In February, I posted on this Blog, a message the Lord gave to me in 1992 called AWAKE!  ARISE!  ALERT! ALARM!  (Read in the Archive). When He initially revealed it to me, the times were very different from today…some 20 years later, but what He spoke was no less true then…than today!  In the year 1995, the Lord seemed to be adding to that truth by giving me the following vision of “Two Time Periods”.   I recognized it to be part of His call to prayer for our nation and the times we were living in at the time.  But it being true then…it is SO MUCH MORE true today!  (Think of 9/11 which happened 6 years after this vision…!!!)  The Holy Spirit mercifully reveals things before they happen…to give people time to heed His Word.

The realities this vision depicts become more true with each day that passes. Our God reveals insight into the true nature of things. He says what He means…and He means what He says. Prayerfully, open your “eyes” to “see” what He is revealing.   The Lord does not show us such things to frighten us…but to call us to humble ourselves before His Loving Presence so that we may draw up close under the “shadow of His Wings”…that we, and our loved ones,  may rest under His protection in such times.

We are truly living in the “time of the end”, and no one knows the “length” of this “time”.  I am reading many prophetic things that, though disturbing to my spirit, I know they are the truth of the matter…of how God’s general protection on our land is lifting.  America, as a nation divided, in its bold faced determination and defiance to NOT walk in His ways and remain founded on His truth….has pushed Him to begin to lift some of His protective blessing on the land… on lives, on families, on government, on businesses, on fortunes, on armies, etc. The list goes on and on….

Mankind has become SO wicked. They “trust in oppression” and “set their hearts on riches” as a way of life  (Psalm 62:10).   People – even God’s people – hide behind the phrase, “this is just the ‘way things are today”.  They blindly, but willfully,  follow the “idols” of the cultures of today…..rather than Almighty God.  Most are unrepentant. Arrogant. No intention of changing. Unbending. Vicious. Abusive. Angry. Stubborn. Insensitive. Scoffing. Mocking. It is heartbreaking, and  it breaks God’s heart who has blessed us as a nation in the past with so much.

In many situations, honest words of truth seem to have “no effect” anymore. There is no “discussing it”.  People rail and spin and clamor with “much hypocrisy and evil speaking” (1 Peter 2:1) to defend themselves with empty words telling why they are “the way they are”…and why they have their “rights”. They live, as the Bible prophesied…”doing what is right in their OWN eyes“, Judges 21:25….rather than looking to their Creator for how to order their lives. Life, in the USA and in the world…is simply NOT what is was. The “time of the end” is upon us….and can only get worse if God’s people do not “humble themselves, pray, seek His Face and turn from their wicked ways“. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Trials and testing of the faith of God’s people is at an all time high. With rampant unrighteousness afoot in this “fallen world”,  dear people are increasingly getting seriously sick, suddenly dropping dead, breaking covenant relationships, being depressed for long periods of time. Finances are being gobbled up. Fortunes that were once secure….have evaporated. Children and teenagers are fiercely disobedient to parents as a generation. Multitudes of older people are acting as if they are “children and teenagers” once again!  Stupor, confusions, assalt, and terror are rampant!  The heat of the furnace is 7 times hotter!

This is not speaking doubt and unbelief…it is an honest description of the realities even Christians are experiencing. Jesus, the Fourth Man in the Fire, is in this inferno with us (Daniel 3:25). Yet, God asks, “What will we do in the end?” Will we cling to Him and stand with Him…or will we give in to the heat…the fierce pressures and temptations of the age?

For over 20 years, as a prayer warrior, I have travailed in intercessory prayer concerning the things I read in the Word of God….over things He revealed to me, and to others, by His Spirit about this “time”.. …before the realities began to be evidenced in this time. But the “times” have overtaken us. God’s judgment has begun to fall on wickedness….especially in the last 10 years!  We must separate ourselves from evil and wickedness in all its forms if we are to know His continued protection personally.

In the last 20-30 years…this nation…and all its people have turned so many “corners”…that we, as a nation, are headed in a direction away from our Christian foundation…and men and women” love to have it so.” Hell has come to earth and most are reveling in it. “Relevancy” has replaced “revelation”. “Political correctness”, popularity and polls have replaced prophecy. Masses of people demand to “have it their own way”, arrogantly and defiantly “doing what is right in their own eyes.”

While studying some information in prayer on four end time spirits, (stupor, confusion, assault, and terrorism), I had a dream of the night – a night vision in which I saw a fortress….during two different time periods.

