Are you familiar with the term ‘Foundational Lies?’  Neither was I, at least not until I began hearing those words in my spirit.  A few years ago, suddenly and quite frequently, the Holy Spirit began using that term while teaching me some incredibly valuable, life-changing lessons.  At that time, I was relatively new to the ‘charismatic’ church environment, and this stuff was rocking my little world.  During that time in my life, I was receiving regular prayer for inner healing, and God was transforming me right before my very eyes!  I was pressing in to know as much about the deep things of God as I could digest.  ‘Hearing’ from God was a new adventure for me, and my heart was wide open.

During this season of discovery, the Holy Spirit began teaching me lessons about what He called Foundational Lies - words that negatively affect how we shape our world view, keeping us bound up in wrong thinking.  Foundational Lies are false statements we have believed over the years to be truths and thus, we have stood on them.  Making matters worse, we have continuously built other mindsets on top of that wrong thinking.  (Imagine a construction project being built higher and higher on a crooked foundation.)  For example, consider that age-old admonition:  “God helps those who help themselves.”  These words are totally contrary to Scripture.  Although it is true that we are expected to put some skin in the game, when this lie becomes part of our foundation, we set our own plans in motion instead of waiting on the Lord for His direction.   Proverbs 3:5 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

As God began to reveal the power of Foundational Lies, He gave me a visual image of how stubbornly our flesh renounces any thought or idea that contradicts a long-held belief.  In this vision, I was standing barefoot on a flat hot rock, the soles of my feet melted solidly in place.  As a strong wind blew my body around, my feet did not move.  This picture was meant to demonstrate how, even when strong truth was revealed to me, I remained stuck solidly to the old rock that was my foundation.  Although I was confronted with the truth of a matter, I was not able to get past my lie-based core beliefs. 

Often these lies form an illusion of protection to allow my sinful flesh to continue feeding its lusts.  For example, I had held onto the belief that there are no ‘bad’ foods.  This lie allowed me to continue to eat anything I desired, even though I was struggling with excess weight and lack of energy.  This Foundational Lie kept me from facing the truth that certain foods are harmful to my body, and eating those things regularly left me feeling sluggish and weary.  The Lord says my body is His temple.

For much of my life I struggled with a spirit of rejection, and a fear that I was not loved, or even loveable.  Those Foundational Lies brought much pain and loneliness, and led me to make many poor decisions over my lifetime.  Although intellectually I knew I was loved, and I was perfect just as God made me, the deep parts of my soul still believed those lies.  I knew something was drastically wrong, so I continued to pray for inner healing for my soul.  I longed for the Lord to put His finger on the memories that contained the lies, and speak truth to me.  During one particular prayer time, the Lord led me to a number of childhood memories.  In each memory I was able to see an empty and lonely child who was provided with adequate physical necessities, but was not really loved, or nurtured, very much at all.  That did not seem particularly unusual because I did not know children were supposed to be loved.  I thought parents were stuck with kids and had to get them raised as best they could:  “you made your bed, now lie in it!”  That is a Foundational Lie!  Believing that lie kept me from acknowledging how truly alone and lonely I was; I had no idea that I had a right to expect anything else.  Therefore, I continued to make excuses for my parents’ lack of affection toward me, especially with regard to my mother.  I had already acknowledged that my dad checked out of parenting almost from the beginning.  Another Foundational Lie:  “a father is not held accountable for the raising of children.” 

I came to the truth that my mother generally provided me with the bare minimum of affection, and I was left empty and lonely.  I have come to understand that my mother was too caught up in her own pain to adequately care for me as a child, or nurture me in the ways I desired.  Her own insecurity, and her lack of being adequately loved, obstructed her ability to meet my needs.  However, I was unable to really grab hold of that truth because I was holding onto another Foundational Lie:  “she did the best she could with what she had.” 

In order to be able to renounce this lie and see it for the excuse it was, I had to admit I used that same lie to defend my own failures.  I would need to take a look at my own past behavior, and admit that I too did not do the best I could with what I had.  I was then able to renounce the lie as it related to my mother, and also acknowledge that these words had falsely shaped my own world view.

The next Foundational Lie the enemy told me was this:  “although I had a hard childhood, it could have been much worse.”  This lie brought condemnation, forcing me to minimize or hide my emptiness.  The Lord exposed that lie by asking me what could be worse than not being loved and nurtured!  I needed to renounce this lie (the one that said my problems were not really very big and therefore not very important to God, so just shut up), and ask the Lord to assure me that every area of my life is important to Him, despite the fact that many other people had much tougher issues to work through than I had experienced.

These revelations were freeing, and renouncing the lies brought much healing!  I had a better understanding of why my soul had been so bound up.  In the next few paragraphs I will build a ‘foundation’ from what I learned about Foundational Lies.

Foundational Lies are hidden deep in our soul and are protected either by demons who do not want us to discover the truth or by our sinful flesh that prefers to manage our sin rather than renounce it.  So long as we believe the lies to be truths, our minds are closed to anything that would contradict our thinking.  Until the lies are identified and renounced, we remain in bondage.

Envision a box all wrapped up in twine, similar to what we used in the past for wrapping and mailing small packages.  Even if the post office destroys the box and maybe even damages what is inside, so long as the twine is still in place, the package is considered to be intact.  Foundational Lies are like that twine around a belief.  I can dig into the corner of the box and pull something out, but I cannot fully expose what it contains.  My life may be in shambles, but so long as the twine holds, I can pretend the package is fine.  I cannot remove the lid from the package and deal with the contents until each piece of twine is broken and removed.

As I examined these Foundational Lies, I sensed they had three layers, but I realized we often only deal with two.  The top layer is the actual lie, and the next layer down is the truth of the matter.  We often renounce the lie, grasp the truth, and then move on.  However, the Holy Spirit showed me that we must dig deeper to see what is really compromising the foundation.  We must find the root.  At the root of every lie, you will find satan making another attempt to discredit God, which is always his main objective.  He has been doing this since the first lie he told Eve in the Garden.

I have experienced much freedom since I let go of the lie that there are no bad foods.  My sinful flesh held onto that lie in order to justify my destructive eating habits.  I knew that once I exposed the lie, I would need to choose to continue my bad choices and take personal responsibility for the resulting consequences, or I would have to change my eating habits.  Although satan may not have initiated the lie, he certainly encouraged me to believe it in order to keep me in bondage (excess weight, low self-worth, low energy, shame, poor health).  The underlying lie was that eating what my flesh desired would meet my needs and bring me satisfaction.  Satan does not want me to acknowledge or declare that only the Lord can satisfy me (John 6:35 “I am the Bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger”). 

