2011 and Beyond - Thoughts to End the Year - Proper Positioning

Okay I know, I know.....promised to write more but you all know intentions are good but transition, unpacking, family, holidays, ministry........lots of stuff around us. But I am happy to say that we are almost through this move. So here goes.

I will end this year with some thoughts of transition. These are thoughts in process. These are thoughts of the journey into 2011. These are thoughts that I am pondering on from the Lord by His awesome Spirit that will manifest in 2011 so that we can run in the reality of their manifestation.

Proper positioning.

So important. So very important. Do not, and I say it again, do not be moved by anything in the natural or anything that is moving upon your flesh to move, go or divert into any direction that is not of the Spirit, by the Spirit and through the Spirit. Proper positioning is it. There is no need to stress or at least I feel no need to stress. Each step that Marvin and I have taken have brought us to this place and I am sure many of you are in the same place. We arrived at our physical positioning by faith and not by sight. Here we are in California? Where are you? Are you in the position that God wants you to be? I pray that you are.

We don't have to understand why we are living, moving and being where we now stand. We just are. We have walked by faith and not by sight to get us to this place and so we stand. Waiting to step out into 2011, a lot more wiser, a bit disheveled, a lot clearer and taking life with a simplistic outlook. What is that?

"Whatever He says to you, do it."

How much simpler can it be. So onward..............positioning is like a domino that is lined up, ready to fall and topple all the ones behind that form a cataclysmic explosion in your life and mine. Things are going on behind the scenes that we are not aware of, but I just know. Do you? You should. We have to open our spiritual eyes to see and open our spiritual ears to hear by the Spirit...............things, they are a-shaking folks. When we are in the right place, at the right time, things are bound to happen. Jesus, in flowing and moving by the Spirit was always in the right place at the right time. Order your day in the light of His word and the reality of His rhema word to you and you shall not be moved by what you see. You will be in step with the greater reality of Kingdom movement which flows contrary to the currents that are moving in the earth today. Proper positioning in your life.

Example time: We left Abu Dhabi. Why? Because the job was over. Heck no. We left because God said "Time's up Folks!" We left and came to California and the process started. Marvin retired ( that does not mean life is over but life is beginning for us). We were led by the Spirit to come back to Benicia. God connected us to find the perfect place to live. We step out day by day to meet people that are ordained of God and just flow without hesitation or pressure. Step by step we move with our next step to rent a place to establish a Rivers of Eden Equipping Center. Step by step. It works for me and will work for you. I don't have to worry about tomorrow. That is useless. I have to move in today by His Spirit. So, if you are in step, praise the Lord. If you are out of step, get rid of guilt, shame, condemnation, repent and get in step. Right now. Right today. Then when you are in step, breathe, spend time in His presence, be still and KNOW that HE IS LORD.

Selah.

Wisdom - A Good GPS System!

Did not anticipate all the unpacking and all the transitioning so I am walking through exactly what I will be writing. It seems over the years I am the message and the messenger............

As I have been back in the States, I have noticed that there appears to be no one in charge. There are a lot of voices or should I say echos sounding forth what they believe, what they don't believe, what they should believe, or what they could believe. I know that God has sent us back for this very hour and for such a time as this. I see chaos around me and can sense it in the atmosphere. It appears that things are hanging on by a thread and no matter what CNN or Fox or MSNBC says or does not say.....one thing is certain in my spirit. We are in for hard times but...........and I say but.......we have a rock upon which we stand that is sure who leads and guides us without fear and trepidation. His name is Jesus and He alone stands amidst all that falls around us.

So what about wisdom and the ability to navigate through this mess? Wisdom is our GPS system that navigates the waters of chaos and confusion. You access it to find your direction and the way you should go. Wisdom is the person of Jesus Christ. You can only trust He who is trustworthy and He alone can guide you through treacherous waters and high seas. Over and over the Lord tells us to cry out for Wisdom and you can read thoroughly about that in Proverbs. It is quite apparent that it is of the utmost importance that we seek wisdom. When things are in chaos and a multitude of opinions abound, one needs to seek wisdom and He will guide you through tough and tight circumstance.

Wisdom creates a path that is light and life. I have said that in another blog in the not so distant past. I say not so distant because I have not been consistent in writing but that will change. When? NOW! :)

I am a voice crying out and don't want to be an echo even if being a voice means speaking contrary to the prevailing norm. Wisdom, who is Jesus Himself, contradicts everything the world itself stands for and always will. He is peace amidst chaos. He guides us contrary to the fear that is overtaking people. He is wisdom when we sheerly don't know what to do and the path in front of us either does not appear clear or is not entirely the way we want to go. We follow Him and He guides us by His wisdom and in that place there is always safety. So before the next post, why don't you focus on these few verses and do some meditating.

Prov 2:6-7 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; NKJV

James 1:4-8 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. NKJV

Wisdom sets the path for us to walk.
Wisdom requires risk for wisdom in the person of Christ Jesus alone sets the path His way and His way alone and that way is not comfortable and requires focus and trust.
Wisdom wants us to follow, moving out from our place of comfortability. For I am convinced that this is not a time to relax, stand still, or rest in anything but the movement that is found in Christ Jesus. Anything else is ludicrous for things my friends are going to shake and shake and shake.

Back on Track

Sorry for being off this blog for 3 weeks but so busy getting settled into California. There is NO turning back at this point. After 7 years of being in the wilderness, we are coming full circle back into California to begin a work for the Lord. This way we are going is ONE WAY, His way, one step at a time, no detours, no turning back, just following Him into His future for us.

Arrived in California 3 weeks ago and we are finally settled in with a place to rent, our vehicles ready to go, out of the hotel, waiting for our furniture....all the logistics in place one step at a time and then what.......prayer prayer prayer. It seems to be a huge place we find ourselves in right now. How often we wanted OUT and now that we are, what exactly does that mean? ONE WAY. His way.

There are so many things to write about and I have a lot of time to write, a little at a time, one day at a time. Thanks for being part of my journey.........so here goes. What to write? My thoughts, God's prophetic words - I will spend the time in prayer before I write so that what I write is not a lot of words but an impartation for you to eat, chew on and walk in the reality of the revelation to YOU. There is a lot God is saying right now so I take a step and say this.....WISDOM. That's all I keep thinking about right now.

