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**************************************** Answers to prayer come when we admit in prayer that our ways are not God’s ways, our thoughts are not His thoughts. He himself tells us this in Isaiah 55:8-9. Believing it, I recently received a very quick answer to prayer 🛐. I began by admitting to God 💞 that my ways weren’t his ways, my thoughts weren’t his thoughts. I needed His wisdom ✨ on something. (Do you need wisdom?) In my situation, I was hearing heightened emotions, strong opinions, upsetting conclusions made by people about something, people I like. I was influenced by some of these opinions and was becoming upset. (Are people around you, are you yourself making upsetting conclusions?) I had a choice; you have a choice. We can let ourselves be drawn into emotional whirlwinds that lead us to make bad decisions which fuels chaos, or we can take it to God. God was very quick to answer my prayer, transforming 💫 my thoughts into His thoughts and leading me to take a series of steps according to His ways! By his Spirit, he sent wisdom to me as promised in Isaiah 55:10-11. This resulted in me going out in joy 😁 and being led forth in peace 🤩, the promise given in Isaiah 55:12. As a result so far, I strengthened 💪 some relationships, helped settle upset in a few others, and got to put Isaiah 55:8-12 to memory 🧐 and into prayer practice with others. Try it. See if God deposits new thoughts into your mind 👤. See if His way is more powerful than your ways. See if He leads you in peace and joy👏. See if chaos subsides in your mind and heart. Give your upset 😠 to Him, ask to be awakened to ways and thoughts that are not of Him for transformation. You will grow in wisdom and you will be transformed! ✨ ... #bibleverse #isaiah55 #wisdom #testimony #helpme #faithingod #godanswersprayers #humbleyourself #anxietyhelp #talktogod #meditatedaily #christian #prayers
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What if just one prayer time a week was spent in the position above? Bent down, hands open, aware of our need for mercy, revering God, simply enjoying the privilege to be at the feet of the Savior of the world?
Within the last year or so, I learned about this position when I was looking up the word "bless" in bible dictionaries. I had no idea there was a concrete, highly descriptive image and action behind the word "bless". It taught me about a prayer position that I was not taking. It suddenly made me realize how lazy I had gotten with my body when in prayer. I realized I rarely, if ever, bent my knees to welcome God, to humble myself in bodily position as I talked with Him. As I write this, I realize again, I do not take this position nearly enough with Him. "I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel..."- Psalm 16:7 KJV According to bible resources, the word bless is defined as Hebrew word 1288 and is used 330 times in the Old Testament. It means to bend the knee, to kneel down, with the primary notion of breaking down, offering a gift. "Let us kneel down before the Lord God our Maker". It has the idea of adoring God on bent knee with an attitude of reverence towards Him. It is also defined as God bending the knee to extend gift, i.e. His divine favor reaching down and causing one to prosper, bestowing blessings. After learning of this definition, I took time to picture God at my feet giving me a gift. It was uncomfortable. I felt I was offending Him. Who was I to have God at my feet to receive a divine gift? Who was He to serve me? I know my reaction to that picture of God at my feet was intense because in fact, I had a long season of mistreating God. I had a time of expecting and demanding He give me what I wanted, the way I wanted it. So I was quick in my spirit to reject this image because I still have grief in my heart over treating Him that way. But God had intent with me to transform how I was reflecting on the image of Him at my feet. Jesus being at our feet, offering us divine gift is in fact scriptural. He is at our feet, the One who though being God did not use that to His own advantage, rather he made himself nothing, and took the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. He humbled himself and became obedient to a shameful death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him... (see Philippians 2:1-11) If I really connected with the countless times He has bent down and offered me love, a cleansing, forgiveness, grace, mercy, help, hope, revelation, wisdom, discernment, protection, joy, healing, correction, rest, release, freedom, strength, purpose, friendship, comfort, a new beginning, a new song, creative inspiration, truth... I would be returning on bended knee with hands open, bowing and blessing the Name above every other name. In His perfect wisdom, the LORD was showing me something that needed to change in my prayer position. On bended knee, there was a blessing of rest and a new intimacy to experience. But oh how often we miss out on this! We spend soooo much time wanting to “know” don't we? We put sooooo much energy reaching for knowledge, so that we can “have” and "get". It's quite normal to human nature, so normal it takes radical transformation to recognize how much we strive. But we need to do a hard stop and realize how much of our prayer language is strife. Striving is often a major portion of our prayer language. And when striving is our prayer language, our prayers often sound like this;: “God, what is happening? What are you doing? Where are you? What am I supposed to do? How come this isn’t working? What should I try next? Get me out of this situation, I can’t do this anymore. I want more and feel held back. Nothing is changing... (Prayer time ends in frustration... we move on with our day)." Coming to God in striving leads to hurried prayer, rapid fire words aimed at God. We can fool ourselves that our times of prayer are prayer when in fact they are just "mulling over" sessions with ourselves. Our thoughts quickly trail off to processing on our own. One time