Living in the Filter of His Presence

This morning I got my cup of coffee and routinely sat down to sip, read, and commune with the Lord. However, I opened my computer and began to read the news. And as I did this is what I saw.

I saw the Lord as a big screen. Not as a TV or movie screen, but as a filter-screen. He said that it is best not read the news until I first encounter Him. He will filter what is true and what is not true through His abiding anointing that lives inside me. (See 1 John 2) He will bring even what is true into proper focus—He will be a filter-wall for me [and you].

We live in days of great deception and open doors to fear—dread. The Middle East, parts of Europe, and large parts of Africa are swarming with the locust of ISIS. I went to sleep last night praying for my kids wondering if we could be on the brink of WWIII. Have I trained them to be led by His Spirit and to trust Jesus no matter what?

Yesterday I was prompted by the Lord to count it a privilege to live in these days, whether or not they are the End-Times. To live every day in the steps He preordained for us to walk in. No matter what we can live in victory if we are in Him.

We hear about the economy on the verge of bust. Others say great incredible financial blessings await us in 2015. People who are known as prophets prophesy both extremes. What are we supposed to believe?

Here is a truth encounter from Psalm 91

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare [trap] of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.”

“Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.””

This promise is not for the casual believer in Jesus. This psalm is written to those who dwell in His secret place—under His shadow. It is a promise of living without fear, living under His protection. If we do not live close to Him we will not have the confidence we need to live victoriously in this life. We know God does not cast a shadow (James 1:17); the point of Psalm 91 is that God’s Presence is always covering us, standing between us and danger. Nothing passes by Him unnoticed. Remember Jeremiah, the prophet, was given complete freedom to roam about the land while the rest of the nation was led into Babylonian captivity. (Jeremiah 40:4) Even while the sun is setting for some, it is rising for others.

I am not saying God is promising freedom from pain or freedom from heartache—or even death. But, we can be assured that in the midst of severe times we can trust the Lord that nothing comes near us without it being filtered through Him first. If we die, we are received into glory with a “Well done.” I don’t think that sounds so bad.

While we are alive, let’s live close to His heart. 

Let’s make a difference in the lives around us. 

Let’s impact the world for Jesus Christ.

The Reclamation

The Reclamation

The Lord began speaking “Reclamation” to me a few weeks ago. What I write will speak to some of you. Not all of us are in the same place, so if this is for you, allow the Holy Spirit to do His reclamation process in you. Furthermore, let Him take you beyond reclaiming what has been lost into claiming new lands and new territory inhabited by your enemies—the world, the flesh, or the devil.

To begin, think about your walk with the Lord right now. Pause. Reflect. Take as long as needed. Get understanding on where you are overall. We all have highs and lows, but overall, where are you? Have you lost ground or are you walking where you have attained?

As I said, the Lord began speaking “Reclamation” to me a few weeks ago. Reclamation is defined as: 

(Free Dictionary)

·      The act or process of reclaiming.

·      A restoration, as to productivity, usefulness, or morality.

(Merriam-Webster)

Ø  the act or process of reclaiming [relating to]

·      reformation, rehabilitation

·      restoration to use: recovery

Ø  reclaim

·      to get back (something that was lost or taken away)

·      to make (land) available for use by changing its condition

·      to get (a usable material) from materials that have been used before

·      the act or process of improving something or someone by removing or correcting faults, problems, etc.

I think we get the picture.

Here in Idaho it is a bright sunny [cold] day. I can see clearly out my windows. Everything looks crisp and beautiful. It’s like having on the right prescription of glasses—everything looks sharp and lovely. However, if my windows were covered in the toils of storms with wind thrown dirt and dust on them, outside would be a blur at best. Everything I saw would be tainted with the ugliness of my filter.

1 Corinthians 13 says that we see through a glass darkly. But we should see more clearly as we mature in the Lord. Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” Jesus put it this way, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad [the Greek is: full of labors, annoyances, hardships; diseased, blind; evil, wicked…], your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

Getting back to, “Where are we now?” First of all, the Holy Spirit is in the business of Reclamation. He delights in reclaiming and restoring things that have been lost or stolen. Whether that is man who needs to be restored to God or whether it is in our own lives where we have lost ground. The Holy Spirit’s reclamation also takes things that were once unusable and worthless and gives them value and purpose. He does this even with the tragedies of our lives—He can and does cause all things work together for our good. And the Holy Spirit, as we allow Him to, takes every part of our person and wholly purifies and sanctifies us to God.

