~ Show Me Thy Glory ... In The Struggle ~

The Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion (JOY!)

2012-02-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

Remember, Saints, when Jesus came to earth, He brought Heaven with Him. He came so that He could live in us – we became the Tabernacle for the Spirit of God.

Lord, I ask that You remove any veil from our eyes that has blinded us to our ability to receive grace to fulfill our (JOY) destinies. Thank You, Lord, for a divine ability to walk in the supernatural and to do the impossible! In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

The Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion

--by Leo Babauta , Original Story, Feb 5, 2012

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.” - Arnold Toynbee

Following your passion can be a tough thing. But figuring out what that passion is can be even more elusive. I’m lucky — I’ve found my passion, and I’m living it. I can testify that it’s the most wonderful thing, to be able to make a living doing what you love.

And so, in this little guide, I’d like to help you get started figuring out what you’d love doing. This turns out to be one of the most common problems of many Zen Habits readers — including many who recently responded to me on Twitter.

This will be the thing that will get you motivated to get out of bed in the morning, to cry out, “I’m alive! I’m feeling this, baby!”. And to scare your family members or anyone who happens to be in yelling distance as you do this.

This guide won’t be comprehensive, and it won’t find your passion for you. But it will help you in your journey to find it.

Here’s how.

1. What are you good at? Unless you’re just starting out in life, you have some skills or talent, shown some kind of aptitude. Even if you are just starting out, you might have shown some talent when you were young, even as young as elementary school. Have you always been a good writer, speaker, drawer, organizer, builder, teacher, friend? Have you been good at ideas, connecting people, gardening, selling? Give this some thought. Take at least 30 minutes, going over this question — often we forget about things we’ve done well. Think back, as far as you can, to jobs, projects, hobbies. This could be your passion. Or you may have several things. Start a list of potential candidates.

2. What excites you? It may be something at work — a little part of your job that gets you excited. It could be something you do outside of work — a hobby, a side job, something you do as a volunteer or a parent or a spouse or a friend. It could be something you haven’t done in awhile. Again, think about this for 30 minutes, or 15 at the least. If you don’t, you’re probably shortchanging yourself. Add any answers to your list.

3. What do you read about? What have you spent hours reading about online? What magazines do you look forward to reading? What blogs do you follow? What section of the bookstore do you usually peruse? There may be many topics here — add them to the list.

4. What have you secretly dreamed of? You might have some ridiculous dream job you’ve always wanted to do — to be a novelist, an artist, a designer, an architect, a doctor, an entrepreneur, a programmer. But some fear, some self-doubt, has held you back, has led you to dismiss this idea. Maybe there are several. Add them to the list — no matter how unrealistic.

5. Learn, ask, take notes. OK, you have a list. Pick one thing from the list that excites you most. This is your first candidate. Now read up on it, talk to people who’ve been successful in the field (through their blogs, if they have them, or email). Make a list of notes of things you need to learn, need to improve on, skills you want to master, people to talk to. Study up on it, but don’t make yourself wait too long before diving into the next step.

6. Experiment, try. Here’s where the learning really takes place. If you haven’t been already, start to do the thing you’ve chosen. Maybe you already are, in which case you might be able to skip to the next step or choose a second candidate to try out. But if you haven’t been, start now — just do it. It can be in the privacy of your own home, but as quickly as possible, make it public however you can. This motivates you to improve, it gets you feedback, and your reputation will improve as you do. Pay attention to how you feel doing it — is it something you look forward to, that gets you excited, that you love to share?

7. Narrow things down. I recommend that you pick 3-5 things from your list, if it’s longer than that, and do steps 5 & 6 with them. This could take month, or perhaps you’ve already learned about and tried them all out. So now here’s what you need to ask yourself: which gets you the most excited? Which of these can produce something that people will pay for or get excited about? Which can you see yourself doing for years (even if it’s not a traditional career path)? Pick one, or two at the most, and focus on that. You’re going to do the next three steps with it: banish your fears, find the time, and make it into a career if possible. If it doesn’t work out, you can try the next thing on your list — there’s no shame in giving something a shot and failing, because it’ll teach you valuable lessons that will help you to be successful in the next attempt.

8. Banish your fears. This is the biggest obstacle for most people – self-doubt and fear of failure. You’re going to face it and banish it. First, acknowledge it rather than ignoring or denying it. Second, write it down, to externalize it. Third, feel it, and be OK with having it. Fourth, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” Usually it’s not catastrophic. Fifth, prepare yourself for doing it anyway, and then do it. Take small steps, as tiny as possible, and forget about what might happen — focus on what actually is happening, right now. And then celebrate your success, no matter how small.

9. Find the time. Don’t have the time to pursue this passion? Make the time, dammit! If this is a priority, you’ll make the time — rearrange your life until you have the time. This might mean waking earlier, or doing it after work or during lunch, or on weekends. It will probably mean canceling some commitments, simplifying your work routing or doing a lot of work in advance (like you’re going on a vacation). Do what it takes.

10. How to make a living doing it. This doesn’t happen overnight. You need to do something, get good at it, be passionate about it. This could take months or years, but if you’re having fun, that’s what’s most important. When you get to the point where someone would pay you for it, then you’re golden — there are many ways to make a living at that point, including doing freelance or consulting work, making information products such as ebooks, writing a blog and selling advertising. In fact, I recommend you do a blog if you’re not already — it’ll help solidify your thinking, build a reputation, find people who are interested in what you do, demonstrate your knowledge and passion.

I told you this wouldn’t be easy. It’ll require a lot of reflection and soul-searching, at first, then a lot of courage and learning and experimentation, and finally a lot of commitment.

But it’s all worth it — every second, every ounce of courage and effort. Because in the end, you’ll have something that will transform your life in so many ways, will give you that reason to jump out of bed, will make you happy no matter how much you make.

I hope you follow this guide and find success, because I wish on you nothing less than finding your true passion.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” - Confucius

The question is NOT ~ Why did Whitney Houston go? - but rather ~ Why are you and I still here?

2012-02-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

From a message posted today by Pastor Carlton Pearson,

"Jeremiah wrote ~ "Before I formed you I knew you, I called you . . ." Our faith comes by hearing. What of ~ what we hear ~ inside & outside ~ is guiding us? What sounds are we tracking with, thinking about or listening to? What do we feel about our self? ~ What do we believe about our self? ~ What do we think aboutour self? ~ What do we know about our self? What may we be unknowingly addicted to? How do we bridge the gap between God and our self? Why are we on this planet? And finally ~ The question is NOT ~ Why did Whitney Houston go? - but rather ~ Why are you and I still here? ~ The answer to these questions can simply be found here ~ What is your joy?"

and

It is going to be OK! Follow your Joy! ~
By Pastor Dale Swansen
The message at my church today 2/12/12 was on:
Faith in Action.
We are starting a study of James.
Today Chap 1:1-18
1) Choose Joy - a joyful attitude / mental approach
2) Let perseverance / patience finish its work in you
3) Anticipate the Fruit to come
4) Believe and Trust in God
5) Understand the nature of temptation
6) Receive His promises for us.
Amen! So be it!

Found this pamphlet in my Bible today - and it goes with the above message beautifully ~

II Peter 1:3 - 8
Reader's Version (NIRV)

Be Sure That God Has Chosen You

3 God's power has given us everything we need to lead a godly life. All of that has come to us because we know the One who chose us. He chose us because of his own glory and goodness.
4 He has also given us his very great and valuable promises. He did it so you could share in his nature. He also did it so you could escape from the evil in the world. That evil is caused by sinful longings.

5 So you should try very hard to add goodness to your faith. To goodness, add knowledge.
6 To knowledge, add the ability to control yourselves. To the ability to control yourselves, add the strength to keep going. To the strength to keep going, add godliness.
7 To godliness, add kindness to believers. And to kindness to believers, add love.
8 You should possess more and more of those good points. They will make you useful and fruitful as you get to know our Lord Jesus Christ better.

Remain Steadfast In The Faith
written by Joseph Prince

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.⁹Resist him, steadfast in the faith….

1 Peter 5:8–9

When I was a teenager, I was taught that if I wanted to resist the devil, I had to rebuke him. So whenever an evil thought came to my mind or I was tempted, I found myself saying, “I resist you, devil, in Jesus’ name! I bind you, devil! Go away from me, devil! I rebuke you in Jesus’ name!”

This went on until God showed me one day that though I had “resisted” the devil, I had spent more time talking to him than to God! I was more conscious of the devil than of God throughout the day.

I checked the Word of God and realized that we resist the devil not by focusing on resisting him, but by being established in the faith that we are made right with God through Jesus’ blood, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Yes, the devil will continue to remind you of your mistakes, failures and sins. And he will tell you that because of these things, you cannot receive your healing, that you will have to pay for your mistakes or that something bad will happen to your family. He will accuse you, condemn you and try to persuade your heart to believe that he can do bad things to you.

But the truth is that the devil cannot enforce anything in your life if he cannot persuade your heart. And your heart cannot be persuaded if it is “steadfast in the faith”, if it is established in righteousness. God says that once you are established in righteousness, “You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”. (Isaiah 54:14)

So now that my heart is established in righteousness, I can boldly declare, “Yes, I may have these problems in my life, but I am not guilty in God’s eyes. I am justified in God’s eyes by faith because of what Christ has done. I am righteous by Jesus’ blood!” My friend, that is how you resist the devil and become undevourable!