_______

In the short, succinct vision I saw:

…. “the first time period.  During this period, I saw a  ‘fortress’….a great stronghold.  It was a place of safety and protection for those who lived within. Its impenetrable solid walls were made of a polished stone, ten to twelve feet thick…strong as steel and several stories high. No attacking or terrorizing force could enter to bring harm to those within. The walls were even protected by a thick camouflage of green, leafy vines…a network of healthy growth…arising from the life-giving waters which surrounded the base of the fortress. These thick boughs grew up hanging over the walls and made a protective canopy of shade and beauty to offer the inhabitants within. They also hid the walls from the view of those who might attempt to attempt harm and enter wrongfully…bringing massive death and destruction with them.”

“Behind the thick protection with its coating of camouflage, the people within lived, worked, played, prospered, pulled together, and worshiped God without care or concern of outside attack. Their boundaries were intact….and they were safe. They were ‘covered’ by the massive protection of Almighty God. Two huge doors remained securely and tightly shut to keep out those things that should not enter.”

“In the second time period….I noticed several things. The people inside grew lax, lazy, fat, complacent, arrogant, prideful, and selfish…thinking themselves to be ‘in control’ of their protection and prosperity. They began to argue and fight with one another, breaking covenants, agreements, and laws of all kinds. They increasingly became profane, lewd, fierce and violent. They even entertained themselves with such behavior and/or watching it on TV and movies…writing and selling books about it.  Industries arose around their favored ‘idols’ as they worshiped and clung to them. Their music communication became harsh and biting…clashing and clamoring!  They ceased to freely and openly worship God, who had created them and offered them massive protection and blessings.”

“The vines slowly parched and began to die….exposing the massive walls all around…to heat and elements. There was no longer water at the base of the walls, no moisture for the vines to draw from. As the water had dried up…so did the vines. The massive doors were opening...almost imperceptibly.  All this happened…so slowly – over an extended season, and those inside did not notice at first that their massive protection was retreating. The protective ‘covering’ was being lifted….and the people exposed…to the hordes of evil that were approaching.”

__________________________________________

I woke up very heavy of heart knowing…..that this was America!  Yet Jesus stands over the continents of the earth with His hands outstretched still...whosoever will…may come! Listen…take heed to His pleading Voice….

“Come…hide in the cleft of the Rock! Find your daily place of Refuge in Jesus! Awaken to the Truth…while there is still a bit of time to be attached to the True Vine and be planted by the Rivers of Living Water! Get inside His Ark of Safety and remain, respecting His Authority eternally! Honor the King. He is Lord and God!”

Don’t be as those Jesus spoke of in Matthew 23:37-38.   “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…but YOU were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate!”

Repent! Humbly bow before Jesus, the Lord and Savior who has the power to protect, provide, and keep you!  Look unto JESUS – the ONE MIGHTY TO SAVE and DELIVER US from ALL approaching evil! He will still “hide” such ones under His Wings!  Humble yourself under His mighty Hand to Save!

_______________________________________

Last Saturday, February 11, when I heard of the passing of singer, Whitney Houston, suddenly, my heart was pierced…deeply.  I grieved.  I hurt.  I felt an “earthly” loss.  I recalled my own earthly “losses” and felt, once again, the deep hole that opens up…emotionally…in the soul.  Though keenly aware of the loss of Whitney, personally and emotionally…my spirit began to “discern” deeper things; and a prayer rose up in me, “Lord, cast a WIDE NET at her funeral…while the ‘world’ is watching.”

Why would one think GOD would be at a funeral of a recovering “drug addict” whose last days and hours gave – at least to those who “see” only with their “natural eyes” –  an appearance of being far from God?  Because…things are NOT…what they “seem”.  (Check my Archive for an Article by that name.)

This weeks “events” did not take God “off guard”… NOR off His Throne.  He did not “change” when He reached down and “scooped” up His child, Whitney, into His Holy Arms.  Hebrews 13:8  And if you are of those who “discern” with your spirit…rather than those  who looked at this with a “religious” mind and a critical opinion, you, too, know that Whitney is now safe in the Arms of her Heavenly Father.

Along with a video of Whitney singing “Jesus Loves Me”, I posted the following words on my FB page the evening she passed…..”A friend of mine wrote…’what ever she faced in life…Jesus MOST CERTAINLY loved…Whitney! Rest in his Arms!’

“He gave the ‘gift of song’ to her, and she touched multitudes with it! Regardless of much torment in her life…how He loved her!  Let judgment go…and leave her outcome to Him! I thank Him for the gift he gave through her…to us all!”

