Desperation
1 a: having lost hope b: giving no ground for hope
Desperado
DESPERADO, n. A desperate fellow; a furious man; a madman; a person urged by furious passions; one fearless, or regardless of safety.
The Lord spoke to my Dad during intercession last Sat and asked him, "How desperate are you?" My Dad seeks the Lord steadily, hungrily...so if God is asking him that question... I sit up and take notice!
How desperate are you? How intense about Knowing Him? How Hungry? To what extreme will you go to escape the status quo? Will people say you are a madman, in your pursuit of God? Are you urged on by furious passions of the Spiritual kind? Or are you plagued with passions of the lesser kind? What are you snacking on? A snack takes the edge off...as we all remember as kids wanting a "snack" till dinner! But as Abba's kids, what are we filling up on? Junk and Junk Food? Are we desiring both the sincere milk of the Word and strong meat? Or do we want just the sweet stuff, what is pleasing to our carnal tastes, but no meat and vegetables?
Heidi Baker talks of living a lifestyle of " If you don't show up God, we're all dead." Since she lives in Mozambique in a Moslem Nation,caring for 7000 orphans, I think she has hit on something!
Psalm 24:6
This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob. Selah [pause, and think of that]!
Psalm 27:8
You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].
Exodus 18Now all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear and fell back and stood afar off.19And they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die.
Blind Bartimaeus is another example. When he heard Jesus was passing by he cried out over and over: "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!" When people began to rebuke him and shush him he shouted all the louder, "Jesus have mercy on me!"
For some of you- it is time for you to let your voice be heard and be silent no more. Healing only comes when you are willing to throw away your cloak of concealment and let the raw wounds be exposed to the healing wind of fresh air from heaven.
For others, you've wrapped yourself tightly in the cloth of "do it yourself." Constant works, busyness, self promotion, self appraisal measured by keeping up and getting ahead, while getting really nowhere.
Bartimaeus throw off his cloak. His self identification with his disability. Even his name: "Blind Bartimaeus" showed his whole personhood was wrapped up in what he and others perceived him to be. But when Jesus passed by, he had the courage to cast all that off and move towards his answer.
Cast off your self reliance, your old deeds and way of doing things! It is time to step into the new! Travel the road with Jesus from now on!
Even in the midst of chaos around you, you can choose press into Him.
Another word for whet is to "hone." Will you allow your desperation to hone you for Him?
I could write a whole lot more, but I am going to close with this:
I recently met another hungry heart. Her name is Vicki. She has written a wonderful article about whetting and honing. This is Vicki's blog post- I share it with her permission:
~~~~~~~
http://writethevision2.blogspot.com/2009/05/hone.html
DESPERADO, n. A desperate fellow; a furious man; a madman; a person urged by furious passions; one fearless, or regardless of safety.
The Lord spoke to my Dad during intercession last Sat and asked him, "How desperate are you?" My Dad seeks the Lord steadily, hungrily...so if God is asking him that question... I sit up and take notice!
How desperate are you? How intense about Knowing Him? How Hungry? To what extreme will you go to escape the status quo? Will people say you are a madman, in your pursuit of God? Are you urged on by furious passions of the Spiritual kind? Or are you plagued with passions of the lesser kind? What are you snacking on? A snack takes the edge off...as we all remember as kids wanting a "snack" till dinner! But as Abba's kids, what are we filling up on? Junk and Junk Food? Are we desiring both the sincere milk of the Word and strong meat? Or do we want just the sweet stuff, what is pleasing to our carnal tastes, but no meat and vegetables?
Heidi Baker talks of living a lifestyle of " If you don't show up God, we're all dead." Since she lives in Mozambique in a Moslem Nation,caring for 7000 orphans, I think she has hit on something!
Psalm 24:6
This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob. Selah [pause, and think of that]!
Psalm 27:8
You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].
Acts 17:28-29 (Darby Translation)
28for in him we live and move and exist; as also some of the poets amongst you have said, For we are also his offspring.
29Being therefore [the] offspring of God, we ought not to think that which is divine to be like gold or silver or stone, [the] graven form of man's art and imagination.
We put limits around out dealings with God. This far and no furhter..like the Israelites in the wilderness:Exodus 18Now all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear and fell back and stood afar off.19And they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die.
Deuteronomy 18:16 (Amplified Bible)
16This is what you desired [and asked] of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.
Yet we want God to move on our behalf- just maybe not so dramatically! "Lord, do a miracle, just do it quietly!"
The woman witht he issue of blood was desperate.
Luke 8:42b-44
As [Jesus] went, the people pressed together around Him [almost suffocating Him].43And a woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years a]">[a]and had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed by anyone, 44Came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her flow of blood ceased.
