
with the knowledge of the Holy, Holy.
I want to know You.
Now oh Lord, enlarge a place in my heart for You.
Take my heart, my spirit, my life, my mind, my will, my love and expand it to be able to love You and be loved by You more.
Come now into Your garden.
Place me like a seal upon Your heart,
Place me like a seal upon Your arm.
Seal me in with Love.
Seal me in with compassion - with the Presence of the Lord.

Oh God, I never want to leave Your Presence.
I don’t want to go to do something just because it “could be good” oh God, help me to let go of things that I need to let go of.
Help me let go and let You.

I want it to be You and me alone.
I want to be led by the Spirit.
I want to be where You are.
Come into Your garden.
Make my life leap from victory to victory.

God, I want to be where You want me to be and not where men want me to be.
Come now oh God.
Come now oh God.
Come now oh God.
Come now and take up Your servant.
Take Your servant into Your courts. For that is where I want to be, I never want to leave Your Presence, no, never, never leave. What work do You have for me to do and what dreams do You have for me to live? May Your servant ever follow Your dreams and the dreams that You have given him.

Come now King.

May I hear from Heaven in a great and mighty way… in a great and mighty way… in a great and mighty way!
Here now is Your son.

Life for you is about to start.
Do not give up; you’re on the brink of a miracle.
Being led by the King is a joyous thing.
There is abounding grace and joy.
You will be led out with peace and joy.
I have spoken Peace and Joy over your life.
Peace and Joy.
It is a year of dreams coming true for you.
Dreams coming true, dreams coming true.
Pursue your peace, pursue your joy and pursue Me with all of your heart.
Stay ever close to Me and I will lead you where I want you to go.

You guide me with Your Eyes
Eyes like a flaming and flashing fire
Guide me with Your eyes
Guide me oh God
May I radiate who You are
May I be a reflection and a picture of Your Love
Guide me with Your Eyes
Guide me with the flame
Guide me with the light of Your Eyes

Finally, I surrender

Would I encounter You oh God?
Would You encounter me?
I am not worthy, I am not holy, but You said “This one will be Mine!”

May I live my life before You God
May I pour out all that I have and all that I am before You
God I want to be where You are. I don’t want to leave

So here it is and here I am
God have all of me
I lay it down
I lay down my life
I lay down before you my hopes and my dreams
I lay down before you all that I hope to come true in life

Just have my life, God
Just have my life, God
Just have my life

I don’t know how to give it up
And I don’t want to
You are so good and still, I try to hold onto my life
Help me oh my God

Help me to just submit to You
Help me to lay it down
I need You
I need You
I need You
So oh God, come!

------------ ----------------- -------------------

There are so many things
That I could put my focus on
There are so many things I could run to
But the essence of beauty
Is calling out for me to come
And I’ll arise

There’s a storm coming
And my heart needs an anchor
There’s a storm coming
And my heart needs God

There’s a storm on the horizon and it’s not going away
I think it’s God!

And so I come
I turn away from all else
Away from everything that would vie for my affections
Nothing can compare
Everything else pales in comparison to my God
He is the essence of beauty

This is it
And here it is
No more and never again
I turn away from everything else
God I want You!

I turn my eyes upwards
And I arise
God I will pour out my hours and my days
God I will waste my life sitting before you
What a beautiful waste

Have my heart
Have my life
Have my soul
Have my time
Have my money and resources and energy
Have my days and my months and my years
Have my future
I release my past
Here is my present
Have it all.

New Condition: Alive to God

Ephesians 2.4-10
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).
And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

God loves us with an exceeding great love (even while we were dead and dormant in sin). He has made us Alive with Him. It is all because of His grace. He has raised us up to sit with Him in the Heavenly places in Him. That He might show us the exceeding greatness of His grace towards us. In Jesus. All of these blessings and gifts are by God’s grace towards us. Our salvation does not come according to our works. Salvation is a gift; even the faith to believe is a gift. Salvation is by God’s grace. We were created by God to do the good works for which He created us to do - even before the foundations of the earth was laid.