Two days later, another friend posted a little known, but very interesting, link you can also find on that same FB page…to which I responded:

“Thanks for this LINK, Janet. It IS an amazing story! And I believe it! For those of you who don’t know this man, he is Kim Clement, a present day prophet in the Body of Christ.  He and his friends stand believing, too, that not only is Whitney with the Lord, now, but that her passing, as a very ‘known’ person of note today…is part of many events that are happening this year that affect the world.

                                                                                                             

“Wake up, World…the times are changing…and God is moving!”

“Each of us much be READY…at any moment.  For myself, as a widow of 12 years,  I can verify how – in one breath – God’s child can be ‘taken up’…SUDDENLY; for my husband, too…left, it seemed, much too soon (age 54). But we all must BE READY!”

I spent some evenings this past week, listening to Whitney and the “gift” of song she left us. Many messages of truth come through her music.  I came across her song “I Look to You” from her last album cut almost 3 years ago. The words were deep, heart-felt…and a true testimony:

As I lay me down,     Heaven hear me now,  I’m lost without a cause…  After giving it my all.  Winter storms have come and darkened my sun.   After all that I’ve been through…Who on earth can I turn to?

CHORUS:  I look to You.  I look to You.     After all my strength is gone, In You I can be strong.  I look to You.  I look to You, Yeah.  And when melodies are gone, In You I hear a song.  I look to You.  I look to You.

About to lose my breath,   There’s no more fighting left.   Sinking to rise no more,  Searching for that open door.  And every road that I’ve taken…let to my regret.  And I don’t know if I’m gonna make it…. Nothing to do but lift my head.

I LOOK TO YOU Chorus

The ladders are broken…walls are coming….falling down on me.    The rain is falling….  Defeat is calling….  I need You to set me free!  Take me far away from the battle.  I need You to shine on me.

I LOOK TO YOU Chorus

God continued to minister to my spirit as I prayed over the events of this week…and He reminded me of a message He had given to me some 20 years ago called AWAKE!  ARISE!  ALERT!  ALARM!  It was a cry to those of us on this earth to WAKE UP, spiritually…BE READY. He has been calling it out…all these years…and continues to do so! (See Archive to the right for these posts: Part 1 and Part 2)

It is God’s HEART CRY to this earth!  He truly is…SOUNDING AN ALARM to the peoples of this earth!  And Whitney’s passing is but “one part” of that ALARM…but a part that truly DID have a significant “voice” today through the CNN coverage and broadcast of Whitney’s “Homecoming”!  For 4 hours…the world “had CHURCH!”    Many may not truly know what that means…but, trust me, it WAS a “part” of God’s reaching to the peoples of the earth today.  It was “seed planted”…and multitudes of multitudes saw a demonstration of God’s LOVE poured out today by a wide variety of people known around the world. It had people’s attention…it had their “ear”!

As I settled in to “spend the day” watching the unfolding events…I continued to pray, “Lord, throw out a WIDE NET.  Bring IN the sheaves!”

What I am writing today is not “religious”…. it is unashamed and full of spirit, but I truly was ministered to by the CNN coverage and broadcast of the “Homegoing” of Whitney Houston today….by every speaker, every singer, every testimony!   I watched every minute of it:  I cried, I laughed, I praised God along with those involved, I prayed, I thanked God for the “gift” He gave us.

I rejoiced in the Truth of God’s Word being spoken to a WORLD WIDE audience – seeing so MANY diverse people come together in one place (and via the miracle of technology) to “celebrate” the life of one of God’s own…one to whom HE had given a “gift” of song that touched the world’s multitudes!

Let’s be watching for the “fruit” of today’s seeds planted as they begin to come up.  God has ALWAYS had a PLAN…from the very beginning.  There have been MANY “moves” of His Spirit across this earth over the last thousands of years, and there will be more….but time is short.  JESUS IS COMING!  People are getting ready!  People are flowing into HIS NET, and the capacity of the NET is limitmess!!!!  Believe BIG!  We are just beginning to see what that means in our current generation and the almost 7 billion people on this earth today!

Don’t just stand by…and WATCH…. but GET ON BOARD!  Surrender your heart, your life to God!  Let Jesus become your Lord!  Get Holy Spirit OIL in your LAMP, and be a very REAL PART of these “Last Days” as His NET is thrown about…again, and again!

God has a “plan” and He “sets things up”…far in advance of the events we are actually experiencing!  He has been, and IS…watching, waiting for this time.  He has been “getting us ready” for generations…and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!    BE IN THE MIDST OF IT!!!!