Repeat after me..........WISDOM, WISDOM, WISDOM. Wisdom in the person of Christ Jesus will indeed light the path of our WAY now and in the days ahead. Wisdom to navigate through the chaos of the world around us. And I am seeing a lot of it everywhere I look since being back in the States. Wisdom shows the right path, the one way, His way. There are many paths, many options out there but often wisdom points us in the direction of that which is contrary to our natural reasoning. That is why we are back in the States. We are called here by God to trumpet a call that God has put in us. It is WISDOM that has led us here and WISDOM that will lead us one step at a time. Wisdom has a voice in the person of Christ Jesus. It is a precious commodity in the days ahead. Wisdom - can I say it enough? No. WISDOM. More tomorrow Folks. Just want to tell you that I am back on track.

Risk It All Claude!

I am motivated by the visual. To me a picture is truly worth a thousand words, or more for that matter. This fish in this picture is so much like us. He is living encased looking out from a place of confinement while at the same time in the midst of a beautiful reality. This poor fish can look at the surroundings but never touch the surroundings. Let's call this fish Claude. (That was the name of my deceased fish in Abu Dhabi. He lived a good life. :) ) Claude can live a life vicariously through what he sees yet never enter into the reality of LIFE because he is existing and not living. How sad is that? Better to put yourself in a dark caged room and admit the reality of your existence than to live in the midst of beauty and life and truly cease to exist. How sad to conform to the limited reality of your existence and slowly fade into nothingness.

I look around at Christians. I look at Claude. We can talk a good game. We can live through others and call it our own. We can talk talk talk. We can create a vivid reality of who we think we are or wanna be. We can use all the right words but look at the situation. Claude is confined and miserable. He can see freedom but not touch it. Are you like this? I bet some of you are. My advice to Claude and to YOU.

Risk it all Claude! Get out and live! Once the Lord spoke something to me that has stayed with me for a long time. "My people fear life more than they fear death." How sad to be living in the midst of the promises of true freedom and yet never really live. To look at the waves and not touch the water. To see the effects of the wind but to never really feel it touch your face or blow through your hair. To see the sun shining but to not feel the actual warmth of it touching your face. Need I say more? I truly hope you are getting the picture. Are you?

Jesus spoke in parable and was an enigma. Enigma means someone or something that is often misunderstood. That is me. Truly, that is me. People don't seem to get me or they presume to know me which they really don't. Those who are close to me know me. My ups and downs. My ins and outs. My good days and bad days. I was a lot like Claude. I lived through other people vicariously and in a life of fascination, imagination and imitation. Until one day, I said "Enough is enough." (Okay can you hear God speaking so far? No "thus saith the Lord' in this one.........just plain talk.) Okay back to my thoughts.

Enough is enough. Either I believe Him or not believe Him. Either I live in Him, walk in Him and BE in Him or why am I even saved. Appropriate verse is below.

John 8:36 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. NKJV

He, Jesus Christ, has set me free to BE. Simple and clear and concise is that statement. We as Christians are supposed to BE the most expressive, creative, free people on the place of the planet. Are we? That is for you to answer. To shake the bonds of complacency and conformity, you have to take risks. And having watched Steel Magnolias, I remember that accurate statement. 'THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER.' Amen and amen. But OUCH. Risks will often come in the midst of choosing freedom and you will often feel that you are going to lose, to die, to be forgotten, and so much else. Yet, risks are meant to propel you into a realm where you are walking in the reality of His life and His freedom. Where you touch and feel and walk and talk and hurt and cry and laugh and shout................BUT YOU LIVE.

Do you live? I hope so. I live. I laugh, get angry at times, cry, shout and FAIL. But I live through the mistakes in my live. I live in Christ and by His grace I am healed and do the impossible in Him.  My life is not over at 56 but just beginning. I am throwing caution to the wind and walking into a great adventure in Christ. Amen. Don't avoid hurt or pain. Let it form your life by His salvation into a thing of beauty. Forget what people think about you while at the same time loving them. Forsaking their opinion for focus on Him and Him alone while at the same time listening and caring. So my advice to Claude and to you...............Risk It All................for Him. Now look at this picture. Get the picture?

 

Can't Talk Freedom, Gotta Walk Freedom

The realization that FREEDOM is in Christ and only in Christ allows us to truly see that without Him there is no life. So look at this saying. Look at it hard and long. Until you lose YOUR LIFE you can't be free IN HIM. Life is a prison but the way is clear..........in Him. We got to stop talking and start walking in what we claim to believe. We lose it all to find Him and when we find Him we find ouselves. So keep reading.

Here it is - JET LAG in California. But I am smiling because in these wee hours of the morning, God is with me to talk to me about this next move in the Spirit  YOU and I are going to take together. A blog, to me can be very boring, if I don't impact the people that I am talking to right now. It would be empty words going out into cyberspace and that is not my thing. I like hands on stuff and relationship but this is a good start to this new season we are in right now. Officially started when we took our first step in Calfornia just a few days ago.

That is my journey right now. TO WALK IT AND TO TALK IT. But like the title says, you can't TALK freedom, you have to WALK freedom. God gave me that title. Is it  "Thus sayeth the Lord". Well to me it is. Do I have to speak in first person to help you to see that God is speaking through me to you? Would it add more credibility to this post if I say, "My children I want you to know that you can't talk freedom but you must walk freedom." Come on. Get a grip. The word of God dwells within me and I am walking the message as well as being the messenger. So here goes the blog. Week by week, day by day seeking God for His path to walk this with you into this new season. In the midst of this, we are praying here as to when the timing and position and placing is right to start something of Rivers of Eden right here in the Bay Area. God will show us and we will know and we invite any of you to come to be equipped as the future unfolds before us.

So I am going to focus on FREEDOM right now. The topic will change when the Spirit of God says to change it. Freedom is everywhere. We, as Christians talk about it and sing about it and declare but what I actually see are so many Christians that actually don't believe it. They talk it but don't walk it.  So many Christians bound by fear, worry, unbelief doubt and every such thing right as this topic is so prevalent in Christian circles.

I know some people that always tell me to 'Be Free." When they say it I want to cringe because they are so bound and have only been taught to speak it with the right Christianese tone and gestures to look spiritual but are wrapped in grave clothes in their personal walk with the Lord. I believe we are saying things that we truly may not mean. Or perhaps we want to truly mean them but we don't know how to take that first step. Enter Debra Westbrook. My call is FREEDOM. Freedom to walk, to make mistakes, to confront our failures, to fail, to fall, to get up.....let's see. What else? Well, let's see as the weeks go by.

So how to start this? Okay - freedom starts from the INSIDE OUT not from the OUTSIDE IN. It is not what you do but who you are inside. That is why I have avoided using freedom pictures that depict all those people jumping and dancing and such. That is the second step. The first is internal. Internally free in Christ will allow the external to be motivated within you to move out. And you can't just talk it or live it through anyone else. It must come to you to exit through you.