when I felt I was praying a lot, I sensed the Lord convict me that I mostly talked to myself, and kept Him in the background. What I thought was prayer, was just me merely processing with myself, to points of over processing. In this mode, one starts anxious and ends frustrated and totally misguided. God was never really invited in to that "prayer time". If we are honest, too often He is just treated as a sounding board for frustrations. Nothing is released, no thoughts are transformed; we keep the burden and resist Him. We do not receive the gift of rest he has in His hand to give us. What if just one time a week, we bent down in reverence and blessed God, hands empty, heart open? There is rest in this position, supernatural rest God will offer that cannot be explained! Your heart will soften with face bowed low. Tears might come instead of anger. Deep sighs will release what words cannot express. He'll quiet you with His love. He'll transform you at His feet. God exalts the humble. He raises the weary and burdened. What is sown in weakness is raised in power. What is sown in the natural body is raised a spiritual body. Do the simple thing. Bow at His feet, come empty handed. Revere the One who left His Father's glory to serve you on the cross. If this is all you offer, He will be greatly blessed and so will you! One day, every knee will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord... Last Saturday was another time of precious time in God’s presence and supernatural touch by our good God. The theme of the time was Psalm 16:2, “apart from you Lord, I have no good thing”.
One of the things that God always does is touch certain people in ways that releases emotion that has been compartmentalized and inaccessible. One of the attendees shared that she has not been able to mourn over a deeply painful situation, but finally accessed it in the session. God’s Spirit is gentle and draws us in a such a way that we rest and let go. He penetrates that which we cannot touch, things so overwhelming and painful that we cannot feel anything but numbness, but He sees it and unearths what is buried. But He does it in such a way that releases supernatural balm into those deep wounds. The emotional release people experience is due to relief and experiencing His supernatural love and healing presence. It is a work of the Spirit beyond our conception! “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 NIV http://bible.com/111/1co.2.9-11.niv In God’s presence, his thoughts become our thoughts. The picture at the top shows baskets filled with a prayer requests from each. These represent good thoughts, good requests, formed in them through God’s spirit work in them! Our time ended by redistributing these prayer requests anonymously and taking a time to pray for another. We took our eyes and focus off ourselves for a moment, and carried a burden for another. By doing this, we are an instrument of God’s promise to heal another. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16 KJV http://bible.com/1/jas.5.16.kjv These are the collective cries... ... healing and unity and wholeness in marriage, God centered selfless love, forgiveness of self and others, restoration where God sees fit, clear direction, becoming trustworthy of others, to experience supernatural peace in financial and relational situations, to be filled with peace even when situations are confusing, for God’s guidance through current struggles, for help to direct energy to serve God, for God’s reassuring presence, for help to meet demands and challenges, for light and truth to guide themselves and family, for healing of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, to feel and know God’s hovering and protective presence, to increase in trust of God, for a place to live, willingness to allow God to enter weaknesses and trust He will sustain and grow them, find balance, for scattered pieces to be put back together, to trust the Lord more and not lean on their own understanding... What beautiful language of children seeking God! God heard their cries for mercy and will answer because He gives good and perfect gifts from Heaven, James 1:17. “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.” Psalm 116:1 NIV http://bible.com/111/psa.116.1.niv May you pray for those requests above and be a part of another’s healing. May you find language that inspires your prayers and cry out for mercy. May you invite God’s spirit to search your deepest places and believe in His good hand to reach and heal what you cannot reach on your own power. Blessings! “The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being.” Proverbs 20:27 NIV http://bible.com/111/pro.20.27.niv There are a couple men who attended June's Summer Sabbath walk, all pursuers wanting more of God. One of them is this week's guest author. His name is Paul; and upon first meeting him a handful of years ago, he seemed a bit intimidating to me. I guess this was true on terms of his physical size and the serious demeanor he was carrying that day. Initially, it made me wonder how friendly he was. But it didn't take long for me to realize I had nothing to worry about. Very quickly it became clear he was self-effacing, hilarious, generous, compassionate, fiercely protective of those he loves, tuned to society's outcasts, a mold breaker, and a warrior in training. He is one who is not ashamed to seek the Father's heart and let that emotion show. He is very intent to pursue Christ and invests his life in young people in selfless ways. He adores his wife and is not afraid to push past fear to love deeply. I'm honored to be his friend. Hope you enjoy reading Paul in the way he shares about the exhausting burden God was prompting him to release to Jesus. May you come to the last and final event for summer to release the burden you are carrying! Sign up on the calendar page! A Heavy Burden or a New Heart: You Choose, by Paul Stack