One day, my husband confronted me about a few unnecessary words I would use every once in a while.  I repented and commanded that demon to leave, but he did not.  In my spirit, he showed me he did not have to go because my own declaration had given him license to remain.  I asked the Lord to expose this declaration, and He showed me that I had spoken, and continued to believe, a Foundational Lie:  “there are just times when no other word will do.”  I renounced that lie, cast that demon out, and searched for the truth.  I discovered that satan was once again trying to discredit God.  He wanted me to believe God had not provided enough words to adequately express myself, and satan had to create a few extra words to make up the deficit!  What an insult to the Creator of all things good!

The earlier lie I discussed said my mother did the best she could with what she had.  The Holy Spirit took me to the bottom of that lie and showed me that a person who “did the best she could with what she had” would use that excuse to justify her behavior, and would not see her need for a Savior.  Satan was telling me that if I did the best I could with what I had, that was good enough, and I did not need forgiveness, or a Savior.  The Lord had previously prepared me for this message by prompting Larry, someone I barely knew, to tell me this true story:

Larry’s nephew Evan and his friends, who had just graduated from high school, met in the country for a keg party.  Later that night when one very drunk girl headed for her car, Evan attempted to stop her from driving, offering to take her home.  She refused his offer, insisting she was sober enough to drive.  She became belligerent and Evan backed away and let her go.  She never made it home.  At her funeral, Evan was beside himself with grief.   His friends surrounded him, telling him not to blame himself for her death.  Later, Larry cornered Evan and told him he truly was in part to blame.  As the horrified crowd began to argue, Larry told Evan that he really would have been able to stop the girl.  He could have restrained her; he could have called for help.  But, his fear of her anger intimidated him, keeping him from being persistent.  Larry told the crowd that no amount of comforting would ever bring Evan any peace because deep down in his heart, he knew the truth and, if he did not face it head-on, in time he would self-destruct.  Evan’s only hope for restoration was in acknowledging his part and taking that to the Cross.  Until he embraced the truth, he could not receive the forgiveness that would set him free.

This message is about breaking off chains, and lies, and distorted thinking, in order to continue to grow in the love of Christ.  My Foundational Lies needed to be exposed and replaced with God’s Truth before I could enjoy a deeper intimacy with Jesus.  Inner healing led to greater freedom to more fully worship and glorify God!  We were created to love Him and serve Him, and to experience all He has prepared for us.  I pray that my Lord and Savior is glorified in this piece, and that its teaching allows you to draw nearer to the One Who extends to you and me His perfect love and truth. 

If you have questions and comments, email me at: 

karen@karensparables.com.

Praise God for the rain that brings new life!

Praise Him for the physical rain that comes with the promise of spring, removing the residue left behind by winter.  Praise Him for the healing rain that washes away the shame of sin and the despair left behind from dark nights of the soul.  Praise Him for drawing us into His glory, as He showers us with a little piece of heaven on earth.

The rain pouring down outside my window brings my thoughts back to last week, when it seemed that God’s anointing had fallen over the music at church.  I pressed in and my soul was caught up in the weighty glory.  I sensed the Holy Spirit moving through the sanctuary as heaven was drawn to earth.  As I think back on that sweet worship, I am reminded that the level of my participation in the moment was less about the music and more about the condition, and involvement, of my heart.  Fortunately, on this particular Sunday, my heart was engaged. 

As we sang Let It Rain, I threw my arms out and my head back, and in my spirit I saw my heart pounding inside my chest.  As I watched, rain flooded into the front of my heart and poured out the back side.  Rushing through the chambers of my heart, the waters captured every seed, every crumb, every sin, every destructive thing that had been planted inside my heart, carrying the scraps along as it poured out.  Thousands of tiny black particles were forced out, and were washed away by the rains.  In that moment, it seemed as though spring had arrived in my heart.  I had not orchestrated the encounter; it was God’s intense love and His healing rain that did all the work.  My only part was in opening my arms wide and allowing the Holy Spirit rain to penetrate my exposed heart. 

How in the world did all this sludge find its way into my heart?  There is no denying that I was born with seeds of sin – the generational sins that were passed down from my ancestors.  (If you question the validity of this statement, all you have to do is watch little children interact with one another.  Just who taught them such rebellion and self-centeredness?)  I thought I had already broken off those curses, but perhaps I need more time under the microscope.  Lord, I once again open up my heart to your purification.  As You reveal the sins of my forefathers, I dismiss them from my life.  Once again I am a new creation in You, free of the bondage of Egypt.

I must also take into consideration that over the years, my own sinful choices have added blackness to my heart.  Although it is my desire to walk in holiness, I know that my flesh is wicked, and so are many of my thoughts and actions.  Praise God for sending His Son Jesus to pay the price for my sin; otherwise I would be buried alive in my iniquity with no hope of redemption.  Unconfessed sin will weigh me down and pollute my heart until I take those things to the Cross.  Lord, I come to you with a repentant heart as I seek Your forgiveness.  Wash me, purify me, refresh me with your warm spring rain of renewal.

Then there are the word curses that have been spoken over my life, words uttered by myself and others.  Our words really do have power.  If we truly knew the power behind our words, we just might be afraid to even open our mouths!  When we declare, proclaim, or decree an issue, those words are taken up into the spirit and they find their targets.  The enemy then has a legal right to intercept the negative decrees and prepare to fulfill them.  Those seeds always find their way into my heart and I become a victim of self-fulfilling prophecy of the deadliest sort.  Lord, forgive my careless words and let Your cleansing and healing waters rush through my soul.  I renounce every word of death I have ever spoken over myself or others. 

Ah, the goodness and greatness of God and His mercy!  He brings forth the healing power to wash away all those words, all those sins, all those curses!  I fall on my face before the Throne of Grace!  I bask in the Holy Spirit glory that pours over me.  I breathe deeply, and I am whole in Him.  Once again I am at peace in my soul, ready to pursue the calling on my life. 

Psalm 68:9-10  You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary.  Your congregation dwelt in it; You O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.

Acts 14:17  Nevertheless, He did not leave Himself without a witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

Zechariah 10:1  Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain.  The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone. 