The best verse. The absolute best verse. This freedom verse says it all. No doubt in my mind. Here goes.

Acts 17:28 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, NKJV

There is NO freedom apart from Jesus Christ. None. Know Christ and you have freedom. He is freedom and He is the way, the truth, and the life. In Him is the path of freedom. So to talk freedom is to talk Jesus...........no other way. You walk in Him. Move in Him and have our being in Him. So while the majority of people around you are TRYING TO BE FREE or TALKING TO BE FREE, you my dear ones are simply to walk........in Him. Go ahead. Try it. Walk a little. Step by step. Then extend that foot and dance a little. Then sing a little. Shout a little. But do it IN HIM and WITH HIM as He directs you because when you have nothing to prove, you have nothing to lose. You are free. You just don't know it and perhaps have been living your life through something or someone....................................bad decision. Find Him. Find yourself in Him. And you will be free.

More coming......what a great journey is beginning.

Ready to Run!

Today is our last day in Abu Dhabi and we head to Dubai to fly out on Monday. I am reflecting on how to end this portion of this writing to go on to the next phase of this blog........we are ready to run. I say "we" because I feel that it is time, whether we feel like it or not. It is time. Time to run and not look back on all the stuff. Time to run with grace, in humility but in power and authority. Time to run and I,  for one, am ready. I am ready for God to lead the way in all of this and transition us to our next assignment by His Spirit. I am excited about all that there is to write in the coming days - what we have seen and observed and what has been revealed to us over the past 10-20 years of our travels.

Where has the past 10 years or more taken us......I prophesy this out over my life and I pray that you prophesy over yours. Out of the desert and into the nations, the cities, the countries......into your destiny . I will sound like the culmination to the Amazing Race but here goes.......

After 10 years or more and from traveling to these countries where we have lived, visited, prayed, observed, loved, and where we have set our foot on to bring glory to His name..............from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Netherlands, France, Italy, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, England, Philippines, Japan, China, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Canada, Trinidad.........................and now coming full circle back to California to start a work for the Lord. To build up His kingdom in His glory and to take teams to the nations.

What is your calling? What is your destiny? Prophecy it now and call into existence that which is not as though it were by the Spirit of God and walk by faith and not by sight into your future where all is settled by His hand. You need only to follow Him. I am not doing this to hype anything up. It is time.

I have so much in me to speak to regarding these years of travel and exploration. All  that God has put in us regarding His kingdom now and in the coming days. Speaking forth without presumption and without hype, without a need for reputation or honor to our name, we humbly submit to our Savior to carry His truth to a world in chaos and align with His plan and purpose for our lives. How about you?

We end this season with humility and joy, amidst the pain of rejection which has humbled our heart to trust Him. Amidst the pain of grief and loss over the years we look forward to taking off our mourning clothes and put on the joy that has been promised. We look for that city, where the builder and maker is God, serving Him wholeheartedly and with complete abandonment. Having nothing to prove and nothing to lose, we bless and forgive all those who have hurt us purposely and in ignorance, assuming things about us without truly wanting to know our hearts. We in turn ask forgiveness for any thing we ourselves have done and we know that all is under the power of His blood which takes it all and casts it away so that we may walk forward in newness and freshness of purpose and destiny.

I prophecy out to each of you reading this simply to MOVE. MOVE whether it is one step, one inch, one foot, one miles, one nation, one city, one house.......but MOVE and He will indeed walk with you and talk with you. You were not created to exist but to live and move and have your being in Him. Take risks and take the adventure that Christianity has promised as we live in Him. Oh how He is worth it..............how glorious and wonderful He is to call us and choose us for His purpose in the earth today. You were born for such a time as this. Relinquish your throne and allow Him to be Lord over your whole life and see what the future has for you that He holds in His hand.....onward.............to California and to the next season.....come on.......go with me. As a prophet I say..............it is time.  NOW.

Harsh Reality - The Desert!

Nothing is glamorous about the desert. All those pictures we see of sand dunes looking so romantic and real. Palm trees. Oasis. Shifting sands. Camels. In reality, look to your right. This is the desert and this is what I see in part on the way to Dubai from Abu Dhabi....nothing........as far as the eye can see. There are cities on the way that are monotone in color and mosques in white all over the place. But everything just seems to blend in to a whole lot of nothing. Overall, the color of the desert is basically colorless where I live in the UAE. (But I shall only be here for a few more days. Yay!) The color is monotone and drab. The scenery never seems to change. In the summer where temps are easily daily at 45-50C or at least 120F, the heat rises up and there is a haze in the air most times. That is the desert..............

The desert is HARSH REALITY. You can't assume anything or presume anything in these harsh conditions. One can often die in the heat. Water is life here and not to be wasted. These are just facts. In the natural there is no shade. The desert lends itself to a condition whereby you can't hide. In fact, look at that picture again. There is nowhere to hide. That is WHY God puts us into the desert. Some of us go there physically but all of us, hungering for God, go there spiritually. It is the harsh reality of Christian existence. Harsh reality can harden one indeed or................you can look for the beauty in that which is around you. You may have to look hard but you will find it.

This is your picture. My picture. We exist by grace even through the harshest conditions, showing forth God's grace. And we shine through with the beauty of our salvation, both male and female, in the dryest conditions under submission to the One who loves us.

Isa 51:3 3 For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. NKJV

Look to the picture to your right. This one is called “Alone in the Desert”. How appropriate to our condition. Exposed to the dryest and most trying conditions, we live. We don’t just survive folks. We live. Growing. Stretching. Living in the most extreme conditions. We live and not only do we live, we break out to be something that we were not when we entered this place.

Song 8:5 5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? NKJV

Tonight as I sit here in our hotel, waiting to leave the desert in a few days I see that the desert has changed me for good and by His grace. It has been a time where I have learned so much that I will talk about in the days ahead to build you up with a strong love to believe that you are called by God for such a time as this. Do not believe the lies that say anything else.

What else can I say tonight to each of you who blesses me by reading this? My heart is full that I would be so honored by God to suffer so that I may share in His glory. To suffer loneliness, persecution, rejection, trials, afflictions - all during these past few years so that as I, and you, have been stripped down, we arise into the glory of His presence in His grace.

Selah.

A Broad Place of Freedom!

There is a narrow gate that beckons one to forsake all to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The gate is narrow and when we choose to submit to Him to be set apart for His glory, we do it through an act of our own will. It is true that forced love is no love at all. God is looking for a people who will lay it all down, follow Him into an uncomfortable place, and walk with Him day by day, trusting in Him implicitly. Can I stress this enough? No. Why? Because there is no shortcut and Christianity is not cheap. The blood which was shed by Jesus Christ is precious and costly, bringing us out of death into life.