Thought For The Day

We resist the devil not by focusing on resisting him, but by being established in the faith that we are the righteousness of God in Christ.

"Everything Begins in February"

2012-01-31T12:25:00.000-08:00

Kim Clement : Prophecies ~

We're embarking upon a journey that will take us to a glorious outcome, a glorious destiny. We weren't placed on the earth at this time, together, to just go day in and day out hoping for a breakthrough; no, my friends. We are at the very brink of a breakthrough. Enough is enough; the worst is behind us.

So I encourage you from my heart today and I speak these words to you because I know that you're in the same place that I am. We wake up and we go to work and we come back at night. But there's more to this now.

We've entered a season, and today the Lord spoke very clearly to me about February. I thought it would be January of 2012, the beginning of the year. But He said to me, "Everything begins in February. There will be a death – and everybody will know about it – and then there will be life that will begin to manifest."

You see, people, God wants to show us His goodness. I was thinking, I was praying today, "God, all we're hearing about is the bad, the pain, the suffering." But we know there's another side of God. Moses was very frustrated because the people, the 3 ½ million Jews – all they could see was God's wrath, God's anger, God's judgment, and they were fearful. They ran away from the mountain, but Moses got to a place where he said, "God, enough. Show me Your glory." We have to see the glory of God. And God said, "I will show you My glory," and He did.

That's where I'm at right now. I'm standing before God saying, "Enough. I want to see Your glory." And I'm praying for all of you today that you would pray that prayer because we are going to see the glory of God. I love you and I look forward to many, many great years together and all of you receiving the breakthroughs that God has promised you. You were sent to this earth for such a time as this, to show the world light and to be an influence to the world. I love you.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let Your glory fill the earth; let Your glory fill every home, every person listening to me, those that You've given to me to support and to follow. Bless them, Lord God. Let Your glory fill their lives, their children, their homes, their work, their industry, their ministries, everything. Our hearts are fixed and our hearts are steadfast. We will sing praise; yes, we will sing praise to You. Now Lord, I give You thanks for them and I pray for Your blessing. Amen.

"Learn to Accept My Glory"

2012-01-30T06:21:00.000-08:00

The following corporate prophetic word was given by Eileen Fisher on January 10, 2012 during her weekly Prophetic School of the Holy Spirit meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado:

The Lord said, "Take off restrictions. Take off the restrictions man has placed upon you. Take off constrictions, that the world has you tied in knots, not allowing you to run free. Throw off heaviness. Throw off sin. Throw off depression and discouragement. Stand on My Word. Dwell in My Word. Let My Word dwell in you. You are going to see My hand. When it comes down, you will know it is My hand. Even now My hand is moving.

"Can you not hear the spirit of mockery rising up in the world? Do you not understand that I was mocked upon the Cross, and My own, too, will be mocked? Know in the mocking, there is also a marking of My glory. Learn to accept My glory. I have marked you with the Blood of My Son. I have paid costly for you. I have paid a great price for you. Live abundantly. Live in the Blood of My Son. Have I not said, 'There is life in My Blood?'

"Take life. Let death be defeated. Let depression be defeated. Let hope rise up where despair has become a place to lay. Take authority. Stand in the goodness of your God. Stand in My favor. Stand in My understanding. Ask for the mind of Christ to be placed in you, so you will be able to comprehend and to think the thoughts of Christ. Pull down vain imaginations. Wherever the enemy comes and takes up residency, you have allowed him to take what My Kingdom has come to claim. Declare 'off limits to the demonic.' Let My glory reign," says the Lord your God.

Let me Live in the Glory of Your Grace

2012-01-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

~ I Will Run To You ~

Hillsongs

Again, hearing
Zechariah 4:6

embedded in mind --

"Not by might nor by power,

but by my Spirit,

says the LORD Almighty."

Listen to this beautiful song here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s2wCVcmYOU&feature=share

Your eye is on thesparrow
And Your hand, it comforts me
From the ends of the Earth to the depth of my heart
Let Your mercy and strength be seen

You call me to Your purpose
As angels understand
For Your glory, may You draw all men
As Your love and grace demand

And I will run to You
To Your words of truth
Not by might, not by power
But by the spirit of God
Yes I will run the race
'Till I see Your face
Oh let me live in the glory of Your grace

Grace & Mercy Triumphs over Judgement

2012-01-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

Believers will begin to "shine" after experiencing the glory of God manifesting in their midst.

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens,
and those who lead many to righteousness,
like the stars for ever and ever.

Daniel 12:3

LORD, I have heard of Your fame;
I stand in awe of Your deeds, LORD.

Repeat them in our day,
in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Habakkuk 3:2

"Our promised day of visitation is at hand.
All the pain, difficulty and hardships of this past season
were preparing us for this new season.
Out of our brokenness will come fullness.
God is going to turn it all around and make everything beautiful in His time.
It's time to get ready to board the glory train.

I hear the train a comin'."

written by Kari Browning

Show me the Glory in the Struggle

2012-01-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

"Grace is but glory begun

and

glory is but Grace perfected."

Jonathan Edwards

2 Samuel 22:25 MSG

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes."

‎. . . Begin to look for our own story in His Story . . .

Ephesians 1:11 -12 MSG

"It is in Christ we find out who we are and what we are living for.

Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up,

he had his eye on us,

had designs on us for glorious living,

part of the overall purpose he is working out in Everything and Everyone."

Ephesians 1:11 NLT

"He makes everything work out according to his plan."

The Art of Being

2011-10-07T10:33:00.001-07:00

Still your hearts and minds to enable My truths to flow in and through you, revealing My Light to lighten your way into the path of righteousness. Let there be no strain as you put this into practice, simply Be; for Being is believing, Being is allowing Me to use you as I will. So learn the art of Being, and Doing will spring forth from this Being. ~ written by Eileen Caddy

Living or Waiting? from "Walk in Dry Places" by Mel B

2011-10-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

What is the real secret of living 24 hours at a time? Isn't it really a

matter of feeling completely comfortable in the present rather than

believing that happiness depends on something in the future?

Whatever our situation today, it's something we must live through and deal

with effectively. We may be overlooking many wonderful things in our present

life simply because we believe we need some exciting experience that can

only come later on.

We also might be overlooking present opportunities because we're spending

too much time in the past. The past, whether it was good or bad, is beyond

our control.

Our mission is to live effectively and happily today. We can do this best

when we realize that yesterday and tomorrow don't really exist - today is

all we can be sure of.

*I'll live today in the present, handling every problem as well as I can and

enjoying every experience that comes to me.*

2011-10-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

THE AWAKENING

A time comes in your life when you finally get…when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out…ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on. Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it’s time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon.

You realize that in the real world there aren’t always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of “happily ever after” must begin with you…and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are…and that’s OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself…and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.

You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you – or didn’t do for you – and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and everything isn’t always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself…and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties…and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you’ve outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a “consumer” looking for you next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don’t know everything, it’s not your job to save the world and that you can’t teach a pig to sing. You learn the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drinking more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it’s OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn’t always fair, you don’t always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people…and you learn not to always take it personally.

You learn that nobody’s punishing you and everything isn’t always somebody’s fault. It’s just life happening. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than you heart’s desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in you heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best as you can.

2011-10-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

Perfect Picture for this blog . . .

‎*Show me They Glory in the Struggle & Mercy and Grace triumph over Judgement!* ~

Hallelujah!

Being a Caring Parent to Your Inner Child ~ Soothing Your Inner Child

2011-03-11T14:16:00.001-08:00

Jane Rowan

Getting in touch with our inner children is not always easy. At first it might seem that

they just want to cry and cry. This is natural. The parts of us that were split off at a

young age had to go away for good reasons—abuse, fear, neglect, misunderstanding.

These young parts were not allowed to express their overwhelming feelings, so they

took the feelings away with them.

When we invite these lost inner children back into our lives, we have to be ready for
them to express a lot of distress. But what do we do then?

How Do We Soothe the Inner Child?

First of all, it is a process and it won’t get done all at once. You need to learn how to

parent your own particular inner children. They will teach you what they need as time

goes on. You will have to be just as patient as if you had adopted a real child with a

troubled background.

Second, you need to take those feelings extremely seriously. “Soothing” the child does

not mean saying, “There, there, dear. It’s OK. Stop crying.” You may have heard voices

like that in your past, but your job is to be a different kind of parent, one who really

listens to the child’s feelings. The first part of soothing is to hear the feelings. The child

might not be able to tell you why she or he feels sad or angry or scared. Your job is to pay

attention to the feelings.

If you can, find a safe a quiet place where you can literally sit down and listen. Let the

feelings emerge. Accept all of them, even though it is painful. If you can’t bear all of it at
once, tell the child that you will listen for ten minutes, or five, or two minutes. Then
promise the child to make another time later to listen some more.

As the feelings emerge, focus on loving the child who is entrusting you with these valuable

and vulnerable emotions. Tell the child that you are proud of her or him for coming forth.

Sometimes you may feel completely overwhelmed and inside the feelings, like your are

being the child. That’s OK. If you can manage to stay in that place, try to do so. See if you

can detect any shift where you might feel a little more like a grownup holding the child.