Once we enter the Kingdom of God, our spirits become alive unto Him.  All parts of our being that were not His, now belong to God.  Our spirits have been “born again”.   We are “new creations” in Christ Jesus! We are to come to Him…in Spirit and in Truth!

“Jesus said, “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God.”

“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus, “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

“Jesus replied, “The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water (natural birth) and Spirit (spiritual birth).  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.  So don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be born again.  Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”   John 3: 3-8

But being alive unto God by the spirit does not necessarily mean being awake and continually aware of Him and the things of His Spirit.  Many Christians experience lives led by their flesh.  This means that their soul (mind, will, and emotions) and body are in control; and their spirits “slumber and sleep”. They are unaware of what is going on about them spiritually and how their lives “connect” to Heavenly activity in the realm of the spirit. This ought not to be!

To be spiritually AWAKE is to be spiritually AWARE!

AWARENESS is a consciousness of that which is about us, emotionally, physically….and spiritually!

There is no need to fear spiritual AWARENESS.  Ask God for it!  If we have a teachable spirit, God will make us individually aware of that which we need to see about Himself…ourselves…and others.  This spiritual awareness can also help us overcome some of that personal “blind side”  of our flesh that continually gets us into trouble.  Being spiritually aware is part of being alert to multitudes of conflicts in the surroundings, relationships, and events we face daily.   To do that, we must be in touch with our redeemed spirit and then renew our mind and thinking by continually studying God’s Word and praying, asking God to reveal Himself and His truth to us individually.

“Teach me, O Lord, what I do not see. If I have done wrong, I will do it no more.”  Job 34:32

This becomes the attitude of our heart.  After all, His purpose is that we love Him completely….love ourselves correctly….and love others compassionately.We are truly unable to do that apart from His guidance, help, and grace.

AWARENESS  moves us toward positive spiritual change and growth,  toward solving life’s problems,  toward getting needs met,  toward our next lesson in life.  The Holy Spirit teaches us “line upon line, precept upon precept,  here a little, there a little,” Isaiah 28:10 as we continually make ourselves available to Him.

It is only as we are purposefully aware…conscious of the  God’s revealed Truth that He is able to get our attention in life and prepares us for real CHANGE and GROWTH from the INSIDE – OUT!  The awakened Believer is AWARE and conscious of God and His Word because he “studies to show himself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth.”  2 Timothy 2:15

Such a one is conscious of their responsible privilege, seeking God continuously in prayer to  become increasingly aware of God’s full purpose for his or her life!   In doing so, we  learn the TRUTH about God and His ways…how to “enter in His Presence”…how to be a “doer of the Word”…how to not be ashamed of Jesus but to run TO Him in times of  trouble.  As a result, our “spiritual awareness” will  increase…significantly!

It is so critical that the generation of young people who are 25 and under….over HALF of the world’s present population…becomes spiritually aware in this manner so that they can reach their own peers in these crucial End Times!  No one can truly reach them except those who, themselves, are  filled with God’s Holy Spirit!  Spiritually AWAKE!  Spiritually AWARE!  Spiritually ALERT!  And going forth to sounding the spiritual ALARM that Jesus is, indeed, coming SOON!

This is the generation who will welcome Him back as Lord; and those, in their teens and twenties are going to have a significant part in this awesome time table! God needs ALL to AWAKE, ARISE, ALERT, and ALARM…but this is especially the hour for the generation of teens and twenties to humble themselves and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! They are the Church, and God is calling to them…NOW!

 

For twenty years, the Lord has moved on me to periodically share this word He spoke to my heart.  He told me that for the rest of my life…I was to “sound an alarm” with it in ways and in times  in which He would lead.  As 2012 has dawned upon us…I see situations that call for it to be spoken, once again, to the people who reside in the realms of influence to which the Lord has appointed me.  It is a NOW message…it is a Call to ACTION…a Call to RESPOND!

May it be PERSONAL to each of us!

____________________________

In 1992, I was trying to get to sleep late one night. I tossed and turned, and finally realized that I needed to get up, go downstairs and pray. I spent quite some time just crying out to God in prayer, and as a result I began to specifically hear a significant message from the Lord.  In my spirit I could clearly hear these words:

AWAKE! ARISE! ALERT! ALARM!

It was as if the Spirit of the Lord emblazoned this thought in my heart and it has never left me all these years! I recorded those piercing words in a journal and have often spoken them to Christians in the arenas of influence which I have been given, for I know them to be words from the heart of God which are to be taken seriously.

Each word is a call to action, and each word expects a response from the people of God!

When I first heard them in July of 1992, they came to my spirit very emphatically, as though the Spirit of God was speaking them in a steady staccato rhythm! Over and over I hear them ring out in my spirit!