Psalm 19:12  Who can understand his errors?  Cleanse me from secret faults.

Good day to you, and may God’s grace and favor be upon you, in good times and in challenging times.  I am still on vacation in Florida, with plans to head home sometime next week.  It seems as though I have been gone forever, and once I return home, I truly look forward to seeing what my life will look like now that I have ‘retired.’  My first goal is to return to updating this website on a more regular basis, like I did when I first began this adventure.  My days have been much too cluttered this past year, and yes, I have repented for that and I continue to ask God to show me His plan for my life.  When my time gets too filled up to attend to the most important things, I know that I have piled on too many of my own priorities and am no longer able to attend to His.  Having recognized this problem, I am now asking my Lord to shine a light into my soul to reveal the places where I need healing and realignment.   

I would like to share with you the experience we had this week.  This event allowed us one more opportunity to experience the goodness of God and His favor in our lives.  As you will see, we were the benefactors of numerous miracles along the way.

Tuesday morning my husband had a “lapse in judgment,” you could say.  It is most unusual for him to be careless behind the wheel of an automobile, so I was more than a little bit shocked when he hit another car.  He pulled out of a driveway, drove across two lanes of stopped traffic (where there was a small opening), turned in to the third lane going the other way, and hit an oncoming car.  Perhaps the very first miracle was that we collided with a small Ford, rather than a Bentley or a Jaguar!  Next miracle:  nobody was hurt and the damage was not extensive.  When both cars pulled over to assess the damage and exchange information, my husband realized that he had made an earlier bad decision:  he had left that big automobile reference book home because of limited space in the car.  Guess what? our registration and proof of insurance were also in that book!  Second miracle:  the other guy did not want to call for assistance.  Had he wanted to call the police, we would have been in deep trouble without registration or proof of insurance, perhaps even a trip to the police station since he had no proof of ownership of the car.  The men exchanged insurance information and parted ways.  Before leaving, I went to the man and asked him to forgive us for such a violation.  We called our insurance agent and began the claims process.  Later in the day, the man called to tell us he had gone to the car wash, and much of the damage had actually washed away.  Huh?  Next miracle:  he suggested we not actually file a claim, but instead, we could pay cash out of pocket for his damage.  (This offer was a huge blessing because accidents that are your fault often end up in an increase in insurance rates.)  Next miracle:  the man traveling with us had $600 in cash, so we wrote him a check and then had cash to pay for repairs to the other car.  Later in the day that same traveling companion bought something at Wal-Mart; the next morning we found out what it was.  Next miracle:  in the night he went out with his purchase - a jar of rubbing compound - and rubbed out most of the damage to our car.  The man we hit planned to take his car to the dealership to get an estimate of his damage.  We waited all day for his call, which did not come, so the next morning we headed down the road, fully expecting to have to turn around and go back to pay the man for his damages.

The next day our insurance agent called to inform us that she had just spoken with the guy we had hit.  Next miracle:  the damage to his car was minimal, and he had decided not to file a claim or even ask for any cash from us.  I wondered if he was actually an angel.  He had said to tell us it was our lucky day.  (Of course, we know there is no such thing as ‘luck,’ but we certainly received the blessing!)  Next miracle:  a Florida friend has a close friend who does auto body work so he sent us to him, and for $30 we got our car touched up, almost as good as new.  Praise God; all was almost completely restored and we were back on our way.  However we will be forever changed from the receipt of the blessing of God’s grace, mercy, and favor.

In asking the Lord to show me the lesson in this adventure, He revealed the following.  The first, and smaller, word was a reminder to my husband to be a bit more cautious with his driving.  Over the years, God has taught us that when we begin to stray off the best course for our lives, He will speak to our hearts about that issue.  If we hear and correct our course, all is well.  If we do not hear, He will speak louder.  If we still do not hear and respond, He will then make a louder statement, which usually results in a not-so-much-fun event.  Because God’s love for us is so great, he will continue to make the consequences more severe until we finally stop in our tracks and make the necessary change in course.   The sooner we make the course correction, the lighter the consequences.  Believe me, we ‘heard’ His voice, studied this lesson, took it seriously, and have since been more cautious when making decisions behind the wheel.

The second lesson is by far the more important one.  Because of our love for the Lord, and because it is our desire to be Christlike in all our ways, we really do, for the most part, try to walk in a way that is pleasing to Him.  And because our eyes are usually fixed on that goal, for the most part, our life experiences are pretty sweet.  Although we all have trials, I do believe we can minimize the troubles in our lives by right choices in our daily living.  I would assume we are all in agreement so far.

However, that was NOT the lesson God was teaching us here.  In this case, we were entirely in the wrong; we had made a foolish decision and deserved whatever negative consequences we ordinarily would have received – except for God’s applying His grace, mercy, and favor. 

The message He gave me was this:  “You do not receive favor and mercy because you are good, but because I am good.”  Amen.

Greetings. 

In the event you have read my entries in the past, you might be wondering why it has been such a long time since I updated my website.  I am happy to inform you that I am alive and well, and the Lord has blessed and prospered me during this period of silence.  During the past number of months, life’s commitments, coupled with an abrupt change of ‘my’ plans, drew me away for a little while.  Additionally, it seemed as though the Holy Spirit had put my writing on hold for a season.  However, I do believe I am back! 

In January, one of God’s “suddenlies” hit me and rocked my little world.  I began having dreams and visions where I was tucked away in a cabin on a lake, sitting in His presence day after day after day.  I was well aware that in order to carve out this large a chunk of time, I would need to retire from my job.  My plan was to work for another couple of years, but it was beginning to look like God had a different plan in mind for me. 

As I would question what seemed like an outlandish idea, the Lord would challenge me to check it out.  Because my sister lives on a beautiful lake in Oklahoma, I asked her if she knew of anyone who had a cabin for rent at a price I could afford.  As God would have it, she did know of such a person and such a cabin.  I nearly fainted when I received the pictures – this cabin looked almost exactly like the one I had seen in my visions, and the rent was affordable.  When God sets a plan in motion, He also arranges for all the provisions.  