Many people I know get a bad taste in their mouth when the word “church” comes up, and that bad taste usually results from bad relationships. These people had an ugly experience with a church member or staff, and decided they wanted to get out and not return. Peter Scazzero, a well known pastor in New York City and author of "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality", faced this problem many times with his congregation and in his own life. In a video session about his book, he shares his struggle of leading a growing church: “People were changing, but they weren’t changing deeply. Deep beneath the surface was not changing.... Something was deeply wrong. People who called themselves ‘Christians’ were not enjoyable to be around and often judgmental.” Overtime, he began to realize that if he didn’t develop a way for himself and the church to be deeply transformed, the church was going to die, as was his soul. He was internally spent, tense, on-edge, and dealing poorly with family and church relationships. As he became more clear of what was at stake, he came to believe that the church in America will die out if the members inside the church don’t learn to love deeply. He also came to believe that only way to learn to love deeply was to develop a rich interior life. Scazzero’s conclusions ring true for me, and that is why I believe in the mission of the “Into the Waters” ministry. Gina’s gift of a Summer Sabbath Walk experience was a wonderful tool to help grow my connection with God and to develop my love for him and others. During the Sabbath Walk, we began the day with a guided meditation while walking around a gorgeous park. The time in nature put me in a place to hear God clearly: I stopped thinking about what I had to do that day and that week and took in the stream, the breeze, the chipmunks, all the beautiful things I often neglect to notice (if I’d only slow down to see them!). After the walk, Gina led us to reflect further on Proverbs 20:27 from the audio recording: “The breath of man is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being.” Proverbs 20:27 We reflected on God’s desire to know and transform the deepest parts of us. I thought a lot about how my past experiences shaped me to believe that I was responsible for other people’s feelings and actions. This belief has been one of the most painful and poisonous lies that has influenced my life and relationships. It can lead me to resent my wife when she doesn’t reach her fitness goals; I’ve believed that if she doesn’t accomplish those goals, it’s my fault. It can cause me to nag and pressure the students I lead in high school youth group to share the gospel with their friends, often in ways that make me and God sound like harsh, demanding task masters; I’ve believed that if they don’t take meaningful social risks and invite their friends to church, it’s my fault. It can push me to repeatedly ask my friend who struggles with depression if he’s gone to church, made any friends, read the Bible, and many other “helpful” suggestions (which probably sounded like passive-aggressive commands); I’ve believed that if he doesn’t overcome his bout with depression through my friendship, it’s my fault. God never intended me to carry this kind of responsibility on my shoulders; his yoke is supposed to be easy, and his burden is supposed to be light. However, I’ve held on to these destructive beliefs and taken on a demanding and exhausting burden in the process. This is why I need to develop an interior life with God: if I want to be a truly empathetic, patient, stable, and loving follower of Jesus, I need to learn to let go of the ugly habits and attitudes He wants me to release. I’ve been judgmental, controlling, and manipulative plenty of times in my life. I know the cost of neglecting my inner life well. As we continued reflecting on this Proverbs verse, I received clarity on people I needed to apologize to and relational shifts I had to make. For example, I decided to pray for and encourage my wife in regards to her fitness goals, but leave the choice up to her as to whether or not she goes to the gym. God’s light burden for me in this case is to support my wife, not to control her into good behavior. These realizations about ways to surrender my controlling and overly-responsible tendencies to God have continued. I still face regular temptation to be slip back into old habits, but I’ve made plenty of progress since the Sabbath walk. I also stopped offering “suggestions” to my friend struggling with depression and have asked more questions about what his experience has been like. I apologized for the times I’ve tried to control him, and he forgave me. Our friendship has become more honest and enjoyable for both of us. Bottom line: when Gina invites you to something, go to it :) All joking aside, developing your inner-life to deal with your bad attitudes, unhealthy relationships, and poisonous beliefs is one of the best decisions you can ever make. A lot is at stake. What if the first words that came to people’s minds when they thought of you was “patient” or “gentle” or “consistently loving”? A life based on the deep change that God offers will make you much more like Jesus. I don’t know about you, but I want to work with, go to church with, and be best friends with someone who is like Jesus. The calendar page has been updated with the next meditation event being held on Saturday, August 4th from 9-11am at Channing Philbrick Park. Take time to let God reveal His goodness. There is nothing better than experiencing His presence and life filling you up! Read the last blog to get a sense of God's faithfulness to minister to those who pursued His presence. Sign up on the calendar page!
Saturday, June 16th was a GOOD day, filled with gentle breezes in the park and of the LORD! Souls were gathered, refreshed, filled, and renewed! For those who are curious and might consider attending in the future, this blog will explain how the time was used and include reactions from attendees. There was a good range of ages that participated from early 20's up to 60 "ish". Two men after God's own heart attended! Drawing near to God is not just for women!