Something interesting happens when we enter through the narrow gate into our confinement in the wilderness. We begin to blossom in a very dry, dusty, mundane and uncomfortable place. Yet the process between entering the desert and total submission and acceptance to your surroundings, brings one through much trial and error. What is God after in this place? YOU. Interestingly enough, no matter how much you kick, scream, cry out................He sees your heart and only He knows when the time is ready for you to leave. You actually can go anytime you want because He is not forcing you to be here. The entrance is open. We have a free will. The only reason that I kicked and screamed and whined and complained was because I wanted something easier to achieve the same results. Ain't gonna happen baby..................hindsight is definitely better than foresight.

I learned something very important here in this time. So important that it has literally changed me and is continuing to change me from the inside out. FREEDOM. Freedom in the desert. Freedom to dance when no one can see you. Freedom to sing when no one is listening. Props are removed. You have an audience of ONE and He is indeed watching and listening. Why are you doing this all? Inner motives are exposed and left to be examined on the dry dusty sands. It is YOU exposed and naked and transparent in a place where you simply can't hide. And you have chosen this of your own free will. Why? Because you love Him. Selah.

I love this verse and it was always in my mind over these past 3 years.

Psalm 18:19 He also brought me out into a BROAD place. He delivered me because He delighted in me.

I was in a broad place. Not exactly what I expected but it was what God desired for me. This place of confinement was broad and free. It appeared to be restricted in the natural but it is not the natural that God is looking at in you. He is looking deep to see if you can be FREE in your confinement to focus and look at Him. Worship only Him. Dance for only Him. All props removed. Okay.........did I learn this overnight? No way. It took me a few years because I was flat out angry to find myself in this place. So outwardly I went through all the motions. Sort of like a little child that you have just disciplined and he or she says to you "But Mom, I'll be good. I promise. Just let me out of my room and I promise I will be better." Yeah.........right. God sees deep and keeps us in this place even when it hurts. Mothers know that. I am a mother, a grandmother, a woman of God, a Deborah and a Spiritual Mother. I know all the tricks and yet I tried using them myself. :)

This broad place of delight is now IN ME. I can dance when no one is watching. I can sing when no one is listening. For Him and Him alone. A funny thing happens when what God desires is accomplished in you. Suddenly you are dancing and singing and you notice that the scenery begins to shift around you. God sees and knows that you are ready. You are His and even though you may have days of ups and downs, you are His. You are free to go but the desert is inside of you and what you are learning here will be with you all the days of your life. Never forget this time for it is precious and invaluable.

Patience - In the Moment!

Ever feel like this??? I was looking for the perfect picture for PATIENCE and instead of all the cute sayings.........I found this. The funny thing about this picture is that we once had a Golden Retriever, AJ. Marvin actually would teach AJ to do this and he did. When the time was up, AJ would move his head, flip the biscuit back and catch it in his mouth. AJ had patience to wait for the reward that was inevitably right before his eyes. :)

Now about us, or rather about me and you can relate to this. I am not........patient. (I hear a resounding amen from my husband, family and friends.) But, I am learning to be.

Heb 6:10-12 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. NKJV


Patience, in the wilderness, is something that is essentially learned and imparted into our lives by a wonderful Savior who has all the time in His hands. He is in no hurry and can wait to see that all is accomplished in our lives. We are simply to submit and allow Him to work this in and through our lives. Yet, it is not that easy. Trust me.


Patience is linked to God's timing and the two become worked together as one. God has a timing and patience is required to move in the reality of that timing, not to go ahead or lag behind. It is the perfect scenario of working and walking alongside your Lord. Patience to simply focus on the moment and not think ahead or behind but to trust Him. He is the Master and you are the child. Kind of like the dog up there...............a good Master trains for a purpose and does not withold but gives at the right moment under the right circumstances.


In the wilderness, you should learn to be IN THE MOMENT. Too much hindsight or foresight will drive you crazy because, let's face it, the scenery doesn't change too much. Hot, dry, uncomfortable. :) The moment requires faith and patience to look at only Him and to disregard your peripheral vision, no matter how much it actually calls to you from across the fence or beyond the borders. You must silence all the what ifs, the maybes and all that talk talk talk. Quiet down in the moment and trust.


Looking to the past brings a wide array of fears that somehow or someway you have been disqualified or missing it. Looking to the future will only cause you to miss the journey and actually folks...........God is concerned about the journey and what it is doing in you. Enjoy the journey! I would hear that often while in this place. I hated it. Why? Because I was impatient. Hmmmmmmmm need I say more? Yes. :)


God desires a people finely tuned to His movements - moving when He says to move, being still when He says to be still. The moment focuses on Him and Him alone. Patiences eliminates unnecessary distractions which try to pull you out of the moment. Patience to simply focus, wait and trust that God will do what He says He will do. Again, easier said than done. But hey, I get to write this from my experiences. And to think it only took me 56 years to get to this point. Would have liked to encounter this at 30 but God chose this point in my life so I say "Bring it on Lord. More more more."


Look at this verse. This is an ouch verse when you are focused on what everyone else is doing and all you want is to hear God say "Poor baby. I will release you right now because you asked for it." Nope, instead He says this to our impetulance and anxiety.


John 21:20-22 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" 21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?" 22 Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." NKJV


All around there is movement. I envied that for it seemed that I was standing still. But in hindsight once again, I was not. I was actually moving - at His speed, not mind. That required patience.

Let me give an example again. I had such a desire for ministry. I wanted to see this ministry move forward and the indication of this would simply show me how much God loved me and poured out His favor on my life. But it did not happen that way. Instead of moving forth, the promise which was deep inside of me, brought me miles away from my destiny. Happens to a lot of us right? Anyway, this desire to prove myself brought me into such a fleshly desire to have this ministry that my vision was distorted, anger set in, frustration, worry, fear and a whole range of emotions. Ministy defined my life because I had nothing else at that moment. I felt that I had given up so much to follow Him and here I was - without anything in the middle of nowhere. I could not get past the tensionan in me that brought me fear of missing it all. And when I saw others around me moving, that fear intensified. That was the problem........I was looking around me and not at Him. I know that now. I did not know that then.

So what is the deal? Here I sit in Abu Dhabi waiting to leave on Monday to head back to California. I am a bit more patient ( and I say a bit) but a lot wiser. I have allowed the Lord to tame me and yet there still is a sanctified restlessness in me that wants more and yearns for more for my life. I think He likes that a lot........and I can see Him smiling.