I must admit that I argued with the Lord over the idea of my retiring.  From my perspective, this was just about the worst time imaginable to voluntarily step away from a really good job when so many others were fighting to keep theirs.  Our nation’s economy is dropping like a lead weight, and my husband and I have not exactly stored up a sufficient nest egg to put together a smart financial plan.   God would just laugh at my arguments, and tell me that each point I presented was merely one more reason He wanted me to retire now.  (This is where Kingdom thinking and worldly thinking collide!)  He showed me that anyone can set up the ‘perfect’ plan to retire and ride off into the sunset.  However, when the world sees someone step out in obedience, walking in faith and trusting in God to provide for his needs, that gets people’s attention.  He said too many believers are talking about trusting in Him while they are storing up worldly treasures to fall back on.  I had to plead guilty as charged.

So… I chose to place my trust in the God whose voice called forth the creation and whose hands formed me in His own image – the same God who was inviting me to come out of the workplace and into new Kingdom opportunities.  I announced my retirement effective September 1, and I spent the next two months on sabbatical.  I did indeed spend much of my time tucked away in that little cabin, looking out on the lake, lost in the glory of His presence.  Although I did very little writing during that time, I did journal during my days at the cabin.  In the days and weeks to come, I look forward to transcribing those notes.  I expect to be pleasantly surprised at the depth of His messages to me as we experienced that intimate time together.

Today I am experiencing retirement, getting accustomed to my new life.  The Lord has already given my husband and me more ministry opportunities than we ever expected.  I do believe there is much more for me to write, both old and new ‘words’ to share.  I will post a new piece very soon.  Because I have no way of knowing who is reading my stories, I would very much enjoy it if you would email me to let me know you are out there, and also give me some feedback about the writings I have previously posted.  My email address is:  karen@karensparables.com  

God is on the move, and I choose to join Him in this exciting journey.  As the news broadcasts report stories of fear and uncertainty, we believers already know the end of the Redemption story.  As we watch it play out just as it was written, we are invited to come along and participate in bringing in the harvest.  Bless you, dear fellow traveler. 

In the middle of a time of bed rest after being sick for more than a week, I woke up with an assignment from the Lord.   Apparently while dreaming, I found myself worried about how I had gotten sick, so I sought the Lord to ask if I had opened any spiritual door to allow in a spirit of infirmity.  Soon I sensed that nothing was wrong; I had simply caught a flu bug and my body was recovering.  I was relieved about that, but as my mind sometimes tends to do, I then began to wonder how I would justify that to others who might assume I was in sin.  (In the middle of typing the previous sentence, the Lord reminded me about how Job’s friends also assumed his trials were a result of sin in his life.  I guess I am in good company!)

It was during this time of questioning that the Holy Spirit asked me to remember what He called my ‘foundation stones’, or those truths I stand on as being foundational to my core beliefs.  When I know who I am and what I believe, my spirit can remain peaceful, and the fear of man’s opinion simply has no hold on me.  The Holy Spirit led me to begin ‘laying down’ (listing on paper) beliefs I could read and re-read during trying times.  Reminding myself what I believe, and what I stand for, will always help me stay on course.  He said that my sharing the list would also be a simple way to pass on to others the beliefs that lift my soul.  No doubt my list will be ongoing.

I was led to allow you the dignity of searching these things out for yourselves, so I have not added scriptures to this writing, as I usually do.

I encourage you to ask the Lord to give you revelation as you examine each ‘stone’.  Take what your spirit agrees with and disregard the others.  As always, my Father blesses me for being willing to spend the time to record my thoughts and share my list, but I get no personal credit for the contents.  I cannot claim even one to be my very own original thought.  All of my wisdom and spiritual understanding come directly from the Lord, and many of my thoughts were passed on to me from other believers.  You will probably recognize most of them, especially if you know me or if you listen to and admire the same saints that catch my attention. 

Be blessed as you lay down your own foundation.  The points that follow are not listed in any particular order of importance, but simply in the order in which they came to me as I wrote.  You will find that some resonate with you more than others.  Personally, my mind moves from subject to subject, so a truth that is grabbing hold of me this week will probably give way next week to something else the Lord is pressing upon my heart.

MY FOUNDATION STONES

·   God is good – all the time – and His ways are perfect, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what I see with my physical eyes or hear with my physical ears.

·   I am determined to not blame God for what happens to me by the will of the enemy or sinful man; even though I know that nothing happens without God’s allowing it.  God gave each of us an absolute free will, and bad things often happen as a result of God’s allowing us to exercise that free will.

·    God cannot love me more than He already does, and He will not love me less, no matter what I have done.

·    Jesus Christ is my cornerstone, the Rock of my foundation.  He is the rock I fall upon to break my hardened pride.

·    I will always have trials – they should never surprise me, or cause me to worry.

·    God will always apply the least amount of pressure for the shortest amount of time in order to bring in the greatest harvest.

·    When it is time for me to confront sin in my life, God and I partner in that process.  My part is repentance and behavior modification; His part is to heal me and change my heart.

·    If my ways are pleasing to God – if my heart is set to walk in holiness, then God will often cause even my enemies to be at peace with me.

·    In God’s ears, my heart is always louder than my mouth.  With people, however, it is quite the contrary.

·    Truth without love is cruel; love without truth is deception.  I must use truth and love like walking sticks.

·    Love covers a multitude of sins; grace allows me to walk out of those sins.

·    God’s grace heals everything I apply it to.

·    This life time is only a breath compared to eternity.  Since I am in training for eternity, I should make my decisions with an eternal perspective.

·    When I reach out to others, if they are not drawn closer to Jesus, then I have not produced much fruit.

·    I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, no matter the circumstances.

·    At all times I must be found worshipping the Creator and not His creation.

·    Unless I know God’s love for me (personally), I will give up early, or I will minister out of an attitude of religious pride.

·    I must have an unoffendable heart.  Jesus offended people all the time, and that always exposed their hearts.

·    The day I accepted Jesus as my Lord is the day I died to my fleshly ways.  A dead man does not care what you say to him.

·    Humility must always be my garment.

·    I will be known by my fruit.  I will be judged according to my actions rather than my words. 

·    No matter what I say, know that my heart and my actions do not contradict one another.  The depth of my love for the Lord is proven by the degree in which you can see Him in me.

·    In every situation that I can handle myself, I do not need a Savior.

·    Jesus is my everything – my absolute first love.  If he is not everything, then in truth, He is nothing.

·    God never promised to bless my plans.  He will never be my sugar daddy.

·    When people honor me publicly, I will thank them for their kindness.  Then as soon as I am alone, I will hand off that praise to Jesus.  I always know that all honor is His, and I do not need to assume a pose of false humility by brushing aside that person’s compliment.