Here’s Where the Soothing Comes In:

Value all those difficult feelings and validate them.
Let your body express the love you have for this child by holding a pillow or stuffed
animal, rocking, humming, stroking, doing anything you’d do to comfort an actual
child.
Trust your instincts on this. Let the child tell you what feels good to her or him.
Don’t let any critical voices tell you that it’s silly to rock and hum a lullaby.
It’s not silly—it is valuable practice in loving yourself.

You will need to do this practice over and over as your inner child
gradually learns to trust you.

Over time you will learn to be the caring parent that this child never had.
You will share your future with the wonderful, free, and loving spirit that
is your inner child.

To view this page in its original form,

please visit:
http://healing.about.com/od/innerchild/a/soothinnerchild.htm

Metamorphosized! ~ Patricia King:

2011-02-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

This is a year of transition. Transitions often are remarkable, wonderful, and glorious, once you are through them. Recently I was helping a friend process some things regarding a transition season they were currently experiencing. The Lord gave me a clear word for her: "You are in a process of metamorphosis."

Many are Experiencing Spiritual Metamorphosis

Over the next 24 hours I received a word of knowledge that many in the Body are currently experiencing this spiritual metamorphosis.

The proverbial example used to describe this process is that of the caterpillar in its cocoon. It enters the cocoon as a caterpillar but exits a butterfly. It is a brand new creature when the process is completed. Everything about it is different. It enters as a crawling creature that consumes and destroys plants and exits a graceful butterfly that deposits life-giving pollen, granting plants and trees reproduction and fruitfulness.The metamorphosis transformed a consumer into a producer of life and beauty.

Liquefied and Disintegrated

During the transition in the cocoon, the caterpillar literally liquefies. In the cocoon, the old disintegrates and the new takes form and shape. When the process is complete, it breaks out of the cocoon and emerges as a beautiful creature symbolizing freedom and new life.

Are You Trapped in the Cocoon of Change?

Are you feeling like you're being liquefied and trapped in a cocoon of change? Do you feel transition all around you and wonder who you are in this season? Do you feel that you cannot go back to where you were yet you do not know where you are going? Guess what? You are in the glorious season of being "metamorphosized."

Receive the grace of God to endure the process, and you might as well choose to be happy as you are going through it too.That will help tremendously! When you are feeling lifeless and without form, substance, or hope, think about the glorious future you will experience when the process is completed.

You are going to be absolutely amazed when you see the end product: new perspectives, new strength, new ease, new realms of freedom, and new opportunities. Trust Jesus who is the author and finisher of your faith. He has you in His grip and will not let go. It is all good and the end result will be amazing if you trust Him.

A Glorious Outcome

Many individuals, as well as churches and businesses, are going to go through this process this year. Oh, how wonderful the outcome is going to be for you. Look forward to a glorious future and rejoice, for very soon you will be fully and gloriously "metamorphosized."

Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 1 John 3:2 NASB

Patricia King
Extreme Prophetic Ministries
Email: info@extremeprophetic.com

Ask Me For the "Double Portion" and I Will Give It! ~ Theresa Phillips

2011-02-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

What Double Portion Should I Ask For?

I was awakened with a keen sense of a visitation in the room. God was near and I could feel His presence. He spoke to me and said, "Ask Me for the double portion and I will give it."

I began to sit quietly, and of course all sorts of things began to come into my mind. I first asked for a double portion of holiness and wisdom. Then I felt this was not what He was saying. I waited, then waited some more for a couple of days, and He spoke again,"Ask Me for a double portion and I will give it."

Remembering a double portion was in the Word, I received this:

2 Kings 2:9 (NIV) When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.

In my own thoughts, I was able to recognize this: Elijah was a man of great power. The glory of God rested upon him, and he did many exploits with God to allow God's presence to be seen before the people. Elijah was a man who surrendered to God and was His vessel. Something shifted in me as I read this Scripture. Elijah knew God's voice, His presence and His actions. He experienced the anointing and the glory (the manifested presence of God). Elisha wanted that too.

Then my husband Robert began his daily devotion and read aloud to me this Scripture, and I had my answer:

Matthew 16:15-19 (KJV) He saith unto them, "But whom say ye that I am?" And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered and said unto him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven..."

I knew God was showing me something revelatory and extremely important for the Church, which will ultimately help us win more of the lost. Peter was asked, "Who do you say I am?" He answers, "You are the Christ..." (meaning Anointed One). Jesus tells him that it's by God you know this (revelation). Two vital elements are very present at the same time: revelation and anointing!

When we receive a true revelation, it becomes foundational – the rock; hence, "Upon this rock I will build My Church." Revelation is also the glory of God manifested to man (what has been revealed), so this element of the Scripture may very well have described that the glory was present. In the glory there is perfect rest (Jesus confirmed Peter, which brings encouragement and rest).

What was happening here was Jesus was in a "tabernacle moment" with Peter, who had entered a place of rest and comfort because Jesus was there with him. We know the Feast of Tabernacles is important, BUT so is it totabernacle with Jesus. In His presence = manifested presence with ease and comfort. Jesus comforts and admonishes Peter by saying that no man can show you this but God Himself (paraphrased).

The Double Portion: The Glory and the Anointing

Then I received the revelation of the "double portion." When Jesus asked me to ask Him for a "double portion," the first task was to let Him know I knowwho He is. That can only come through revelation – God's revelation (present moment of God's illumination). Revelation is the presence of God, which equals a realm of glory. In this realm of glory we obtain life-changing characteristics of God to be displayed THROUGH US, IN HIM. Our objective is always to change.

But this goes further... Peter says, "You are the Christ," meaning theAnointed One. This became to me the most powerful revelation. Jesus is God, which equals glory of the manifested presence from Heaven's realm. He is the Anointed One from God, which equals Sent (to deliver man from sin and become heirs of the Kingdom).

Then I became aware of this "double portion" He was giving, and I want to extend it also to you. The glory realm is the place where eternity and earth meet to disclose the ultimate purpose of God, granting the peace of His presence plus knowledge of the purpose and mind of Christ, changing us into His image (this is the secret place, see Psalm 91).

The anointing is given to destroy yokes. Plus, He is in essence granting permission to man to join into the fellowship of His works. As the anointing moves in, we reciprocate by the act of agreement, resulting in physical action. So, as I began to seek Him on this "double portion," I recognized that we NEED the glory (revealed presence) and we need the anointing (manifesting presence)!

What to Ask For

In the glory (presence) there is rest, ease and comfort. In the anointing the flesh is moving to do exploits with God for the purpose of engaging mankind to a closer, more fulfilled and healthier walk with God.

In Psalm 61 (especially verses 1-3) we see this happening in the forerunning prayer by David: "Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to You, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock(revelation foundation) that is higher than I. For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe" (the gates of Hades will not prevail...) yet the whole Psalm is of glory and promise, the same promise Jesus gave Peter.

To define the "double portion" is to recognize what is it He is wanting to have man ask for. What is He willing to give as a double portion? What is on His mind? All these questions ran through me and still do. This is the "double portion" I felt we could ask of Him and He will give it.

Show me Your glory, O Lord, that I may have revelation to obtain rest.My first part of the DOUBLE PORTION is to rest in Him, being a footstool of our God. This will give me His presence that I may KNOW Him and believe. The Lord showed Moses His glory, which is His revealed goodness (Exodus 33:18-19). Peter had revelation about the glory of God, which was Jesus was WITH him (Matthew 16:15-19). Elisha entered the glory when Elijah's mantle fell to the ground. But first he knew Elijah, and Elijah KNEW GOD!

The second part of the "double portion" is the anointing. The anointing is the presence of Holy Spirit to fill and cover man (He is in you and He comes upon you) and use his flesh to do the works of the present needs of the Father. This part is most observed by the Church and by the unchurched. In the anointing is the observance that man is operating WITH God.

It's in the anointing we can do exploits, we can pray for hours, we can sing and dance for hours; or we can cast out devils, we can raise the dead. He tabernacles with us to do that for mankind, present in Holy Spirit-form to grant mankind grace and hope, goodness and mercy, and most of all, salvation. We can get tired, but in the realms of glory we find rest so we may obtain STRENGTH to endure the anointing, for God's power must be endured to fulfill the needs of God at any given moment.

Elisha grabbed what he knew in secret and ran to the water, tried it out and obtained the presence. Glory to God! So can we! He then moved in the anointing.

Hallelujah!

Prayer for the Double Portion

Dear Jesus, I ask for a double portion for myself and for this reader. I ask for You to show us Your Glory, teach us to rest in it and get to KNOW You. I ask You to grant us wisdom and grace to sit and live in You.

Let Your presence give us revelation upon revelation in Your Holy Writ and by Your Spirit. Grant us, Your servants, O Lord, to recognize (discern) what it is in the present moment that You want us to cooperate with You to accomplish.

We need this double portion of Jesus, Son of God. We need to build that secret place of habitation and take it outside to the world. The earth is longing for us. Preserve us in Your realms of glory and anoint us in Your Spirit to win the lost, set them free and deliver man from the tricks of Your enemies. Help us teach them to be inheritors of Your Kingdom. I pray that we change our focus from what we think to what it is You are doing.

I ask now for the "double portion" glory and anointing to walk with us, to keep us, to preserve us and to change us into Your image each and every day.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Theresa Phillips
Chicago Prophetic Voice
Email: Info@ChicagoPropheticVoice.net

What do YOU choose? ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Author unknown

2010-01-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

It´s quiet.
It´s early.
My coffee is hot.
The sky is still black.
The world is still asleep.
The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive.
It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun.

