Questions to ponder, consider, meditate, and process in God’s presence… 1) What is a destructive root system working within you, that needs to be destroyed? A system that is invasive and damaging to yourself and your relationships? A long-standing root system that is affecting your ability to see and know God’s peace, life, and power? 2) Next week's blog- Are there destructive root systems in those around you? Are their thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, and criticisms destroying the strength of your faith foundation? Is there someone you need to approach because their state-of-heart is damaging your faith walk and obedience to Christ? For more, read on… This week a friend of mine sat in with me for a situation that needs resolve. After the situation that she attended with me, we went to her house and asked God to help us process what just took place. We took about 30 minutes to worship and pray and wait on God’s input. She received 2 words for me, “New roots.” For context, she gave a couple of scriptures, one being Jeremiah 17:7-8: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Roots. The things we can't see growing underground. How important are they? Did you know that roots can be more vigorous in growth and change than the leaves above? Did you know that new roots form RAPIDLY AFTER INJURY? This was revelation to me. For some reason, I had a picture in my mind that roots would rapidly grow just based upon season. I never factored in DEATH of roots as reason for rapid growth of NEW roots. From a report called “Tree roots: facts and fallacies”, it states, “injury to and death to roots are frequent…” Injury and death, commonly referred to in scripture as suffering and dying to self. In the report I read, the roots referred to as being injured and dying frequently were not the main tree roots; but the feeder roots. Feeder roots are made up of a complex system of network roots that primarily grow out and up. They absorb water and other nutrients to feed the tree. These feeder roots reside much closer to ground level and therefore are more easily damaged by surface level contaminants. They are more easily injured by surrounding plants, insects, animals, chemicals, and human action. To me this brought great revelation and gave me much to ponder. I’ve been really struggling with what God is doing right now in my life. Why so much injury and pain as this year starts? I’ve been upset about a call to “suffer” not willing to follow God’s lead. It’s been causing a great amount of distress and push-back in me. But though I have been a reluctant participant in whatever He is doing right now, of late I am turning and obeying, trusting Him to help me face pain. Through a series of “yes'", the new roots God wants formed are beginning to find their way deeper in Him. Its not over yet; but I know I am on the right path. Certainly I have made mistakes, but praise God as I reach for him, there is promise of healing. Do you believe that for yourself? Luke 6:19-and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. My revelation will not be your revelation; but I believe God wants me to share steps I've taken for revelation because too many travel alone. I haven't gone on the path of healing alone. As I have said yes to God, I have invited people into my pain and had it all laid before God with them. There is healing if we trust and have confidence in God as Jeremiah 17:7-8 listed above promises. What steps have I taken? 1- Ultimately I have given in, I have surrendered to face the painful situation that God is asking me to face. Our first step is to say, "Yes Lord." - John 14:23 2- I haven’t process my pain alone. In very difficult moments, I've called friends. I've asked them to come over and “be with me”. I’ve been willing to mourn in their presence and be vulnerable, no matter how awkward it has felt to do so. - James 5:16 3- I've let several people pray for me; and have been tuning into what is coming from these “intimates” after they have prayed and sought God on my behalf. There is a common message forming.- Matthew 18:19 4- I have not faced difficult meetings alone. See Matthew 18:16, where 2 or more are gathered, there Christ is with them. I have taken a spirit filled friend with me. for confrontation and to address situations. 5- I’ve not trusted in my own perceptions or other human perceptions after those meetings. I’ve processed my questions at the foot of the cross searching His Word, asking Him to give me and others His wisdom and His thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9 6- As this process has continued, I’ve become more willing to face suffering and pain believing it will produce more of Him in me. 2 Corinthians 1:5-7 7- I’ve been more willing to look at my anger. I've cast it on Christ, and have gone "deeper" to feel the pain and confess the fear driving it. - 1 Peter 5:7, 8- I’ve been obeying His call to sing during the pain, despite not feeling like it. -Psalm 63:7, I Thessalonians 5:16. 9- I continue to seek scripture for wisdom. Night and evening, praying continually asking God to speak to me through scripture and give me His wisdom. I want the new roots. I want healing. - 1 Thessalonians 5-17, Psalm 119:10. 10- New roots are forming as I continue to cry out asking for more of the Holy Spirit. “Holy Spirit come, open my eyes that I may see and understand and obey.”- Luke 11:13 What are the new roots he wants forming in you and me? What is the purpose behind the injury? He says to you, He says to me, “Let your roots go deeper in Me.” Is there distress in your life? What feeder roots might God be injuring? If you were to picture yourself as a tree, what does your root system look like? Are they thirsty? Are they feeling contaminated, raw and right at the surface, easily damaged? Is something cutting through those surface roots? What do your leaves look like? Are they green and flourishing? Take time to consider yourself as a tree. Ask God to show you a picture of where you are planted, by His stream or alone in a desert? Pray for God show you your root system. Ask Him where you need to go deeper. Are "Holy Spirit filled-others" prayerfully with you in your injury? Go through the list of 10 things above, are you taking these steps? Ask God to provide intimate others who are surrendered to God, to be with you as you face the pain He wants to heal. Next week’s blog is about asking him to show you a root system in situations and people around you that might be damaging to your foundation. Until then please try out the 2 meditations offered on the meditation page. Consider becoming a monthly supporter at just $10 per month! If you do, you will exclusively receive future meditations and accompanying resources once a month! I will receive notice that you have signed up as a monthly donor and your name and email will be added to the distribution of each month's prayer meditation resource!
