Faint Not!

"You shall see the performance of what I have promised.  Faint Not!"

I was walking by my dresser and my eye fell upon the Christmas card I received from my little sister. It was a very loving and precious card.  And as I glanced at it, I heard those words that I posted above, and was quickened  to share them with you.  

Whatever it is that you have been standing and believing for, God says you SHALL see the performance of what HE has promised you.  After all He is not a man that He should lie!  

The significance of the card is that at age 6 God placed in my heart a deep desire for a baby sister to love and share life with.  I remember climbing up into my Daddy's lap one evening and telling him and Mom that I wanted a baby sister.  I remember Mom sputtering and coughing on the couch. "Mom can't have any more babies," she informed me.  ( I was considered a miracle baby, but did not know that.) But with the determination of a 6 yr old to have what I desired, I announced, "Fine! I'll ask God to give me a baby sister."  

Now you must understand, we were not a "religious family!"  I knew about God and sensed Him in the nature around me, but I did not go to church at that time, as we lived on a farm and weekends were spent doing farm chores.  I remember going to bed that night and praying and asking God to please give me a little sister.  Guess who got pregnant?!! I recall a conversation with Mom when her belly was quite extended and she said, "What if it is a boy?"  I answered, "I didn't ask God for a boy, I asked for a baby sister, so that is what I am getting."  (I wish I always had that level of faith now!)  Sure enough, Mom had a girl and I got my prayer answered. God gave me a baby sister.

Fast forward 12+ years.  Our Dad is in Heaven, and I am radically saved.  MY beloved baby sister calls me "Jesus Freak" and has nothing to do with me whatsoever! I come in the front door and she exits out the back.  She tells all her friends, "Don't talk to her, she is a Jesus Freak."  For SEVEN (7) years, I pray and weep over my little sister.  Finally I said to God, "I am going to go out and tell other people's family members about Jesus, and so I expect you to save my sister, as I share your Word with other people's families. Please send someone she will listen to!"  

Sure enough, He did just that.  She waited tables as a waitress at a certain
restaurant and every Sunday these 2 couples came in and sat in her section.  They would ASK to have her wait on them!  They left her money on the table and spoke kindly and joked with her.  She figured they were church folks.  But when she got an infected tooth, these "church folk" did something extreme.  They left and came back with a check for $800 to pay her dentist bill.  She was so shocked. It was then she learned the men were a Pastor and his Assistant Pastor from the nearby Assembly of God church!  The next Sunday instead of working, she went to their church to find out what kind of people write a check for $800 to a stranger?  What she found was the Saviour who prompted them to show His Extravagant Love to her!  Now my sister is the Jesus Freak, and I am so blessed to have her walking with God and growing in Grace daily!

So, don't give up!  Don't stop speaking life (God's Word) into what appear to be impossible situations!

I heard God say, " I see your heart.  I know that you don't always know what or how to say it.  But I see and know your heart.  I know what your tears are saying, when your don't even know why you are crying.  Even as we stand on the brink of a New Year, go confidently into it, knowing that you shall reap if you faint not."

Luke 1:45  And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
 
Isaiah 55:11 (JPS)  So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, except it accomplish that which I please, and make the thing whereto I sent it prosper.

Galatians 6:9 (AMP)  And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. 

Hebrews 10:35-36 (AMP)  Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.

He was looking for YOU!

Did you look for HIM at Christmas?  
Did you find HIM, or did you let 
present circumstances crowd Him out? 

He was looking for YOU you know, 
when He came so long ago 
to that tiny manger in Bethlehem.

He was looking for you when the Star 
shown so brightly in the sky 
leading the wise men to the place where He lay-
drawing them oh so nigh.

He was looking for you, when the Heavenly Choir of Angels burst into the open with 
rapturous and melodious song sent to 
bring Good News to inspire.

He was looking for you, when at age twelve  
in the temple He questioned the rabbi's and into the Word, making them delve.

In a carpenters shop He would work and sing
Crafting wood into useful things.  With skillful hands and eye bringing out the beauty that deep within the wood did lie. Full of pitch and claimed to be no good, in these pieces their grace and beauty He would find...All the while, YOU were on His mind! 

When He turned the water into wine 
at the wedding, He was saying, "You will find,
that the end will be sweeter than the start, so do not fear..." for He is here with you, just look for Him and see...but you must look with your heart.

When the widow's son, the one from Nain. 
was in a coffin prematurely lain-
He was there, to mend her broken heart
bring life into a hopeless situation, and 
give a brand new start.

HE is here with you now- 
will you open up and allow 
Him to wipe away your tears, fears and pain, 
to bring you life and hope again?

When He washed their feet in 
that upper room, 
He knew that very soon
one of those He loved, 
would be shoved by things 
left unchecked and so 
his life would be wrecked, and yet 
He loved him to the end.

As He faced His accusers and abusers, manipulators and instigators, He 
looked with eyes that saw you and me, 
down through the portals of eternity,
knowing that we were both at once to blame and also the ones who had been put to shame... 
and yet HE came all the same!
Looking for me and YOU.

39 lashes and His blood ran RED, and 
each drop said, "I LOVE YOU."
39 lashes-intense pain, and 
His blood proclaimed, 
"your sickness I bore,
so it can have dominion no more."
And HE was looking for you.

A walk up a long, lonely hill, with 
humanity jeering and scoffing still
His heart set on Eternity, He had vowed to His Father not mine, but Thy Will, 
and He looked for you.

Death sentence given, nails driven,  
More Blood, for me and you shed.
A crown of thorns upon His Head...

