Destiny's Song

Destiny overtakes and apprehends its recipient, plants a seed, and potentially reaps a harvest. Your destiny is what is growing inside of you, getting bigger and bigger. Destiny captures your heart, mind, will, and emotions.

The fire of destiny does not get started by you, but you must add fuel for it to keep going and growing. Unattended, destiny will only sputter, but never set your life on fire. It will only give fleeting glimpses of purpose, with no lasting passion, In the end, it will die unfulfilled as also its recipient.

TEND THE FIRE GOD HAS PUT IN YOU!

The fire must be kept burning on the alter continoulsly; it must not go out. (Lev 6:13) Destiny sings tomorrow's song. We must hear and begin singing and dancing to its song today...

Destiny sings tomorrow's song...

TIGHT PLACES - The Promise of Beauty To Come

TIGHT PLACES - The Promise of Beauty To Come

(From 2/09/09)

Sometimes I have to put people in (through) tight places to get stuff off (out) of them.  You may wonder, but don’t wander (escape) from the narrowness I put you in.  It squeezes out death and I replace it with life.  I take you from a narrow place into a wide place, from a closed place into an open place. 

A flower bulb is a closed tight place, but it holds the promise of beauty to come.  It opens and releases more beauty and life than the bulb (tight place) could ever have held

As the promise of the bulb, so the promise of the tight (narrow) place.  There is something larger and better than where you are or even where you have been that will come as you let the tight place do the work I have assigned it - that you may more fully do what I have assigned you. 

As the flower must endure the bulb before it can release it’s beauty, so you must endure the tight (narrow) place before you can release my beauty.  The bulb is not a bad place for the burgeoning flower.  The tight narrow place is not a bad place for the burgeoning Christian - it is the promise of beauty to come.

Burgeon:

1. To send forth new growth (as buds or branches): sprout, bloom

2. To grow and expand rapidly: flourish

3.  To make or become greater or larger

Synonyms: amplify, build up, enlarge, escalate, expand, extend, grow, magnify, multiply, soar, wax

 

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  (Mt 7:13-14)      

Bless, And Curse Not

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. (Ro 12:14 KJV)

I was not raised in the light of this scripture. It did not illuminate my path in the darkness caused by someone coming against me or my family, trying to limit or eliminate us. My response, fueled by a big dose of adrenalin, tended to be hostile.

The last time a situation like this presented itself, my wife and I discussed the circumstance and prayed. As I got alone and prayed after that, I kept being impressed with the words "bless and curse not." I was no longer a hostile person, but I sure was feeling some hostility and having some hostile imaginations.

"Bless, and curse not" comes from Romans 12 verse 14 noted above. The verse is real simple to understand and doesn't need a lot of explaining, but I will mention a few of the words.

• To persecute means "to put to flight, drive away or pursue in a hostile manner.
• To bless means to invoke (pray) or call down blessings or goodness upon a person.
• To curse means to speak curses, doom, imprecate evil on, to invoke (pray) or call down evil or curses upon a person.

In other words, Be a blessing to and speak a blessing over those who come against you to hinder you and pursue you with hostile intentions. Instead call down blessings and goodness upon them, and make sure not to cause or bring evil into their lives.

The New Life Version words this verse "Pray and give thanks for those who make trouble for you. Yes, pray for them instead of talking against them. "

The more we talk about the situation, the bigger it will seem to us and the more it will bother us. As it keeps coming to our minds, we need to pray for and release blessings upon the "persecuter(s)."

 We were not captured by God to speak curses, but to speak blessings. James 3:10 says: Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

1 Peter 3:9 makes it clear how we are to respond. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called . We are called to release blessings.

 

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. (NLT)

Emails To Henry #4 - Come Away My Lover

Dear Henry,

 

Song of Solomon 8:14 says: Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains. How do we answer the inner call to "come away" when we no longer hear it?

 

There was a time when we did, but we began to put Him off, to put others and other things before Him, and the call of sleep became stronger and more inviting than the call of the Lover of our souls. It is like in 5:2 of Song of Solomon: I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night."

 

But we, as the Shulammite, at first had our excuses, vs 3 I have taken off my robe— must I put it on again? I have washed my feet— must I soil them again?

And finally we would give no excuse, only roll over in silence for more sleep. And when we awoke, we awoke to slience. And when we go to Him now there is only silence.

 

 

Again, how do we answer the inner call to "come away" when we no longer hear it? I think the following verses from SOS 5 will help direct us: 6 I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. We again open the door for Him and to Him. We enter that inner sanctuary again, and begin to cry out again, begin to seek him again.