The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise
of the day.
The calm of solitude will be invaded by decisions to be
made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day´s
demands.
It is now that I must make a choice.
I CHOOSE LOVE ... No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness.
I choose love.
Today I will love God and what God loves.
I CHOOSE JOY... I will invite God to be the God of circumstances.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical... the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I CHOOSE PEACE ... I will live forgiven.
I will forgive so that I may live.
I CHOOSE PATIENC E... I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I CHOOSE KINDNESS ... I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I CHOOSE GOODNESS ... I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse.
I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS . .. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word.
I CHOOSE GENTLENESS .. . Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL ... I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will not, rule the eternal. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith.
I will be influenced only by God.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control -
Galatians 5:22,23
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks.
If I fail, I will seek God.
And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest with the peace that passes all understanding.

Love Attracts Love . . .

2009-12-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

Cease straining after anything and simply allow things to unfold.
Do not allow worry to bind you and blind you, but learn to cast all your burdens upon Me so that you are free to do My will and walk in My ways.
I cannot use you when you are tied up with yourself and cannot see the wood for the trees, so relax and let go.
Be still and dwell on the wonders of life.
Let your mind be stayed on Me.
Open your eyes and see Me in everything, and give eternal thanks.
When you can see Me in everything, your heart is so full you cannot fail to give thanks;
it simply bubbles up in you and flows out.
You cannot hide a heart full of love and gratitude, for it is reflected for all to see.
When you are in a state of joy and thanksgiving, you attract others to you.
Everyone enjoys being with a soul who overflows with love, for love attracts love.

Daily Guidance ~ from Eileen Caddy's book ~ "Opening Doors Within"

Where does Your ~ PEACE & JOY ~ come from?

2009-12-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

From Sign Posts ~ Daily Devotions ~ Thursday, December 17, 2009

Seek peace and pursue it. ”1 Peter 3:11b"

God's kingdom is a kingdom of peace. That's sometimes hard to imagine when we see so much conflict in our world. War, poverty, crime, domestic violence, and even the simple arguments that fray the connections between ourselves and others keep us from experiencing God's kingdom of peace.

When conflict happens in the world, in our workplace, or in our families, we find ourselves finding ways to feel justified in our separation. We sometimes get to the point where we no longer even want to resolve our differences. We seem happier rooted in the "right-ness" of our own position than in modifying our opinions in order to be at peace with others.

Imagine what might happen if the next time we had an argument with our co-worker, we actively sought peace instead of avoiding their presence or trying to undermine them, or speaking to them angrily. We might be surprised to find our soul expanding with joy rather than being crimped by malice.

It isn't really that hard to seek peace and pursue it. The key is trusting that any mistreatment we receive at the hands of others is taken up into the heart of God. We don't need to hold onto hurt.

Instead of focusing on how we've been mistreated, we can choose to look for goodness in our co-worker. It is surely there. When we remember that those who oppose us are more like us than different, we easily notice their goodness. When we desire to experience that goodness, we will find ourselves walking into our co-worker's office with a smile of blessing, rather than a face hardened with the creases of anger.

Peace really comes easily. It comes when we let go and look for goodness.

Gracious God, when conflict rages around me, let me look for goodness and shine a light on it.

~ . ~

"The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man, a being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally WHAT HE THINKS, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts."

~ . ~

Having a child together ~ is not only about genetics and DNA but also so much more about personalities. It is because of who Mary and Joseph were that shaped Jesus into who He was to become.

Children, do what YOU do, not what YOU say.

Think about it ~ Jesus became who is was by how Mary and Joseph related to him. He understood and knew unconditional love as a gift from 2 very special people. God FULLY trusted Mary and Joseph to raise HIS Son into the Man of God He was to become.

Do I hear an Amen!?

Oh that we could be more like Mary and Joseph!

May we all ~ in this season and in all our days to come . . . learn to be more like the parents of Jesus, ~ Joseph and Mary . . . by being Complete in our Father God ~ resting fully in His Grace, Joy, Peace and Love and minute by minute learning how to give these (HIS) gifts away ~ thereby ~ changing this world into the fullness of Glory!

So, Again . . .

Do I hear an AMEN?

It's Already Yours . . .

2009-12-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

You already have what it takes to be anything you want to be, to have anything you want to have, to live the way you want to live. The ability to create the life you desire, is already yours. Your job is to find that ability, make use of your potential, and take the actions that will lead to the achievement you desire.

It is foolish to wish that you could get something for nothing. Foolish, and quite unnecessary. Because you already have everything you could possibly want, if you will just find it and make use of it.

You won't get something for nothing, and you don't need it anyway. Look inside yourself. Find the value that is already there, and make the most of it. Whatever you truly desire, you already have the ability to acquire. It's up to you to make it happen.

Why Self-Acceptance is SO Hard
by Jane Powell

"Accepting yourself as you are takes courage."

Who are you? Do you know? Take time to think about your values and goals. What do you believe in? What is important to you?

Decide that you will never compromise your integrity by trying to be or say or feel something that is not true for you. Have the courage to accept yourself as you really are, not as an ideal or as someone else thinks you should be.

Most of all, know that at the end of the day, you are wonderful woman capable of wonderful things.

Get this week off to a great start. Reach into yourself, grab something of real and meaningful value, and give it to the world.
There is something truly beautiful within you that is longing to be expressed. Let it out where it can see the light of day and, more importantly, where others can benefit from it too.

Set aside your worries, anxieties and frustrations and touch the part of you that knows how beautiful life can be. Allow your natural creativity to be ignited as you work to give life a gift that is uniquely you.

To be truly fulfilled, you must make space for that fulfillment. Give of yourself and open up a place within you where that fulfillment can find a home.

Look around you right now and you'll see countless opportunities to make a difference in your own special way. Every time you do, you'll experience how absolutely right it feels.

That is what true success feels like. And it can be yours this very moment.
Ralph Marston

Adventactually . . . Waiting for an important arrival

2009-12-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today's SignPosts Daily Devotions

Monday, December 7

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
—Luke 1:79

It seems we’re always waiting for something or someone. We’re waiting to make a bigger salary, we’re waiting for a new or better job, we’re waiting to heal from a sickness, we’re waiting in line, we're waiting see our loved ones. During the time that we are hoping to get what we don’t yet have, we are in a place of darkness.

We’re like the father Jesus talked about who was waiting for an important arrival—the arrival of his wayward son. Even though his regular activities went on as he waited, there was darkness in him as well. He felt the darkness of not knowing if or when the son would actually come home. When he finally saw his son coming toward home, he ran to meet him with joy in his heart. For him, the dawn from on high had broken upon him. Light had replaced the darkness in his heart.

We, too, await an important arrival—the arrival of God into our lives. The word Adventactually means important arrival. Whenever we are waiting for the coming of God it can feel like we are in darkness. We do our daily activities but, like the father in Jesus’ story, we wonder if or when God will come and lift our darkness.

The promise of Advent is that God is always coming to us. We can look across the field and see God’s presence in the people and world around us. We can become silent and still, and look inside our own heart and feel the presence of God. Unlike all the other "waiting"in our lives, we can know that God is always present if we just take the time to see and notice.

Gracious God, remind me that you are always arriving in my life and scattering the darkness away.

You are a Healer ~

2009-11-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

A healer does not heal with their hands, their mind nor with a specific technique. A healer heals with their heart. There are many healing modalities that a person can use to improve their lives and their health. None is more powerful than love.

If you were to learn many of these techniques you would find that love is a pattern that weaves itself through all healing. It is a constant. This is because healing comes from understanding and living all that you are. And at your core, you are made of love. There is a difference between understanding that you are love and living it. This is known as the 13 inch journey, the journey for the realization to travel from you mind, where you understand it intellectually, to your heart where you feel and live it. When this happens you will know. There is no mistaking the experience.

Many people find that they experience this feeling (actually a way of being) for a while and then it disappears, leaving them feeling sad or disappointed. Indeed, there is a big difference in how a person experiences life from the love awareness as opposed to when the feeling subsides. This subsiding is a gift. It teaches that you have a choice between living in love and living in fear.

Living in love is where healing takes place. The key is not how long you can stay in love but that you realize when you have fallen out of it. Then the decision to go back to love or not is yours. And here is where the personal issues start coming up. Sometimes it seems easier or more justified to be angry, hurt, depressed or whatever. Some people will bury this realization in food, compulsive spending, over working, alcohol, unhealthy relationships or in some other way. I believe that denying who you are, denying what many people call the "I Am" is at the root of all illness be it physical, mental or spiritual. And love is the healer.

You already possess within you all that is needed for perfect health. It is simply a matter of peeling back the layers and having the courage to look inside. You will find inside a light so bright and beautiful that you may be frightened at first by its power and love. You may feel undeserving or uncertain about the responsibility of being this light. It may help you to realize that this is who you already are. Inside, every person has the same light and uncovering it is what healing is all about. All is love.

written by Linda White Dove

Seek the Gates of Zion . . .

2009-11-27T15:14:00.000-08:00

To you, God's precious child,

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father through Christ Jesus our Lord,

He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,

1) To those who missed the mark ~

Revelation 1:3 (The Message)

How blessed the reader! How blessed the hearers and keepers of these oracle words, all the words written in this book! Time is just about up.

