Come & Go - 'Cause He's Always Present

Here's a couple thoughts from my morning walk today.

What are some of the pillar truths in the kingdom?

Forever and always, God is GOOD. The gift of faith is given to us by the Holy Spirit so that we can know this, believe that Jesus has taken the required sacrifice for sins upon himself, and be saved. The entirety of the scripture points at the severity of sin in accordance with the law, and yet, God always finds a way to reveal his merciful and compassionate heart when we deserve judgement. 

COME! The Lord is ALWAYS inviting us to approach him, when we are good, bad, ugly. 'O come all you sinners...' and 'Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden...' The Lord promises rest for our souls, that we might find salvation in His Presence. There is no greater comfort than to know that we cannot be separated from his love. There is no shame that originates from the heart of God, and therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. We ought not fear the judgement of God, as fear is the anticipation of suffering - punishment. And as Pual says, those who have fear are not perfected in love.

He always was, is and will be a Father that loves us. He has always called us to walk toward Him, with Him, and to go into all the earth with the living testimony of His love for all. 

As an encouragement, know that you are not alone. Also, know that the Father has paved a way for you, and continues to make it possible to be who it is He made it you to be. He wants you to succeed, to prosper, to live long life, and follow His voice wherever He may call you. He's got you covered:

1. His Word is a light unto our path (Ps. 119)
2. He will give His angels charge over you (Ps. 91)
3. His Goodness and Mercy will follow you all the days of your life (Ps. 23)

GO! I walked by a railroad track today, and thought, the pillars of the kingdom are like these tracks, ties, nails. They have been laid down in submission to the purpose of the Father, to be in relationship with His highest creation - US!

We often talk about blazing trails, doing your own thing, being you, and going where no man has gone before. I have a feeling though, that there are some things that He intends for us to have at our disposal that do not need to be reinvented. Be consumed with His overwhelming goodness in your life, that your testimony will be the story that falls on deaf ears and makes way for faith to rise all around you. He is afterall, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

May the grace of God, as a gift that enables you to do what you couldn't do on your own, empower you to live knowing He's present, and that all things are possible when we know our Dad has our back - and our elder brother, our King Jesus has made it so sin, pain, shame, and guilt can no longer keep us from our destiny.

So go, live as though Heaven IS on Earth, celebrating, making melodies in your heart, songs with your mouth, and calling the lost home to the Father who desires to show them His Adoption!

Being Powerful is Losing Control

I'm currently reading a book with my wife that was a gift for my birthday. It's titled 'Keep Your Love On', by Danny Silk. WHOA. Get it and read it as soon as you possibly can. 

I'm learning that I know that God has created a destiny in me that is all about knowing Him, which has been a 24 year journey - so far. What I have failed to see, on many occasions and in many seasons, is how my identity has become in some instances, and in some environments more shaped by how I think God loves me through others in varying situations. Even though He does, salvation is not vicarious. Relationship is not an ideology. Intimacy is not a conquest; therefore any belief that I've held that says that what I can do, and who I do it with is neither the source of nor the culmination of why He's chosen to love me, and establish in me a new creation, a pure heart. 

Although I can speak these things because I have the Word hidden in my heart, I've heard it a million times, spoken it a million times, and believed it, I know that it is still a matter of daily, even momentary choice to abide by the spirit of what it is I know. If I speak in tongues of men or angels, and I do not maintain my hunger for the Word, embrace its renewing qualities, and receive the inherently transforming power of that Gospel, I am at war with my Creator.

Every battle that has, is, or will be fought has already been won. Why must I must continue to remind Jesus, and all of those around me that we have to build something that accomplishes the work of the cross for others? I want to be a light, that is pure, that gives people Jesus, so that whether they believe or not, they can hear His voice for themselves, and say yes to the most compelling command that has ever been uttered, "Follow me."

So, in the spirit of the title of this blog, I must let go of perceptions, hurts, ideas, relationships, and things that I have turned into manipulative currency, debts, and obligations that were never intended to be used in leverage against others, in my reasoning, or as obligatory and consequential choices toward goals that are figments of my own imagination, chasing rabbits down holes. What I end up doing is looking for a way to justify myself. What Jesus is trying to do is reveal to me in increasingly simply ways, is that He has already justified, sanctified, beautified, and accomplished all that has ever needed to be accomplished, in, about, around, and for me. All I must do is follow. 

