divine guidance

almost a week later & I'm finally getting around to post this.

Psalm 87 is truly a Messianic Psalm - a portion of scripture that points towards the coming King of KINGS. last saturday the Holy Spirit not only showed me that but revealed divine guidance in an area I had been laboring in prayer over. I love how my God fulfills his promises: ask & ye shall receive, seek & ye shall find, knock & it shall be opened unto you!

the 3 R's

Luke 15:11-32

(I will not type the whole passage but the synopsis is the prodigal son.)

several months ago the Holy Spirit had me read this passage at the beginning of a trial period in my faith. at that time I was shown something that would get me through the trial. it did, praise the Lord, along with other scripture texts. the trial was directed at my faith, & the devil used the “hath God said” tactic he so clearly overuses. hey, it worked on Eve. by the middle of June I was shown that my loving Savior was carrying me through the trial. I’ve always loved the poem “Footprints” but never expected to be in the poem. one finds they love their Savior all the more when shown that aspect of Him.

onto the topic… once the trial was completed, & yes I passed, I reread many of the passages read at the beginning. lo & behold the Holy Spirit showed me something between the lines! Amen!

in verses 13 & 14 we read that the younger son “wasted his substance” & “had spent all” on riotous living; i.e.: he spent it on pleasure & partying or things the world dupes people into believing will bring joy. but notice verses 22 & 23 where the father replaces all the things his younger son had wasted.

R #1: Replaced. I myself was that younger son. I chose to spend all I had spiritually accumulated on the things that the world duped me into. yes, I knew it would never bring me true joy yet I vexed myself daily in striving to attain what I could never achieve alone. it is only through God’s mercy & compassion that He is giving me another chance to replace what I lost. I truly do NOT want to get to Heaven empty handed! through His grace, it will not happen.

second, in verse 15 we look at how the younger son “went and joined himself to a citizen of that country.” oh the numerous times that I did that! it sickens me! James 4:4 says, “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” I clearly CHOSE to hook-up with the world thus placing myself in the bull’s-eye of God’s Brillo pad (Hebrews 12:6).

R #2: Rejoined. verse 27 tells of the joy when a lost sheep is rejoined safe & sound into the fellowship of the Believers. I praise the Lord for the scourging, purging, rinsing & repeating until He decided I was fit for use. I am by no means finished but from now until death visits me, my Lord is showing me it is better “to be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Amen!

lastly, verse 17 tells how he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror, “when he came to himself.” he finally saw how dirty & filthy he had become. for me it was realizing my hand had been caught in the proverbial cookie jar (see post #23 Journalizing). it wasn’t just on the outside but also on the inside. this caused him/me to seriously exam his/my heart & see that his/my only hope was truly in returning to the Father.

R #3 is Regenerated. verse 32 proclaims how the father lifted up his voice in praise as his son, “was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” July 26, 2010 is the date that the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the fact that I was truly converted. not just outwardly as a show to men but inwardly to my Heavenly Father. of course I had to travel through the trial, endure hardship as a good soldier & yield to my Father’s will to find this out. my sole purpose on this earth is to carry out God’s plan for this life that HE designed long before I was in my mother’s womb (Jeremiah 5:5). ALL GLORY GOES TO GOD!

one thing I must mention: if you are a Believer & still in the hog pen of this world, PLEASE come back before its too late! not only does your Heavenly Father desire the fellowship you both once had but your brothers & sisters-in-the-Lord have been praying that you return. several were praying for me. we will not debate the attitude of the elder brother in the passage, but verse 26 says that a servant told him what the commotion was about! as a child of God we are all servants. please don’t let time run out! yield to the chastening!

court is held

Psalm 84

2 “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”

6 “Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools,”

10 “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

according to Wikipedia, the royal court of a monarch is explained as: “A term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure.” with Jesus Christ as my Lord, Adonai, He is meant to be the central figure, Monarch, of my life. we can go into great depths on Him being the KING of Kings & LORD of Lords some other time.

the reason I explained the above is to bring to light the phrase, “the courts of my Lord” in the Psalm. King David wrote Psalm 84 & he was all too familiar of the life within the court of a king. but compare the biblical phrase to the Wikipedia definition.

did you notice it?