We started off gathering under the shelter shown above. For the beginning, some introductory messages were given about the format, reason for the ministry, and a beginning teaching with associated meditative exercise. Then each was given an MP3 player that contained 30 minutes of preparatory breathing and prayer meditation to do alone on a walk in the park. The recording was to help participants begin to open up and invite God to search within and give some freedom in preparing alone. Then, upon return, they were ready to connect with current thoughts, feelings, actions, and words causing upset within. A form was handed out and participants took time to consider what was not currently good in these areas and write them down. We then focused on God's meaning of good with visual pictures to help identify God's activity to do good within our souls and satisfy our deepest needs in all areas of our lives. True "good", as defined by God, is definitive and unchanging. It is not opinion based as we use it. True good is seen and known in the life of Jesus, who qualifies himself as the "Good" Shepherd. A good shepherd MAKES his sheep lie down and rest, Psalm 23:2. How? We looked at 4 areas that create unrest within sheep folds, and saw how these areas perfectly translated to 4 areas of upset in our human lives. These are the areas that a good shepherd has to settle in order for his flock to lie down and rest. Those 4 areas were brought before God in meditative exercises. With the help of the Holy Spirit, participants processed, released, and received fresh revelation and rest from God. During this part, I also included time to pray for the group in each of the 4 areas. If you have never been prayed for, this experience alone can be quite comforting and healing. God intends that we have moments when someone is standing with us to cover us with God's good promises. We need others to stand with us in agreement for renewal and supernatural life, especially when we are weary and heavy burdened. Participants received this covering. This period of time (From the time of return from the walk to completing the meditative exercises) took about 1 hour. The ending was a transition from the exercises to worship played on a speaker. Worship time helps each one end gently and in their timing, alone with God. Participants were invited to worship for as long as they wanted, or continue journaling, and/or receive personal prayer. Each were free to leave in their own timing. Some stayed for an 10 additional minutes, some stayed another 40 minutes. Some asked for personal prayer for the areas that God brought up to them in the meditative exercises. There was a good amount of release of gentle emotion from most participants because God was good and ministered to deep areas of need. Overall, it was a wonderful time with the Good Shepherd! But I'll let the remaining input come from some participants who turned in a survey. (Note they chose the roles that are associated with their comments.) "Amazing!!! The combination of the walk and guided meditation was very helpful and woke me up to areas in marriage and work that I was anxious and controlling. Gina's meditations help me process emotions with better clarity and gain new ways of becoming closer with God." - Youth Ministry leader and Professional Career. "Really enjoyed MP3 use; but it wasn't long enough. I wanted more." - Adult Ministry leader and Parent "The meditation was very refreshing and insightful. The park was a perfect setting! I found the images you described (like God's mercy as a womb) very helpful for a fuller understanding of God. I thought the pacing of the meditation was just right. I appreciated how we were able to reflect on our feelings and then progress to meditating on God's provision for these troubling feelings. I especially like the phrase "shameless audacity" and have used it in my prayer life this week." - Parent and professional career "I really enjoyed the experience. I feel I gained some tools in being able to go deeper in meditation and reflection to grow closer to Jesus. The park is one of my favorites so this helped me also. Nature is one of those places that I really connect with God." - Parent and Business Owner "Gina is a connector- her gift to help you enter the presence of God, no matter how 'stuck in the mud' you feel- is truly a gift." - Life Coach "Thank you for this ministry! I appreciated the time to ourselves for reflection. Not often that we are able to slow down and process life events or emotions. Thanks again!" - Professional Career "The location was perfect. After the meditation I felt so encouraged, loved, and near the Lord. There was a sense of renewed hope. All those troubled thoughts were gone. Got a vision of Jesus wrapping his arms around me and insight of walls built as a hedge of protection from God. The teaching on the shepherd was amazing. He is a good shepherd!" - Parent "I really appreciate your gentle leadership. You shared wisdom and scripture but very much in a way of drawing in (not talking at)." - Bible teacher, Youth Ministry leader, Parent "I loved the Into the Water's Experience. Would love to know where to go from here. Often I find I get a little taste, but then back to the 'crazy'. How do I get this muscle to be my go to?" - Bible teacher, Youth Ministry leader, Parent "This time of meditation provided a much needed respite in a time of turmoil and uncertainty. Through Gina's gentle promptings and interactions and non-judgmental approach we were led into the presence of the "Good Shepherd", basking in His love, reflecting on our own thinking and actions and learning to wait patiently in Him. Draw near to Him! Thank you Gina, you have been a blessing in my life!" - Bible Teacher and Professional Career "Enjoyed time shared with God in nature, His creation. Refreshed and revived in His Spirit. Felt calmness, soothing release of emotions. It was a time to bring God's good into my soul and then my home." - Seeker Participants were also asked the following questions with percentages shown of majority answer, from majority of attendees who submitted a survey- 1) Overall, how satisfied were you with your experience at today's meditation?