The people were almost suffocating Him- pressing against Him. I had tsomething similiar happen in Ukraine one year as I visited a school to hand out gospel freindship bracelets... the kids mobbed me and the teacher stood by watching as I was pushed over backwards against a desk! I thought I was going to be trampled! And that was in a clasroom that contained 30+ kids. Jesus was in an open area with hundreds mobbing him! Yet that women worked through those crowds to touch the hem of His talit (the fringed prayer shawl) ignoring the extreme risk. Desperation drove her and she got her answer!Blind Bartimaeus is another example. When he heard Jesus was passing by he cried out over and over: "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!" When people began to rebuke him and shush him he shouted all the louder, "Jesus have mercy on me!"
Mark 10:46-52 (Amplified Bible)
46Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, a son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, saying, Jesus, Son of David, have pity and mercy on me [now]!48And many b]">severely censured and reproved him, telling him to keep still, but he kept on shouting out all the more, You Son of David, have pity and mercy on me [now]! 49And Jesus stopped and said, Call him. And they called the blind man, telling him, Take courage! Get up! He is calling you. 50And throwing off his outer garment, he leaped up and came to Jesus. 51And Jesus said to him, What do you want Me to do for you? And the blind man said to Him, Master, let me receive my sight. 52And Jesus said to him, Go your way; your faith has healed you. And at once he received his sight and accompanied Jesus on the road.
For some of you- it is time for you to let your voice be heard and be silent no more. Healing only comes when you are willing to throw away your cloak of concealment and let the raw wounds be exposed to the healing wind of fresh air from heaven.
For others, you've wrapped yourself tightly in the cloth of "do it yourself." Constant works, busyness, self promotion, self appraisal measured by keeping up and getting ahead, while getting really nowhere.
Bartimaeus throw off his cloak. His self identification with his disability. Even his name: "Blind Bartimaeus" showed his whole personhood was wrapped up in what he and others perceived him to be. But when Jesus passed by, he had the courage to cast all that off and move towards his answer.
Isaiah 64:6 (Amplified Bible)
6For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God's favor, hurrying us toward destruction].Cast off your self reliance, your old deeds and way of doing things! It is time to step into the new! Travel the road with Jesus from now on!
Even in the midst of chaos around you, you can choose press into Him.
Matthew 13:14-16 (Amplified Bible)
14In them indeed is a]">the process of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: You shall indeed hear and hear but never grasp and understand; and you shall indeed look and look but never see and perceive.
15For this nation's heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them.A)">
16But blessed (happy, fortunate, and b]">to be envied) are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.
Do things to whet your hunger for Him. Merriam Webster defines whet as this: 1 : to sharpen by rubbing on or with something (as a stone) <whet a knife> 2 : to make keen or more acute : excite, stimulate <whet the appetite> <whetted her curiosity>Another word for whet is to "hone." Will you allow your desperation to hone you for Him?
I could write a whole lot more, but I am going to close with this:
I recently met another hungry heart. Her name is Vicki. She has written a wonderful article about whetting and honing. This is Vicki's blog post- I share it with her permission:
~~~~~~~
http://writethevision2.blogspot.com/2009/05/hone.html
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
"Hone"
Some few days past I was hearing The Lord speak to me "hone", "It's time to hone". And I am not able to let this short word and phrase go, nor of course do I want to let this go!I understood this in part, as a message that it is 'time to sharpen, clean-up the rough edges and smooth-out....' = hone......... and as I looked up this word for further understanding I did discover this example;
hone: As in, 'to sharpen a blade with a whet' ( or whetstone ). Pondering this with Lord the scrip came to me,
"...... the sword of The Spirit which is the Word of God." - Eph. 6:17
Many folks understand the wonderful armor and this magnificent 'sword' brought forth in Ephesians as our written scriptures, our bible -- and I agree with this! However, I also understand this 'Sword / Word' weapon as that Word from God that Holy Spirit may speak to you and I freshly, now, today.
I, we, or whomever this that I write may also speak to (?) ....... presently need to hone. We can clear out the wax from ear canals, as it were; anoint our 'eyes with eyesalve that we may see', place our feet in freshly polished boots upon the royal Way, clean accumulated muck off of our spiritual antanae's (so to speak), plus more and various depending upon our personal need -- honing ourselves on and of The Rock (Jesus, our whetStone) for whatever we have need to be cleaned, smoothed, cleared and sharpened.
Thus we may then stand prepared to receive from HIM with cutting edge clearness. I believe our Lord desires us to hear with smooth clarity sharp-to-the-point messages, in whatever form HIS revelation presents to us -- useful clear prophetic now-today-word from our Lord, for ourselves to wield and for those we are to share with.