 

8 O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you— if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.

 

We again begin to tell Him of our love, of our desire and need for Him, of our desperation for Him. We again make Him and our relationship with Him the number one priority of our lives. As we again begin to nuture our relationship with him we will again hear the call to come away, to spend time with Him, in fellowship, worship, prayer, adoration and the Word. We will again enter into inrimacy with Him. The Amplified Bible words Proverbs 3:32 as … His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him). (Prov 3:32)

Mt 6:6 says: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Andrew Murray in response to this verse writes "Of course, to go to your room and close the door means that you must also exclude all worldly thoughts, as well as that with which you are busy. You must be alone with God and pray to him only. ... Let this be the main purpose of your quitetime: to sense the presence of your heavenly Father. Take time to pray to Him. ... Then follows the great promise: You Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you openly. All through your busy, active day, God will answer your prayer. The prayer said in your sanctuary will be followed by the secrete working of God in your heart."

 

May it soon be said of us "Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?" (SOS 8:5)

Humbly seeking God,

jim

Emails To Henry #3 - A Secret Life With God

Dear Henry,

One thing we need everyday is fellowship with Jesus. Andrew Murray has said, "It is through a personal encounter that we are freed from our sins. ... As He and I commune in the expression of common love and longing, His love will by the working of the Holy Spirit, conquer all sin in me." I am reminded of this verse out of Rev 1:5 "To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood". Another version says, "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood". (Emphasis mine)

Again from Andre Murray, "May you experience the joy of fellowship with Jesus every day. ... You will be aware of the presence of Jesus throughout the day and discover the secrete of a life dedicated to Him."

Romans 12:1-2 from the Amplified Bible says "I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
(Emphasis mine)

One last appeal from scripture, Luke 9:23 says "Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
(Emphasis mine)

A secret life with God will empower a daily life lived for Him. And least you think this not possible, remember, Prov 3:32 says "... He is intimate with the upright." God both desires and enables us to have an intimate relationship with Him, but we must spend time with Him for it to be developed.

Traveling With You,

jim

Sitting And Serving

But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along with me]! (Lk 10:40 AMP)

The problem through Martha's eyes was that Mary was sitting instead of helping her serve. The problem through Mary's eyes was...well, actually, Mary was oblivious that there was a problem. The problem through Jesus' eyes was that Martha was distracted, and because of that, was making wrong choices. It would almost seem that Martha was habitually overly occupied and too busy. 

Now, there is nothing wrong with serving.  It is not a matter of sitting or serving. It is not a matter of either/or, but a matter of both/and. Both Mary, Martha, and ourselves need to both sit and serve.

There is a natural rhythm to life, and a rhythm to spiritual life. Without first sitting, we will not be able to serve with a consciousness of Christ that makes it a joyful experience. We must first be occupied with Jesus. He will then occupy us in such a way that we are enabled and able to minister joyfully to others as we serve.

Being overly occupied and too busy caused Martha to not choose or even recognize what was best, causing her to be distracted.

We must each ask our self, 'Is there anything in my life that is distracting me from God and His purpose for my life? Is there anything that is hindering my relationship with Him?'

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.

(1 Pe 1:18 MSG)

Emails To Henry #2 - Focusing Our Faith

Dear Henry,

This is the second of what will hopefully be a few letters to encourage your and my faith.  I would like to start with John 15:9 - As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

Jesus is telling us that he loves us in the same manner, in the same way, to the same depth that the Father loves Him. Then he tells us to remain, to stay, to abide in His love. John 15:10 tells us how this is done: If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. Part of remaining, staying in the love of Christ is in our obedience to Him. It is His Word being written upon our hearts and lived out in our lives.

Now least we think abiding/staying is about doing, we must remember that it is about trusting. It is about staying in that trust, beleiveing and relying on Him, and doing the things he wants us to do even when we don't want to. We must stay in relationship with Him, we must stay in fellowship with Him. Spending daily time with Him will help nuture that.

When we inherited eternal life, we got far more than being "born again". We got into a relationship with the God of all creation and his Son Jesus Christ. John 17:3 says Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. This knowing is an intimate, growing knowledge of and a relationship with the Trinity, Whom we should be getting to know better and better. Proverbs 3 32 says: ... He is intimate with the upright. That's right,  Intimate! Of course, as in any relationship, this does not come automatically.It has to be nurtured. The developing of this intimacy takes time and intentional purpose. Just as we must spend time with a person we love for this to happen, so must we also spend quality time with the Lover of our souls if we want intimacy with Him.

Andrew Murray on june 2 of Daily In His Presence says: "God gave His Son in order to draw us closer to Him. This can only be achieved by having fellowhip with Jesus Christ." Two sentances later he says: "For this we need to seperate ourselves from the world daily and focus our faith on Jesus."

This focusing of our faith sets the course for our day and our lives. It helps us to get our lives centered on Jesus. To quote Mr Murray again, "Take time for fellowship with Him."

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col 3:1-4)

 

Together For Him,

jim

 

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