This is all written to give you a sense of the experience and to encourage you to consider attending an event. Additionally, please leave a comment below if you have interest in learning how to bring this type of session into your small group setting. You can also send an email of inquiry to gina@intothewaters.com. A similar event will be posted for the 1st Saturday in August. Sign up will be posted next week, keep an eye out on the calendar page! Draw near! How often do you take counsel in your own soul? How often are you ruminating and processing and mulling over your own thoughts? Most of us meditate WAY MORE OFTEN than we think we do; and most of us do it alone. The Bible cautions against taking counsel in our own soul as it leads to despair and feelings of defeat, Psalm 13:2. The Bible also teaches that our hearts are deep waters. The ministry and resources from Into the Waters help people enter into their deep waters with God's help, i.e. not alone. He sheds light.
The very first creative act detailed in the Bible is the Holy Spirit hovering over waters of the deep, Genesis 1:2. Only darkness was over the surface of that deep until God spoke and the Spirit executed the command to separate light from darkness. "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. Have you ever thought about the light of Day 1? What was it? It is not the light of day 4 when the sun, moon, and other heavenly lights were created by God. In your life right now, is there darkness in your understanding? Where is there confusion that needs God's holy light to penetrate and counsel you? Do you have areas that feel without form and empty, that need to be filled with God's goodness? If deep waters within need counsel, join us on Saturday, June 16th for a unique time with God in a beautiful park setting. The time flies in moderator led settings. In this unique park setting, attendees who sign up will experience shelter meditation exercises, using an MP3 player provided with interactive exercises on their own private walk, worship, prayer, and making scripture rocks. The time will be engaging and fill you up in God! Sign up on the calendar page! God still sends His Spirit to hover over the surface of the deep. He still issues commands through the person of the Holy Spirit. He sends His Spirit to create and renew the face of the ground, Psalm 104:30. Jesus gives His Spirit as gift to those who love Him, John 14:26-27. The Spirit still hovers over the deep and executes the commands of God to separate light from darkness, to counsel and draw out meaning, to give understanding. May you be open to spending time in His presence. Time flies in these moderator led settings! Position to process your thoughts under the protective life of the Spirit! He longs to turn mourning into dancing and to give you beauty for ashes! Peace be still! Sign up! A mark of a mature and well-developed person is one who can discern what is good. When you are able to discern what is good, you make decisions that direct your steps into the path of God’s supernatural promises. The meditation event of a Summer Sabbath Walk is an invitation for you to discern what is good. Being able to discern what is good and what is not good is described as something for the mature, those who eat solid meat. Discerning God’s goodness and what is good in terms of personal choices helps one reach a level of maturity where you are filled with supernatural wisdom, strength, and securely dependent on God’s provision. These are the ones who are not destroyed by the storms of life. They are over-comers, victorious through the divine supply of God’s goodness. He has a supply that is not to be worked for, no striving involved. It is to be received. Unfortunately, whether consciously or unconsciously, many people do not believe God gives unless you work hard. Many people work to points of exhaustion, not seeing God’s hand open to them. Instead they see a closed hand, maybe even a closed fist if they think God is angry with them. Many are not full and satisfied deep within. Many are empty and drained, busy striving and posturing, grasping to get what they want on their terms. Striving is not God’s will for our lives. He wants us to reach a state of rest and trust in His goodness. He promises to send His Spirit to recreate and to renew our hearts with His life, strength, and purpose. How does our rest and trust in God deepen? God instructs us to walk with Him and by reason of use to exercise our senses to discern what is good and not good. One way of doing this is meditating and wrestling with God’s promises. Then in times of strain and moments of choice, we remember and are invited to believe in His radical promises, walk by faith, and jump with abandon into the Father’s arms. Many times He will bring us to the end of our faith, because He is the finisher of our faith, Hebrews 12:2. His resurrection life comes again and again to raise up what is dead in you. We are to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings so that we become like him in his death. Becoming like him in his death means that we attain resurrection from the dead, in this life and in the next. He promises to give life to our mortal bodies by His Spirit, Romans chapter 8. God is indeed good and has many wonderful things to reveal to those who seek His face and walk with Him in His finished work. Here are 3 pictures that represent the concrete definition of good in God’s terms. They are a basket, a tent peg, and a house. How do they