It is beneficial for us to step back and remember what is reality. Reality is what the Word of God says about us - that we were created for good works. That gives me hope! There are good things that I have yet to do! We can be encouraged and emboldened because God is rich in mercy and love towards us! Here is truth. We have been raised up and now sit in the Heavenly places with God. Don't look at the situation around you and say "this is what is". Can not God do the impossible? Can not God bring water from the rock? Can God not make paths and streams in the wilderness? All things are possible for Him, all we must do is believe.

Rise up now! Believe.

Believe even when all you can see is the wilderness and no hope for an oasis. The Israelites were being pursued by Pharoah's army in the desert even to the edge of the Red Sea. In the natural, it would look like they were at the end of their rope. But God!

He made a way where there was no way. God worked a supernatural miracle, literally creating a path through water, to save the Israelites. What does this look like in your life? Are you in a wilderness? Are you being pursued by an army much greater and stronger than you? Have you come to the end of your strength? Lift your eyes to Heaven. Where does your help come from? Your help comes from the Lord. The maker of Heaven and Earth. Believe. Call out. Trust. Claim His promises. Nothing is impossible for those who believe and trust God fully.

We were saved by Grace. It was the gift of God. We don't have to do anything to gain His approval of who we are. All we do is believe He is who He said He was. Creator, redeemer, lover of our souls. He said that He has a purpose and a plan for us, a hope and future. All we have to do is trust.

A Prayer of Thankfulness

Father,

Thank you for all that you have done for me. You have given me everything that I have now and have ever had. You have always provided for me more than enough. How I want to please you. Please endue me with Grace to stay pure and true to You. I don’t want to grieve You my Lord. Just, thank you so much for everything. I really am so thankful. O God, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness to You. You have truly marked my life with “More than Enough” and “Exceedingly Abundantly Above.” Thank You, Father.

Please help me to live my life as a sweet aroma and offering to You. Please help me to live a life of prayer and fasting and a life marked with intimacy with You. What could I say to You that would bless You, Father?

All my life
All my days
Every minute
Every way I have ever known
You have been there

You spoke Grace over my life
You called me and chose me and said I am Yours
I have known hope my whole life
All my days have been filled with good gifts from You

What more could You do?
You died for me
You knew me before you created the world and you have delighted in me
O God, you sing over me and station Your protection around me
Blessing and Joy pursue and overtake me
Prosperity and Intimacy envelop me
O God

What more can I say, but Thank You
What other pose could my heart take?
What else could I offer to You?
I say thank You, thank You, thank You

Thank You for… your Word, your Son, your blessing and my hope
Thank You for all I have, all my friends, all my family, all my experiences
Thank You for marking me with Israel and giving me an inheritance there with Your people and land
Thank You for answering my prayer for Intimacy with You
Thank You for intercession and the porch and alter
Thank You for calling me to ministry and to writing
Thank You O God!

You are my provider
You are my joy
You are my heart’s delight!!
O how I love Your Presence!
O how I love Your ways

The focus of my heart today, O God is thankfulness
What could I do?
How can I express?
Thank You that I do not have to do penance or work for Your Joy or my salvation
Thank You for Grace
Thank You that You did it all and now it is done and nothing can separate me from You
Thank You O God that one day I will see You face to Face!
Thank You that one day the veil will be lifted and I will see clearly
Thank You for interceding for me
Thank You for the Throne Room
Thank You for Hope
Thank You for Heaven and in that place for the rest of my life – for all eternity! – that I never will be separated from Your Presence

O God! Here is my request of my Father on Father’s day
That I might know You
That I might experience the intimacy of the Lord even now
That I might know Heaven’s intimacy even in this life
O God, may I not have to wait until I pass from this earthy vessel to know You in such intimacy!!!!
Lord, my God – my life, this life and these days You have given me, I pray to know You.
Heaven’s intimacy
I pray for such grace now O Lord
Thank You Jesus


O My son, this is what I want
I just want your heart
I want your affections
I want your thoughts
I want your desire
I want your time
I want you to choose Me over other things
I want you to run to Me first like a child
This is the faith of a child – it is faith that trusts fully in Me and firstly in Me
As a young child has no fear in the living room of his home and knows only security
Choose me
I want you as a child to want to be with Me more than choosing worldly things
I want you to seek your fulfillment in Me rather than in the numbing of the world with media, entertainment, food, noise, music, and an ever-busy life.
Run to Me
Fall onto Me
Treat me as you would treat a friend or a lover – always with Me
Choosing Me over all others
Just how those in love with each other are always with the other, let that be known and said of You… one who is in love is smitten with thoughts of that love and forsakes others to be with that one.
Love Me, My son.