The flip-side, we have to work with Him. We have to repent. We have to change what we are doing, what we are thinking, what we are loving. We must change.

The Holy Spirit loves to takes us further and deeper in our walk with Him. He loves to reveal the deep things of God to us, bringing the light of revelation to our hearts. He delights in revealing Jesus to the human, and to all of creation. He leads us into new lands, arms us for victory, and puts to flight our adversaries. And, the Holy Spirit also loves to reconcile man to God, whether unbeliever or believer.

If you have lost ground—if your windows are a bit hard to see out of—ask Him for help. He is close. He is an ever present help. We must be honest with Him, though. It could be something such as losing ground in your battle with anger or weight control. The children of Israel were continuously fighting the inhabitants of Canaan, even though God had already given the land to Abraham and his descendants. If He is calling you to new victories, to conquer your Canaan—He goes before you to route your enemies. Follow His lead. Move when He moves, stop when He stops, and camp when He camps.

If there has been tragedy, heartache, bruises, or things you cannot even imagine God could redeem, He can. He is asking you to trust Him with even your very darkest places. God called the harlot, Rahab, into His linage of Jesus Christ. Her name is linked to Egypt, a sea-dragon monster, and evil. Yet, when she trusted God look what He did. He made her beautiful. He reclaimed her.

It is time to retake our land and move forward.

“See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers — to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — to give to them and their descendants after them.” Deuteronomy 1:8 

A New Season

Think about how you felt the day after Thanksgiving. One holiday just passed and another is right around the corner. For some people the boxes of Christmas decorations are already scattered all over the living room. Strings of lights winding and wrapping bushes and shrubs. For others, their Christmas décor sprinkles throughout their home in spurts right up until Christmas Day. The excitement of the seasons can be seen everywhere: throughout neighborhood, up and down store isles, downtown, shopping malls – everywhere.

But then, inevitably, December 26^th comes too. Christmas is now behind us. Yes, the festivities may last until January 1^st with the rolling in of the New Year, but sooner or later the decorations start to be a reminder that the season is over. They start to, beautiful as they are, look out of place. Left up too long and we start to make our neighbors wonder.

Christmas was different for me this year. My beloved dad went to see the Face of God back in June and my brother-in-law passed in late November. Both my Mom and George’s sister, Sue, were with us for Christmas. We had great times and some tears. Sue went back to Nevada soon after Christmas and my mom left yesterday. I hadn’t concerned myself with taking my decorations down, since my mom was still here. But this morning something changed. As I came out into the living room and turned on the Christmas lights, the appeal was gone; the season was gone. It was beyond time to take down and put away what once was fresh and beautiful and that perfectly decorated a season.

Our seasons with God are reflected in the way I felt this morning. What begins fresh and beautiful—and appropriate for the season—often ends knowing we must pack it up and put it away.  Our seasons with the Lord do come to pass.

It takes a hearing ear to understand the times and seasons of the Lord. In order to embrace Christmas, Thanksgiving had to pass. We have all been guilty of holding on to things that really should be donated to charity or the dump. What season are you in with the Lord? Have you taken down the decorations from your last season? Are you planting bulbs in May when it is actually time for annuals?

I don’t know how this translates for you or how the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about your seasons, but be courageous. Put away the former things and see the new thing the Lord is doing. Even as I write I am seeing a young child walking into an English Garden full of beautiful flowers—roses, vines, bushes and trees. The aromatics, the warmth, the sounds—all so summer. But looking out my living room window, it is not summer. It is cold and snowy. But, I purpose in my heart to make the most of this season, frigid as it is. I will plunge my heart and time into the things God has purposed for me now. Summer will come. The snow will melt, a new season will come. For now though, I will live wholeheartedly in this season. And when it is over, I will pack up the decorations, put them away, and move on.