relate? How do they combine to form God’s meaning of His goodness? Well you will have to come to the event on Saturday June 16th to find out. God's language and meaning is rich in sensory experience and action based visual images. He provides wonderful material to ponder and experience His truths. He does not shift according to opinion or waves of emotion. God is unchanging and His hand is open to you. Come and sit in His Presence, walk with him; talk with Him. Enjoy and receive. Sign up for the event on the calendar page! And feel free to share the video above and this blog with a friend. Certainly you know someone who needs to hear that supernatural provision is available to those who can discern between what is good and what is not good. Blessings! Socrates, the father of philosophy, apparently said “the unexamined life is not worth living”. He lived 400 or so years before Christ. I think I would have liked Socrates. I would have liked to watch him question dogmatic intellectuals and demonstrate they held contradictory beliefs whose arguments fell apart in their own explanations. Certainly I don’t agree with everything he taught, but do agree with his position on soul care. He stressed that a human being must care for his soul more than anything else. He concluded people cared more about wealth, reputation, and physical appearance at the high cost of neglecting their soul. Seems not much has changed in 2500 years. In his own pursuit of a healthy soul, it appears as though he reached the end of himself. Socrates is famously known for concluding, “All I know is that I know nothing.” This is a dead-end from the father of philosophy. How depressing to think one might spend so much energy for the care of their soul only to bemoan knowing nothing. It's a humble statement for sure. But leads me to wonder if it is the conclusion of the one who processed their soul in their own human strength. Without divine mercy, supernatural forgiveness, and renewal by God’s Spirit, a soul remains in a desperate and unredeemed state. If humans are to examine their soul, they need God’s protective assistance by His Spirit. It is a dangerous, dead-end work to examine your own soul without God’s mercy. Jesus knows our frame and in His wisdom has determined we should look within with Him, and not alone. Come to me. Follow me. Trust in me. Believe in me. Sit at my feet. Learn from me. Stretch forth your hand. Look to me. Wait on me. Cast your cares on me. Ask. Keep asking. Call on me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you DO NOT KNOW. Processing with God is contrary to exclusive focus on your soul by yourself. Meditating alone, ruminating on your own thoughts and feelings is something we obsessively do. However, that type of approach leads to despair, anxiety, fanning flames of fear, disillusionment, lies as foundation, self-worship, self-hate etc. Of examining one’s own soul, one of God’s poets wrote- “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?” Left to our own thoughts, we despair. Inspirational thought is fleeting. Self-talk disappoints. Whereas God’s way concludes with hearts rejoicing in his salvation, trusting in His mercy and goodness, having their minds renewed, their souls redeemed, and promises of new beginnings every day. In his hands our souls receive supernatural breath of life by His Spirit. “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”-- the things God has prepared for those who love him-- The things that God has prepared for those who love him… The things that God has prepared for those who love him… Repeat that to yourself over and over and realize there are things prepared for you... How can I see what my eyes can’t see? How can I hear what my ears can’t hear? How can I conceive what my mind cannot conceive? Is this another empty philosophy, another dead end? No. The scripture above ends like this- These things God has revealed to us by His Spirit- 1 Corinthians 2:10. By God’s Spirit, He promises I can see what no human eye can see. I can hear what no human ear can hear. I can conceive and understand what no human mind has conceived. I can know the thoughts of God by the Spirit of God! God does not give a spirit that comes from the world but the Spirit who is from God. He did this that we may understand what God has freely given us. Children of God are not to be taught in human wisdom; but in words taught by the Spirit, receiving spiritual realities with Spirit taught words. The person without the Spirit of God considers this foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit is given privilege to make judgments about all things, but that person is not subject to another human making judgments about them or left to the severe limitation of their own human judgments. The person with the Spirit has the mind of Christ and the one who instructs one with the mind of Christ is the Spirit of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:9-16). Do you love him? If so, there is a world of spiritual gift and promise and life for the care of your soul. ... the things God has prepared for those who love him-- If you want to love him and want to believe and want what He promises, it is for you too! He knows your frame. He is merciful. He is willing to reveal His nature to the one who longs to love Him yet struggles with things like shame, fear, anger, unbelief etc. Just be willing and try and He will lovingly penetrate your self-protective walls with divine love and healing, and fill you with Himself! There is more, so much more for those who look up and extend hands to receive good things from God! With God, all things are possible. With God, souls are set free! Invite wisdom through wonder! Through Christ and His Spirit we successfully pursue abundant life, soul prosperity, and a place of honor in His presence! The ultimate soul care! “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he had been good to me.”