AWAKE! ARISE! ALERT! ALARM!
AWAKE! ARISE! ALERT! ALARM!
AWAKE! ARISE! ALERT! ALARM!

These are timely words by which God is calling His people…especially young people from age 13-25… to shake off a slumbering spirit, get up and awaken from the places of comfort, ease, or entitlement any may find themselves in, arise within their spirits, alert to the seriousness of the hour in which we are all living! Sound the alarm, the message, that people from all nations need Jesus Christ living in their hearts! For apart from Him, people do not find true eternal salvation.

People need a Savior! People need the Lord!

The message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has been continuously preached for over 2000 years. Millions of people have heard and answered the call throughout all generations but the call continues to come….the invitation still stands to the billions of people that are alive on the face of the earth today. Whosoever will….may come unto Him and receive His Holy Spirit into their hearts, thus receive cancellation of the debt of their personal sin and be transformed in their spirit into a new creation in Christ Jesus.

It takes humility to acknowledge that there is an authority higher than our own, and an even greater humility to keep one’s self under that Authority daily.

God is our Creator, and He who made us has creation “rights” to His creation. Yet, in His love, He created us with a free will, giving us the right to make the choice as to whether we will allow Him to be Lord, the One with Authority in our lives, or not.

He designed us to live under the sheltering provision of His Authority, His will and His way. As we bring our personal wills into line with His Sovereign will, we receive the eternal benefits of His provision; but those who do not choose to “agree” with the One who created them, forfeit the Kingdom benefits of eternal provision and protection.

Awake!  Arise!  Alert!  Alarm!

We serve a merciful and gracious God who suffers long in waiting upon His Creation, man, to make this pivotal choice and surrender his life to Him. But in His written Word, He has stated that He will “not strive forever with man,” (Genesis 6:3)

God’s word tells His people that they are to “walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. In the New Living Translation, He says it this way:  “So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit.  Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.  The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants.  And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires.  These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.” (16-17)

Verses 19-21 spell out that the works and desires of the flesh are evident in these things: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.  Let me tell you AGAIN, as I have before, that ANYONE living that sort of life will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16, 19-21)

Walking under the sheltering provision of His Kingdom is to take such warnings seriously and heed them in our daily lives. AWAKE to righteousness! ARISE, step away from the works of the flesh. Be ALERT to the words of God! Heed the ALARM that is being sounded, calling men and women across the world out of bondage and the gross darkness of sin and into the marvelous light of God’s grace and truth!

Be one who leads the way!  Others will follow as you look to Jesus and sound the ALARM for the cause of the Kingdom of God!   This is a Call to ACTION…a Call to RESPOND in your own personal life!!!

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet, who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”         Esther 4:14

…..to be continued.

 

Jesus said unto them, “But who do YOU say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”    Matthew 16:15-16

What is THE most significant thing in your life….truly?

Whatever it is….it is very obvious to the people around us when they look upon our lives, our words, our actions, and our opinions. Many times, we are “blind” to what is, in actuality, the most significant thing in our lives….for often, we do not take the time to know our own hearts. But other people watch our lives…they listen to our words, they see what we do with our time….how we spend our money. These things are graphic demonstrations of who or what is truly most important in our lives.

Are we willing to be honest to ourselves and to others? Are we willing to humble ourselves before the Lord on our knees…on our face, even, and dare to ask the Lord to tell us if He is truly the most important and significant relationship we have in our personal lives? Are we willing to wait for His honest answer?

Jesus is awaiting an answer from the heart of every person.  This answer must come from the depths of their deep inner core. This is not some easy question to which we must recite the “expected” answer….rather, it is the most serious question we must EVER answer in our life…and the only answer that matters to the Lord is the one that honestly comes from the depths of our heart. We may fool some of the people around us…though not all. But we can never fool Jesus Christ…the One whose eyes of compassion and truth look “straight through us” deep into the inner recesses of our being! AND….He does this moment by moment.

“Who do you say that I am?” He pleads. He knows the answer…but He awaits our true reply.

He longs to hear our “hearts” truly say, “You ARE the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the Living God. I bow before You!  You created me and gave me life, and I give You the rightful place of most importance in my life!  You are MY Lord!” 

 

 

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.