There is never a problem on our Lord's end and delivery of HIS' Word,
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." - Heb. 4:12
"...and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword;..." - Rev. 1:16
Rather the present problem of possible cloudy or unclear, unspecific receiving is on my / our end.
"...time to hone."
This ability to 'hear and/or relay clear messages from our Lord' is not received because of our in-gifted desire alone, but as I am given to understand this "hone" word delivered; this is our Lord Jesus' desire presently, through us and for HIS purposes.
As I wrote that last paragraph, I'm now getting a small vision of a very well dressed man-servant of long ago (1600's approx.?, large plumed hat etc.). He is bowing low on one knee, removing his hat and crossing his arm and the hat across his chest, in a courtroom before a king sitting high on a splendid throne. Once bowed, with head down the servant is speaking to the king,
'At Your service Your Majesty'
"Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth;..." - Is. 40:4, Luke 3:5
- Vicki C.
Write the *Vision - Habbakuk 2:2-3
http://writethevision.org
and WtV Forums: interactive prophetic "Talk"'
ace
says:
says:Sunday, May 17, 2009, 6:45:23 PM
“Dear Vicki,
thanks for that word. even as i check up the dictionary reference for 'hone', it also means to focus, to advance toward the goal, to perfect, to make more acute and effective. it also tells me that the origin of the word was a groaning and moaning. of pining and lamenting and a cry of discontent. i imagine the sound of the earth groaning as it longs for the sons of glory to be revealed. the honing is to sharpen the sword of the Spirit, yes, also the refining of the jewels as they are being cut, to remove the impurities for more brilliance in the translucence as we shine the light. another two words that are somewhat related are "honey" and "home". maybe remembering the land of milk and honey that is our inheritance? and this honing of our desires, to only want heaven and nothing else that is on this earth will satisfy. to continue to sharpen our senses to see and hear and smell and taste and touch. like the comic superheroes (I watched the latest X-Men movie recently!) that have super-sensitive sensory powers, which is a mere human's imagination of the greater reality in our inheritance. Praise Jesus!
~~~~~~~
To which I say Amen Lord Jesus! Holy Spirit, Come refine us. Come whet us. Come hone us for God. Come and take us beyond where we are; trapped in our own desperation. Speak to our hearts until we become so desperate for YOU that NOTHING can stand in our way! Until we desire and crave you even as our bodies crave and require air and water, or else we die. We need the breathe of your Spirit- breathe on us! We need the Water of Your Word to wash us again. We need the streams of the Spirit to revive us again. Come Holy Spirit! Come! Show us what we are "snacking on" that is spoiling our appetite for You. Deal with our cloaks and our pride and our self sufficiency. Take us to those places we haven't wanted to face and help us to open the door so that healing can begin. Envelope us with Yourself Lord. Make us hungry, stir us up! Create a desperation for Yourself with in your Bride Lord! We ask it and receive it by faith. In Jesus Name. Amen.
thanks for that word. even as i check up the dictionary reference for 'hone', it also means to focus, to advance toward the goal, to perfect, to make more acute and effective. it also tells me that the origin of the word was a groaning and moaning. of pining and lamenting and a cry of discontent. i imagine the sound of the earth groaning as it longs for the sons of glory to be revealed. the honing is to sharpen the sword of the Spirit, yes, also the refining of the jewels as they are being cut, to remove the impurities for more brilliance in the translucence as we shine the light. another two words that are somewhat related are "honey" and "home". maybe remembering the land of milk and honey that is our inheritance? and this honing of our desires, to only want heaven and nothing else that is on this earth will satisfy. to continue to sharpen our senses to see and hear and smell and taste and touch. like the comic superheroes (I watched the latest X-Men movie recently!) that have super-sensitive sensory powers, which is a mere human's imagination of the greater reality in our inheritance. Praise Jesus!
~~~~~~~
To which I say Amen Lord Jesus! Holy Spirit, Come refine us. Come whet us. Come hone us for God. Come and take us beyond where we are; trapped in our own desperation. Speak to our hearts until we become so desperate for YOU that NOTHING can stand in our way! Until we desire and crave you even as our bodies crave and require air and water, or else we die. We need the breathe of your Spirit- breathe on us! We need the Water of Your Word to wash us again. We need the streams of the Spirit to revive us again. Come Holy Spirit! Come! Show us what we are "snacking on" that is spoiling our appetite for You. Deal with our cloaks and our pride and our self sufficiency. Take us to those places we haven't wanted to face and help us to open the door so that healing can begin. Envelope us with Yourself Lord. Make us hungry, stir us up! Create a desperation for Yourself with in your Bride Lord! We ask it and receive it by faith. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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