Revelation 2:7 (The Message)

"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'm about to call each conqueror to dinner. I'm spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God's orchard."

2) To those who are proud and hostile ~

Revelation 14:13 (The Message)

Blessed are those who die in the Master from now on; how blessed to die that way!"

Revelation 2:10-11 (The Message )

"Don't quit, even if it costs you your life. Stay there believing. I have a Life-Crown sized and ready for you."

"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death."

3) To those who compromise faith and integrity ~

Revelation 16:15 (The Message)

"Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You're blessed if, awake and dressed, you're ready for me. Too bad if you're found running through the streets, naked and ashamed."

Revelation 2:17 (The Message)

"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'll give the sacred manna to every conqueror; I'll also give a clear, smooth stone inscribed with your new name, your secret new name."

4) To those who undermine authority ~

Revelation 19:9 (The Message)

"The Angel said to me, "Write this: 'Blessed are those invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.'" He added, "These are the true words of God!"

Revelation 2:26-28 (The Message)

"Here's the reward I have for every conqueror, everyone who keeps at it, refusing to give up: You'll rule the nations, your Shepherd-King rule as firm as an iron staff, their resistance fragile as clay pots. This was the gift my Father gave me; I pass it along to you—and with it, the Morning Star!"

5) To those who abuse wealth and Fame ~

Revelation 20:6

"Blessed and Holy are those who have part in the first Ressurection."

Revelation 3:5 (The Message)

"Conquerors will march in the victory parade, their names indelible in the Book of Life. I'll lead them up and present them by name to my Father and his Angels.

6) To those who abuse loyalty and devotion ~

Revelation 22:7 (The Message)
"Blessed be the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 3:10-12 (The Message)
"Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I'll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon, and all over the earth, every man, woman, and child put to the test."

"I'm on my way; I'll be there soon. Keep a tight grip on what you have so no one distracts you and steals your crown."

"I'll make each conqueror a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, a permanent position of honor. Then I'll write names on you, the pillars: the Name of my God, the Name of God's City—the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven—and my new Name."

7) To those who abuse weakness in others ~

Revelation 22:14 (The Message)

"How blessed are those who wash their robes! The Tree of Life is theirs for good, and they'll walk through the gates to the City. But outside for good are the filthy curs: sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idolaters—all who love and live lies."

Revelation 3:19-21 (The Message)

"The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!"

"Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That's my gift to the conquerors!"

He who has ears let him hear what the spirit says to the churches . . .

Step 10 . . .

2009-11-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake.
--Confucius

Step Ten tells us that when we are wrong, we must "promptly" admit it. We aren't used to admitting our mistakes. We defend ourselves or blame others. This is called denial.

Denial is bad for two reasons. First, it keeps us from learning from our mistakes, so we keep making them. Second, we don't listen to others, so we close off ourselves and become lonely.

What a relief it is to admit our wrongs! We don't have to keep trying to do things the hard way. We can learn new ways to think and act that will work better for us. We can let other people be our teachers.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me out of denial, so I can see the changes I need to make.

Action for the Day

Today, if I disagree with someone, I'll promptly admit it when I'm wrong. If I'm right, I'll be gentle. I don't have to prove anything.

You are reading from the book:

Keep It Simple by Anonymous

The Twelve Steps to Insanity ... Compliments of Sacramento ACA

2009-10-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

1. We admitted we were powerless over nothing ~ that we could

   manage our lives perfectly, as well as those of anyone else who
   would let us.

2. Came to believe that there was no power greater than ourselves
   and the rest of the world was insane.

3. Made a decision to have our loved ones turn their wills and their
   lives over to our care even though they couldn't understand us
   at all.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of everyone we
   knew.

5. Admitted to the whole world at large the exact nature of
   everyone else's wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to make others straighten up and do right.

7. Demanded others either shape up or ship out.

8. Made a list of all persons who harmed us and became willing to go
   to any lengths to get even with them all.

9. Got direct revenge on such people whenever possible except
   when to do so would cost us our lives or at the very least a
   jail sentence.

10. Continued to take the inventory of others and when they were
   wrong promptly and repeatedly told them about it.

11. Sought through bitching and nagging to improve our relations
   with others as we could not understand them at all, asking
   only that they knuckle under and do things our way.

12.   Having had a complete physical, emotional and spiritual
   breakdown as a result of these steps we tried to blame it
   on others and to get sympathy in all our affairs.

*** Did you happen to see yourself ~
   in any of these . . . steps to insanity? ~

   If so, keep reading ~ you have come to the right place . . .

I Am That ... I Am . . . Delivers Israel . . . You and Me

2009-09-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

To You ~ God's Precious, Valuable, Important and Worthwhile Child,

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is time to awaken our hearts as we remember who we are and from whence we came.

"First Love" ~ Anonymous

First Love, You are my First Love
You are my God, My King
First Love, You are mt First Love
My heart to you I bring
You found me wrapped in fear and shame
You placed on me your Holy Name
Enfolded me within your arms of love
My God, First Love

I Am That ... I Am . . . is the secret ~ to Delivering Israel ~
You and Me.

Psalm 87:2 New International Version

"The Lord loves the gates of Zion" ~ (I Am That ... I Am ~ in ~
You and Me)"

Joel 3:21 New International Version

" The Lord dwells in Zion ~ (I Am That, I Am ... in ~
You and Me) "

Isaiah 33:5-6 ~ New International Version

"The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high, he will fill Zion ~
(I Am That ... I Am ~ in ~ You and Me)
with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure."

Isaiah 33:20,21 ~ The Message

"Just take a look at Zion, will you? ~
(I Am That ... I Am ~ in ~ You and Me)
   Centering our worship in festival feasts!
Feast your eyes on Jerusalem,
   a quiet and permanent place to live.
No more pulling up stakes and moving on,
   no more patched-together lean-tos.
Instead, God! God majestic, God himself the place
   in a country of broad rivers and streams,
But rivers blocked to invading ships,
   off-limits to predatory pirates.
For God makes all the decisions here. God is our king.
   God runs this place and he'll keep us safe."

Isaiah 33:24 ~ The Message

"No one in Zion ~ (I Am That ... I Am ~ in ~ You and Me)
will say, "I'm sick." Best of all, they'll all live guilt-free."

To every Generation ~ Anonymous

From the dawning of the world and its wonders
Before the mountains reached the sky
From everlasting to everlasting
You were there through all the time

All my fathers heard your call through the ages
They made the choice to follow you
You were faithful, to the faithful
They found your promise to be true

Chorus
You have been a shelter Lord
To every generation
A sanctuary from the storm
To every generation

I was born into your arms, O my Father
There's still a refuge there for me
From my first breathe, drawn from your breath
You've been my security

My years go by, before your eyes
My days rush into night
Time would steal, every dream I feel
Give my hope a place to hide
All the days of my life

Let my children know your mercy in the morning
And find your greatness as they grow
May your glory, Be their glory
May your heart become their home

It is time to seek the Gates of Zion! ~ (I Am That ... I Am ~ in ~
You and Me)

A place of safety ~ 2 Samuel 5:7
A place of choice ~ Psalm 2:6
A place of righteousness ~ Psalm 9:11
A place of redemption ~ Psalm 74:2
A place of unconditional love ~ Psalm 87:2
A place of favor / glory ~ Psalm 102:13
A place of mourning ~ Psalm 137:3
A place of reflection ~ Isaiah 1:8
A place of learning ~ Isaiah 2:3
A place of strength ~ Isaiah 28:16
A place of gladness / joy ~ Isaiah 51:11
A place of intercession ~ Isaiah 52:8
A place of covenant ~ Jeremiah 50:5
A place of forgiveness ~ Joel 3:21
A place of selflessness ~ Amos 6:1
A place of teaching ~ Micah 4:2
A place of salvation ~ Zechariah 9:9
A place of humility ~ Romans 9:33
A place of deliverance ~ Romans 11:26
A place of communication with the living God ~ Hebrews 12:22
A place of Ressurection ~ Revelation 14:1

Psalm 24:7-10 ~ New International Version

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
       be lifted up, you ancient doors,
       that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
       The LORD strong and mighty,
       the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
       lift them up, you ancient doors,
       that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
       The LORD Almighty—
       he is the King of glory.
       Selah

Prose By Madeleine L'Engle

"Come, Lord Jesus, at the end,
Time's end, my end, forever start.
Come in your flaming, burning power.
Time, like the temple veil, now rend;
Come shatter every human hour.
Come Lord Jesus, at the end.
Break, then mend the waiting heart"

Exodus 3:14,15 ~

"I am the eternal God. I am the one who brings into being ~ I Am That ... I Am," has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on."

I Am That ... I Am . . . is the secret ~ to Delivering Israel ~
You and Me.

What is GOD to you?

G iving
O neness
D estiny

Jeremiah 50:4-5 ~ (The Message)

"In those days, at that time"—God's Decree—
   "the people of Israel will come,
And the people of Judah with them.
   Walking and weeping, they'll seek me, their God.
They'll ask directions to Zion
   and set their faces toward Zion ~ (I Am That ... I Am ~
in ~ You and Me.)
They'll come and hold tight to God,
   bound in a covenant eternal they'll never forget."

As we awaken may God's glory resurrect itself in each one our our hearts as we remember who we are and from whence we came.