When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel “How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” he accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow, instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way it seems they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” You just might not know it until some time later…

Anonymous illustration found online.
__________________________________

Two months before my beloved husband of 31 years died…the Lord spoke to my heart and said to me, “You are about to enter the GREATEST season of your life!” Blessed by those words with vision of Mike and I growing old and sharing God’s love with others together…I was shocked when Mike was suddenly “absent from the body and present with the Lord”. In questioning, I shared that with my pastor, and he answered with wisdom, “Sandy, our definition of great and God’s definition are not always the same.” In keeping with the above story…”Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Since Mike’s sudden departure, many of my writings have being flung around the world via the internet. The night before Mike “moved to Heaven”, he and I were talking about the impact the internet could have on people through the writing ministry that was at that time just a “seed” in my heart. He encouraged me for 8 years before he died to transpose the things he had faithfully watched me pen in journals…to the web…yet I never did until AFTER his “Homegoing”. His influence was great upon me in many ways. A dear pastor from Oklahoma wrote to me a few days after Mike died saying, “What two began…one will complete.”
_________________________________

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us….for we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. And not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption , the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

“Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we KNOW that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:18, 22-28)

We are to rest in God’s Hands…trusting Him.  That is what we must always do when things happen that we do not understand nor would choose in the “natural.”

“God is Spirit…and they that worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and in truth, “ John 4:24 The truth is….”Things are NOT always what they seem.”

Continuing to look unto Jesus…even when things seem to take a turn we would not choose…

Sandy

From the time I was a child, I have always liked working on jigsaw puzzles. One of our family traditions was to receive a puzzle at Christmas and spend some of the cold January days putting it together. Ironically, my January of 1996 lasted a long fifteen months into March of 1997. During those months I put together four, two thousand piece puzzles; two, one thousand piece ones; and six, five hundred piece ones! That was approximately 13,000 pieces in all to sort and find the exact place for each piece. It was a daunting task, but contained many life lessons that proved to be a blessing for me.

I had an inner drive to “put them together”, take them apart and “put them together” again! My prayer life suffered during that broken hearted time because I could not clearly hear the Voice of God. I did a lot of thinking and sorting between my head and my heart in that season, however. It was as if I was searching for something…for answers. I spent many quiet hours of comforting solitude searching and watching for pieces, for patterns, for color, for shape. There were puzzles within puzzles, thoughts within thoughts. I stayed up late many long dark nights sitting with the puzzles…pondering, driven by the desire to see pieces and patterns come together and fit! I was consumed in watching the big picture come together before my eyes, knowing that it was made up of many bits and pieces, each one contributing to the overall whole.

I would work until I could no longer find a fit and then move on to another area of the puzzle, knowing I could come back to that which eluded me at the time. My family humored my love for puzzles. I probably seemed to them like an “old woman escaping reality”, only for me, the puzzles had a reality of their own. God was sorting, carefully turning over and over the little bits and pieces of information, belief, and concepts I had gathered throughout my life one by one. He was repairing and healing, reforming and fashioning a new understanding within me that was balanced; and when I emerged from this searching time, I no longer hung onto the extreme edges and fringes of faith in God.

A change of seasons was taking place in my life. I had already moved some ten years back from the child-rearing years of vitality into the mid-life bridge of transition. At age 50, I was beginning to cross into the golden years of reflection where I had the opportunity to see my life converge in every area and relation into one of godly balance and divine order. I had to relax….let the answers (pieces) come gently. So it was with the new rhythm developing in my life. The new rhythm emerged, and it was as steady as a heartbeat. It couldn’t be forced, but when I relaxed, trusted, and listened carefully, I could connect with it…this new rhythm of life.

I was learning more about love…God’s way, from His perspective and His viewpoint. God had spoken to me through the author, Melonie Beattie, “Loving isn’t for the faint. It is for the courageous.” For me, that meant being willing to continue to love even in the face of pain. Learning to be present in each moment and not escape and run and hide. In our living God, we can find and choose joy, a joy not dependent on outer circumstances, but one that come from the heart, a heart united with and committed to God and His way, His truth, and His life. This joy is deeper than surface happiness in “getting our own way” in most things.

Beattie’s words had taught me well. She had said to “Relax. Stop staring so hard at the details of the pattern. Look for the reflection of something else, and while you focus on that reflection, the real picture will emerge.” The process was similar to the new computer “dot art” in which one sees a confusing maze of dots and swirls; but upon focusing behind the surface at which one is looking, a depth, deeper into the picture, a new level begins to emerge showing a rich dimensional true picture and concept…like reality of the spirit kind, including hidden images and deeper insights!

Such thoughts and perspectives were swirling about me. Some of them that I “borrowed” from Beattie’s experience were painfully familiar to me in this unique juncture of life. They were like familiar friends or acquaintances of circumstances past; but at that time, they shined the light of God’s wisdom and truth along my own dimly lit way.