David fainted for the court, extended household, of his Lord. see David knew that he was a joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:16 & 17) so that meant he was a part of the extended household. but as part of that extended household it is his duty to attend to the ruler, ie: the Lord. David actively sought out where his Lord was at all times. it made it ever the more easy to attend to his needs & wants by doing so. he even went to so far as to exclaim it was better than a thousand “ordinary” days.

to take it further, we read that the Lord was holding court. in the valley of Baca. in the well! what an odd place. Baca means weeping or sorrow. this life is by no means Heaven. it is constantly full of sorrow. not just the current national situation but in general. apathy & death abound! but not so when you attend to your Lord. by keeping one’s eyes & attention focused on Him, you soon forget about the surroundings & pass through it. but in a well? while this life is dry & dusty a well is a place of refuge & regeneration! what better place to hold court while on active duty!

Recently I’ve found out that my Lord is holding court in that well. to pass through Baca I must voluntarily enter the well. but how? by digging into His Word, donating my full attention to Him & doing His will on a daily basis. it truly is sweet as you notice in verse 7, “They go from strength to strength.”

stay in court! attend to your Lord! only then can you survive Baca!

He Saw It All

I was working in town one afternoon
Attending some business affairs
I heard a commotion a couple streets over
And wondered what’s happening there
A young man was running from in that direction
And stopped just to catch his breath
I asked him to please tell me what was the hurry
He smiled up at me and he said

I was trying to catch the crippled man
Did he run past this way
He was rushing home to tell everyone
What Jesus did today
And the mute man was telling myself and the deaf girl

He's leaving to answer God's call
It's hard to believe but if you don't trust me
Ask the blind man, he saw it all
Ask the blind man, he saw it all

My friend if the troubles and burdens you carry
Are heavy and dragging you down
You've tried everything you can possibly think of
But there's no relief to be found
That very same Jesus that altered the future
Of the blind man, the deaf and the lame
He's still reaching out
In your hour of trouble
One touch and you're never the same

You'll be trying to catch the crippled man
Did he run past this way
He was rushing home to tell everyone
What Jesus did today
And the mute man was telling myself and the deaf girl

He's leaving to answer God's call
It's hard to believe but if you don't trust me
Ask the blind man he saw it all
Ask the blind man he saw it all

He saw it all

mountain tops

Psalm 72:16, "And there shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall fourish like grass of the earth"

life is full of ups (mountains) and downs (valleys). how does one survive the valleys? by gaining sustenance upon the mountain tops. get all you can while on the mountain!

I am speaking spiritually, ie: God's Word. it is by being daily in the bible that you will gain the nourishment from your Heavenly Father for the valleys that He has prepared for you in life. as it is throught hose valleys you will grow.

I find it interesting that is says the "fruit shall shake". in order for fuit to shake it needs to be in a constant state of movement. for me it means spiritual fruit that the Father has planted & watered within a Christian upon the mountain tops. most valleys are dry so one needs an abundance of fruit for the duration. it is only through the valleys that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is tested. will they sustain the Pilgrim or shrivel on the vine?

lastly, "the city will flourish". how? by submitting to the Father's cultivation on the mountain top, the Spirit's guidance in the valley, & the Saviour's life lived through you on a daily basis. one can never slack while on the mounatin top! prepare for the coming battles in the valley ahead! only then will our living Saviour be able to flourish through day by day.

faith2faith #2

Psalm 69:33
"For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners."

many times in scripture a child of God is likened to one who is poor. even our Lord did so with the Beatitudes in the book of Matthew. what brings my attention to this verse is the second half. here we are called His prisoners.

upon closer inspection one can see that we are bought with a price so in reality we are His prisoners. it gives a whole new meaning to Luke 14:33, John 3:33 & I Corinthians 6:19 & 20. even the Psalmist said himself that he "would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God that to dwell in the tents of wickedness."

one of my favorite hymns is George Matheson's "Make Me A Captive, Lord". the 1st verse is my favorite:
Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life's alarms when by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms, and strong shall be my hand.

faith2faith #1

Psalm 69:2
"I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me."

I am reminded with this verse of how low one can allow themselves to get when all seems lost in despair. it is during these time of great depression that my only hope out is by looking into the face of of my beloved Saviour. He took upon Himself more than any human could endure when He paid my debt. it is He that has promised to never leave me nor forsake me. it is He that David also spoke so lovingly about in Psalm 18:1 & 2, "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower".

my Beloved. my Saviour. my Hope for every day & every trial. keep my feet on You, my Rock.