Because his unconditional love and mercy compel me,

Amazingrace

Is a Radical Spontaneous Re~Mission Needed ?

2009-09-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

To You God's Precious, Valuable, Important and Worthwhile Child,

Grace and Peace to you from God our father through Christ Jesus,

Contemplate with me for a few minutes about the response of the disciples when Jesus ascended into heaven and what happened to them because of it.

Acts 1:11 (The Message)

"You Galileans!( Men and Women) ~ why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come (back to you and me) as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left."

In like manner . . . Christ became what we are in order to make us what he is. Jesus Christ went in order to return, and in the meantime, an invaluable spiritual principal is being imparted to us . . . Our life in Him will know an alteration in our relationship with Him. God is calling us to be open to change in our lives . . . to the times when He will leave us in the same manner and return in a new and deeper way. These withdrawals are to draw us into the next stage of growth.

It isn't that He literally leaves us, for He promised to be with us always, but He brings closure to a phase of our pilgrimage in order to open new depth in our relationship with Him. It seems if we have lost Him, But . . . He is down the road calling us to a new dimension of adventure of knowing Him more profoundly.

The transition sometimes breaks our hearts. But hearts aren't made of frail glass; they are more like clay on the potter's wheel. And our potter has an magnificent design for us to follow : His own nature! Helping us to understand more clearly His statement made at the end of His life on a mount called Olivet . . . letting us know in no uncertain terms that none of us get to be stage manager ~ except God, Himself . . .

Luke 22:42 (New International Version)

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

The time and manner of this transformational growth will be of God's choosing, not our own. It will take place in the Upper Room where we wait patiently on God to reveal His Spirit.

Acts 1:12-14 (The Message)

^"So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas, son of James. They agreed they were in this for ~ good, completely together ~ in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus' mother, Mary, and his brothers."

It is in this upper room where we begin to consciously choose to accept our humanness . . . in all things. We begin to wait on God and pray anticipating His return together. And this sets the stage for 2 things to occur that must be central in ~ our own preparation for Pentecost and the Ressurection of Christ's Spirit in us. The 2 are part of one experience. We pray together and we have a profound time of reconciling relationships.

John 20:22-23 (New International Version)

"And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Contemplate with me again on all the people who were waiting together in prayer in the upper room . . . there had been competition among the disciples and there must have been residue of criticism of each other. Peter had denied the Lord, Thomas had doubted and James and John had wrangled over who was the greatest and what position they would have in Jesus Kingdom. Also, there had been bad feelings between Jesus' family and the disciples. His mother and brothers had tried to dissuade Jesus, and had come to take him home to Nazareth on at least one occasion. From the cross, Jesus assigned John the responsibility of his mother, and we are sure John was sorting what that would mean in the light of the challenges Jesus had given them on Olivet before departing.

Then, adding to that mix were people whom Jesus had healed from sins that no good Jew could tolerate. Had the disciples ever worked through their real feelings about a person like Mary Magdalene? With Jesus absence, they were comforted by the fact that their relationship always had been cushioned with His gracious acceptance. Did they feel as He did? And what about the Pharisee Nicodemus? Was he really one of them? He was a member of the Sannhedrin and yet had not been able to stop the excruciating thing the Jewish leaders had done to the Lord. The Pharisee had shown his loyalty by asking for the body of Jesus and assisted with His burial. But could he be trusted? And what about the rich Joseph of Arimathea? He provided the tomb in the garden outside the city wall. And with all what Jesus said about the rich and the responsibility to the poor, was his presence a genuine concern? If he had provided the tomb, probably as a secret admirer and follower of the Lord, was he really to be accepted among the inner band of loyal followers?

A strange mixture of humanity was gathered there in the Upper Room. Each had his own agenda for being there ~ the knowledge of what Jesus had meant to each one of them. But ~ what were they to each other except people who had a common loyalty to Jesus? And, now, He was gone. They now had to sit and wait . . . open their hearts to one another . . . share their loneliness . . . their grief over Jesus absence, and . . . their wonderment about the future. Here were rich and poor, people of high social status, and reclaimed people ~ whose lives would never have touched each other ~ apart from Jesus.

The family and disciples had little which to build a relationship. Had there been hostility among Jesus' brothers resulting from the feeling that Jesus had spent his time with a motley band of fisherman, a tax collector, and a zealot ~ with no time for his own family? And had the disciples resented the filial protectiveness of Jesus' family?

Surely ~ Put yourself into this drama of human relationship . . . How much are we just like them?

A common grief can open strangers / aliens to one another. It can begin to build relationships. And it can put conflicts between friends into perspective. Mutual need can break through the fabric of hurting memories of what we have said or done to one another.

And yet it is a shared hope ~ that galvanizes people. The frail thread of anticipation in each of the people in the Upper Room was woven into a strong bond of oneness.

I believe differences were confessed, hurts were shared and reconciliation was started. What was about to happen to them (and to us) would be the only lasting basis of true relationship, and the immensity of Jesus promise before He forced them (and us) to get ready ~ by being open with one another.

Acts 2:1 (The Message)

"When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place (of one accord)."

Prayer brings unity. We can't begin to seek the loving heart of the Lord for long without recognizing the needs of our relationships with our brother's and sister's with whom we pray. Surely Jesus followers huddled together in prayer, remembering what he had assured them . . .

Matthew 18:18-20

"What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

We wonder what they prayed about? I think it was the disciples' report on what Jesus promised in those last hours before his ascension; they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power He was to give them and us! A sublime reason for a prayer meeting in any age.

And this brings us back to the need for the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit making prolonged prayer and getting right with ourselves, others and God more than elements of good preparation; they are a necessity!

2 Chronicles 7:14 (The Message)

"If my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health."

It is now our personal responsibility before the Lord to prepare our hearts for Pentecost. To pray for the Holy Spirit and to be sure there is nothing in our relationships blocking full acceptance of the blessing that follows.

We need to ask the Lord to reveal if there is anything unconfessed in us or between others and, or God. And if there is, we may need a radical spontaneous re-mission by the Holy Spirit to change our attitudes ~ to uncover unhealed memories and or unguided plans for our future which never had the Lord's blessing or direction.

The Lord wants to bless each and every one of us with His Holy Spirit. Prayer and reconciled relationships with ourself, others and God is the best place to begin and then begin again and again all through our Christian Adventure.

True love starts with ~ accepting a person (including ourselves) for ~ who they are and who they are not.

Can you say, I forgive you & I love you?

Because His Unconditional Mercy and Love Compel Me,

Amazingrace

The Rules For Being Human . . . (Anonymous)

2009-09-19T00:11:00.000-07:00

1. You will receive a body
   You may like it or hate it, but it is yours for your entire
   period on earth.

2. You will Learn Lessons
   You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called life.
   Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to
   learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them
   irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons
   Growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation.
   The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the
   process as the experiment that ultimately "works."

4. A lesson is repeated until it is learned
   A lesson will be presented to you in various forms
   until you have learned it. When you have learned
   it then you can move on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end
   There is no part of life that does not contain its
   lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be
   learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here"
   When your "there" has become a "here," you
   will simply obtain another "there" that will again,
   look better than here.

7. Others are simply mirrors of you
   You cannot love or hate something about another
   person unless it reflects to you something you love
   or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you
   You have the tools and resources you need, what
   you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. The answers lie inside of you
   The answers to life's questions lie inside of you.
   All you need to do is look, listen and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Steps to Recovery & The Promises . . .

2009-09-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Show me Thy Glory ~ In the Struggle . . .

The old ways of seeing, believing, and reasoning will not help us alleviate our current situation. Our survival is at stake. We need a new paradigm. We need a spontaneous Re~Mission . . . Who of us ~ will choose ~ to step out of our cocoon, Trust ~ Follow the signal of Love and Re~Birth ourselves into ~ the new Kingdom ~ thereby ~ empowering Grace?

The Twelve Steps ~ ( Bill W )
The Promises ~ (Anonymous)

The Healing Power of Love ~
1. Admit we are powerless over our separation from God, Ourself and Others ~ and that at this moment right now ~ our life is unmanageable.

Matt 5:3 ~ "Blessed are the poor ( ... when you're at the end of your rope ) ~ for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

Roman's 7:17-20 ~ "But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time."

Our Promise ~

1. I know new sense of belonging and the feelings

of emptiness and loneliness will disappear.

The Healing Power of Faith ~
2. Come to believe that a power greater than ourself can restore us ~

Matt 5:4 ~ "Blessed are those who mourn ( ... when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you ), for they will be comforted."

Rom 5:6 – “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.” and Philippians 2:13 - "That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.”

Our Promise ~

2. I am no longer controlled by my fears.

I overcome my fears and act with courage,

integrity and dignity.

The Healing Power of Surrender ~
3. Make a decision ( ~ just become willing ) to turn our will and our life over to the care of God, as we understand Him.

Matt 5:5 ~ "Blessed are the meek ( ... when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less ), for they will inherit the earth. ~ That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."

Roman's 12:1-2 - "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

Our Promise ~

3. I comprehend the word serenity and I know a new

freedom.

The Healing Power of Forgiveness ~
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Matt 5:6 ~ "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ~ You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat."

Matt 6:14-15 ~ "In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part."

Our Promise ~

4. I release myself from worry, guilt and regret about

my past and present. I am aware enough not to

repeat it.

