On the Move

So, I wrote yesterday about something I believe is a specific word for those of us reading (and writing!) this blog:

"The Spirit is on the move."

I pray that you heard Him speak to you in that word. I believe His word was coming your way.

For me, this is, in part, a word about believing. And, in part, a word about surrender to His timing.

More than anything else, in the last 24 hours, it's proven to be exciting encouragement from the Lord! I have two situations for myself, personally, to which I think this is meant to be applied for me, and what I am remembering mostly is the sovereignty and supreme love of God. His Spirit is at work, active. So, why would I worry? Why would I fret? Why would I try to work so hard on making something happen or not happen or happen in a certain way? The SPIRIT is on the move!

For me, as it turns out, this is about letting go. So I'm letting go. Join me?

Something to Say

Sitting in worship today, I got the inspiration I'd been praying for today. Some days are easier than others when it comes to finding topics for my writing here; I don't want this to be a place where I write about the things I think are worth addressing. I want to write about His topics. Lately, it's felt a little dry for me; so, I've been praying.

And today, we have a topic given, I believe, by God. I'm tempted to put this out there, just as He spoke it, and then let it be complete in that. I don't think that's what's intended, but it may be enough in and of itself to compromise a complete message on its own.

So, is that enough build up for you? Okay, here it is:

The Spirit is on the move.

I'm going to keep my commentary on this topic short for today, and pick it up again tomorrow... but until then, I want to just encourage you to let that sink in.

The Spirit is on the move.

In you. In your life. In the hearts of those you love. He is doing something.

And I don't mean all this in generic "God's always doing something" kind of way. I believe whole-heartedly that this is a word for someone who is reading this. I think it was for me, and I hope it is for you too. Isn't it great that God isn't limited and can speak to ALL of us at the same time? All with 6 simple words. But, please, stop. Listen. Close your eyes and open your heart. He is talking to you.

The Spirit is on the move.

Praise God. Right? I mean it. The Spirit is active and working in that place, in that situation. You know which one He means. You know. He knows. He's here. He's watching. And not from the sidelines. Keep stepping out of the way, and know that HE (the Almighty Maker of creation!) is working. The Spirit is on the move.

Receive it, please. He's speaking to YOU.

Who He Is

The Lord is...

...my strength and my song

...my Banner

...greater than all other gods

...with us

...slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion

...GOD

...is their inheritance, as He promised them

...your life

...powerful

...is a God who knows

...my rock, my fortress and my deliverer

...just

...your strength

...a refuge for the oppressed

And that's just a handful from the wealth of the TRUTH.

Exodus 15:2, Exodus 17:15, Exodus 18:11, Numbers 14:9, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 4:35, Deuteronomy 18:2, Deuteronomy 30:20, Joshua 4:24, 1 Samuel 2:3, 2 Samuel 22:2, 2 Chronicles 12:6, Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 9:9...for starters!

What a great God we serve!!!

Faithful

As usual, I have been meditating a lot on the idea of faith lately. Regular readers may recall seeing multiple references to Hebrews 11:1 lately ("Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of things not yet seen" (NIV).

I've found that, at least for me, my own ability to live in faith is directly related to how truly I believe in God's faithfulness - as a fixed, permanent and constant attribute of His character. In church, in study and in songs, I hear a lot about God's faithfulness. And, with praise, I am glad to report that I have seen it in my own life - again and again and again.

I came across this verse today:

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV)

There is a space inside me that wants (and needs) read that again and again. Not only does this verse speak in absolute truth, as authoritative Word that God is faithful, but it also gives an easy to miss command at the beginning. We are to know that the Lord is God. He is God. I don't know about you, but sometimes, I have to remind myself of just that fact: He is God (and I'm not!). He is faithful. He is keeping (present tense!) His covenant of love.

Thank You, Lord, for being who You are! Because You first loved me, I can love...and because You are faithful, I can put my enduring faith and trust in Your hands. I love You, Lord! Thank You!

Inheriting the Land

When a poet writes, s/he most certainly considers which ideas and phrases come in conjunction with each other. Sentence B follows sentence A for a reason....

With that in mind, I was looking at Psalm 37:7-9:

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land."

I admit that when I first read this, the first stanza here seemed unrelated to the next two. Naturally, refraining from anger is a good idea, whether it has anything to do with being still before God. Likewise, waiting for Him is a good move, regardless of whether or not evil men will be cut off. But, I feel fairly certain that, like any good poetry, these ideas were not put together haphazardly. So, I started considering more deeply.

