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.......................:)
Okay so let me speak about 2008 and 2009 for awhile in this blog. I don't want to relive the past or be stuck in a rut but stay with me. I am going somewhere. The future gives me more definition when I see where I came from.In other words, each step of where I walked has brought me out - out into a clearer reality of who I am in Him. When all is said and done, the future awaits us and beckons us to come out of the cave and get free from the tunnel. So for those of you who are reading this.......you are out there right? Okay for those reading this, bear with me as I look back at where we came from to see where we are going. Makes sense to me.
I feel out............of the cave, of the tunnel, of the grave. Now the outward manifestations of being out are not easily apparent to me yet I know I am out and getting ready to venture forth into our calling and destiny as Rivers of Eden. How do I know? By the Spirit. As we pray and wait on God in times of intimacy and worship, He is speaking to us in dreams, visions, and revelation. I move forth by faith on what is not seen to get me to the place to where what is seen is manifested.
The Word proves that to be true. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Also it says that we walk by faith and not by sight. There is more but why don't you look up these verses by yourself. Then they can indeed settle into the foundation of your life, as they have mine.
So back to my thought. I see by faith that I am out of the tunnel and out of my dark night of the soul, which lasted intensely throughout most of 2008 and 2009. Those were years, as I have heard from many, of great trials, persecution, humiliation for the remnant. Many of us were lied about, slandered, gossipped about struggled through intense times. God was so silent during those times at the same time the enemy was constantly accusing me with lies and intimidation. BUT I DID NOT CAVE. :) I am still standing. Yay!
Some of us struggled with health issues. We also struggled with a loss of faith to a certain degree, discouragement and even depression. Hey I feel that I am just telling it like it is. I have decided that after all this time I just want to speak out this truth that is forming in me through experience.
The dark night of the soul left me silenced in the face of all that I went through. There was no defense on my behalf as people lied about us, called us all kinds of things. I am not exaggerating here. I did not let anyone know about this except a small group of trusted friends because in the silence facing my accusers, I had great strength imparted to me from the Lord. I learned to trust Him when I could not hear Him and to follow His voice when I could not see where I was going. It was all so good for me.
So what about you? Do you think I am writing this just to complain or bring glory to myself? No I am not. But you must know that we were 'going through' in some intense years. Along this path, the devil was so busy causing confusion and chaos around us. I called out to God and cried out to Him and all I could see at times was His gaze. But let me say, that I went a long time not sensing His manifest presence or hearing any particular word for me. But I walked by faith and not by sight.
Let me give you an example and then I will call it a day. The story in Kings about Elijah on Mount Carmel. Do you remember it? Well, remember that God told Elijah to pour water on the sacrifice and to keep pouring. He got that sacrifice so wet that there was no way that anything could have been set on fire except by God. And God came through. God had Elijah face an impossible situation just so that He could come through for him and show His glory. Pour water on it became my buzz words for these years.
Further explaining - stay with me. I felt like I had nothing - no life, no ministry. I felt that I was hidden and obscure and no one knew I was even alive. And one day in the midst of feeling lost and forgotten, an opportunity came my way to 'come out' via a ministry invitation.I smiled and I showed signs of hope. Here was some release from my cave. When, suddenly, I heard the Lord say "Debra, pour water on it!" I knew that the Lord meant - let this go. Pouring water meant, to me, that I was releasing the only thing I had at that time to even feel like I was called to do anything for Him. I faced the impossible. Without the Lord I was nothing and had nothing and this command was not making me feel any better. Pour water on it. I was pouring water on my desires and watching them fade away and trusting that the only way I would be moved out and up would be by His fire from heaven on the sacrifice of my life. Then He,and He alone would get glory from my life.
The Lord was saying to me "Let this go. Even though it looks like all you have to give you a measure of definition. Let it go.But...............as you pour water on your desires and you see them fade into oblivion, I will come through for you in My timing and My way."
So what happened? I turned it down and obeyed the Lord. I then looked around me and what did I have? Not much in the natural but I kept on walking despite great discouragement. I kept walking. I held onto the promise that when God moved me forth out of this time, He alone would get all honor and glory from my life. My life became His and each time a good idea came up to get me out of this dark time, I poured water on it and stayed in the fire and waited for Him. I focused on Him and looked at Him and here I stand.
What do I have? Him. I have deep in me a destiny and purpose that beats within me. I have a dream that was imparted to me from the throne of God of where my life will go..........He is faithful.
But so important is that I have found myself again. I found myself by losing myself in those years of 2008 and 2009. I lost my need for vindication. I lost my need to understand everything and to have my life all lined up the way I want it to go. I learned to forgive over and over and over, even when it hurt so much inside. I learned to love in a new way. A real love, not a corrupted love as I see so much around me.
There is more coming but let me take a breath and smile, leaving you now, knowing that God has indeed done a good work in my heart.
What comes into the light, is untouchable by the enemy. Truth is light and truth is Jesus Christ. So the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy........................amen and amen.
I read this quote while at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi one day. I did not get all of who the author was but thought you would enjoy this. Let me tell you what it says.
"It is very hard to live with silence. The real silence is death and this is terrible. To approach this silence, it is necessary to journey to the desert. You do not go into the desert to find identity but to lose it, to lose your personality, to become anonymous. You make yourself void. You become silence. You must become more silent than the silence that surrounds you. And then something extraordinary happens. YOU HEAR SILENCE SPEAK." Edmond J.