How is it that one can walk in the light as He is in the light and somehow still fall through a hole, a gap in the wall and suddenly find one’s self separated from light and clarity? It was as if I was swallowed up in the darkness of confusion and despair, a place of unfamiliarity, a place of hurt and pain. Yet I knew that I was where I was supposed to be…for the time being, in God’s providential care, and that I would come out on the other side. And by my 50th birthday in March of 1997, I came, once again, into the light and Presence of the Lord. I could “hear” His Voice once again, and how precious is was to my heart.

Looking unto Jesus,

Sandy

 

“He (God) reveals deep and secret things;  He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him….there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets….Truly…God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a Revealer of secrets,”   Daniel 2:22, 28, & 47

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law,” Deuteronomy 29:29

“The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant,” Psalms 25:14

Who among us does not want to know the “secret” to life?  Such longing is built within us; for our Omniscient Lord who knows all things…has insights to give to us.  He wants to show us His covenant…His agreements and provisions.  These are things He has prepared for His people that fear Him.  He wants to entrust these important things to us so that we can pass them on to the next generation that we may all understand His desire for us to walk in His ways and thus represent Him before a world of people lost in darkness and sin.

Forty seven years ago in 1964, Eleanor Walton, a precious woman of God who taught me then as a teenage girl, gave me the Christian classic called “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life” written by Hannah Whitall Smith.  She simply inscribed:  “To Sandy,  From Mrs. Walton.  August 9, 1964, Matthew 7:7-8.”  This book was kept for 11 years before it was read by me. Though much change came in those years, I could never part with the book and always knew it had a significant message for me.  Upon reading it at age 28 as a young wife and mother,  my life changed and I could begin to understand and realize personally the “unsearchable riches of Christ” Paul wrote about in Ephesians 3 8.  He went on to write that the words the Lord had given to him were “to make all people see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ,” (verse 9)

Secret things are “hidden”.  They are things which are known by God but not know to us…yet He is a Revealer of secrets to those who fear Him….and to those who seek Him.  “Seek the Lord which He can be found. Call upon Him while He is near..for My thoughts are not you thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts ,” Isaiah 55:6 & 8-9

“Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For every who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened,” Matthew 7:7-8.  Mrs. Walton knew the “secret”.  She was one who “knew Him” and “worshipped Him in spirit and in truth“. Philippians 3:10; John 4:24. And she knew that the only way to find the “secret” was to search for it… to seek Him.  She pointed me in the right direction…and then stood behind me in prayers of faith.  Miss Eleanor is in Heaven, now; but I owe her so very much and long to see her again in my own heavenly future…to give her thanks for passing the “secret” on to me.  She knew that if I would “seek”…I would “find” because of God’s promise.

I will write out the words of the “secret”; but for each individual, they will only remain “words” until a person “seeks Him with their whole heart” .  The true revelation of it will always allude the one who refuses to surrender with his/her entire heart to the Master and to His ways.  Search your heart to see if you have truly done that.  He cannot heal a broken or a self-centered heart…unless He has all the pieces. Do not hold on to any part…refusing to allow it to be touched by the Master.

The secret to a “happy Christian life” is…… to pivot on God and allow Jesus to have full authority in your life.  He must be at the center of your heart as Lord of your life rather than self being on the throne of your heart.   When that decision is made and implemented, the secret applied will produce a “happy” Christian life; and even though “sorrow and suffering and disappointments”  may be a part of living on this earth, the life lived will be a journey of joy in the Lord.

Nothing in my life has ever had more impact than seeking the Lord with my whole heart…and finding Him; for out from that has come a real and meaningful relationship and fellowship with Him, complete with the ability to “hear His Voice”…walking and talking with Him throughout life.  I cannot imagine trying to navigate through the past 36 years of life without Him, the Chief Shepherd; for He not only “knows” the way… He IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  I have “found” HIM…who my soul doth love!

One Sunday as I sat in church, I watched a young woman make her way to the altar. As she surrendered yet more of herself to Him, He wrapped His loving arms around her…she melted into those warm Arms…and she realized the wonder of being received by a Heavenly Father who changes not!  What security, what peace….what provision for those who truly…. surrender all!

There is no real true fellowship or life with Him…apart from this.  What are you holding on to apart from God?  Whatever or whoever it is…it is not worth the immense joy you will lose if you do not willingly let it go…and receive Him in its place!