- Psalm 13:5 Come and spend time with Him. Walk with Him and practice talking with Him. Learn of His good nature and receive His tender mercies. Find rest for your soul in His presence. You are invited to do this at a short Sabbath retreat on Saturday June 16th. Please visit the calendar page to sign up. The time will be reflective and revitalizing. No one is expected to share in groups and individual privacy and processing will be honored. We’ll start as a group with a preparatory meditation; then you will have time to walk alone within the park (or sit quietly in the park- your preference) assisted by a simple meditative exercise of your choice. We’ll gather as a group for a meditation after the walk to root our hearts more deeply into the love and promises of Christ. The time is meant to refresh and renew! More detail will come to those who sign up. Hope you join! You should not expect to receive anything from the LORD…- from James 1:5-8 Who should not expect to receive anything? The one who doubts… God is challenging me to remember some times of breakthrough. Times that he broke down walls hindering His Spirit. It came to mind this week in my bible study group. A scripture came up that took me back in time to a good memory. It was from John 7. In it, Jesus spoke loudly to a large crowd and said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Jesus was at a “Living Water” festival when he said this, which in Jewish culture is a holy festival known as the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a time of year they are to celebrate for 8 days the harvest that God provided that season. Part of their celebration ended up including thanking God for sending living water from Heaven to water the crops and sustain their lives. Jesus used this opportunity to boldly declare that He was the living water sent from Heaven. He wanted people to know that He was the drink that would not only satisfy all physical need; but would produce a continual flow of living water to renew hearts within. Radical. I remember being so intrigued by this scripture about living water flowing within. At that time I was a Christian for maybe 3 years, too young of a believer to hold too firmly to any limiting belief. I had just rededicated my life to God after repenting of treating Him like a genie in a bottle and of major disobedience. He gave me a new start filled with grace by promoting me in my job (when I should have been fired instead), moving me to a beautiful ocean setting in San Clemente, and establishing me in a strong bible believing church (Calvary Chapel Capo Beach). His forgiveness towards me was such a relief and lead me to surrender to His promptings. I felt that He was emphasizing that I was to learn how to study the Bible and be in fellowship groups. So for the first time I was beginning to really look at scripture in context, to consider what it was saying, apply it, and to pay attention to how the Spirit revealed Himself in believers around me. At that time, if you asked me, I could say that I felt His presence here and there; but I could not say I felt a “flow” within. At this time I was attending 3 Sunday morning services, a mid week service, and a Sunday evening service. You would think I would have been quite familiar with a flow of His Spirit within from all that church time; but I was not! Church hours do not add up to more spirit. It can quite easily add up to more lifeless religion. God wants relationship, authentic and surrendered, in order to "flow" within us. And I had just come off a season of major disobedience. So while He was being very good to me; He was also going slow with me. We do not realize that God is much like Joseph in the way he tested his brothers before there was freedom of fellowship again. see Genesis chapters 42-45. God can go slow with us, keeping us in a place to test our motive and cause us to yearn for more. It worked with me. I was very thirsty within and needed strong, satisfying drink. I wanted more of anything more to receive. I wanted any promise Jesus spoke of and this one for living water flowing within intrigued me. I believed God could produce that flow of His life giving spirit within me in greater measure. I didn't limit myself with belief that I was already filled and there was no more. I did not put up hands that said "no", I put up hands which freed me to be filled up to receive new life... again. Now some are probably already arguing in their head how unscriptural this statement is. And to those I say “phooeeeeey on youeeeeey”. I’m very aware of the biblical position of believers being filled with the Spirit at the point of belief; and the argument that the flow Jesus is talking about references the Holy Spirit entering believers who have faith in Christ. Yes I believe that; and experienced that filling at the point of belief. But then my flesh and will disobeyed the leading of the spirit and I spent 3 years experiencing a quenching of the Holy Spirit’s presence. I never questioned my salvation; but I desperately longed for more of God and the promise of more.
