Voice in the Chasm

Here I sit in the dark
All alone by myself
On a chair bound in ropes in the cold
There are sounds all around
In this cave where I am
I feel tired, I feel weak, I smell mold.
I hear the sound of the drops
Of the tears of this place
As they fall into pools of remorse
Add to these from the streams
That have dampened my face
I'm at sea without compass or course.
As a breeze fills the chasm
And I shudder and cringe
And withdraw fearing cold, pain and grief.
But I don't feel a thing
I don't know where it went
I'm filled with anger and with rage; not relief
So I scream in my rage
'Till my throat fears to tear
As my anguish compels me to do
Then my cry (at first wordless)
Is transformed in my ears
To the question "Oh my God, where are you?!"
It is then that I realize
In the dark in the cold
That I'm bound not in cords but in shame
I am sitting rejected
In this underground hole
And my Hope has forgotten my name.
Then the breeze once again
through the chasm returns
And this time I can feel its caress
At that moment all around
In that chasm: no sound
But the echoing breeze and my breath
So I scream (just to hear)
Maybe to frighten my fear
To that wind:"Why torment me this way?
Haven't I had enough pain,
Enough sorrow, enough shame?"
. . . .I hear a whisper, but of what I can't say.
And the breezes starts to fade
I hear the tears of the cave
All my rage breaks inside to despair
Now I sob in this pit
While my heart begs to quit
And I plead "Oh dear God! don't you Care?"
And the Breeze like a storm
Rushes in strangely warm
All at once I see light though it's dim
And then there on my face
I feel the Breeze's embrace
My heart gasps because I know that it's Him.
Then He says "I AM here
Peace, be still. Have no fear
I have been here though you haven't seen
Now cast off your shame
For I GAVE you MY name
Stand up now from that chair you've been in.
I AM He who brings light
And restores the blind sight
And for you this will easily be
You closed your eyes out of fear
That's what first trapped you here
So open your eyes, Child of Zion, and be free."
I now stand myself straight
Out from beneath a great weight
And my eyelids begin to spread wide
Here the vision for me
Not a chasm or sea
But a meadow,and mountains and sky.

The "End Times" aren't COMING; They're here.

You know, for as long as I can remember, I've heard people talking about what it will be like in the "End Times."  About how scary things will be, and how bad the world will get.  Look around, though.  Not at the TV set or the fashion scene.  Not at the movies and music that are popular or the things that are advertised and available on the Internet.  Look at the Christians.

I'm not even talking about the "fair weather" Christians.  Look at all of us.  We talk about how bad the "end times" will be, but what are we doing to prepare?  Buying generators and stocking up on bottled water and can goods?  . . .  Against the Anti-Christ?  Against the Devil?  I'm not accusing anybody but the Devil.  He has spent generations getting into homes and households weakening the resolve of Christian to fundamental SURVIVAL needs.  We still say that it is important to read our Bibles, but how much time do we spend actually reading it OUTSIDE of church?  We say that it is important to go to church, but does that take priority over other things?

Two Sundays ago I stayed home from church.  Not because I was sick or too tired to go, I just wanted some peace and quiet and a little free time to put our house in order.  It seemed reasonable at the time. . . *sigh*  My Pastor, a man I am continuously grateful for, gave a message this past Sunday that mentioned people "just taking a Sunday off."  And asking, no telling, us that we need to really respect God's time, His church, and His service.  I knew I had messed up when I found myself justifying myself.  "I never take Sundays off." or "I made good use of the time." or "I had my own time with God."  Then I realized that none of that is valid.  Christianity is NOT PART TIME.  

The Devil isn't taking time off, so he's thrilled when we do.  It gives him a wide open door to throw garbage into our lives/ minds/ hearts/ HOMES.  

You want God to work through your finances?  Tithe EVERY TIME.  You want God to live in your home?  LIVE in His Word.  You want God to speak to you? SPEAK TO HIM all the time.  (YES, He IS interested in your day-to-day life!)  Will it make the problems go away? No.  But it will add POWER to how you deal with them.

Going to church on Sundays isn't enough.  Hearing a sermon once or twice a week isn't enough.   Imagine you could lose those privileges any day, and think how hard you'd listen or attend.  Think about how much time you'd spend reading your Bible if there was someone out there performing miracles in Satan's name.   Now go back and think about the things I said I wasn't talking about in the first paragraph. . . . . . . . . Think about how many of GOD'S Christians are wrapped up in those things. . . . . . . . And ask yourself if you think someone might actually BE out there doing Satan's work.

A friend of mine told me that while he was in Vietnam, he saw guys duck down during a gun fight and start praying, and he'd yell at them: "You should have been praying before!  Now you've got to stay alive!"

To borrow an old line:

Personal daily devotional:                      30 mins - 1 hour per day

Prayer Time To GOD 

(Who WANTs to hear)                           minutes throughout the day

Tithe                                                    a dime from every dollar

Walking hand-in-hand 

with the author of 

creation (who wants 

you to call Him DAD)                             PRICELESS

Knowing God's Voice

I recently heard about something that shepherds do/did with their sheep. At one time, it was common practice for several different shepherds to keep their flocks together. This was useful for keeping them safe and convenient for a number of other reasons. Have you ever wondered why shepherds sing to their sheep? When the shepherd would come in the morning to collect his sheep from the common holding place, he would call out to them or sing to them. His sheep would recognize his voice and come to him, but the other sheep would not recognize his voice and would run away. Jesus said: "My sheep will know my voice." (Read John 10, please!)

Many times we have heard God's Voice and not recognized Him and run away.

