"Alone... just me and my Jesus"

The kids had gone to bed, Mike was with 2 of his friends for an LTG, and it was really late at night. So, all the lights in the house were out. I was alone, just me and my Jesus. I was not tired and was longing to spend some time with Him praising and singing and praying. I was drawn to my front proch where I sat and praised my Heavenly father through song-- I sang quietly so I didn't wake up the neighborhood. :-)

When I first sat down, I could feel a strong spiritual battle all around me, so I starting proclaiming the name of Jesus and commanding Satan and his army to flee. Afterall, we are God's army and all authority and power has been given to us through Christ Jesus to overcome spiritual darkness. That was it. The battle was over! I sat there on my porch praising Jesus' name and singing songs in praise to Him.

After a half hour or so, I felt the Spirit tell me it was time to go to bed. I wasn't tired, but the Spirit said, "You need your rest. Tomorrow you have a battle to fight." Whoa! Off to bed I immediately went. I slept really good last night, the first in a few weeks. This morning, the Spirit woke me up early and said, "Get up. It's time to put on your armor." End of sleep. I rose up, dressed, and was reminded not to forget the Helmut of Salvation.

My kids were still sleeping, my husband was already off to an early morning meeting, and there I sat on the sofa... alone, just me and my Jesus. He told me to go to John 8 and then Acts 15. So, I read till the Spirit stopped me. John 8:21-30 is where I stopped. As I read it, the Lord showed me another word picture of what life controlled by the Spirit looks like. In verse 28, Jesus tells the Jewish leaders, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will realize that I am he and that I DO NOTHING ON MY OWN, but I speak only what the Father taught me. And THE ONE WHO SENT ME IS WITH ME-- HE HAS NOT DESERTED ME. For I always to those things that are pleasing to him." What a beautiful picture! Jesus had the Father with him, too becuase he was not just God incarnate, but also FULLY MAN. He needed God! We are given this same gift. We are fully human, and God has put the Holy Spirit in each follower of Jesus.

to be continued...

Wheels in Motion

Ezekiel 1:15-21 says this: As I looked at these beings, I saw four wheels on the ground beneath them, one wheel belonging to each. The wheels sparkled as if made of chrysolite. All four wheels looked the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it. The beings could move forward in any of the four directions they faced, without turning as they moved. The rims of the four wheels were awesomely tall, and they were covered with eyes all around the edges. When the four living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. When they flew upward, the wheels went up, too. The spirit of the four living beings was in the wheels. So wherever the spirit went, the wheels and the living beings went, too. When the living beings moved, the wheels moved. When the living beings stopped, the wheels stopped. When the living beings flew into the air, the wheels rose up. For the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

Ezekiel was an Old Testament Prophet who God spoke to through visions to communicate to the Jews God's goodness to those who faithfully seek to obey him, and the promise of a glorious future ahead. This excerpt is taken from the beginning of the vision with which God spoke to Ezekiel. These verses popped off the page at me. Now, I am in no way going to communicate what his vision is symbolizing, the message it holds, etc... but rather I am going to state how God took these verses to show through a word picture what it is He has teaching me.

The wheels represent believers who are fully surrendered to Jesus, and the living beings represent the Holy Spirit living inside those believers who are fully surrendered to Jesus. When the Spirit inside them moves forward, backward, up, down, speaks, doesn’t speak, stops, etc… the believer, being fully surrendered to the Spirit, does the same. The Holy Spirit is TOTALLY in control… not the fully surrendered believer. This was HUGE for me to get a word picture for what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit and totally submissive to Christ. When this happens, which I have experienced, the “eutopia” that is experienced is truly amazing! I totally am ONE with Christ. This is just too cool! But as soon as I take over the driver’s seat, I remove myself from this “ONE-NESS” with Christ. No I don’t lose my salvation, but I no longer am fully surrendered to the Spirit, which means the relationship is broken/damaged.

Beautiful Waterfall, flow over me... and FILL me till only YOU remains!

RUSH over me!

This morning I spent some time reading Philippians. I was struck by many things, but decided that I needed to focus on just one of those things, since my mind is too small to handle more than that! The thing that spoke the loudest was the following passage from Philippians 3:6b-14:

"...I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.

I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I TRUST Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on FAITH. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

..."As a RESULT, I can really KNOW CHRIST and EXPERIENCE the MIGHTY POWER THAT RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD!!!! I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, SOMEHOW, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!" WOW! WOW! WOW!!! This is really AWESOME! By not allowing my flesh to rule, and by allowing the Holy Spirit to control my life FULLY, I can experience the SAME mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead! So that is what this experience is that I am feeling? Sensing? I can't describe it, but boy did the apostle Paul hit the nail on the head! It's the power of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

I am still trying to grapple with this. I just glanced down to see if my commentary could shed anymore light on this. Here's what it says:

"3:10 When we become one with Christ by trusting in him, we experience the power that raised him from the dead. That same mighty power will help us live morally renewed and regenerated lives. But BEFORE we can walk in newness of life, we must die to sin. Just as the Resurrection gives us Christ's power to live for him, his crucifixion marks the death of our sinful nature. We can't know the victory of the Resurrection without personally applying the crucifixion."

This topic is just incredible to discover and uncover. How deep, rich, and exhilarating! Beautiful Waterfall... RUSH over me! Wash me away till only YOU remains!