Okay what to say now? Selah may be an appropriate word. Chew on this. Take the meat and spit out the bones. We can hear God in anyway He chooses to speak. Meditate on this. Think on this. Most of the hungriest people I know are coming out of the desert with nothing but Him. He is enough. They have heard in the silence the sound of their Lord. Silence does speak and it speaks when we decrease so that He increases in us. I am not trying to be eloquent or so cutting edge as to defy reality. I am simply saying that when I quieted down, He spoke from the silence that surrounded my life. When the tension in me decreased and I relinquished all to Him, He imparted to me His mind, His heart and His wisdom. The silence was good for me. The desert was good for me. In fact, I have to share something with you. I am a little concerned about leaving the UAE to come back to the States. My faith in Jesus is challenged and more alive in the midst of Islam than in the midst of Western Christianity. This is true for me. But in obedience I follow so America here we come.
I followed Him here into the desert along with others that had gone before me - Jesus, Paul, John, Jacob, Naomi, Ruth, Moses - the list goes on and on. They all faced a time when all they had in them was simply not good enough. They were pared down and stripped down in the midst of the monotone sound of the desert, the mundane colors of the sand. In that place, they looked and Moses saw the burning bush, Jacob saw His ladder, Ruth found her way.........they all found someone, not something. They found Him. Out of this experience did not come form or structure but relationship, trust, dependency and a wholehearted love for the ONE who called to them to follow Him into a place where silence speaks and to lose themselves they would actually find themselves.
Selah............more coming. Keep reading. Let's journey together. My hope is for you to find more of Him and less of yourself.
Obedience - a word constantly spoken and of great importance in the kingdom BUT............... Simple obedience. Is it that simple? Our flesh cries out constantly to be satisfied and babied and catered to in every way. We are so easily offended in the Body of Christ and want our way. Case closed.
Yet............simple obedience is a simple command with great rewards - maturity being one of them.
Simplicity brings you into the revelation of the person of Jesus Christ. He stands before you - invites you to walk with Him, talk with Him. Simplicity can't be learned from afar but from near Him.
Remember what Mary said "Whatever He says to you, do it!" So just do it. But to just do it, you should remember that you must hear His voice, not yours and walk in His ways, not yours. Now is it so simple? Yes for someone who has relinquished their throne and allows Jesus to be Lord of your life. It is that simple. Not always easy but always worth it.
The simplicity of obedience strips us of our wisdom through trials, persecutions, and even outright humiliation which the Lord allows to get our attention. We are brought down to the moment. The future is found in the steps of obedience we take each day as we hear His voice and have relationship with Him. The past is lost in His love, forgiveness and mercy.
And the present is secure in knowing that He is enough. Why do I keep saying that to you? Well, because it is true. If you can't see it now you will. When the storms of life surround us, and there is nothing left to cling to, we cling to Him and then lovingly He looks at us and says " I am enough for you."
The simplicity of hearing His voice and following it can be fearful at times if you have trust issues or fear of failure or even fear missing your destiny. This is all a lie from the devil. Let me say that again. It is a lie, okay? Start today listening and obeying. Don't be so complicated and don't live your life through anyone else. Live through Him and in Him and with Him. Obedience brings you into the simplicity of adventure with your Lord. Into amazing things that await you when you turn your life wholly over to Him.
Now my journey........2008 and 2009 were the hardest years of my life and as I have heard from many, they may have also been hard for you. So let's talk about what happened over the next few weeks as I share with you the clash of kingdoms that went on in me so that I would relinquish my throne so that He can occupy the throne of my life being Lord and King.
Then..........after all is said and done, I may proceed on to the next subject. I love this blog. Do you? Hope so because it is making me very free and very happy.
"Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge." Winston Churchill
How true this is! This quote grabbed me when I saw it. When all is said and done, and the dust settles, every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the midst of the complexities of life, our refuge is in Him. It is Him alone by Holy Spirit that navigates us through the raging waters of life. It is His light, His life, and His truth. He is drawing us to an intense simplicity in Him to weave our way through the coming days by His Spirit. It is best that we learn NOW how to make life simple and enjoy the journey for it is going to get rough out there.
Aha - here is another quote I like. Perhaps she is not so famous but her source is awesome.
"Rivers of Eden is a catalyst of truth to a world in Chaos." God to Debra Westbrook
The essence of Christianity is a simple reality. Jesus Christ. We live in a world in chaos and intensity. Simplicity wins out every time. Simplicity pairs our life down to simple truth. To presume that we know anything apart from Christ is ridiculous for without Him we can do nothing.
He says it best.
1 Cor 1:20-22 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. NKJV
Simplify! Simplify! Simplify! That is all God has told us for years now and I believe we are getting it so I am now speaking it forth. There is chaos surging throughout all the world today - wars and rumors of wars, intense weather patterns, new diseases. I have decided not to opt out in fear, worry, or anxiety for despite everything ..........it will not get better but His glory shall arise on us, in us and through us. Can't get any better than this. In chaos we shall find ourselves in the eye of the perfect storm. Amen and amen.
The more complex the world gets, the intense simplicity of the reality of the cross will quickly become more and more apparent. The simplicity that our salvation is indeed grand and awesome. The simplicity that we are seated in heavenly places and live supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. The practical implications of simplicity worked through our lives will be a courageous, fearless warrior that will stand in an uncompromising love for their Savior. This Christian will be formed to move by the Spirit, live in the Spirit - living a life sold out for Christ, supernaturally natural. They are in the making as I speak. I am one of them. Are you?
Nothing impresses me anymore but Him and I want to follow Him wherever He leads. So out of the complexity of life I have found peace and simplicity - in Him.
Ps 19:14 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. NKJV
I mean what I say and I say what I mean. Thanks for reading. I love what the Lord is doing in me as I write this. May you be blessed.
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