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This week, I have created a prayer exercise based upon Psalm 46:10a- "Be still and know that I am God." Frequently, behind God's Word, He has images to look at, cultural context to understand, and actions to take. This is true of God's command to "be still". As God's people, we are called to trust and be still. In God's terms it means to slacken. To relax. To let fall, especially the hands. The idea is that we are to leave off our own attempts. It is about letting go, loosing (not losing) control, and trusting God to deliver and rescue. It's a process to trust God. That's why after the words, "Be still", he then says; and "KNOW that I am God." To know him the way He means, is that we would see AND perceive Him with clarity. He intends that we acquire intimate knowledge of who He is. The more we know Him this way, the more we trust Him to step in, the more we cry out that He intervene and take the reigns. The more we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, the more we will find rest in storms and have peace that surpasses understanding. We will release and trust Him for deliverance. God has many names to know Him by. One is Prince of Peace, see Isaiah 9:6. The prayer exercise at the end of the blog invites you into a quiet and restful time with the Prince of Peace. It takes about 5 minutes. Feel free to linger as long as you'd like though, there is no rush. Have your Bible and a pencil and paper near to journal thoughts and reference the Word. Creating and distributing resources like the video below is one part of this year's goals for Into the Waters. Our mission is to inspire people to linger longer with God in prayer, resourcing the earnest to draw near and know Christ. If you are one of the "earnest", I invite you to receive a biblical prayer meditation resource like the one below, on a monthly basis! For those who would support this ministry at a minimum of $10 per month, every month you will receive a 5-10 minute biblical meditation for use in your prayer closet! You will receive access to a "locked" page that will contain the meditation resources. Know your monthly support will help fund efforts as we go out and execute small group meditations, pray with people, and create more prayer resources for distribution and individual/group use. Help is needed to go out! The goal is to have 50 supporters at $10 per month or more over the next 6 months. Please pray for the ministry and agree for the provision! Visit the updated donation page to see detail on how to be a "recurring" monthly donor. Read the testimony page for a refresher of what God does and how people are blessed to spend time with Him! Would God lead you to be a regular supporter? We are a unique prayer ministry in terms of having a foundation based upon scripture meditation and active listening. The Spirit, the Word of God, and Jesus are the central inspiration! Thank you for considering being a monthly partner! If not, one time donations are always greatly appreciated, no matter how big or small. Blessings! God loves you! Press in for more and enjoy the meditation below! MEDITATION DESCRIPTION: The "Be Still" meditation is completely silent. It lasts approximately 5 minutes and 45 seconds. It might help to watch it once before entering your prayer time. You will see the slides transition, with some holding for longer periods to give you time to pray and process. You will be prompted with questions and asked to consider what you need to release into God's hands in order to experience the stillness He promises our souls. Be patient with yourself and the process. Let God work in you. Note: For monthly members, future uploads will include some sort of musical chime or sound to keep you in tune with slide transitions. As well you will be given access to complementary resources for deeper levels of processing and life application. Enjoy! Do you find it hard to process, read God's Word, and pray when emotionally upset or mentally troubled? I do. And it is in these times that I can get so frustrated concluding, "I can't hear". I reach out to my prayer partner and tell her the same, "I can't hear". She's heard that from me a couple times of late. She's stayed with me though and helped me keep watch. What a gift. We need that. In addition to our ever present help who is Christ, we need others to stay and keep watch with us. Jesus modeled asking for group watch and prayer. Matthew 26:37b-38... and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, stay here and keep watch with me." He knew their flesh would fail soon, and that they'd need to watch together and pray... Matthew 26: 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” From a human perspective, the flesh is weak. And God understands! We are not transformed all at once. It is a continual 'watch together and pray' process. There are places not yet surrendered; there are places I cannot reach. I lay myself down in my weakness. LORD of mercy descend... rise up in me. There is a lot to watch for. What binds us in the flesh is a long list... lies, distortions, half-truths, condemnation, shame, anger, flesh, people pleasing, self-pity, selfishness, delusion, sorrow, fear, anxiety, blame shifting, unhealthy relational dynamics, and on and on... These