Now 22 years in to my relationship with God, I see how boring the Christian life becomes when we stop believing for more. And I’m feeling challenged to not surrender to belief that limits God. I feel very strongly about stoking childlike faith in prayer that produces maturity. That may seem contradictory; but it is not. Remaining childlike keeps you in a place of awe and wonder. It also produces greater trust in God and strengthens a life that is founded on the radical truth of Scripture. And it keeps life in the Spirit dynamic to produce a supernatural wisdom that is necessary for the intensifying spiritual battle of our times. Don't look down on little children; God vanquishes the enemy through their cries, Psalm 8:2. Plus, God answers childlike requests and promises to those who delight in Him, He shall give them the desires of their heart. “Most Christians have lost the life of their heart and with it, their romance with God.” ― John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God What happened to my prayer for living water flowing within? Well He answered of course! I started feeling His presence like water within! And I saw that He tied it to my delighting in Him and surrendering. He was lifting me out of a deep depression in this season and healing deep places of brokenness. I kept clinging to Him, praising Him, longing for more, and letting Him wipe every tear. I remember telling one of my pastors that I was beginning to feel the flow within. I remember how happy and joyful that new reality felt! I remember how thankful I was that the life of Jesus was flowing within me in a palpable way! I remember realizing it was something no one could steal from me; but was indeed SOMEONE I could quench and grieve within, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 and Ephesians 4:30. The contrast was a critical lesson for me to get. Do not quench the Spirit- 1 Thessalonians 5:19. What quenches the Spirit? Well there are lots of flesh based things to list, some ideas found in both scripture sections just referenced. But my conviction for today is about delighting in God and being responsive to God revealing His truth to you. And realize God is outside of our box of neatly packed convictions. I can share another example of God upending spirit limiting theology which teaches that believers are only filled once. Around 2006, I was now in New York, and was leading a prayer ministry at my church. One of my team members became insistent on me being “filled with the Spirit”. In her terms it meant that I needed to speak in tongues in order for this to be true. I knew this was not biblical; but did I argue with her and dismiss her? I was very tempted; but I felt God softening me to go along with what she wanted to do. I caution that at this point, I was pretty grounded in biblical truth and felt like He had readied me to love her through her strong conviction and be open to whatever God did. I knew she loved God and was being sincere. So I positioned myself in childlike belief and longed for more. We arranged that she would come over to my apartment for the “speaking in tongues” to happen. Note, that 8 years prior I became a Christian in a church that encouraged speaking in tongues. I had already prayed for it several times with no obvious manifestation of the gift of tongues. I had studied 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14 regarding gifts of the Spirit and had come to the conclusion it wasn't a gift the Holy Spirit was giving me. But either way, I decided not to be held to that as a conviction and submitted to praying what she wanted me to pray; and longed for whatever God would deposit. I followed all her instructions. I waited. Nothing happened. However, in the middle of the night I woke up with a phrase that I was speaking on my lips. I quickly got a piece of paper and wrote down phonetically what I was repeating; because I had no idea what it was, if anything at all. I asked for interpretation, 1 Corinthians 14:27. It took awhile to decipher and find correct spellings; but God helped me. It sounded Hebrew so I searched each word one by one and discovered it was indeed Hebrew language! Here is the phrase: “El Yah shabbach ni ach.” This may not be in correct grammatical order for Hebrew. I have no idea. It doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that God was answering my openness for more, honoring kindness I expressed towards my friend, and joyfully giving me one of His promises. This phrase translates as: “My God is Jehovah who soothes, stills, and calms wailing, mourning brethren.” These Hebrew words are found in Strong’s Concordance as H452, H7623, H5204, and H0251. Powerful! I was awe struck and humbled from of measure of unbelief regarding tongues. It still makes me tear up (in a good way) when I read what it means. The God of Heaven filled me with more of His heart in order to more deeply root me in truth. He is ALMIGHTY and He is a God who heals emotions and soothes the souls of his people! That message is meant for you because the Spirit is distributed for the building up of the body of Christ, i.e YOU! How sweet is that? How romantic? How beautiful? Fall in love with God! Long for more! Are you one of His children? If not, may you have urgency to call on His name to be supernaturally adopted as one of His own. Do you know the flow of His life within? If not, may you consider what is quenching or grieving the Spirit. Have you lost hope? Is your faith lukewarm, stagnant water? Do you limit your belief in your head and hold stubbornly to theological positions that stifle the Spirit? Have you lost childlike wonder? Would you say you ever had it? How much unbelief is hidden within your scripture positions? Is God neatly packed in your box? He escaped your box a long time ago when He rose from the grave. Nothing contains Him. Unbelief is something to meditate on and confess to God. Unbelief quenches the Spirit. Matthew 13:57-58- And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Be very careful not to dishonor the miraculous Savior. Be not offended at his all surpassing power. Honor the Father who talks to His children and tells His children to ask for more. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” - Luke 11:11-13 There is no reason to fear the Spirit. God is a God of order, 1 Corinthians 14:40. He knows our frame. He is not a God who wreaks havoc within. He is tender, gentle, and wants to soothe, calm, and still you within. This is done by His Spirit. Invite more. Long for more. Believe Him for more. Sit with Him; learn how to spend time with Him. Meditate on His Word. You are invited to a Sabbath Day’s walk with Him on Saturday June 16th to do just that. Visit the calendar page for more information and to sign up! Believe for more! Set aside strong head argument and confess hardened heart in order to soften to awe and wonder, see how it affects how He flows within! |
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1- Sign up to receive blog and email announcements 2- Search on Facebook and join our private Facebook group> Peace Be Still Daily Prayer Download Prayer is Gift!Hi my name is Gina; and I'm the founder of the ministry. My 25 year journey with God has been centered on immersing myself in the safe relationship God offers, learning about the power of surrender, and praying for His life in greater measure! Categories
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