·    God’s law was never intended to be the answer to sin.  It is the teacher that leads me to Jesus.

·    We do not engage in spiritual warfare in order to win, but rather to enforce the victory Jesus already won for us.

·    If I spend more than a few minutes dissecting my sin, I am guilty of pride because I am focused on myself rather than on my Savior.  It only takes a minute to deal with sin, to stop, repent, ask the Father’s forgiveness, and receive that forgiveness.  Then I can immediately focus my attention on Jesus again. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and no doubt as soon as I publish, I will remember a dozen other things I will wish I would have included.  But you get the drift.  Now you can begin the process of pondering each point, and deciding which stones you will add to your foundation.  May you be richly rewarded for taking the time to examine my stones and for conducting a serious inspection of your own.  Make Jesus your Cornerstone, and ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and revelation to set a firm foundation all around you.  Then, when the storms of life come at you in full force, you will be able to stand through it all.  May the Lord find you still standing when He comes for you.

For what seems like a very long time now, I have had this unquenchable thirst for more of God.  I absolutely must know more about His ways, and I am desperate to hear His voice more clearly, and more often.  I am unwilling to travel through this life without His constant leading, and I am unable to understand His ways on my own. 

Although it is a very good thing to be hungry and thirsty for more of Him, it can also be quite frustrating.  I find that the more I read and the more I learn, the more questions I have, and the more pressure I experience in my spirit to know and understand Him better.  It is a sweet problem to have; however, I find that most of the time I feel like I am on the cusp of something big but I just cannot quite grasp that golden ring.  There is no doubt in my mind that God is the instigator of this drama, and that He is continually drawing me closer, inviting me to dive into deeper intimacy with my Maker.  Since I am in training for eternity, the rewards will no doubt be worth the effort.  The more intimate I become with my Abba, with my Beloved Jesus, and with my best friend Holy Spirit, the greater is my reward here and in the hereafter.  So, as I continue my pursuit of the deep things of God, I will take pleasure in the joy of the hunt for His hidden treasure.

During my continual search for resources, I happened upon a book with a title that talked about satisfying that ravenously hungry place in my soul.  I was excited about my find, and I could hardly wait to dig into it.  I took the book with me on vacation, looking forward to the enrichment it had to offer.  But much to my dismay, it turned out to be another ‘doing’ book.  Do this – do that – prepare yourself – say the right words – worship this way or that way – implement this activity to attain that result.  How exasperating – and how exhausting! 

(I am already an over-doer; that is part of my problem.  Because I grew up with very little comprehension of my value to God, or to anybody else for that matter, I always assumed I needed to do twice as much to be half as good as everybody else.  Consequently, too often I find myself trying to do more, or do better, or do something else – in what seems like an attempt to induce God to love and accept me more.  My brain is too often on overload, striving, and frustrated.  I absolutely do not need one more new methodology, or one more thing to do!)

Admittedly, that book had some good points, and I incorporated a few suggestions into my basic mindset.  But I cannot describe how infuriating it was to have one more author suggest that my failure to have a deeper relationship with God was the result of my not doing enough of this or that.  Disgusted over what I was reading, I closed the book and threw it in the corner.  Once again, I had to stop and remind myself that I was not a failure simply because of my lack of knowledge, or my inactivity.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So, there I was, crying as I leaned over the veranda of our cruise ship stateroom, looking out at the stunning beauty of the ocean … still searching … still hungry even after recently gorging myself with the ship’s fare … still desperately in need of a new encounter with God … and out another twenty bucks spent on one more book.  Deep in my soul, I knew there was more to intimacy than devising a routine of ‘doing.’  I am convinced that once I have invited the Lord to come in His glory, He will not first ask me to say more or do more.  The Word says that if I draw closer to Him, He will draw closer to me.  Unlike witchcraft, I do not need to set a better atmosphere or recite certain words or conjure up a more emotional drama to get His attention.  Instead, deep calls unto deep.  He hears my heart cry and that touches His heart, causing him answer my call and draw nearer to me.  Why do I continue to try to make this so difficult?  Is it because I really do not believe that He is as anxious to fellowship with me as I am to fellowship with Him?  Do I think He is too busy for me, or that He enjoys hiding from me to see how long I will beg for His attention?  This is most definitely not the character of a Daddy who loves me and made me in His own image.  And yet, it seems that much too often I open a new book or listen to another teaching, and am inundated with more about ‘doing’ and less about relationship.

Determined to shake off this heaviness, I curled up on the sofa and began to call His name.  Nothing happened.  I paced back and forth in that tiny stateroom and then sank back into a chair.  I called again.  Nothing happened.  I resisted the urge to beg or plead, or worse yet, to fall prey to some religious ritual that may have seemed to catch His eye some other time.  I took a deep breath and settled deeper into the cushions, determined to remain there until peace came over me.  As I waited, a holy calm seemed to drape over my body and I felt like I had been enveloped in a cloud.  After a while, a ‘knowing’ came over me and I began to realize that I still had not yet learned how to wait on Him.  I had to admit that usually, after about two minutes of waiting, I get impatient and my brain begins to wander off to the next item on my mental calendar.  Who knows how many times Jesus has responded to my call, only to find that I have already moved on to the next event?

Sometimes I simply give up and fall asleep.  Jesus asked His disciples to wait for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, to watch and pray.  But they fell asleep.  He asked Peter, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?”  Sometimes I cannot wait a few minutes, let alone an hour.

Psalm 63:1

O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

Isaiah 44:3

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

Psalm 73:28

But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works.

James 4:8a

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

2 Samuel 22:7

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears.

Psalm 42:7

Deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me.

Isaiah 45:3

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God if Israel.

Matthew 13:44

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Words do have power.  After all, God actually spoke creation into existence.  THE Word (Scripture) says that life and death are in the power of the tongue, reminding us that even our own words carry life and death – and the choice is always ours to make.  However, that particular conversation is for another time.

What I am led to speak about now are the words I am inclined to share with others:  personal words of “wisdom” I offer to someone seeking my input.  At the time they are spoken, I think the words are good and life-producing.  However, the Lord recently reminded me how the well-meaning words of others had caused me a significant amount of pain.  Some of the words spoken resulted in the loss of relationships.  I know that the Father’s love does not “remember” a wrong that has been forgiven, and indeed I had forgiven those who had hurt me.  Therefore, I understood immediately that His reminder was an invitation to me, to re-examine the well-meaning (and often well-thought-out) words I offer to others.  (NOTE:  this message is not speaking about the Gift of the Spirit called ‘a Word of Knowledge’, which comes exclusively from the Holy Spirit and bypasses my intellect completely.)