are strongholds to break by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit will give wisdom, to us and through others watching and praying with us. It's important. Many of us stay stuck because we have isolated our issues. We are stuck in a state skewed by the distortions of flesh and soul. And in our veiled view, we easily falsely translate what God is saying and many think He is not saying anything! Wrong! We need the watchers spiritually in tune with the Spirit; and we ourselves need to know the way of being in tune with the Spirit. Otherwise we will reach distorted conclusions of what we are to do. We need obedience and knowledge of His WORD to hear anything. Above all, we need the Spirit for translation and personal application. We will never hear the ways God is speaking or apply scripture unless it is understood through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is key because it's easy to twist God's Word. It's easy to see God in a false light. It's easy to find scripture that might appear to support what we falsely conclude. It's dangerous ground. To accurately hear from God, the Holy Spirit must be the teacher and you must remain in fellowship with Christ... 1 John 2:27- But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true- it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. There is no revelation without the Spirit. Ask for more of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaching is the key difference and effectual work that separates wordly meditation and biblical meditation. Worldly meditation is based purely on flesh and a failed promise for mind control. There is no Holy Spirit of Christ involved at all in worldly practice. No transforming light to find without Christ within, the LIGHT of the WORLD. As we watch and pray, we wait for God's help. We must test what we hear and know how to translate. What is an example of what could be a very confusing whisper of God? Let's say in your spirit you keep hearing, "sing". Well sing what? Why sing? How does that answer my questions? How is that supposed to help? Maybe its not God because it does not relate to any practical step for earthly issues and just seems weird. Well it's a powerhouse whisper of the Spirit. How would I know that is the Spirit speaking and teaching me? It's in the Word of God over and over and over. Acts 16:25-26 and 2 Chronicles 20 are two excellent examples. In 2 Chronicles, when enemies were so fierce and overpowering, God's people cried out and basically said, "We are terrified by their force. We do not know what to do; but our eyes are on you." They fasted, prayed, bowed in worship, and sang LOUD AND HIGH and received prophetic direction with miraculous deliverance. 22 Chronicles: 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.” 22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. Yes the Spirit is saying, "Sing." I testify it is a weapon of deliverance. When I lived in San Clemente in early 2000's, I would often drive in the hills after work, worshipping as loud as I could. Up and around Avenido Pico and Avenida Vista Montana, round and round. It was supernaturally transformative. Those hours month after month, combined with lots of church, small group, learning how to study God's Word, and obeying... loosed me from "the something" that had me which was deep emotional despair, severe brokenness, and torturing mental anguish. I have never lost that lesson. Singing worship is one of many powerful spiritual weapons God uses to heal and loose flesh from darkness. So if God started whispering "sing" to you. Would you obey? Now that you just briefly skimmed over it as truth from God's Word, will you obey? Are you curious enough to read the scripture and ingest it as truth? It is easy to ignore it and move on, staying stuck and filled with anxieties and fear and unbelief. Psalm 116:17- I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the Lord. Thankfulness required! I need that reminder right now in my "pit". Have not been thanking Him enough for my personal struggles. Have not been rejoicing in affliction. Have not been reflecting enough on the joy of my salvation. Was even convincing myself to not sing in the choir this weekend at my church despite what I just said in this blog! The flesh is weak! God knows you are merely dust! He sees your heaviness and sees the battle of the flesh. But despite that, sing! Despite the fact that I did not feel like it, despite the fact that I missed 2 rehearsals, I kicked myself in the butt last night and told myself to go to the final practice! Kick yourself in the butt too! Sing praise! Watch and pray! Push through all the excuses and flesh that screams "I don't want to." Die to self. Rise. Die to self. Rise. Over and over, over and over, til we meet Him in Heaven. Here is a prayer help from Youtube. It's a Word-based prayer song by Hillary Scott. It is based upon Jesus' soul cries in the garden. "Not my will; but thy Will be done." May you find your soul cry, lift your voice. Look vertical! Your help comes from ABOVE! As God sent an angel to strengthen Jesus in the garden, He has sent His Spirit to RESURRECT your life in the body too! Romans 8:11- 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. |
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