The further along I get in my walking and talking to God, the more I am convinced that there is MUCH more to be seen on the other side of our material world than there is here and now. And I am learning to walk in constant conversation with Y'shua (Jesus in Hebrew) and as I do this, I see him work in amazing ways. And each answered prayer, with each conversation when I hear him speak, I learn more and more about him. And one of the things I'm learning is that the enemy has spread pernicious lies about the character of God and foolishly we have accepted these ideas as fact---without knowing and hearing God for ourselves! One of these ideas is that God is a fire breathing, sword wielding, angry God who is looking forward to Judgement day so he can send as many people as possible to hell.
But the God I know is concerned about me enough to make a tiny passageway on the radar, through some really serious storms, (just for me). Yesterday, other than a little rain, we had nothing scary---even in midst of yellow and red warning areas on the radar map. "God will make a way where there seems to be no way." I used to be terrified of storms. But God has one by one, redirected hurricanes and severe storms that were aiming straight at us, in an entirely different and un-predicted direction. And the old Satan-inspired "wisdom" was, "yeah, he'll wait until you're not scared anymore and then he will cream you." Now, while my dread of storm damage is shrinking I still feel I have room to grow and that growth might come in the form of some hard lessons...but I know that if God does not choose to rescue us from a storm, then he will certainly grant me the faith, strength and character to get through it.
And that is true in every part of my life. As my health deteriorates, my spirit grows stronger. I know my God better. And I pray that he is changing my character to be more like his. Today I had misplaced a bottle of meds that were really important. For a while, I forgot every lesson that God has been teaching me about not panicking but rather, to quiet my heart and listen, and 100% guaranteed, he will tell me where to look. After maybe a half hour of searching, I realized where i had gone wrong. I quieted my heart...I confessed that I had tried to find them in my own power...and I asked him to show me where they were. And clearly came the soft message, look under your recliner but from the front....don't tip it over. So I thanked him and then first had Penuel (my quiet time, "Penuel" means "the face of God.")...and I had a good time of prayer for my church.
Then I followed God's instructions. I reclined the recliner as far back as it would go. I got a light; and I looked under the recliner. Nothing. But I was like "NO! God I know your voice and I believe that medicine is here." And then I saw it! An orange object which was in the center of the recliner, on the other side of the flap of fabric at the base of the recliner! And then God showed me how to get it out without hurting myself or damaging the chair. Of course standing up from being on my knees was some scary trick....but I did it.
Some of you may be scoffing at the fact that I hear God's voice. Someone recently asked me if it is audible. And you know? I can't tell. It's real. It's his voice that I recognize from a thousand encounters. I cannot "make" the voice say what I want it to say, like I can do with my own thoughts. And he tells me things that I have no other way of knowing. But it is not audible in the sense that anyone else in the room would hear it. It is not a hallucination. My hallucinations are not that smart and not that loving.
God told me to tell people about the way he has worked and answered my prayer, so that "if they don't believe because of my words, maybe they will believe because of the signs and miracles." -- just as Jesus said about the people who followed him everywhere watching miracle after miracle being performed. Yesterday God softly said to me as I looked at the radar in dismay, "Do you trust Me?" As I have mentioned before....this is the phrase by which God has ushered in some amazing answers in response to my fears or in coming to the limits of my abilities to help myself. When I first heard it, I did not have a very certain answer for that. But now, many, many answered prayers and miracles later, I can say for certain, "Yes, Lord, You know I trust You!"
I don't know what demands may be put on that trust. I have some ideas of things that might be coming down the pike....but I don't know for sure. But I know that I'm walking arm and arm with the Creator of the universe and he cares enough about me to take the time to show me where my missing pills were. Nothing is too small for his attention. If it is something that concerns me, then it concerns him. He took me from where I was....trusting no one....and by loving me and meeting my needs over and over and over again--I'm finally getting the idea. He is positively in love with me his child. And he loves you the same way, no matter where you are on the road of faith. Maybe you haven't even gotten to square one. He knows you. He knows everything about you. And he wants to lead you in a supernatural life as well. That's the life that will endure beyond anything in this world. In the Life ahead God will finally integrate the spiritual and the physical and we will be whole at last, as we were created to be.