On Matters of Time

Once a minute is passed, it is over and there is no going back. Time travel has probably been one of man’s most coveted after experiences since the inception of the wishful idea. How wonderful would it be if we could go back, turn back the clock, have a do-over, in life? Go back a few years with the knowledge that we now have and have the chance to live differently.

I know I would have if I could have gone back. Sometimes, I get into bed at night and just think to myself, “Oh, if I could only do today over again!” Sometimes, I wish I could go back years and completely re-do whole seasons of time.

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to slow down. I would do everything in my power to just tell myself that I need to pray much more and play much less. It is imperative that I spend many more hours in prayer or in reading the Bible than I spend watching movies, or surfing the internet, or even just bumming around and not doing anything.

We’re not here for our own purposes. We were not given health and life and family and friends and resources and money and time and talents to use all for our own gain! Today in the world, there are literally millions of people who live without hope. Millions of people today in the 21st century still die of disease and malnutrition. The same people would be able to live from the very scrapes from our tables, and yet we waste so much.

There is a judgment coming. There is a God who will judge us for how we lived, what we did, where we spent our money, how we used our energies and our resources. It is wisdom to awaken to the reality that we will one day give an account of all we have done and according to that account – we will either gain or lose.

For whatever reason, out eternal destines are wrapped up in how we spend our years on earth. We can all appreciate the concept – for it is played out on a much smaller scale in our earthly lives. How a youth spends his high school years, determines where he will be in his 20s, either in college or not. How a college student spends their college years determines what kind of job they will get, and what we do in our first jobs in our 20s determines the course of our whole lives.

It is absolutely amazing to me that the way someone spend their years from 15-25 years old basically sets the course of the next 50 years for them. There is a law in place and in action in this example. It is the law of exponential increase. That law states that whatever we do, we will live with the ramifications of those actions for years to come, whether for good or for bad.

For this reason, we must be very careful in how we live our lives. Solomon exhorted his readers to live introspectively, to take an account of their lives and days so that they would not perish. The world is designed to keep us entertained, nay, distracted and busy so that we don’t have time to think. Most of the population on the North American continent spends 60+ hours a week at work. It has become a sort of badge of honor in our own working circles to never be at home and to always be working. People think that if they take a break, they are somehow falling behind – a sort of masochistic approach to a once wholesome work ethic, has led to workaholism on such a scale that there has never been a nation of people in the history of the world who works as much as we. Our British counterparts today take an average two weeks’ vacation a year in comparison to our one.

We work too much and then when we come home, most of us are so tired that we want to do nothing but watch something mind-numbing on TV. And so the age of useless sitcoms and quick witted cartoons for adults has emerged. A kind of parody on shows that had any redeeming qualities then ensued and TV programming began to have more and more shows with less and less of any kind of a point. Most of Americans are too tired to want to watch anything that has a lesson, or teaches on the values of life of the family.

And in the midst of all this, there is no time to pray. Most Americans would claim that they do pray, pray at least once a day and have some sort of acknowledgment that there is a God or at least a higher power. The reality of it is, there is only one God and His Name is Jesus. The only way to get to know Him is to read the Bible, to pray and to walk in life with Christians.

It matters how we spend our time. Sometimes it’s just about being ready for the opportunity. I think that there are many opportunities out there right now; however the only ones who can best capitalize on those opportunities are the ones who are ready. Preparation, by definition means to pre-pare. It is when we prepare ourselves for that which has not yet come to be, but when it does, because of our preparation, we are best able to do whatever needs to be done.

Sometimes it’s just about being faithful and being there. Continuously placing ourselves in the right places and surrounding ourselves with the right people, so that when the right time comes along – we’re there!

When God dreams for us...