Injustice! Ouch!

Okay back to talking about horses........no I am not done yet talking about confinement and being corralled...............I will be within one week. The page turns for us when we arrive back in California on November 8. A new day and a new season. But until then.................

Confinement can either bring out the best in a person or the worst. It is all about how you perceive the journey. The Master takes us on this journey of separation. He calls us apart and He does it with a pure purpose - to capture our heart and to bring it under total submission to His Lordship. One can't quite experience this when one is running here and there, wild and free, untethered and immature. It is when one enters the corral of their own free will that they realize they have just made a decision that will make or break them, most probably both. This time will break you and then make and form you by God's hand. God gives us a free will and we can leave  this place any time we want. I personally did not want to leave because deep inside I knew that this was the path that would lead into greater relams of His presence. Greater suffering, greater glory. No matter how hard it got, no matter how many times I threatened to quit, no matter how much pain............I stayed in confinement and that was all by God's grace. In my weakness, He is strong.

In this place of confinement I want to talk about a few things before I go on to another subject in a few weeks.........today I want to deal with injustice. The injustice that I felt was coming at me, being confined, submitted.....in other words, I did not want to be in that place. Kind of like a little child and a mom talking. Goes something like this.

Child: I want to go out and play.
Mom: You can't go out and play.
Child: But I WANT to go out and play.
Mom: You can't go out and play.
Child: But I WANT TO.
Mom: But you can't.........because I said so.

Injustice. All the time I was in this place, as I was dying a slow death, to me it was not fair. It was not fair that others were moving ahead. It was not fair that I was obscure and hidden. Injustice. Simply not fair and there were days when my attitude showed it. I was angry and hurt for so many weeks. And those around me knew it..............I was not pleasant to be around for my family or friends.

In God's sovereignty, I saw that He brought me to this place. But as I looked around and saw others having so much favor in their lives and ministries, I questioned His love for me in what I considered the injustice of my situation. I can relate this to the bridle and saddle going on the horse perhaps..............these are meant to make a horse able to be tamed and ridden but they don't like it at first. And neither did I. I did not like that I could not have my own way. I just did not like it at all. It hurt. That is all I can say. It hurt so much and so deep.

What was God trying to get at in me? Jealousy, submission, trust.....and some other things. I had to come to that place that no matter where I was or what position I was in, I had to trust God and His sovereign plan for my life. I have to say to each of you that I truly felt inside that I was a radical Christian, sold out for Jesus, knowledgeable in the Word, passionate and wholeheartedly in love with Him. But as I spent time in this wilderness place, I saw that I really did not know what was inside of me. And it is in this place, that what is inside of you truly comes out. Why are we surprised anyway? Who ever said that we were perfect?  I was, and I say was, an angry, insecure woman..........in fact let me end with this.

While in this place, God spoke clearly to me one day and simply said this........strong and clear with the voice of a good Father........

"Debra..................do you want to be a Woman of God or a little girl all you life?"

My answer was clear. I want to be a Woman of God. Okay God....................lead on.

Nothing to Prove, Nothing to Lose!

Sitting here, doing nothing at the moment, looking out the window in Abu Dhabi, and wondering what to write. How good God is - I heard some great words of wisdom.

"When you have nothing to prove, you have nothing to lose."

Several people have said this to me over the years. When one is in a season of separation by God's hand, one chooses to suffer loss. Choosing to let go. Choosing to fade into the background for as long as the Lord wants so that He is glorified in our lives. I don't hear that preached much today. And if it is preached, quite often it is preached as mere words without substance. Those who truly preach this truth, will walk this truth to bring forth this truth with power. The Body of Christ is in need of much discipline, must like a child needs to be spanked by a good father. I see it coming.

Paul said it best:

Phil 3:7-11

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. NKJV



What is it I see? I see so many people trying to prove something to someone - trying to prove there is revival, trying to prove themselves, their ministry, their reputation...........trying to prove something, anything - for what? Jesus says to find your life, you have to lose your life. It seems to me that most people want to bypass some steps in their walk with God yet reap the benefits.

I don't want to prove anything anymore. I just want to follow Him in submission and humility and with grace as oil flowing down the path that He chooses for me. I am forsaking the fear of man for the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. And at the same time, I don't want to respond any more to people always trying to prove something...........................why would I respond right? That would mean I would just join the ranks of trying to prove something to them.......let God do it and let me walk in the anointing that He has for me. I am concerned at the lack of discernment that I see in the Body of Christ and the lack of wisdom and so much more, chasing after one thing and another. I say no. To who? To me and to those I mentor. I say no..................seek God not man. Seek God...........not man.

So where did this come from today? Why am I writing this? In this place of confinement, I am discerning that which is real from that which is false. I am separating the precious from the vile. Watching and observing. I am not released to talk about certain things yet for they are still between God and me and I am seeking the mind of Christ. For those who are anointed to shake things in the coming days, we will  indeed be bringing down more golden calves that the Body of Christ is accepting as Christianity but is indeed just more hype, preaching a Gospel that is not Christ centered but man centered.

In this place of confinement, our spiritual senses are HEIGHTENED. They are indeed. You know that old expression..........I could hear a pin drop in a crowded room. That's it folks. Sometimes I hear things and they just don't sound right. They appear to be right but they don't sound right to my inner man. I see things that by outward appearances look right but they aren't right and in my secret place, they conflict with what I know to be true. How am I learning this and how can you learn this? There are no formulas and no quick short cuts..................intimacy with the Lord.  Allowing Him to love you, rebuke you, chastise you, anoint you, and so much more.

I would not trade this time in the desert for anything........not anything for they have been glorious for me. I am strong and clear and focused right now. I am strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. I am like that horse that Bill Britton talked about......I am waiting and watching My Master and My Lord and until He says "GO!" I wait.

Selah.

Ready to Run...................Not Yet!

Ready to run........hmmmmmmmm I bet you are. I bet we all are but not quite yet. I am going to keep posting on this wilderness thing for at least 2 more weeks. Why? Well we are transitioning our move away from Abu Dhabi back to the San Francisco Bay Area and I feel that I must write about this while I am still here in Abu Dhabi. Then when I leave this area, I will move onto a new topic which, of course, will be just as interesting because I am thoroughly enjoying this. Thank you for reading this. By the way, before I write more today, please keep us in prayer about whether we are supposed to start a 'work' in California...........a gathering place for Rivers of Eden to advance the kingdom. Onward to write about today. :)

I once heard this statement: God does not call the qualified but qualifies the called. Perfection is only found in Christ Jesus and we are in Him so it goes to figure that we are being perfected along this journey but.....we are not there yet and we work out our salvation day by day. That includes times of testing that hold great relevancy to where exactly God is taking us. We don't always see it when we are IN IT but we actually don't need to. We just need to trust. Trust Him 100%.