So how do we get to know God's voice? That's an important question because God isn't the only one trying to talk to us. So how do we know? The Bible says to test every spirit. (1 John 4:1-6)

I've heard it said that we need to memorize scriptures to help with this. Okay, that's good as far as it goes, but have you noticed how BIG the Bible is? There's no way that most people will ever have the time or motivation to memorize the whole Bible. If you think that you don't need to know/ be familiar with the whole thing, you might want to consider why God put it all there then.

For example: you look at the hundreds of examples that God gives of how He spoke to His people. The different ways. The different words. What He likes. What He isn't like.

So Why?

Well, here a suggestion. I have heard God speak clear words, heard partial messages that only made sense to the people that I shared them with, seen visions, similatudes, had dreams, interpreted dreams, heard sounds (like thunder and horses running), smelled scents, and had scripture references (that I wasn't familiar with) pop into my head. That's a lot of variety for God to use. I also read my Bible. I've been through it many times. ( Not bragging, could have done a LOT more. Just saying what I believe God wants us all to know) We need to know God's written word so that no matter what way He chooses to speak to us, we will have some frame of reference to know if it is Him or not.

What is the most important thing in any relationship? Communication! The Bible says that we were created in His image. Is it likely that God said, "Hmm, make 'em like Me, but then I'll make 'em need to express themselves and then ignore them. . . . " That doesn't line up with "God is love."

He is always speaking to us. Always loving us. Always calling us to Him.

After the Order of Elijah

When I was 12 or 13 years old, I went to a teen retreat that was sponsored by the church I was going to at the time.  It was 3 or 4 days long and for the first couple of days it was interesting, but didn't amount to much more than a summer camp or an excuse to get away from my family for a while.  That changed on the last night there.  I don't know what the speaker spoke of, but afterward he gave an altar call.  There were probably 50-60 teens there between the ages of 12 to 18.  At least half of them answered the altar call.  I was sitting in the next to back row watching other kids my age go forward and meet God there.  Then I felt the first powerful move of God on my own spirit.  I went up to pray with/ for a friend and felt God wash over me like a tidal wave.  The next thing I knew, I was praying for someone else, and someone else, and someone else. . .  I prayed until I was hoarse and prayed for my voice, it came back instantly and I prayed myself hoarse again.  When my voice didn't come back that time I figured that maybe I should stop and see what happened.  I was praying for God to tell me what was going on and felt Him "calling my heart."  I was afraid that He was calling me to be a preacher, so I freaked out and ignored it.

A few years went by and God's call never let up, but I spent most of my time thinking about how messed up I was and how far from "usable" I was.  ( I'll save that story for another time.)  By the time I was 18 I knew that God was really calling me to something, but I didn't know what.  Then one day I heard Him clearly say "I'm calling you to be a prophet after the order of Elijah."

Okay, what was THAT supposed to mean?!  I checked up on Elijah and saw fire falling from heaven and a man out running chariots, not to mention years of drought.  So, I figured that I must have heard Him wrong.  That word never faded.  So, while I was pretty sure that the fire and stuff was not what God meant, I thought that I should probably figure out what being a "prophet" meant.  So I focused, REALLY focused, on hearing God.  It was rough at first, because I wasn't ever sure if I was hearing God or just my imagination.  

I was in a group that met on Sunday nights where we talked about God and what He was doing in our lives.  It was a great environment for learning to hear God.  So I wasn't afraid to try to "give a word," because if it wasn't directly from God, it was still scripturally accurate and encouraging. (An important point.  You are never wrong to encourage if it lines up with scripture)  After a while, it got easier to tell the difference from good Biblical advice, and a direct "living word from god that was pertinent to the situation."  You hear or see things that have the "ring" of God's voice to it, or it's "just God's style."

A few more years went by, (I was about 23) and I was at a conference my church was a part of.  The speaker was great and I got a lot out of his message.  Then he said something that froze me in my tracks.  He mentioned something about the call of Elijah, and I MISSED THE REFERENCE!!!!  I asked some others who were with me, but the reference wasn't as important to them as i was to me so they didn't pay attention.  So I scanned and scanned and someone said something about Malachi.  

MALACHI 4:5-6

⁵ “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. 

⁶ His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Ever had the light come on?  Ever heard a loud "click" in your head when something fell in place and you finally got it?  

Now I knew what "the order of Elijah" was.  Now I knew what the purpose of prophecy was.

The point of hearing God and speaking His word, is to draw people to God the Father!  

I can hear God and the reason I can hear God is so that I can show others that THEY CAN HEAR GOD TOO.  God wants a close, intimate relationship with ALL OF US!!!!!!

God Loved Cain

I was reading in Genesis the other day, and I saw something I've never noticed before.  

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. ³ When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, ⁵ but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

I have always thought of Abel as the one God loved and Cain as the one that God was mad at. But then I saw this:

 ⁶ “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? ⁷ You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

This was a huge shock to me.  Look at it again.  God was telling Cain that it was his offering and his attitude the was being rejected, NOT Cain himself.  In fact, God was pleading with Cain to be careful. because

"Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you."  

Cain didn't listen and he fell vitim to Sin.  Then when God punished Cain, Cain complained that the punishment was too hard, and that anyone who saw him would kill him.  So, God put a mark on Cain so that no-one would harm him.

God made sure that Cain could live long enough to have a chance to learn to trust God.  There is no evidence that he did, but God made sure he had the chance.

GOD LOVED CAIN!  He punished Cain because He is Just.  He Loved Cain because He is GOD.

THAT'S JUST COOOL!!!