It's possible that the inference here is sort of a chain of events. First message: don't be impatient with God. Well, I know that when I am impatient with His plans, I often tend to fret and worry. But then the next thing we're told here is not to fret. "It only leads to evil."

Yikes. Evil?

Looking at the Hebrew behind this word is helpful. The first note in my study aid is that the literal translation behind this word is a breaking to pieces. More properly, this word means "to spoil." So, worrying leads to me becoming spoiled. Ah, that sounds about right. The word implies displeasure and harming oneself as well. Yeah, so worry? Not good. Got it.

We're also encouraged to refrain from anger & turn from wrath. I like the KJV translation on this bit; it says to "forsake wrath." In my mind, that implies making an active decision to leave wrath out in the cold. There's choice involved.

So, where am I at with my passage then? I'm to be still and patiently let God's timing be what it is. I'm not to worry about it, and part of that means I need to choose to forgo my self-indulgent desire to be angry with Him; I get to choose to let that go.

Lastly, after a reminder that my worrying about God's timing only ruins me, I'm given a word of encouragement: "Those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land."

The KJV uses even stronger language: "those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." From what I can tell (and please know I'm not establishing theology here; I'm not Hebrew scholar...just trying to piece this together), this is basically an idiomatic phrase meaning "everything." Its first occurrence in the Bible is in Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning, God created the heaves and the earth." There are other examples to demonstrate, but essentially, I think a fair take-away is that those who hope in Him, get it all!

No, not literally, of course, but think about what the message is here: We put our trust, our expectant belief and hope in Him, and we get the keys to the kingdom. Hallelujah! I don't know about you, but whatever kingdom He has set aside for me, I definitely want to make sure I inherit it according to His plan!

So, for me, today, I'll be praying for the Spirit to run the show, so I can walk in patience and trust in my God. And I will do so in obedience, and in expectant faith that the land He has set aside as my promised land is going to suit me just fine. :)

Not a Word

There's a verse that came my way, by God's grace, that I just had to share with you all:

“Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” Joshua 21:45

There are SO many wonderful absolute words in that verse. "Not a word." I just love to meditate on that thought...of all the good things the Lord had spoken to His people, not a word failed. None failed. His word? His promises? Not a single failure. Absolute faithfulness, absolute follow through, absolute completion of His intent. Not a word.

"so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)

Ah, I love it! You too? He speaks to us - in written Scripture, through movements of the Spirit, and in a multitude of other ways. Our God has a direct and clear line to our very souls. And when He speaks, it is done. Consider His language here: It will not (return void). It will accomplish. And it will achieve His purposes. These aren't wishy-washy statements. They are the very word of God. His word swirled life into existence and the world into being. His breath brought us our vitality and life.

And here, in the the Isaiah verse, we are reminded of how it works, just in general. He says so, and it happens. But, as further testimony, we're given the evidence in Joshua: Not a word. And, just as beautiful, "All came to pass." All. All. All.

I don't know about you, but I definitely need to let that word sink in.

The way we talk, in general, is in huge sweeping generalizations. It's part of our culture. "Everybody thought it was great" or "All the stores were so busy" or "I never say that" or "She always is smiling." We use absolute language so frivolously. But this isn't a random person living in 2009; this is the Lord of All, and you can bet that His words are carefully chosen and drop more weight in their very speaking than either you or I could ever possess in all of our person. The Word says more in these simple phrases "All came to pass" and "Not a word failed" than I could ever hope to say in my lifetime...and believe me, I'm a talker!

All came to pass. Not a word failed. His word will not return empty. Count on these things, believe them! Let them dwell in your richly! This is TRUTH friends! Truth!!! Hallelujah!

Asked & Answered

I have to remember that in multiple instances, the Bible tells us that all we really need to do is to ask, and then to receive. I find that I am better (a lot better sometimes) at the asking than I am at the receiving... and I do believe that they're two distinct actions, both requiring a measure of willingness and intent.

I can ask and ask, but if I never stop and receive the good that the word tells is already being done on our behalf, I will just keep asking. Truth be told, I do that a lot.

So, today, I'm focusing on receiving His promises, and in the act of reception, thanking Him for using them and using me to bring Glory to Him. I know He has an infinite number of ways in which He can and does use a willing heart, but I am prone to thinking that receiving His gifts and His presence is a precursor to many of them

Keep me focused today, Lord. And help me remember to receive and give thanks!