The Healing Power of Confession ~
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves & another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Matt 5:7 ~ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy ~ You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for."

James 5:16 ~ "Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with."

Our Promise ~

5. I know a new love and acceptance of myself and

others. I feel genuinely lovable, loving and loved.

The Healing Power of Acceptance ~
6. Were entirely ready for God to remove all these defects of character.

Matt 5:8 ~ "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ~ You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world."

Heb 12: 1-3 ~ "Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"

*Think back to Step 1 . . .

Our Promise ~

6. I learn to see myself as equal to others. My new and

renewed relationships are all with equal partners.

The Healing Power of Release ~
7. Humbly asked God to Remove our shortcomings.

Matt 5:8 ~ "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ~ You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world."

James 4: 7-10 ~ "So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet."

*Think back to Step 2 . . .

Our Promise ~

7. I am capable of developing and maintaining healthy

and loving relationships. The need to control and

manipulate others will disappear as I learn to trust

others who are trustworthy.

The Healing Power of Purpose ~
8. Made a list of all the persons we had harmed and became "willing" to make amends to all.

Matt 5:9 ~ "You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family."

Matt 5 : 23-24 ~ "This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God."

*Think back to Step 3 . . .

Our Promise ~

8. I learn that it is possible for me to mend ~ to become

more loving , intimate and supportive. I have the

choice of communicating with my family in a way

which is safe for me and respectful of them

The Healing Power of Service ~
9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible; except when to do so would injure them or others.

Matt 5:9 ~ "You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

Mark 11:24-25 ~ " And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."

*Think back to Step 4 . . .

Our Promise ~
9. I acknowledge I am a unique and precious creation.

The Healing Power of of Listening ~
10. Continued to take inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Matt 5:10 ~ "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven ~ You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom."

Gal 6:1-5 ~ "Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

*Think back to Step 5 . . .

Our Promise ~

10. I no longer need to rely solely on others to provide

my sense of worth.

The Healing Power of Adversity ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand Him/Her, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Matt 5:11-12 ~ "Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."

Matt 6:9-14 ~

"This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

^{But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."}

Serenity Prayer
"God,
Grant me the grace
(and mercy)
To let others have their addictions, upsets and imperfections
Without my trying to fix them, change them.
Or to solve their problems.
Give me the Courage
To say No when I need to
and the wisdom to reach out for help when I need it.
Bring awareness to me when I am in denial.
Heal my need to please others or control them
Help me to accept with Serenity my imperfections.
Open my vision so that I know that I am Precious,
And make me aware that my Expression is valuable,
(important and worthwhile)
Amen
Rev. Anne Gilles, M.S.

Our Promise ~

11. I trust the guidance I receive from my Higher Power

and come to believe in my own capabilities.

The Healing Power of Authentic Identity ~

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principals in all our affairs.

I John 4:4 ~ "My dear children, you come from God and belong to God."

Matt 5:13-16 ~ "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

Matt 18:1-3 ~ "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Our Promise ~

12. I gradually experience experience, strength and

spiritual growth in my daily life.

... Grace and Mercy Triumph over Judgment! ...

"Prayer is not pulling God to our will, but the aligning of our will to the will of God." May we all pray like never before in the midst of crisis or blessings and begin to prepare the table for His miracles to appear in our lives and the lives of others, in Jesus name.

“To Love or Not to Love?” That is the Question . . .

2009-09-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

. . . When Empathy leads to Compassion & Forgiveness . . .

Written by

Amazingrace

~ In the Beginning ~

It all seemed so ugly and no one seemed to really care. If they weren’t covertly manipulating and controlling their environment there was dead silence.

Routinely a voice would pray fervently, “Precious God and Heavenly Father, we come before thee to ask that this little baby growing inside my wife be a boy.”

“I am a girl” ~ "Why won’t I do?" ~ "Who was he talking to?" ~ "Why can’t he hear me?" Maybe she could be the boy he wanted so desperately. She could at least try. Tired from all the spent energy and concentrating on the warm liquid nourishment filling her belly the pain slowly subsided until jarring angry thoughts jangled her awake. ~ “What if it isn’t a boy?” ~ “I don’t want to get pregnant again!” Everything began to throb intensely. The walls caved in. Fear and anger replaced false expectations as she struggled for survival. And magically, as if she had caused it, the tension released itself but still no answers came. Only now the forceful flow of warm life, which carried her with it into a world full of pain and pretending.

~ Rebirth ~

Shoulder to shoulder, myriads of people with uplifted glowing faces swung from side to side singing. The familiar words, “Shine On Me” rang thru open ears, touching on an unexplored place deep in my heart. Two hands crept up past downcast eyes outstretched as if I myself was trying to touch the hem of His garment.

Old familiar pain, pushing and shoving its way to the surface ran ahead of me. In the past thirty-four years if I carefully swallowed hard I could push every little bit of un-comfortableness into the shadows and forget its existence . . . but, no more. It was bigger than me now. With a guttural moan, the floodgates broke and wave after wave of molten repressed feelings racked the black emptiness and all I could see was . . .

A picture of a tiny baby girl pulled tightly into a ball with her heart breaking, abandoned, lost and alone. The pain of watching her became excruciating as I tried to encircle the child with my arms and bring her in towards myself. Maybe, if I comforted her, my own pain would disappear. As I cuddled her to myself ~ her sweet face came into view. She was beautiful. She was all the things I ever wanted to be.

And wave after wave of oppression forced new tears to erupt and flow as my heart bled with compassion for a precious child of god I never knew.

Yet, in the midst of my tears, my Father ~ Mother God held me in loving arms and tenderly said, “I Love you and I am so glad you are here."

And as I was carried back into reality, a voice quietly whispered, “Do what you did before and trust the process.”

~ A New Awakening ~

“Tiny hands touched everything in wonder as a little girl wandered slowly into a wooded glen filled with

flowers and tall grass swaying in a warm breeze. It wrapped around her like a blanket as it swirled in off a sparkling clear body of water wooing her to itself. She stood for a few minutes watching her sparkling reflection lovingly as she put on her earth suit and dove in.

Swimming, floating, giggling, kicking large sprays of water into the air as it fell back splashing. Almost magnetically the water of everlasting love and amazing grace enveloped her, curiously whispering, Come and join me Gracie, Come and be my precious daughter.

In a split second the glen changed. The sun disappeared. Cold drifts of snow hung from leafless branches transforming the spectrum of beautiful colors into dirty shades of brown. Warm clear reflective water glazed over as consuming fear, false expectations, and anger jerked her again like an automaton back into the illusion.

But this time it was different.

A new realization emerged and began to raise itself in newness of life within me and a gentle voice quietly spoke,

Trust me . . .

YOU are so precious to me ~

Feel the ice as you melt into it,

Stand in the Center of my Amazingrace and Mercy ~

Become the water ~
filtered with Compassion and Forgiveness

and

Follow Me.

* * *

A New & Fresh Awakening . . .

2009-09-11T01:40:00.000-07:00

To You God's Precious, Valuable, Important and Worthwhile Child,

Grace and Peace to You from God Our Father Through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Our Father God is calling us to a new and fresh awakening . . . to find and cultivate our own sacred garden.

"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of Glory do we come

From God, who is our home ..."

William Wadsworth

"Intimations of Immortality"

Abraham our father left the certainty of the womb ... for the wilderness. Exiles from the garden. Setting out, leaving everything behind. The social milieu. The preconceptions. The narrowed field of vision. The language. Strangers in a strange land. No longer expecting relationships, memories, words ~ to mean what they used to mean. To be, in a word, open.

At the end of childhood, we are called to move out of immaturity into responsibility. If we do not make this passage, if we attach ourselves to our childhood home as a mollusk does to a sea rock ~ we do not mature. This much is obvious. But what is not so obvious is what home means to each of us, when we need to leave it, and how.

Home ~ leaving doesn't necessarily mean you leave anything; sometimes someone leaves you. Nor does it necessarily mean that anyone actually goes anywhere because after all is said and done, what is left ~ or lost ~ is not a relationship or a place or even a context. What is left is a consciousness that once felt secure, had categories to fit things into, and knew who it was, where it was going, and why. And what replaces this sureness is a "not knowing." An openness. And something unspeakably, and sometimes almost unbearably, new.

Perhaps the one decision we do not have to make about home-leaving is when to do it. Home ~ leaving happens. Dreams come. Memories present themselves. As sure as birth contractions come to separate us from the safety of the womb, some hidden timing stirs us, bringing a sense of readiness for the new. We wake up one morning to find we are no longer able to squeeze into our old identity. What used to feel secure and comforting now feels life~denying, and suddenly we know it is time to leave home.

"Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?"

Matt 16:24 -26

Learning to trust the unfolding of one's own life is awkward, painful work that often leaves one feeling exposed and vulnerable. And it does not happen overnight.

Something begins to arise in us, a trust that something in our life itself is our teacher. There is a gnosis, a direct inner knowing, that drives us. Somehow deep inside us we know, it is not somebody else's tradition now, it is mine, and I have to follow it. Finally you begin to see their is no person, place or thing you can trust ~ nobody, no authority ~ except the process itself. Trusting your reality ... the essence itself.

"There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish."

Phil 1:6

"I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope

For hope would be hope for the wrong thing;

wait without love

For love would be love of the wrong thing;

there is yet faith

But the faith and the love and the hope are in the

waiting."

