Sunday's Vision

It was one of those flesh-eating mornings. You know, that morning that goes against the flow of all organizational sense. Although I was not late getting out of the gate, Ben was ill and I decided not to push his headachy body into the shower and force the issue. Undone dishes cried out for my attention while I defrosted the freezer to make room for the yearly half of beef. Orphaned lawn furniture sat negtlected around the yard. Even the kiddie pool moped in silent loneliness. Dan was already at church, practicing with the worship team. Praying my way there, I narrowly missed being shoved into a cop car on a misison by a cowboy riding my bumper in his F350. Shouldn't cowboys be riding horses instead of bumpers?

I walked into the intercession room without the usual shroud of anointing that is enjoyed and began to fight my way into His presence for direction on what was needed for the service. It seemed as if everyone else was fighting for His presence as well, because it got really quiet except for the background worship music pushing its zesty agenda upon the atmosphere. This did not appear to be the right climate for God to talk. But God...

Instantly, an image appeared. I was in a fabric shop halfway around the world, shopping for just the right fabric for the bridal attire for the Bride of Christ. A man was showing me tubes of shimmery, gossamer silks, all SO elegant and romantic, but nothing hit my spirit as the right choice. So, I asked the Lord - what would please the Bridegroom? Which fabric would He want to see on His Bride? Where do I look for this fabric?His answer was brief, yet weighty. LOOK WITHIN. Huh?? What do I have within that is graceful enough for His beautiful bride? Of course, it is not me, but the Holy Spirit within that is the source. Again I asked, what fabric?HUMILITY; a humble heart and a contrite spirit. Suddenly, my sensual picture of the bridal array shifted. Now, I saw a woman in a stately bright-white heavy linen gown with the shiniest of gold embroidery emblazoning the sleeves, hemline and bodice. Instead of a wispy veil of fine netting, her head was adorned with the mitre of a priest, also bright white with a bit of gold embellishment. Cross-legged on the floor, my spiritual eyes gazed in amazement at the purity and regal authority of this impressive bride. She seemed to ooze with an empowerment, but comfortably held herself in pose, well-trained to move only on command (I did not see that until later while rehashing the picture). For all I know, she was in combat boots!

So, now there was another dilemma - to share or not to share. The silence in the room was deafening, but I was not willing to break it with a non-prayer format, so I waited for another push from the Lord. Apparently, He was expecting this, because the confirmation came over and over as another voice pierced the room with a scripture reading and his revelation on the character of the Bride. Another voice shared a dream that she was given and a similar theme emerged. It was His good pleasure to use us all and connect the dots. How God must chuckle when He presents a message on humility and we all struggle to deliver it.

Doesn't it feel wonderful when the wind blows upon our flesh!

Soul vs Spirit

...or maybe the title should be Unity of the Faith/Loss of Doctrine.

During a recent meeting of the minds, a pastor defended their doctrinal position to me by saying, "A pre-tribulation doctrine will destroy one's faith when they are not raptured before the Tribulation. Then they are no longer saved, and at such a critical time!"

Well, that got me to thinkin' - all of the scripture about attaining unto the unity of one faith...hmmm. how doe we determine who is right? Or could it be that faith is a separate issue from doctrine? Perhaps this concept is not new to you, but at the time it was not that well defined to me.

Remembering the first time that I was confronted by the fact that this really awesome, mature Christian whom I'd met was not of the same doctrinal persuasion as myself - I just could not wrap my mind around that at all! Cartainly, we agreed about the basics, like the Trinity, salvation by faith, miraculous birth, resurrection of Jesus, etc. but there were many issues upon which we did not agree at all. Was it my job to set her straight? After all, our anointed pastor had taught me the real truth, and our denomination had something special that no one else had (and the implication was that they would never have it). Since I come from a long line of lawyers, I carefully prepared my apologetic case in my mind, but was never permitted the chance to successfully argue it.

That was God's point - argument is not from the Spirit. It merely saits a soulish need to take charge of an anomoly and correct it. It creates division and unhealthy competition. Next question - so what is it that Jesus means when He prays for the church to all be one? When you put three theologians in a room, they will come out with four opinions, so the answer must lie in being one as Jesus is One with the Father. The Word was sent to sanctify us, but the SPIRIT was sent by Jesus to teach us all things that unify us. Bottom line, it's a spiritual act to be in unity and it pretty much has to bypass our (or is it just my?) finite, logical teach-me-by-the-text brains.