At the prompting of the Lord, I immediately began to search my heart, and ask myself some hard questions.  When I have offered someone a word, whether or not it was solicited, where did I get that word?  Did I have knowledge about the subject?  And if so, from where did I get that knowledge?  Books?  Other people?  My own personal experience?  Did I just grasp for something to say?  Or, was it truly a word from the Lord in due season, perfect for edification and instruction?  Did I take the time to check that out?  Did I pray until my spirit was at peace with the matter?  Or did I just allow my flesh to jump in and puff itself up?  Pride always wants to know the answers, and it especially wants to make sure others are aware that he knows the answers.  Have I put down my pride, or have I simply masked it in a religious pose?  How many souls have been wounded in the process?  I do have a certain amount of wisdom; however, every ounce of that wisdom was Divinely imparted into me through the Holy Spirit.  I must remember that wisdom is much different from thoughts, or ideas, or assumptions, or opinions.

When I share my opinion without the leading of the Holy Spirit, I can stir up a lot of trouble for myself and others.  First of all, if I am truly a bondservant of the Lord like I claim to be, then I will resist offering an opinion.  Servants do not have the luxury of expressing opinions.  Second, I must remember that my opinion will always be clouded by my own personal bias and by my mood at the moment.  Passing that on, at best, bears little fruit; and at worst, can open the door to destruction in the life of another.  The next thing I know, my attempt to encourage that person has backfired, and he walks away confused and discouraged.  I have now opened a door for the enemy to torment the person who received my words, and to dump guilt and condemnation on me as well.

I absolutely must avoid the trap of merely speaking out of my own experience, as if my conclusion or assessment holds the key to unlock someone else’s mess.  My own method of experiencing victory could carry much weight in the eyes of another, but rarely will it hold the solution to another one’s woes.  Like snowflakes, no two problems are exactly alike.  It is dangerous to invite another to apply my solution to his problem – I have learned that lesson the hard way.  Someone else’s decision to take this very action caused me several seasons of tremendous pain, and it altered the course of my life.  Yes, he was well-meaning, and yes, the second party sought that opinion and chose his actions based on the words he received.  However, I was the innocent recipient of the consequences.  Yes, God allowed it.  He used it to work a new thing in me.  And in the aftermath, He brought healing and blessings - and complete forgiveness.  That said, I must admit that I sometimes wonder how our lives would have been different had someone else not infused his solution into our issue. 

Walking through this experience has prompted me to pray often for the grace to guard my tongue when I am tempted to offer up my own words and opinions.  Because I have experienced the pain of being on the other end, I can say without reservation that only God knows the best solution for each problem.  Only the Word of the Lord in due season can heal, and draw one into the symphony of a life created to blossom in the garden of God.  I must always seek His words when I have the honor of speaking into the life of another one of His precious children.  So long as I am walking in His light, He will expect no less of me.

How do I avoid this pitfall?  It gets a little easier when I remember that someday I will be called to account for every word and deed attributed to me.  I must continuously ask the Lord to bathe me in humility, and to teach me how to guard my heart and my tongue.  I must never forget that I am a child of the Most High God.  When I know who I am, and when His opinion of me is more important that others’ opinions of me, I will discover that I have less to say and less to prove.  Only when Jesus becomes first in my eyes can I risk being last.

Proverbs 15:23

A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Proverbs 25:2b

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

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Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.

John 16:13

However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak and He will tell you things to come.

Proverbs 18:21a

Death and life are in the power of the tongue…

Lately I have been on an emotional roller coaster, and although being ‘up’ feels really good, feeling ‘down’ is terrible.  Once again, I have been spending way too much time staring at my belly button, and in that pose, my prognosis is always negative.  When I begin to analyze myself, I always come out the loser, primarily because I appropriate the world’s standards to my condition, rather than the standards of the Kingdom.  In this place, I can often be found beating myself up, speaking negative words over my life, and falling into the familiar trap of condemnation.  That leads to a deeper downward spiral, inviting the law of self-fulfilling prophesy to take hold.  Words have power – why do I too often forget that?

This morning I asked the Lord to reveal to me what I needed to know in order to get back on track and off the roller coaster.  As I curled up in my blanket, He gave me a vision of a maze, a picture of how my mind sometimes operates.  As I stared at the maze in my mind, something plowed right through the middle of it, opening up a straight path from one end to the other.  The Holy Spirit said this is what happened when I surrendered my life to Jesus and asked Him to be Lord of my life.  At that instant, my entire DNA was changed to match His, my mind was renewed, my life was restored, and I was set on the straight path of Kingdom thinking.  Suddenly I had the option of taking that clear path to stay in alignment with what God says about me.  All I would need to do is keep my eyes on Jesus, and know that I now have the mind of Christ. 

I noticed there were lots of openings to the right and left of the path, and one mental turn could find me back in the middle of the maze.  That move would invite confusion to set in again, and I would run into another wall at every turn.  Why I would be tempted to step back into the maze is a mystery to me; however, I could see that every time I took my eyes off Jesus, I would veer to the right or the left, finding myself back in the mess. 

Holy Spirit reminded me that the Word of God tells me to not be conformed to the ways of the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind.  Transformation beats condemnation every day, but it does not come without a battle.  Who will I listen to, the Word or my mirror?  Will I believe God’s assessment of me or what I think the world is telling me?  My Bible talks about taking good care of the temple that is my body, but there is no ideal weight and height chart anywhere in scripture.  God talks about inner beauty, but He does not speak about a preferred arrangement of body parts.  He speaks about the beauty of the flowers, and anyone who has walked into a flower shop knows that flowers come in many sizes and shapes.  I have never rejected a rose because it was too fat.

A “foundational lie” is a false belief a person has incorporated into his world view as if it were a truth.  One foundational lie that has caused me much grief has to do with the perceived value of a person.  The lie says that a person possessing youth and outward beauty has more value than someone who has passed that stage in life (or might be still looking for it!).  Although I know the truth intellectually, that familiar lie seems to carry too much weight in my assessment of myself.  Since youth and beauty are moving targets, most of us are unable to hit the mark anyway.  That lie produces a world full of people who see themselves as failures, who spend untold amounts of money to alter their outward appearance. 