 

“Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the other commandments are based on these two commandments,’”     Matthew 22:37-40

There are relationships we each have to face in life…the relationship with God and with others.  We will never be able to truly fulfill them unless we look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. For there must be appropriate love in these  relationships if we are to fulfill the design and purpose of God.  After all, it is Him we serve and His Kingdom we represent. It must be done on His terms and for His sake. We are not our own, but have been bought with a price. He sets the standard of love, and He changes not. The proof of maturity is the relational evidence of His standard of love found in our lives. Jesus said that the world would know that we are Christians, by the love we demonstrate. That is what we are distinguished by, for love never fails; and His standard has never lowered.

THIS demonstration of His love is Christian maturity. THIS is definitely looking unto Jesus and following in His footsteps. His was a life and ministry of honest, honorable humility. His character was pure. His behavior was characterized by integrity and holiness – full of grace and truth. His actions were timely and marked by wisdom that is from Above. His expression of love honored and welcomed others. His life was one laden with the fruit of righteousness. He was holy in all His conduct. This is the one we are to look unto. He called His people of old to this, and He calls the same things to us today; for Jesus Christ is the same……yesterday, today, and forever! (Hebrews 13:8)

Maturity is not age, an amount of knowledge, nor a grasp of factual information. Rather it is how we live our lives in relation to God  and people – the most precious of all God’s creation.

Do we live it in the fullness of His love and purity, or do we live it unchanged, selfishly pursuing our own desires and dreams apart from Him? Search your heart. Honestly see where your choices and commitments have positioned you. Are you looking to self and success in the culture around you, or are you looking unto Jesus?

Have you ever wondered in THIS life, how dependent ARE we on situations, systems, arrangements, relationships, and mechanisms that are in place in our lives?  We have relationships that are here one day…gone the next.  Jobs and finances that are here one day…gone in an instant due to economy.  Visions,  dreams , and plans that we are working on one day…and then they  are “unplugged”  or “short-circuited” with the words of a person in a position of authority…or the stroke of a pen!  Here today…gone tomorrow! Often, suddenly, and without warning!

Blows to the stability of our lives.  Dismantling of the socio-economic structures that are in place around us.  While we have some things “in place”…we don’t realize how dependent we are upon them…until they are instantly….GONE! And then we see how fragile things really are.

And the disappointment of it all! How to deal with the emotional upheaval and re-organization of things we were counting upon and the loss of things we were planning in the “light” of.

Yet will I REJOICE in the Lord!  I will JOY in the God of my salvation!

In the Old Testament, Habakkuk  knew something of this when he penned…”Though the fig tree does not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vine.  Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; Though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls…YET will I REJOICE in the Lord.  I WILL JOY in the God of my salvation!”

“The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills!”  Habakkuk 3:17-19

I was meditating on this truth last Fall….AND THEN…SUDDENLY, the “heat and pressure” of the HOT IRON bore down on my life, as my good “part time” job suddenly came to a screeching halt…in the MIDST of a very productive period! Lives were being touched.  Relationships were being formed…and SUDDENLY…lightning struck!  Funds dried up, and the loss came…without warning!  Within my being, there must have been some “wrinkles” of depending upon material things, mechanisms, and concrete expectations He wanted to “press” out of me!  But because I had been “there” before, I quickly realized the situation for what it was.

One temptation was DESPAIR!  Such a state is NOT the way for God’s people; for it is laced with FEAR…the opposite of FAITH!  Such “tests” are times to yield yourself to His heavy iron of “heat and pressure” and simply and purely begin to PRAISE the Lord in the midst of the situation!

YET will I REJOICE in the Lord!  I WILL JOY in the God of my salvation!!!

This is God’s antidote for the hurt and disappointments that come with such losses! He “understands”…and He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but He is also mindful of how crucial it is that we OBEY HIM in the face of “tests and trials”…if we want to PASS them and get on with HIS agenda for our lives!!!

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.  For as the rain comes down , and the snow from Heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;  It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

“For you shall go out with JOY and be led out with PEACE; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”  Isaiah 55: 10-13

We belong to a God who IS our Provider, our covering, our Source, our Husband…our everything!!! He is not ignorant of the situations of our lives and He has said in His Word that “ALL THINGS work together for GOOD to those who love God and are called according to His purpose,”  Romans 8:28

SO….SETTLE IT!  “Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart…and lean NOT to your own understanding”. Proverbs 3:5

This is the action of one who has chosen to follow Him in full surrender…one day, one step at a time as situations – good and bad – present themselves to you.  That done, you will be in a position to REJOICE in the Lord and JOY in the God of your  salvation!!!

Then…regardless of what comes or goes, you can confidently say…”IT IS WELL…WITH MY SOUL!”