The wilderness............hot, dry, lonely, uncomfortable, irritable, anxious, fearful, angry, unforgiving - you choose one or more of the above to describe the emotions you deal with at any given moment. These are being drawn up and out of you and me as we are in this place of confinement. Hey, it is just flat out uncomfortable in this place. In this place, we are exposed to the elements within ourselves. The elements of various emotions or bondages that need deliverance in order for us to walk in a greater level of wholeness and healing. We are being conformed to the image of Christ and He is perfecting us to carry greater weights of His glory.

What else is the wilderness for? So that we come out looking better? No.....................so that He comes out looking better..........IN US and THROUGH US.

The called are qualified in this time and season. We all will endure this time and willingly walk through this time if we are going to carry His glory and walk in greater anointing and authority. There is NO bypassing this no matter how hard we try. He alone qualifies the called with His sovereign plan for each and everyone of us. You me and whoever is willing to enter this fire will see that in order to share His glory we must share His sufferings. Greater sufferings qualify us for greater glory. We will never bypass the cross being worked through our life. Never. So on to something personal that perhaps you can each relate to in this blog. At least I hope so.

My pain, my time. I discovered I did not really trust God. I could quote Scripture. I could revel in the amount of prophecies that had been spoken over me. I could even be a leader but................to bring my trust level up, God separated me to show me that He is faithful and He is enough. He did this in the wilderness for me. I had a plan for my Christian life and I was intent to work my plan..........my way. Thank you Lord! God had another way and because I love Him, I walked His way. Not always with ultimate submission but at least I walked. I was scared.

I can remember times of 'bottoming out' when conflict and tension arose from aligning my expectations into His reality for my life. My expectations and desires simply had to die, sometimes a slow painful death. I had to come face to face with my biggest fear. What was it? That God would simply pass me by. That I was unqualified to be placed into my destiny and purpose. This thought drove me into deep weeks of discouragement where I was surrounded by the devil's lies as he tried hard to make me believe this in many different ways. I was surrounded by a cloud of lost hope and lost dreams and darkness. I walked in a fog for a long time, confined while I saw others passing me by day by day. It hurt and I can still feel the pain right now as I write this but I am doing this for you. Those were lies which I no longer believe. God is faithful.  For me and for you.

God never let up. He kept asking me that simple question. "Am I enough?" Each time I answered Him, more seemed to be stripped away from my life. I was indeed being qualified in my call by God, not by man.

There were days, during this time, of deep intercession when the cry of my heart was not verbalized but came forth through a deep groaning in my Spirit. "What do You want from me Lord?" I remember weeks on end crying this out. A river of tears came forth in this time which was opening up a well of life in me.

In answer to the question...."What do You want from me Lord?"

He said "I want YOU!"

Selah

Single Eye!

While corralled and constrained by God's hand, one is apt to lose focus unless one purposes in their heart to focus on Him and Him alone. Easier said than done.

Frustration, rebellion, emotional outbursts of anger, unforgiveness, contention, strife - all of these which lie down deep within all of us suddenly come forth.  They were hidden if not for the place of confinement which created the perfect scenario for them to come forth and be displayed in order to be repented of and healed within us.

How to say more? My spirit is full right now and I want to say this right but I will forsake perfection and just speak from my heart. When you are confined by God's hand, there will be times when everything outside the corral seems to be better then what you are seeing inside your place of confinement.

But, you see, your sense of confinement, when placed in perfect submission unto the Lord, will actually be your place of perfection and breakthrough.

It is in this place that God hones our peripheral vision away from that which surrounds us, away from comparison and jealousy, and away from looking outside to looking within. Focus on Him and Him alone. Trust in Him and Him alone that He knows where you are, where He has placed you, and what His intentions and purpose for you are in your current place of confinement. Again, easier said than done. Do I have an amen? LIstening..................listening. There I heard it from some of you. I look in hindsight with great wisdom but while going through this the scenario in my life went something like this.

Example: Place a stubborn rebellious 2 year old in a place of confinement as a time of discipline and what does he or she do. Well, I guess it depends on the 2 year old. I was strong willed and rebellious so I threw things, cried, pleaded, begged and even stripped down my bed to nothing one day.......just to get out. But, alas, I did not. So what eventually happened? After much fanfare and outward displays of emotion, I simply submitted to the place I was in and calmed down. My focus was then turned to the room at hand. I guess I must have thought "Okay I am not getting out of here right now so I better must make the best of this."  Looking focused on what was at hand allowed me to make use of the time in my confinement.

Now that may seem silly but it is true. Simple and true. A horse that is to be used mightily must learn to be content in the corral and not fight their place of confinement. The restlessness for greater things must die within. The presumptions of what if or what else is there must fall by the wayside. Jealousy over those passing by must fade and all sense of competition must die until.........................you are single eyed on the ONE who alone holds the key to your release.

Then one day, when you least expect it, when you are enjoying this place of confinement so much that nothing matters any more, God knows He has your heart. When that happens, suddenly the gate is opened and the Master calls to you to come forth to follow Him and serve Him wherever He leads you.

Confined, Corralled, Constrained!

Confined, corralled, constrained. There is a time where we are subdued by the hand of the Lord. In this time, we must submit with our heart willingly and obediently to His hand. You cannot bypass this step if you long to serve the Lord. Those who are destined to move In Him will be confined, corralled and constrained by His hand for a season.

Bill Britton in his article - "The Harness of the Lord" says this:

"God is dealing with inward rebellion of our wills which must be brought into absolute and complete surrender to the will of our Lord."

What can I say about this time in my life? I am sure if  you are reading this, you also have a distinct testimony of your time of constraint. It is not a pleasant time while you are going through, but in hindsight, I would not have it any other way. During this time, my flesh was so strong and my pain was so great. The tension pulled me between two places. With all my heart I wanted to submit but with all my heart I did not want to submit. I wanted the process to be easier that it was so I could join the "mix" - those I saw all around me moving forward, seemingly oblivious to the pain I found myself in and the process I found myself in. God got down to the distinct motives of my heart not letting anything go. What others could seemingly do, I could not. Not only could I not do what I wanted, I could not justify or explain why it seemed that I was forsaken and forgotten with no anointing and no plan in my life. I sat in silence many times, moving around the corral with fury and vengeance, wanting out at any moment.