If it requires leaving everything, I will follow. If the cost is too high, I don't believe in the sacrifice God made for me. If it hurts too bad, I live in a pit I dug for myself. Fortunately, God accounted for this, and still has found a way to reach me. If it means sitting on the shore of a lake and having a simple barbeque with Jesus, I must. Because abiding is following, and following is abiding. Cost, or no cost. 

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Holy Spirit, your conviction, and your relentless pursuit of my heart, to know Jesus, and receive the Father's love for me are so exhausting! Please help me to know I don't have to run any further, I don't have to believe anything in addition to what You've given me, and I don't have to imagine a belief system of how the world could work, You have it under control! Help me to know that You are Good, and that You've created in me a new heart that can abide, that can receive, and that can know the secrets of Your heart in intimacy that You have waiting for me. Thank you for all You've done, what You are doing, and what You have in eternity for us. 

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"Intimacy, deep calling out to deep

Breaking down walls that separate you from me

Won't you replace this heart of stone 

So I can feel what you feel I need to know what moves you Lord

Intimacy, complete vulnerability

Striving no more, resting under Your wing

Won't you replace this heart of stone 

So I can feel what you feel I need to know what moves you Lord

Passionate Father I just want to sit at your feet

Tell me all your secrets I am so lost in you that I feel so free"

https://play.spotify.com/track/4Wld8zYAqABFHCawCIF8Bh

 

God is good, and He is good to me!

Oh Lord. . .

All I have is everything you intended for me to have! Where could I have gone to find it? What could I have done to conjure or inherit life itself? What could I have believed to will into my own existence the essence of goodness?

There is nothing to see here, but the working of Your hands!

Is there a voice that can be heard before, without, or in addition to Your heavenly whispers of affection? I know there is not! Because surely, Grace, that glorious empowerment, this very substance and tangible expression of love, has filled me with life, and shall follow me all the days of my life!

Surely any denial of your existence, or your love, or you Kingdom, or your plan must pale in comparison to the exceeding joy that you have over me, your highest creation!

Father, I believe that I am a gift that you have crafted with immense potential to love. It causes angels to marvel, very solid foundations to shake, and great seas to part. The power of belief in that our existence is rooted in Your heart has caused even death to lose its sting! You are good, and You are a great Dad, and You are preparing for me a place in Your home, and in the meantime choose me as your dwelling place. WOW! You are wonderful, and as You continue to show me loving-kindness despite me, I find You, over and over to be not exceedingly righteous, but consistently GOOD in accordance with Your unchanging nature.

Jesus, You are the revealer of the Father and His Heart. And for now, it seems it is all about You because You are all about the Father’s heart for us, and so He has given you the fullness of His Kingdom, His authority, and Himself to do what it is You do because of who You are to Him! I’m starting to understand that you are not only a Savior, but a Son, of The Father, and a living King, a representation of our true nature in that it was intended and created good, regardless of the state it was in when I entered this world, even if it was a result of others’ belief in a lie that God was not good and not a father. Your perfection that is rooted in relationship not performance casts the false hopes conjured through rejection in my heart into the sea of forgetfulness. Your life reminds me of what knowing God is all about – LOVE, going the extra mile, leaving striving and the compulsive need to compete and win behind, and embracing and providing for those in need as a means to appreciate and receive parts of Father’s heart, that I couldn’t possibly have known any other way. You’re teaching me that losing is winning. So continue Jesus, to take my life, and let it be consecrated to holy living, Your purposes as King and ruler of all, and consider this a reminder that I still accept your invitation to join You in the Family Business, at the service and pleasure of our Father as He rejoices over me in You.

Holy Spirit, I love you. You are the revealer of the Jesus, the King of the Father’s Kingdom. You are the wind in my lungs. You are my freedom. If Jesus marked my being with the irrevocable invitation and credential of citizenship with Him as as a son, You are the fullness and substance of life that this citizenship provides! You are the essence of the life of Jesus that accompanies me, is changing me, and abides in me for the glory of the Father, the Love Heart of God! If Jesus reconciled me to my destiny in God’s heart, you are the gift that has come upon me, continually to carry out the desires of God’s heart in Jesus.

Lord, please help me! I desire that my hope in you would be revealed and grow through the refining of my heart in the fire, even if it costs me my life. I’m dedicated to letting you show me how to release my ownership of values that don’t line up with your intentions for me, and I offer to You all that I am, as a gift, because you’ve promised me that you’ll cherish me forever. I do love the way You love me, and I’ll receive all that You have for me, I’ll just need help stewarding it well.

I’ll give you all my praise, all the honor, and all the glory, God, for You are Good, and the only one deserving of my affection.