When we are doing what God wants us to be doing – we will be amazed and perplexed at how everything just seems to work our way. When we do what God wants us to do, when we go where God wants us to go, when we are about what God wants us to be about and when we do it in the timing that He wants – He moves Heaven and earth to bring things about.

It’s about living in our “sweet spot” of life. It’s when we get up in the morning and look forward to the day. It’s when, in the middle of the day, we get energized doing what we are doing. It’s when as we are fulfilling God’s purpose for our life and our work in the world, that we live the most abundant lives possible for us to live.

That is one reason why it is so important to marry the right person, and to go to the right church, and to pursue and hang out with the right friends. People affect us more than we know and we in turn affect them. Life was created to be lived together, not alone. God even said that it was not good for man to be alone. Community, family, friendship, love. It is all a part of God’s plan for our lives.

So be desperate for it, be passionate about it, pray and fast and seek and ask day and night until you find it – God’s sweet spot in life for you. Living life with the right people, in the right place, and at the right time… do this, and you will start living life on a level that you never even thought was possible nor existed.

God gives us enough energy to accomplish that which He purposed for us. We don’t have enough energy to do a lot of other stuff.

It’s really very simple. Step one, go home, shut the door, turn off the phone and TV and all distractions and sit down. Then open your Bible and read, then pray, then sit and be silent and listen to what God has to say to you.

Step two, do whatever God tells you to do and you will live in your sweet spot in life.

Just pray and obey. That’s it. We as believers have the highest privilege and greatest resources known to mankind throughout history: we get to live life under the direction of God. All we have to do, is take the time to listen to what He has to say, and then do it.

He can give much needed creativity and energy.
He can provide opportunities and favor.
He can make a way where there seems to be no way.
He can add zeros to a bank account.
Truly, what is impossible for man is possible for God.
All we have to do is believe.
He cares more about our lives and our impact on the world than we do because He understands all of the consequences of our actions better than we do, as well as the urgency of the hour and day in which we live.
He is no respecter of persons – He will give as much of Himself to anyone who goes after it.
What a man sows, that he will reap (a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing) This law applies to everything, not just money.
God can give you a blank check, all you have to do is live a life that proves you can handle getting that from God – what would you do with it? Would you spend it on your own pleasures, or would you support the Church and Israel?
He can provide for your life everything that you need – and more so
All that He wants from us, is to yield to Him and trust Him with everything. All He wants from us is to consider Him our only supply. He is our provider and protector, hope giver, dream restorer, and our everything.

He wants to be our Father.

All we have to do is let Him love us. It is a love that is more than we could ever have imagined. It is greater, it is better, it is richer, it is fuller. It is so much more than we could ever even imagine it could be in this life. For eternity, we will still be finding out more and more about the inexhaustible, inexpressible, irrepressible, unfathomable, heart breaking Love of God.

The Love of God for us is more than we could know. All that He wants from us, is to let Him love us. Let Him in. Let Him be Lord of our lives. Let Him be our day planner. Let Him be our friend-chooser. Let Him be our love story writer. Let Him be our provider. Let Him be the one from whom we expect and receive good gifts that come down to us from our Father of Heavenly lights. He just wants us to let Him be God to us.

Oh the depths of the riches of the wonders in the knowledge of God.
No tongue or language of men or angels could ever describe.
This divine and supernatural love
It is to us like a waterfall - ceaselessly flowing, endlessly cascading, overwhelming us and carrying us away. It is impossible to stand up where the water lands from the fall into the pool. The very force and weight of the water is too great. So it is with the Love of God. His Love floors us. It overwhelms us. It flattens us. It takes us away.

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So Oh Lord, let me love You more. Let me let You love me more and love me how You want to love me. I want to be loved by You how You want to love me. I want everything that You want to give me. I want to do everything that You want me to do. I want all that You desire and dream for me. Overwhelm me in life Oh my King. Thank You Oh my Father and my God. I love You. You are my God. I give my life to You.

Just let Him love you

All my life I have known God loved me. I was one of those who was saved, baptized and repented of all my sin before the doctor delivered me. Born to Baptist missionaries in Israel, I was the typical pastor kid who spent more time at church than I did my own home. And still, I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere along the way, I missed something.