I would even pretend that I wholeheartedly accepted this place but God saw deep into my heart. The words that I was speaking did not  match up with what was going on inside of me. There was an inward rebellion that I justified in so many ways and questioned in so many other ways. I wanted out as quickly as possible.

But as the years went by, I did not get out. The promises seemed dim and forgotten and my hope started to wane to the point of losing hope. The corral seemed like a prison to me and a place of pain and sorrow. I wanted out.

Every time I started to compare myself to those outside of this place I found myself in, I lost hope. I saw people running to conferences, moving forward in networking and ministry, going at a breakneck speed and then smiling at me as they went by. Many times I tried to stop those walking or running by my corral and tried to explain some things to them.

I would shout "Hey how are you? I am called. I am chosen. Oh this is just a short time for me......wait I will join you shortly." They would keep walking and ignore that simple fact that I was anointed of God for His purpose. Here I was - just a nobody, a horse in a corral that was going nowhere and quite plain.

But God.........................He saw things a little differently. My loss over the years of 2008 and 2009 was a loss of self-confidence and human effort to fulfill a supernatural purpose and destiny. My place of confinement was boring, simple, and so mundane. Each day I fought to get out and each day God kept me in that place of confinement. I mean, let's face it, I could have walked out. There was no keeping me there except my love to submit and obey. I could have also promoted myself and joined the 'mix' of people that seemed to be going somewhere but when push came to shove, despite all the pain and suffering to my flesh and my life, I stayed in the corral.

Why? Because I am a spiritual giant?? No. I simply knew that there were no shortcuts to a walk of wholehearted abandonment and surrender to God. To live in His increase and His, you must die to your life and lose it. So I stayed with one eye on the outside and one eye on God........I stayed and I waited. My focus was still divided but that would change over time.

For deep inside of me, I loved God with all that was in me. I had a seed of hope that I had to believe in - that He had not forgotten me and that there was coming a day where a breakthrough and a breakout would come.

But in the process, I had to learn to keep my eyes focused on Him and Him alone. Not easy but oh so so worth it.

The Harness of the Lord!

Horses, horses, horses - I am thinking about them all the time. Seabiscuit (the movie) makes me cry as I feel it shows me a lot about the breakthrough of Rivers of Eden in God's timing. He was truly a broken horse that united a nation in the midst of the Great Depression.

Then there is the new movie Secratariat which I truly want to see. But instead of writing today, I have a favor to ask you. Read something and then I will write more tomorrow. Will you do that for me? It will truly bless you. I assure you of that. And if you have read this, read it again.

The Harness of the Lord
by Bill Britton
http://tinyurl.com/3xdtgry

Read it with yourself in mind and cry, smile, and see God speaking to you in this article.

Then tomorrow more things on horses, being harnessed for His glory, times of confinement - so much good stuff. All our wilderness adventures coming alive in a blog. My mom used to say that I got bored easy and how right she was. I am easily bored and had to be tamed by God's hand to submit in every situation He put me in whether I liked it or not. It worked. I whine and complain less and less each day.  But oh God...........now my sanctified boredom is always trying to think creatively and out of the box. How dearly I want that in my Christian walk. So read this - Please!!!!! And check back tomorrow.

People have been writing me to say how much they like reading this. Thanks..........from the bottom of my heart, thanks. I have opened up this blog for anyone to comment on it at the bottom below this, I believe.

Where is this taking me? I am not sure but I sense in my spirit it is taking me down a path that is leading to our breakthrough. The nations are in my womb as my friend Pat tells me. We want to reach people and touch people............from home groups to churches.

But for right now, here I sit in Abu Dhabi. Could not go to Marks and Spencer yesterday so off I go today. See you..........

Read read read..............please???

Later..........................

Go Beyond Borders!

Each day God gives me something to write about. I have determined to follow the anointing of where God is leading. That is important and essential to our walk. Follow where He leads, not where you want Him to lead. In years past, I somehow felt that I must secure a spiritual prophetic position to impart by saying "Thus saith the Lord" or somehow to be added to some prophetic network or list, etc. to be part of the mix or gain credibility. Yet recently God is telling me to get out of any boundaries (even in the current prophetic environment) and invade the world with myself. What is in me, who is in me - He comes out so well in the midst of confrontation with the world's systems. So each day I look and listen and observe to see where God is moving and how He is speaking to me so that He may speak through me.

This writing is not started with any hype to try to prove I hear God by hyping up any surperlative language to make you want to read. I pray you do read and that you discern God is speaking through me as He wants to speak through you, in fresh and new and creative ways.

I woke up in  Abu Dhabi this morning about 7 am. We live in the middle of a city of a million people, traffic, mosques, noise. Just felt compelled to have some coffee and watch CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera.................so I did. I am a Christian with a brain, and a spirit that is alive in Christ. I use it. I am not afraid to hear that which contradicts what I believe. I love it for I love confrontation. I know I have what the world needs. The question is "How do I make them see that?" Well I have to go beyond borders.

I kept hearing CNN's catchy phrase "Go Beyond Borders!" So that is my phrase for the day as they may have been speaking it but God was speaking through them to me. Go beyond borders!

That's a big statement to make for anyone. They claim to do that but they can't for they are of this world and are constricted by this world. We, as Christians, are not. We must have a Kingdom View or we will get swept up in the prevailing climate of fear and trepidation that is taking over the world. The world is like a house of cards - one little wind and it is going to crumble down. What will you do?

Now back to the statement. "Go beyond borders".  You are seated with Christ in heavenly places. You are to set your mind on things above not on things of this earth. You are a person, as a Christian, of living physically in one realm while living in Christ in heavenly places. You are beyond borders. So why do we live like we are confined and constrained by the world's demands and dictates. Go beyond borders - soar in the Holy Spirit, see things as God sees things, hear things as God hears things, prophecy, live, love, challenge, confront, move, shake, disrupt, agitate......................that is LIFE.

Let fear go. Let anxiety go. Let apathy go. Let confusion go. In the name of Jesus. Wake up and move. It is time. Just move a little and go beyond the borders of your confinement and live in Christ. Don't ask me how.  Ask Him and follow as He leads you out of yourself and into greater realms in Him. :)

See ya! Waiting for our car to come back from the shop so I can go to Marks and Spencer....quite British you know in Abu Dhabi......................:)

Cracked Glass and Distorted Vision!

Okay I am keeping you on the edge............radical! :) Changed the picture to the other side. What will she do next? I am in a good mood this morning, smiling and filled with joy - listening to Fred Hammond and just dancing and praying. Selling all our stuff as we leave the Emirates in one month to head back to California (the Bay Area) and our next assignment from the Spirit.