Oops, I find myself sitting here and asking, where am I going with this?  I got myself so wrapped up in explanations that I all but forgot about the problem and the solution.  What is the problem?  It seems to be that I do not measure up to my own expectations and I do not know what to do about it.  Every self-made plan comes unhinged, and every attempt to change myself reinforces the belief that I just might indeed be a failure after all.  The solution?  Get out of the maze and back onto the straight path of God’s Word, fix my eyes on Jesus, believe what God says about me, and walk it out.  It sounds so simple and it is; however, it is not always easy to get to the place of admitting that my own thoughts and feelings are flawed.  I must throw off my own perceptions of how I see myself, or how I think the world sees me, before I can put on the mind of Christ and come into agreement with what my Daddy God has to say.

Even though I routinely wander off the straight path, the Lord is always happy to lead me back to that sweet place of peace.  I wonder why I cannot simply stay there.  Yesterday I was reminded that whenever we are involved in the work of the Kingdom of God, when we minister to others, and whenever we tear down what the enemy has built up against us, we become targets for demonic assault.  Consequently, I should never be surprised to find myself under attack.  The question is:  why am I so easily distracted and why am I so quick to believe the lies of the enemy?  How do they line up with God’s word?  Does He call me fat, old, and ugly?  Most certainly not!  Did He not tell me that I was made in His image?  Do I think God is fat, old, and ugly?  Most certainly not!

Romans 12:2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

I Peter 3:3-4

Do not let your adornment be merely outward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

I Corinthians 2:16b

… But we have the mind of Christ.

I Peter 1:13

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 6:19

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

I have a ‘running’ love-hate relationship with my treadmill.  His name is Victor, which I think is a quite appropriate name.  To be honest, I do not really run.  A brisk walk is as much as my body is willing to produce, and even that is a challenge.  I know I should form a daily exercise regimen, and I admit it is hard to find exercise more convenient than a treadmill in my home, but I continue to rebel against a regular workout plan.  If I do not make my trip to the treadmill the first thing in the morning, I can know that it is not going to happen.  If I stay up late, or if I don’t sleep well, there goes my early morning workout.  Then, the more days I miss, the easier it is to miss again.  Meanwhile, Victor sits quietly in the basement, waiting for my return.

As a child I did not experience the joy of exercise or competition.  I was not involved in sports or dance or acrobatics, so my body never learned to ‘stretch’ itself.  As a young adult, chasing children was exercise enough and, since I was thin, I was not concerned about my weight, much less my physical strength or endurance.  However, once the children got older, and especially after I moved from a physically active job to a more sedentary one, the pounds began to creep on.  Following a hysterectomy, the pounds poured on and I began the diet game.  Several times I joined a health club, but something always interrupted my get-healthy plan before I could experience the joy in that journey.  So here I am today, still trapped in that diet-exercise web of frustration.

Several years ago I actually established a habit of frequenting the gym at my workplace.  I must admit that I felt much better when I introduced my body to regular exercise.  However, my weight was my bigger concern, and since I was not experiencing any weight loss, I was easily discouraged and I dreaded my trips to the gym.  Although I continued to frequent the workout center, the time between visits was getting longer and longer.  Then when my favorite treadmill was retired, I was given the opportunity to purchase it, and Victor became part of the family.  I just knew that having my own treadmill at home would for sure allow me the benefit of a daily workout.  Wrong.  Apparently, convenience does not overrule rebellion.

Although the battle continues, Victor has participated in teaching me some valuable lessons.  Although my faithfulness is sporadic, something in me continues to press forward, knowing that I am blessed as I meet this challenge.  Although I feel like a failure much of the time, something in my spirit rejoices that I am still in the game - I continue to remind Victor that I am still in the game. 

When we moved last year, Victor must have needed reassurance that he was an important part of my life.  He is extremely heavy, and transporting him was no easy task; even the professional movers groaned as it took all four of them to get him down the steps.  He was already downstairs by the time we discovered he was too wide to fit through the door of the back room.  (Had we known that, we may have sold him with the house!)  Since leaving him in the family room was not an option, and nobody was going to take him back out, my husband was left with the daunting task of making a way where there seemed to be no way.  At the end of the battle, Victor got some fresh oil and a new set of bolts and nuts, after the existing ones were sawed off to temporarily remove the crossbar and squeeze him through the door.

Some of my most incredible encounters with the Lord have come while I was pounding away with Victor.  I keep the room dark, I close my eyes, and I focus on the wonder of my God.  I must admit, when I am having an especially difficult time making myself exercise, I will engage in worship music to make the time go by more quickly, giving God the okay to interrupt me whenever He pleases.  However, when I am willing to simply wait in quiet expectation, the Lord meets me and often downloads wonderful messages.  On those days, I complete my workout with joy and wonder, which accompany me all day long.  If I could only remember that joy the next morning!

I know Victor is a gift from God and, even though he exasperates me much of the time, I reap many rewards when I learn the lessons he brings and incorporate them into my life.  Following are a few of those lessons:

• The Word says that if I will draw near to God, He will draw near to me.  My battle with Victor reminds me that the process begins with me.  My ‘drawing near’ begins when I choose to set my alarm clock, get right up when it rings, and head for my time with Victor.  Getting there is the hardest part.  God will help me if I ask Him, but He will not interfere with my free will.  This is a great life lesson:  if I want relationship with God, I make the first move, and He immediately responds.  Just turning my spiritual eyes toward Him causes Him to look my way and smile.

• It is easier to walk in the fullness of life when I am healthy:  physically, mentally, and spiritually.  The Lord gave me a vision of a bar graph that contained three bars; one bar was physical, one was mental, and one was spiritual.  Moving up and down like pistons in an engine, they worked best when they were all active and strong.  When one bar was tiny, the movement was jerky and inconsistent.  When they were all working, the movement flowed smoothly.