I missed that God likes me. I missed that God enjoys me. I missed that God’s heart affections are for me. I just missed it. Maybe it was because I heard “God loves you” all my life, or maybe I just grew accustomed to “God’s love for me” that it never sank in.

God can work in funny ways. In my life, He gets creative getting through to me. He tried to draw my heart gently at first, but I wouldn’t listen. I was too independent. Then He began to use circumstances in my life to get His message of love through to me. I perked up a bit, but not my full attention. Then He broke me, sweetly and gently broke me of myself. He did it because He loves me and knows that He is the best for me. By taking away all that I held more important than Him, He showed me I had put others before Him.

Not until I placed Him first in my heart would my life begin to fall into place.

This God that we serve, that we love, that we have claimed allegiance to, is a God who loves so much more than we will be able to fully grasp in our lives. The Cross, the Christ, atonement, redemption… there’s so much to God.

God likes you. It’s true, He really does. He is like a good friend that likes you no matter what you’ve done. He is like a faithful friend that won’t forsake or leave you because of something you may have done, or didn’t do.

How hard it is to comprehend… Our chains really are gone and we have been set free. God really has ransomed us and His mercy has enveloped us and we have been washed clean.

He is familiar with our ways and has numbered the hairs on our head. We were made in His image and He knew us before we were born. He took the time to write our days in His book and knit us together in the womb. It is His desire to lavish His love on us for no other reason than He called us His own. He has a plan for us with a future and a hope and His love is everlasting.

He likes us. He rejoices over us with singing and His thoughts towards us are greater than the sands of the seashore. He can never stop being good to us because we are His treasured possession.

He longs to show us great and marvelous things and all He asks in return, is to love Him back.

He likes us. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think or imagine and one day He really will wipe away every tear from our eyes. The amazing thing is that when we delight ourselves in Him, He gives us the desires of our hearts. He does it this way because He knows that He is the very best for us. He is our greatest encourager, our greatest comforter, our greatest hope.

It doesn’t matter what you may have done in the past. It doesn’t matter if you walked closely with Jesus for ten years and then messed up one night. We can always go back to Him and He will always redeem us to Himself. There are consequences for sin, but those consequences do not include Jesus condemning us for our failures and not letting us back into fellowship with Him when we fall.

The next time you think you can’t go back to Jesus, remember the story of John Newton. John Newton was a slave ship captain. He literally bought human beings, transported them across the world, didn’t care if they died along the way and would sell them as animals to the highest bidder. He built his life and livelihood on the destruction of human lives.

When John Newton met Jesus, he repented of his sin and was so enraptured by the grace of God that He was able to write:

“The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
His will, my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free
My God my savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending Love, Amazing Grace”

John Newton got a revelation of the goodness and grace of God and allowed God to forgive him, though at times he found it hard to forgive himself. We have to let the grace of God sink into our bones. We have to let the grace of God reach our innermost being and transform us. When we have a right understanding of God’s love for us, His grace towards us, and his song over us, we can be set free.

Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. Jesus proved God’s love.

We have to let Him in. We can’t keep Jesus at a distance. We have to let Him love us and let Him hold us like a good parent wants simply to hold and love their child.

Can you let Him in? I know it’s hard. It was hard for me. I didn’t want to let Him in because I thought He would somehow reject me if I admitted to the dark places of my heart, but all along, the whole time, Jesus already knew me fully, even the junk in my life, and He loved me still.

We simply must believe in the love of Jesus. We are so used to conditional love in our relationships with people that we can believe God is like that too.

The truth is; He isn’t.

We are utterly loved, perfectly, fully. Life is hard and has so many disappointments and setbacks, but God will be there. He really does love us. He really does like us. We really are His favorite. It doesn’t matter what we have done whether God likes us more or less. It’s not about works. It’s not about being good before He will love us. It’s about letting God love us as we are right now.

Now, you are perfectly loved. Let go. Just let Him love you.

Just one Righteous

Noah was a righteous man who lived in a very unrighteous time. Corruption and lawlessness were prevalent on the earth and men looked out only for evil and not for good.