But the God I know is concerned about me enough to make a tiny passageway on the radar, through some really serious storms, (just for me). Yesterday, other than a little rain, we had nothing scary---even in midst of yellow and red warning areas on the radar map. "God will make a way where there seems to be no way." I used to be terrified of storms. But God has one by one, redirected hurricanes and severe storms that were aiming straight at us, in an entirely different and un-predicted direction. And the old Satan-inspired "wisdom" was, "yeah, he'll wait until you're not scared anymore and then he will cream you." Now, while my dread of storm damage is shrinking I still feel I have room to grow and that growth might come in the form of some hard lessons...but I know that if God does not choose to rescue us from a storm, then he will certainly grant me the faith, strength and character to get through it.
And that is true in every part of my life. As my health deteriorates, my spirit grows stronger. I know my God better. And I pray that he is changing my character to be more like his. Today I had misplaced a bottle of meds that were really important. For a while, I forgot every lesson that God has been teaching me about not panicking but rather, to quiet my heart and listen, and 100% guaranteed, he will tell me where to look. After maybe a half hour of searching, I realized where i had gone wrong. I quieted my heart...I confessed that I had tried to find them in my own power...and I asked him to show me where they were. And clearly came the soft message, look under your recliner but from the front....don't tip it over. So I thanked him and then first had Penuel (my quiet time, "Penuel" means "the face of God.")...and I had a good time of prayer for my church.
Then I followed God's instructions. I reclined the recliner as far back as it would go. I got a light; and I looked under the recliner. Nothing. But I was like "NO! God I know your voice and I believe that medicine is here." And then I saw it! An orange object which was in the center of the recliner, on the other side of the flap of fabric at the base of the recliner! And then God showed me how to get it out without hurting myself or damaging the chair. Of course standing up from being on my knees was some scary trick....but I did it.
Some of you may be scoffing at the fact that I hear God's voice. Someone recently asked me if it is audible. And you know? I can't tell. It's real. It's his voice that I recognize from a thousand encounters. I cannot "make" the voice say what I want it to say, like I can do with my own thoughts. And he tells me things that I have no other way of knowing. But it is not audible in the sense that anyone else in the room would hear it. It is not a hallucination. My hallucinations are not that smart and not that loving.
God told me to tell people about the way he has worked and answered my prayer, so that "if they don't believe because of my words, maybe they will believe because of the signs and miracles." -- just as Jesus said about the people who followed him everywhere watching miracle after miracle being performed. Yesterday God softly said to me as I looked at the radar in dismay, "Do you trust Me?" As I have mentioned before....this is the phrase by which God has ushered in some amazing answers in response to my fears or in coming to the limits of my abilities to help myself. When I first heard it, I did not have a very certain answer for that. But now, many, many answered prayers and miracles later, I can say for certain, "Yes, Lord, You know I trust You!"
I don't know what demands may be put on that trust. I have some ideas of things that might be coming down the pike....but I don't know for sure. But I know that I'm walking arm and arm with the Creator of the universe and he cares enough about me to take the time to show me where my missing pills were. Nothing is too small for his attention. If it is something that concerns me, then it concerns him. He took me from where I was....trusting no one....and by loving me and meeting my needs over and over and over again--I'm finally getting the idea. He is positively in love with me his child. And he loves you the same way, no matter where you are on the road of faith. Maybe you haven't even gotten to square one. He knows you. He knows everything about you. And he wants to lead you in a supernatural life as well. That's the life that will endure beyond anything in this world. In the Life ahead God will finally integrate the spiritual and the physical and we will be whole at last, as we were created to be.
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