So on to today - what to say? Cracked glass and distorted vision. I lived in a PROTECTED PARADIGM and so do you probably. A paradigm that protects us in a sphere of comfortability - until God listens to a cry that comes from our Spirit one day - MORE LORD! 

Then He smiles and begins to bring about a sanctified destruction of our life to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. Ouch -  it hurts! But how worth it. Rather than tell you about all the pain and destruction that I have been through in my life, I am choosing righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. I will speak forth that which will bring glory to Him through my broken distorted life that He filled, healed and made whole.

I have been in the desert physically  and spiritually for about 3 years now, traveling between living in Finland and the Emirates. Both are deserts in their own ways and both changed my life. As I lived day by day, wondering, through all the stuff, where exactly was God and what was He doing, I realized that my paradigm was shifting through a massive earthquake, until it began to crack right in front of my eyes. All that I thought I could count on, I realized was shifting and shaking all around me. Props falling before my eyes. I lost friends. I had no ministry. I was separated from family and home. Physical attacks constantly barraged me. I fell into bouts of depression with great spiritual warfare. As Marvin and I were both going through this at the same time, God also saw fit to separate us at times for several months. (I am not talking about our marriage. That is excellent and intact. ) He stayed and worked in the Emirates and I lived in Finland attempting to minister as the Spirit led us as a team. Wow - such pain in Finland but that is another story. We were both 'going through'. 

Now my comfortable paradigm of Christianity was laid open and bare and cracking before my eyes - my vision was distorted and I saw just like that picture of that glass above. I was humbled as God began to reveal how little I knew. Western Christianity has the uncanny ability to form you into its image - the conferences, the images of a diluted God, the books. the distortion, the materialism and on and on. We get wrapped up in a paradigm of seeing Christianity through a distortion. God led me overseas to develop a Kingdom World View with Jesus Christ as the center of my life and my universe.

Living in the Emirates alongside over 125 nations represented here, assumption is deadly and presumption will humiliate you. My paradigms were shaken the moment I left the apartment - language, dress, weather, Islam, Arabs from all over the Middle East, Europeans, Russians, Asians......whew.........it was enough to keep you inside for the day. :) But ones gotta eat!

I read newspapers that exposed me to politics from India, Asia, the Americas, Europe, Africa and all over. I talked to people from so many nations. We had Muslims eat at our table and share with us their lives and their religion. There is so much more and I loved it all. I want to come back and minister in the Middle East as God opens doors.

Paradigms cracking little by little. So what to do? I had an idea from a simple verse of Scripture. All this variety, culture, world view, religion, opinions, belief systems can either make or break you. Tolerance is not a word in my vocabulary. I believe that word is demonic. I am not tolerant but asked the Lord to clear my vision to begin to truly see through a new paradigm.............one where the cross took center stage.....slowly it did! I lived this verse day by day....

1 Cor 2: 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. NKJV

I saw Him - everywhere. I heard Him - everywhere. Not behind walls of comfortability but through love and grace and faith - not tolerance or ignorance. I challenged people with my faith - was accepted and rejected. I walked in the midst of Mosques going off and people rushing in malls to prayer times. I got up at 4 in the morning and awakened the dawn as the Mosque call went off. I loved it all. I can say that now.

Hmmmmmmmmm I see Marvin smiling when he reads this...................I did not always say that or believe that but hindsight is of great benefit to me.

More tomorrow.

Christians are not called to opt out as ostriches hiding their head in the sand. Get out there. He is real and He can handle all of it for He sits on the throne now and forever more.

Baca - Weeping, Tears, Cleansing!

Ps 84:5-7 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.  7 They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion. NKJV

Any type of moving forward out of your past into healing, requires that you walk through God ordained valleys of remembrance. Not to stay there of course but to keep walking. In those times there are tears, sanctified water that proceeds from the innermost part of your being to cleanse, renew and restore.

I experienced lots of that in those years of 2008 and 2009. Called as a prophet, I had to walk though tears, releasing all anger, bitterness, self-pity, control, unforgiveness - need I say more? Just add to the list for yourself. What is God cleansing you from? Indeed, what has gone in you from years of life must come out some way. Aren't tears, real tears, better than all the rest of unsanctified emotions such as anger and unforgiveness? It is all worth it to walk into a sense of freedom and wholeness. Trust me. It truly is. And God is wiling to walk with you through these times for a greater glory awaits you in days ahead. But, you can't bypass these moments of releasing sorrow. Releasing guilt. Releasing shame. BUT neither can you stay there. I continually see people that define themselves by their shame and their pain rather than His healing and His freedom. I saw so much of that in Finland in my years of living there. A constant introspection of oneself is never healthy and is not wise. I saw depression in Finland take on a whole new meaning. I love Finland but I actually saw numerous people choose depression rather than prayer for wholeness because some definition of life was better than releasing it all to walk in Him.  I did not want to be like that - I am a warrior and I don't want to stand in the midst of where I am but to walk in what is new, even though it kills me off in the process. Are you?

Releasing lost hopes, dreams that never materialized, false expectations, lies and every such thing came through my tears. I personally knew that my testing was extreme and hard for me. My tears became a sign of obedience and submission to His ways even when I had to walk through pain and misunderstanding.

The glory that is here and is coming is the person of Christ Jesus. Christ in you the hope of glory will dwell in vessels that are cleansed and free. Not perfect of course but perfect in His wholeness.

Again personal recounting on my part. Lost in a time of weeping and crying for months on end, I was tired of crying. It seems that was all I did for so long. And please know this...........as many of my friends can tell you, I am not a crier in the natural. But tears flowed in me and through me as I kept walking. I would cling to the hem of His garment and just cry trusting Him to secure my destiny and my future as He walked me through my need for healing and cleansing in Him.

Cleansing brings great joy - supernatural joy from the Holy Spirit. That was what I had to walk through - tears. Not tears of self-pity but tears that held the weight of His glory in each one for each tear signified a release of my way into His way and His way alone.

So much for the wilderness..............not easy but worth it.

One more thing for today. When I cried, God would hold me accountable for my tears - were they real or contrived? Let me explain. Real tears come from the pit of your belly without justification - lots of pain though as you truly look at yourself in the light of His glory. I was not feeling sorry for myself during these times. I was in deep pain and did not see a way out but God showed me a way through - one way.

The Valley of Baca became a place of pools of living water for me - my tears. I walked through this time, birthing a testimony in my life of forgiveness but I walked and so can you. I walked from strength to strength but I walked............so keep walking and don't stop. Or if you truly can relate to what I am saying - then rejoice for your personal testimony will be used to heal many.

Later.......................:)