God had decided to destroy the earth because all men had turned from righteousness and no longer found in their hearts any need for Him. The creation that God had called “good” in the beginning had now turned against Him and had chosen evil over God.

However because of one righteous man named Noah, humankind was saved from complete destruction.

Let' s touch on three points:
- One righteous human being can make a difference in saving the world
- Corruption, dishonesty, and selfishness can destroy the world.
- You can make a difference.

One “righteous” person can make a difference in saving the world. Noah was righteous, faithful, and was one who persevered. He believed God even though he had never seen an ark before, not to mention a flood. Noah was obedient to God even when He didn’t understand what God was asking him to do

If Noah was not righteous, then he would have perished along with everyone else who died in the flood and humankind would have ceased to exist. Yet because of the righteousness of one person, Noah, the line of humankind continued on.

This is a good point to remember. We need to remember that even if there is lawlessness and corruption all around us, we still must shine on the love of God with lives of integrity and we must do our part to make a difference in proclaiming Jesus to the world.

There is great power in the life of the one.

Jewish tradition records “he who saves one life is as he who saves the world entire.” Let’s press on in righteousness, knowing our life makes a difference. Little good acts, little good deeds, little times of saying “yes” to God add up and can work towards great change for good in the world. The task of “saving the world” may be a bit large to tackle, but we can help to save one life and we can make a difference in the lives around us.

Irish philosopher, Edmund Burke noted that “All that is necessary for evil to triumph in the world is for good men to do nothing.” So we, as those who stand for righteousness in the world, must remember that it is not enough for us to stand for righteousness in our hearts, we must also stand for righteousness in our words, actions and the testimony of our lives.

It won’t kill me to trade the world’s approval for God’s smile.

There are many tragedies of evil triumphing in our world today. Across the globe, from third to first world countries, righteousness is spurned, just as in the days of Noah. Atrocities such as slavery, abduction and murder are prevalent in every country today. Let’s not be indifferent. Let’s not turn a blind eye. Let’s not dismiss the pain and suffering in the world as “far away” just because it doesn’t touch us.

Who knows if we too will be held accountable for the misdeeds of the earth, not by our participation in them, but by our absence of protest? One “righteous” person can make a difference in saving the world. Look at Noah. Noah made a difference in his by not joining in the evil of everybody else.

We too can make a difference in saving our world!

Corruption, dishonesty, and selfishness can destroy. Humankind in Noah’s day had given themselves over to all these vices. They did not seek God and pursued only evil, and because of their actions, God’s heart was grieved that He had created them and He decided to destroy everything with water.

If corruption, dishonesty, and selfishness could destroy the world in Noah’s day, it is still true today. The change starts with us. We can purge our lives of corruption, dishonesty and selfishness. Little sins, little compromises and little times of saying “no” to the Spirit of God can add up and create big discrepancies in our spiritual walk with God.

It makes a difference when we don’t watch something, or when we don’t slander someone. It matters when we speak life and edification rather than tear someone down. It makes a difference when we choose to pray rather than watch a sit-com. It makes a difference when we fill our hearts with praise music, rather than the top 40 hits of the year. It makes a difference when we give some of our money to the church or to charities rather than splurging at an overpriced restaurant. Everything can make a difference. Everything does make a difference.

You are not out of the company of history makers just because you are only one. You are not out of the fight because you are by yourself. Everybody’s life counts and can make a difference for good in the world. Noah was one man. Every bit helps.

There was an instant classic that hit the bookstores in 1998. Entitled “The Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw, it is a compilation of stories of people who fought in WWII. The dominant theme of the stories of the “greatest generation” was personal responsibility. It makes a difference how we live our lives, that we can and that we must do our part in this world.

Let’s leave a trail of love behind as we go our way, to the barista, to the clerk, to the flight attendant, to our kids… Right actions done in silence are powerful. We can look at people with love in our eyes instead of with judgment; we can treat people with love instead of mild contempt.

We can make a difference. Our words and our actions and our life-testimony make a difference.
We can make a difference in our spheres of influence and we can make a difference where and how we live. There is power in the life of one righteous life.

Remember Noah.