• The Lord tells me that my body is His temple; that He lives in me.  If I do not take care of that temple, it will deteriorate and require much additional maintenance.  The worst effect will be the self-hatred that often comes with the illusion of failure.  The Word says that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, and he will use whatever means is available to take me out.  Inactivity brings lethargy that brings discouragement that brings hopelessness.  In that place, the enemy can knock me over with a feather.  I know discipline brings rewards, and often the amount of time I devote to Victor is an indication of the level of discipline in the other areas of my life.  Sometimes I argue that I do not want to commit to a program I am not willing to continue for the long haul.  That sounds like smart reasoning, but it is mostly a really weak excuse to abandon my plan of action.  Sometimes I will use the weakest excuse to cancel my date with Victor, even though I am richly rewarded when I relent and just go for my walk.

• The flesh is continually at war with the spirit, reminding me to focus inward, rather than outward.  Victor is teaching me to press in for the prize, and I know I will need this understanding as we enter into the last days.  I cannot war on my backside; I will need to know how to run.  Sometimes I envision myself as being in boot camp, preparing for war. 

• A few months ago I was just about ready to give up my time with Victor, and put behind me the continuing reminder of my failure at discipline.  The very next day as my husband was walking and praying, the Lord told him that He was happy to see me back at the treadmill.  Now, how can I walk away after that?

• I am learning that success is progressive: decision – action – settle the issue – press in until my body kicks in – work into a stride – find peace in my place of surrender – and finally, experience the victory.

Hebrews 12:1b

…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

I Corinthians 6:19-20

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

I Corinthians 9:26-27

Therefore I run thus:  not with uncertainty.  Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.  But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

James 4:8a

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Philippians 3:12-14

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

God often speaks to us in dreams, visions and parables.  Having grown up in a denominational church that did not speak at all about the supernatural, this form of communication was foreign to me.   As I look back now, I am amazed at how easily the enemy had been able to hide these truths from me - after all, I had read through my Bible a number of times.  Apparently I glossed over the huge wealth of teaching based on the things that cannot be seen with our natural eyes.  I suppose I did not stretch my mind because I had no idea there was so much more of God than what I had experienced in my small world. 

Dead religion was always a burden for me, and it was only guilt, and fear of man’s opinion, that kept me showing up for church.  Later in life, when I found myself in a Charismatic congregation, I discovered that church could offer more than standing up and sitting down, boring recitations, and dry sermons.  Suddenly my whole life was turned upside down.  How grateful I am that the Lord drew me out of my little box and showed me a tiny piece of eternity, inviting me to drink deeply of its wealth.  Oh the depth of the riches of His glory in which He invites us to participate!  Now, every day I wake up hungry for more of Him. 

Even before I acknowledged and embraced my gift of writing, I was jotting down bits and pieces of stories and revelations I got from dreams, visions, and those downloads I call ‘knowings’.  I had a collection of paper but no direction about what to do with all that stuff.  As I began to share my words with friends and family, and they began to encourage me to share my writings with others, God began to show me that from the beginning, He had a plan for all that loose paper.  Of course – He always has a plan, and it is always good. 

What joy it is to follow His direction, crafting the words He gives me into stories and parables, and posting them on the internet!  I also plan to put the stories into a book some day.  Since I saved a number of those bits and pieces of paper that had accumulated over the past eight years, now I can go back and chew on the bounty He had set before me – and transform them into more stories to share.  The following is from an earlier writing, which the Holy Spirit has prompted me to spruce up and post.

In a vision, the Lord showed me a large and shiny silver platter, filled from edge to edge with beautifully decorated small boxes of various sizes and shapes.  This was God’s baby gift, given to me at my birth.  The platter itself was intended to represent my free will, which He has given to each of us, freely and unconditionally.  Each box placed on the platter represented a choice or a decision that would direct my life.

Initially my platter was filled by my parents as they exercised my free will for me.  However, as I grew into adolescence, I slowly began to remove some of the packages, as I discovered that my own will often differed from that of my parents, replacing the packages with choices more to my liking.  Thus began a game of take-away, put-back, and take-away-again between my parents and me.  Every year I gained a little more ground as my parents were forced to retreat, and soon the entire surface of the tray was filled with boxes representing my own life choices.  I found that in order to add a new box to my already full platter, I would have to remove something else presently on the tray.  (In finance, this is called “opportunity cost.”  The true cost of one choice or decision I make is the value of whatever I have to give up in exchange for the new choice; i.e., the cost of staying up late is the loss of my early morning walk; or, if I spend all my county fair money at the concession stand, my funnel cake cost me a ride on the roller coaster.)

When the Lord invited me to examine the boxes, I was surprised to find that, although they were beautifully wrapped, some were hollow on the inside.  I had to admit that too often I was guilty of making choices that looked good on the outside, but were empty on the inside.  Next, He showed me a few boxes He had to offer.  These were not beautiful at all, but were covered in scratchy burlap with no adorning of ribbons or decorations.  When I was tempted to decline the offer, surprised and disappointed that these boxes were not beautiful at all, He invited me to take a closer look.  These boxes were heavy, solidly filled with depth and substance, and the longer I gazed at them, the more beautiful they became, giving off a heavenly fragrance and offering up the promise of deep fulfillment for my soul and spirit.

Upon seeing the value and the inner beauty of these boxes, I began to reach for them, but I was quickly reminded that my platter was already full.  To take one of these boxes offered by the Lord meant I would have to remove a box already in place to make room on my platter.  Would I be willing to let go of choices I made in my flesh, and replace them with the true gold, the Will of God?  He loves me so much that He will always allow me to exercise my free will.  His love will also allow me to experience the consequences of each decision I make.  Every day I make new choices, and each small decision impacts the rest of my life.

In re-examining this story, I can see that when I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life, He took me at my word.  Almost immediately He began to show me small pieces of His plan for me, inviting me to step out of the ways of the world and walk in the ways of the Kingdom.  I see now that many boxes on my platter were empty, uselessly taking up space.  Some looked good on the outside, but inside they contained things I would not want exposed to the light.  Some boxes contained good things, but Jesus taught me that often ‘good’ is the enemy of ‘best’ for me.  Some boxes were very large but contained very little inside, while other boxes were overstuffed.

This morning I asked the Lord if this message is relevant for today, and He assured me that the message is more relevant than I realize.  These are exciting times for the church, and we must be ready to serve in the Lord’s army.  As the world’s system begins to crumble, many will look to us for direction and reassurance.  The ‘boxes’ we have placed on our platters will define us in these last days.  Choose well.

I Corinthians 12:1

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Ephesians 1:18-19

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.

Romans 6:12a

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.

I Corinthians 12:31a

But earnestly desire the best gifts.

Ephesians 4:7-8

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”