T.S. Elliot

The miracle of life waiting in the heart of a seed cannot be proved at once. The miracle comes with the waiting. And the waiting takes trust.

This yearning is essential because it comes from the immediacy of our lives, and that is just what we need to find and live from; the penetrating alertness that lets us connect with what is sacred.

Going through a gate or doorway is a metaphor of immense power, perhaps because it reminds us of how we enter this life. Exiled from the safety of the womb by a hidden timing, sent on a journey through the straits of the birth canal, our passage is fraught with dangers.

Every child who enters the world though believes ~ at least in part ~ that there is only one gate and the getting through it is a matter of life and death. The message is unequivocal. There is only one entrance to the sacred, and it is exclusive and exacting.

"Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention."

Matt 7:13-14

From the mother's perspective, the gate is as wide as it needs to be. Unlike the fetus whose crowning achievement is successfully negotiating the birth canal, what is at issue for the birth giver is the "willingness to surrender" ~ to be opened by the rhythms of nature flowing through her. To the extent that she pushes with her contractions and regulates her breathing, she acts in cooperation with an already ongoing process.

Thus two perspectives are potentially available to each one of us: the child's view that the opening to the sacred is singular and narrow, and the mother's perspective that the sacred is manifold and wide. If only one possibility is presented to us, however, we may never recognize and value the other. In particular, if we have been taught only the viewpoint of the child, we may deny the experience of the mother.

If we lock away the fearful, painful experiences of our lives, we cut them off from their natural cycling. They are not washed by our tears. They are not exposed to the warmth of our heart and the light of our consciousness. And so these old emotions and memories can not break down to become new sources of new life.

If there is a ethic in the way we come to spiritual maturity, it is one that places value on process, on acceptance of one's whole experience of truth. Entering the gate to the sacred marks a beginning, an engagement with the divine that does not seek to exclude darkness from the journey but regards it as a mystery to be solved in its own time. Challenging us to take responsibility for our own progress ~ process.

"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

Matt 5:48

Our part comes through receptivity, through Grace and Mercy. We can prepare for this, but how and when it happens is not within our control.

The other part requires choice, an act of conscious intention to embody the sacred in our everyday life. This means we bring our spiritual insights into every aspect of our lives. We have to keep stretching to believe and consistently trust the Light inside.

Choice lies at the heart of the matter even if we have not had a direct experience of the divine, once we make a conscious choice to act on what we do know, the process of spiritual awakening begins.

Once we are willing to embody the sacred in our lives, our maturing can proceed. We can say in effect, "I already know I am an Child of God. The question is, ~ How can I be an Adult of God?

As Marcia Falk, a poet and professor of religious studies tells us, " ... we've been stuck in a childhood relationship with an parental God figure, but we can't afford to be there anymore. Far from being arrogant, what this means is taking responsibility, so that we can really, deeply, celebrate divinity. Which is a better gift to your parent? ... To fulfill your own life and to care for the lives around you ... or to remain in constant dependency? The sick parent will prefer the latter, but that is not my notion of divinity; I don't want a sick parent for a God."

It is when we want to become an Adult of God that we look for tools to cultivate our secret garden. Until this point, we have no need for tools because we are eating spiritual convenience food, the product of someone else's cultivation. But now we are ready for a spade, a hoe, a rake, some compost and perhaps a knowing friend to help us.

Just as any plot of soil with seeds and sun and water can become a garden if there is a gardener, so can our lives come to spiritual maturity, if we are willing to cultivate them. To cultivate, in its root form, means to inhabit, to dwell within. Learning how to live in the dailiness of our own lives while opening continually to the sacred seems to take practice ~ practice in opening, practice in listening, practice in waiting. Practice in obeying our inner directive, in speaking out when we are so moved to do so, and in accepting responsibility and authority when we are called upon to be bold. And practice also means celebrating and expressing gratitude and "making a joyful song unto the Lord." When we enter such practices wholeheartedly, we bring to life another root meaning of cultivate: to worship.

Prayer, the act of communing with the divine, is perhaps the most universal tool we know for cultivating our sacred garden. There is in us, it seems, some deep human need for connecting with the truth. And the most direct and accessible way is through prayer.

As the artist Meinrad Craighead said, "Being open to the voice within is how your life happens. Again and again, it plunges you into the unknown." What is required, it seems, is the willingness to commit yourself to the whole ~ known, unknown, and the unknowable ~ and trust the path your indwelling truth is showing you.

Too often we wait for the guru, the teacher, the husband or father figure, the wife or mother figure, to approve before we take a step of faith. Or we never take it at all. We have to begin now to give ourselves permission to trust the process ~ even if it takes a lifetime.

"In the beginning everything was in relationship,

and in the end everything was in relationship again.

In the meantime,

we live by hope."

Jean Lanier

To quote the ecologist and theologian Thomas Berry, "It is as if we are in between stories. The old story about who we are and how to live doesn't work anymore, and we don't know what the new story is. Yet, we desperately want to find this new story. We want to know how to live in a context of relationship and not betray ourselves. The challenge is to be intimate with another and still remain true to ourselves. When we deny our innermost knowing, silencing our voice in the hope of pleasing others, we avoid this challenge. But we also avoid it, if we listen only to ourselves."

In the presence of someone who is real, we take off our veils of illusion. The other person doesn't have to tear them off. We just automatically drop them, either that, or we have to get out of their presence.

If you know who you are, and can be true to your own reality ~ you won't be threatened by my reality. In fact, you'll affirm my difference because you'll know that's just what I need to activate my deepest talents and gifts. Through searching for and finding our connectedness we gather together what has been lost or forgotten or disowned and welcome it into our lives.

There is a Hebrew word that describes this action ~ tikkun. It means to heal, to mend what has been broken, to transform.

In the beginning of the world, the legend which is the source of this word goes, the abundant divine light was held in primeval vessels. But somehow ~ no one knows how ~ the vessels were shattered, and discord and confusion spread everywhere. ~ The great task for human beings, the story tells us, is to repair the ancient vessels, to gather together the scattered light, to call home all who have been lost or in exile, to heal the separation and bring peace to our world.

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done,

then they begin to hope it can be done,

then they see it can be done ~

then it is done

and

all the world wonders why it was not done centuries before."

Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden

The Savior is spread out among all of us, emerging from each of us as we bring the fruits of the spirit from our own sacred garden into our daily lives. Our challenge is to go into the great womb where all possibilities dwell and bring the "Skekhinah" ~ God's indwelling presence ~ the Christ child out.

Imagine ~ The gates of thousands upon thousands of sacred gardens are flung open from within, accompanied by laughter that cannot be contained. And with the laughter comes speech, because in our exuberance we are no longer able to silence ourselves.

Because His Oceans of Unconditional Love and Mercy Compel Me,

Amazingrace

~ Show Me Thy Glory ... In The Struggle ~

The Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion (JOY!)

The Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion

The question is NOT ~ Why did Whitney Houston go? - but rather ~ Why are you and I still here?

"Everything Begins in February"

"Learn to Accept My Glory"

Let me Live in the Glory of Your Grace

Grace & Mercy Triumphs over Judgement

Show me the Glory in the Struggle

The Art of Being

*Living or Waiting?* from "Walk in Dry Places" by Mel B

Being a Caring Parent to Your Inner Child ~ Soothing Your Inner Child

How Do We Soothe the Inner Child?

Here’s Where the Soothing Comes In:

Metamorphosized! ~ Patricia King:

Ask Me For the "Double Portion" and I Will Give It! ~ Theresa Phillips

What do YOU choose? ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Author unknown

Love Attracts Love . . .

Where does Your ~ PEACE & JOY ~ come from?

Having a child together ~ is not only about genetics and DNA but also so much more about personalities. It is because of who Mary and Joseph were that shaped Jesus into who He was to become.

Children, do what YOU do, not what YOU say.

Think about it ~ Jesus became who is was by how Mary and Joseph related to him. He understood and knew unconditional love as a gift from 2 very special people. God FULLY trusted Mary and Joseph to raise HIS Son into the Man of God He was to become.

Do I hear an Amen!?

Oh that we could be more like Mary and Joseph!

It's Already Yours . . .

Adventactually . . . Waiting for an important arrival

You are a Healer ~

Seek the Gates of Zion . . .

Revelation 2:7 (The Message)

"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'm about to call each conqueror to dinner. I'm spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God's orchard."

Revelation 2:10-11 (The Message )

Revelation 16:15 (The Message)

Revelation 2:17 (The Message)

Revelation 19:9 (The Message)

Revelation 20:6

Revelation 3:5 (The Message)

Revelation 22:7 (The Message)

Revelation 3:10-12 (The Message)

Revelation 22:14 (The Message)

Revelation 3:19-21 (The Message)

Step 10 . . .

The Twelve Steps to Insanity ... Compliments of Sacramento ACA

I Am That ... I Am . . . Delivers Israel . . . You and Me

Psalm 24:7-10 ~ New International Version

Is a Radical Spontaneous Re~Mission Needed ?

Acts 1:12-14 (The Message)

John 20:22-23 (New International Version)

The Rules For Being Human . . . (Anonymous)

Steps to Recovery & The Promises . . .

“To Love or Not to Love?” That is the Question . . .

A New & Fresh Awakening . . .

Living or Waiting? from "Walk in Dry Places" by Mel B