On Intimacy with the Lord

Most of my friends have a fear of intimacy. I’m not sure who taught us to fear, but it seems we learned at a young age. Most people are afraid to let others in, afraid to say how we really are and generally unwilling to put down our guard. I used to be one of those.

After a broken relationship, I spent a summer on a working ranch in Southwest Arkansas. I lived by myself in a three bedroom house on a few acres, worked every day outside and would come home to a silent house in the evenings. I had no cell phone, no TV and no internet that summer.

With no option for media, I spent my evenings and weekends reading the Bible, reading Christian books and praying and worshiping in my living room. It was hard to live alone, but it was the best summer of my life because the Lord marked me with intimacy.

From my place of brokenness from a rejection in life, the Lord began to gently heal my broken heart and bind up my wounds as He promised in Psalm 147. He amazed me over and over. As I would sit in His Presence and let His word wash me, He restored me.

I was afraid of intimacy, but Jesus showed me that with Him, it was Ok.

God desires intimacy with His people. It is amazing to me that so much of my life can be consumed with activity, but no personal encounter with Jesus. This is especially true in “ministry world”. It took me three and a half years to graduate from Seminary. By year two, most of us seminarians spent most of our time involved in ministries or churches on top of all our reading requirements for class. We were so busy studying and training for ministry, that at times we would get too busy for Jesus. We spun our wheels so hard and fast being raised up as ministers, we would neglect time with the very One we were doing this for. We traded our first Love for work in His Name.

Life can sometimes be a struggle between balancing religious activity and quiet time with Jesus.

Have you ever shared a morning or evening alone with Jesus? Have you ever sat silently before a sunrise or a sunset and simply breathed praise to the Lord for such beauty? When we listen to the call of the Lord to come away and to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10), we are changed by His Presence. It is when we forsake the sizzle of the world and choose time with Jesus that our hearts can really be fascinated and exhilarated. He is the only one that can satisfy our deepest longings, all we must do is pursue Him.

We were created for intimacy. The problem is we have never learned how to be intimate in a pure and holy way. It is easier to search for intimacy in the dark places of the world, when the whole time, we were meant to go to God.

David’s heart in the Psalms shows that he knew God intimately. He sought The Lord. He loved to meditate on the law day and night. His desire was for the Lord and he had great reverence and respect for The Lord. He also trusted in Him fully and devoted his ways to God, even though he failed in sin.

Think about it, David was a murderer, and an adulterer… biggies on the sin-scale. But you know what? David knew God in an intimate place. Though he had sinned and took Bathsheba for himself, he didn’t try to hide his sin from the Lord. He drew near to God and spent the night in supplication for the life of his son. The son died as God’s judgment, but God drew near to David once more. David was repentant, he asked for forgiveness and he returned to the Lord after sin. We can too.

Intimacy with Jesus is the best way we can spend our lives. What could be more fulfilling and wonderful than to know the very creator of all things in a close and personal way? He is the one who loves us with a divine love that we can not fully comprehend. He demonstrated His Love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

What kind of a divine love can this really be that, Jesus who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8). There is so much more to the love of Jesus than we know now. Jesus died for us before we were born, that is true love.

We can love other people because God loved us first. Yet we must love in that order. We must love God first to learn how to love people rightly. If we understand how God loves us and who God is, then we can rightly love one another.

As our relationship with God grows, our relationships with people can fulfill their God-given potential. Could we even go so far as to say that the kind of relationship we have with God paves the way for the kind of relationships we have with people?

How amazing could our relationships on earth be, if they were led and fueled from a deep walk with God in our personal life? We would not have to be afraid of commitment and intimacy any more because we would be grounded in our relationship with Jesus.

As we give over the reigns of control in our relationships with our family, friends, co-workers, and church to God, would He not do a supernatural work in these relationships? Then they could be all they were created to be.

We begin this journey by spending time with God. It is in studying His Word and making time to spend in the quiet place with the Lord. The secret place means time we spend alone with Jesus.

It is when we come away from the demands of the world and choose to be with Him and let Him speak to us through His word, through prayer, and through worship. This is how to truly live.

This is how life was meant to be established - in the Presence of the Lord.

With God All Things Are Possible

With God, All Things Are Possible!