Jesus taught that those who seek to save their lives will lose them and vice versa (KJV). Another translation of the word "life" in this passage is "soul". It appears to me that chapter 16 in Matthew could be a revelation on following the Spirit. After all, he told Peter that his recognition of Jesus as Messiah was spiritually discerned. He commended a non-learned man on his understanding of Who He is, pointing out that it was spiritually learned, just like he commended Mary for crashing the all-male gathering to sit at His feet while her sister was slaving away in her many preparations. But that's another whole blog topic...

Can you feel the wind on this?

Do you hear that?

More wind ---

Two nights ago, I was awakened at 3:45AM. Since that is usually a cue to intercede for something too important to deal with during the day's distractions, I sleepily arose. For some reason, we had not opened the windows to cool the house and the air conditioning was running away dutifully fulfillling its purpose, much to my economically motivated dismay. Quickly, all of the windows were opened to allow the cool breeze to change the condition of the air and the air conditioner. At that point, I heard a noise and looked to see a body shifting position in a dark room. It was no room in my house, but a room in Oklahoma. This body was reacting to receiving a cool, cleansing, life-giving wind. My early morning activities were in essence a prophetic action that helped to trigger a release in the heavenly realm. Too deep for me to grasp, I prayed in the Spirit as the adrenaline rushed. I was caught in a fierce battle that I could not see or hear, except for the gentle wind.

To obey is better than sacrifice, but what if we don't hear the command? What more can we hear? How well will we listen?

The Plight of the Galatian Marriage

....another thing in the wind.

As I have been crying out for the restoration and refreshing of the marriages of others, God's revelation of the path that He showed me for that same healing in our own marriage burst forth suddenly. Strong reminders from the Lord can be such faith-lifters! I can trust Him in this and the burden is lifted from my own shoulders once more.

His path of revelation for us was revealed in many of the scriptures where Paul talks about women. You see, in most cases, Paul was really referring to the relationship between Christ and His church. Take that one step further into the age of grace for His beautiful bride (that's us!) and apply all of Paul's writings to the church to marriage. The bride of Christ has a position of power, authority, partnership, and privilege, as well as responsibility. The bride of Christ is instructed and directed by her Husband and acts on His behalf through Holy Spirit. She does not act independently of the Spirit.

Now we get to the Galatians part - those foolish Galatians! They began by following the Spirit, but tried to continue in their own strength and fleshed up the whole relationship. Natural reason and legal principles took over and the Spirit was no longer the guiding force. (Galatians 3:3)Since the enemy of our souls is well versed in the legal principles and has had thousands of years to practice condemning God's people with the same, what makes us think that these same principles will give life to any situation? The letter of the law kills. Grace breathes life. (Gal 2:19)

Gal 2:21 "I do not nullify the grace of God; if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

What does this bridal grace look like? Grace is the eraser of the curse of the Law; the covenant of partnership in ruling and reigning over your world. Conflict was nailed to the Cross and the Law was satisfied. (Gal. 3: 10-14) This amazing victory removes all barriers that have prohibited us from knowing the One Who knows us, thus setting us free to learn to love the One Who loves us. Such freedom! Freedom like this unleashes passionate devotion to serve one another. (Gal 5:13-14)

Make no mistake - the law and grace cannot co-exist. Don't EVEN think you can slip a bit of the Law into your relationship, or you will find yourself trying to succeed by works all over again. (Gal 5:17) You, too, can trust Him in this and the burden will be lifted from YOUR shoulders. Let it go...

Yours truly,
a recovering Galatian

Something in the wind...

Anyone else noticed the unusual signs and circumstances this season? Seems that all I've ever learned is being refined and updated - like protecting one's computer. Right now, I need a defrag - too much input!

Sunday, for example - our worship at church was not an unusually skilled and talented performance (although the worship team certainly IS skilled), but something happened. Something HAPPENED! It wasn't just an emotional reaction, although feelings were apart of the experience. How does one describe when LOVE comes down and sits heavily upon your shoulders, invading your heart, changing your focus from singing a good song to entering into the Holy of Holies. It was like crawling through water with a strong current as the KABOD settled. Many just sat still after the service, in shock and awe of this heavenly flood.

Certianly many of us have sat in His presence, resting under His shadow and enjoying sweet fellowship, but this was a different doro of entry. A new door has been opened. Could it be what Jason Upton has sung about - the key of David? True intimacy? On a corporate level? Through the back door? No one needed to rush the altar and eat the Showbread, for the Showbread was served to us.

More on this stuff in the wind later.