Hung betwixt and between two worlds 
with only one seen, and He cried
"It is finished," before He died, all the while Looking at the Joy set before Him...
He was looking for YOU.

This Christmas He came, 
to a world not very tame, 
laying in ruins of its own 
making and shame.  
He came looking for YOU.  

He comes again and again, 
with Love in His eyes, and Light 
to send all the darkness packing, 
to ease the pain that's wracking 
bodies stressed and strained.  

He comes looking for You.  
He comes calling YOUR name.
  
Life with Christ will never be the same.  
There is so much to lose, and a lot to gain!
  
Let go of your past- failures or not, 
receive a Life that cannot be bought.  
Success is empty when you lose in the end, Eternity without family, health, peace and friend. 
 
Don't miss Him like those who looked 
in all the wrong places and faces and things, 
expecting a Palace and earthly King, 
instead of The Lord, Master of the 
Universe and Ruler over everything!

He's looking for YOU 
to look and see...
Yes, HE IS EVERYTHING,
but maybe not what or how
You thought He would be!

Jeremiah 29:13  Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.  (Amplified and BBE)

© NEM 12-26-11

Look for ME at Christmas

Christmas Wishes from us to you

http://heartnhandsatnews.blogspot.com/

Deep Things of God

Jeremiah 33:3  (Amp) Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).


Psalm 139:14  I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.
Psalm 139:15  My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].
Psalm 139:16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

Jer 1:5  Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. [Exodus 33:12; Isaiah 49:1, 5; Romans 8:29]


Have I not called you and chosen you? Have I not appointed you for a goodly purpose and task?  Even as I watched over you in those 9 mos in the womb, so too, today, I am STILL watching over you!  I am still plotting Blessings to surprise and  overtake you.  


There are things that I have planted in your life, planted as part of your giftings, planted as intricately part of WHO I made you to be!  There are things inside of you, just waiting to be discovered, just waiting to be taken off the shelf, dusted off and used for My Glory and pleasure!  I AM calling unto you, calling on those deep things and calling them out into the light. That is WHY your spirit man is restless!  That is WHY you are disatisfied and looking for more.  It is becasue there IS more!


So, come and search Me out! Search out My plans for you.  Search out the depths of My Love for you. Dig a little deeper and let Me surprise you!


Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
Jeremiah 29:12  Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.
Jeremiah 29:13  Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Deep Things In YOUR Life

There are two kinds of deep things. One is in your life laced there at conception . These are things that are intrinsically part of who you are!  We may explore these later, but let me tell you they are waiting to be pulled on and pulled out of you and manifested and walked out in your life.

The other kind of deep things are things that life and the enemy tries to plant into your life.  

During Worship service today God impressed on me to minister to you in this area.  He has sent His Spirit to seek out those things in your life that HE has not planted there, and to uproot them and destroy their presence, so they cannot hold you hostage any longer.

Will you give Him permission to do so?  That may sound like a strange question to you.  I can hear you say, Of course He can set me free anytime He wants!  I want those things out of my life.  

The truth is HE has WANTED to set you free all along, but HE has waited for YOU to give HIM permission to enter into those places of deep pain, regret, sorrow, anger, betrayal, rejection, insecurity, and fear.  You have to be willing to 
LET For Him to do that, YOU have to be willing to confront some things within and to recognize that you also have a role to play.   

It was not until I was willing to allow God to turn my world upside down (that is what it felt like emotionally) and shake the garbage out of it, was I set free from things in my past that held me hostage. So I do not speak these words to you lightly, nor without compassion.  HE does not speak them through me, without Great LOVE and DESIRE for you to be whole and wholly free to live again, live anew without the shadow that always follows you and hangs over and wraps itself around every area of your life.  

I know you want to be free of that dull ache inside.  You want to feel the warmth of the sunshine in your heart again.  You want your laughter to not sound hollow in your own ears... and to your own heart.  It's okay.  You can let the walls down, and take off the mask, HE already knows what is behind them anyway!  He is not shocked, nor is He disgusted, or impatient with you. Instead He is tender and kind and with the gentlest of care, He wants to take you to where you can walk free every day.  Trust HIM!  Open your heart and allow the healing to come in.  

Now, stick with me, when I say this next thing, I am not going to just stick you and run, ok?  

Forgive those who have wronged you, because your unforgiveness only holds you captive, to torment you over and over again, with nightmares, anger, even poor health.  It is not denying your feelings of betrayal or being wronged, or hurt or abused.  It is just denying that incident to keep you from a future of happiness and wholeness.  Let His LOVE wash over you, wash you clean, make you whole.  Let HIS forgiveness restore new life to you.  

To forgive horrendous wrongs, is not something we can do in our flesh and emotions.  However, we can do it by faith, and through the power of The Cross.  I am NOT implying that this is easy, or without turmoil, but it IS worth it!  It may feel like yu are free falling with nothing to hold onto, but you are very safely within HIS HANDS, and He is holding, even though you may not feel it.

Now here is how to walk this out.  As each bad memory comes into your mind, verbally say something like this: 

" I thank you Father God for hearing my prayer, forgive my unforgiveness of this incident (name it), and thank you for setting me free!  As an act of my will, I choose to forgive (name the person or people involved) by the Blood of Jesus and the Power of the Cross, with the same forgiveness that Christ gave to me.  I thank you that this is now under the Blood of Jesus and it's power to hurt or torment me is broken.  I command my feelings to line up with the Word of God. The Love of God has been shed abroad in my heart and I walk in Love and in the TRUTH of the Word and I am therefore free indeed!  Hallelujah. Thank you Lord.  Thank you Jesus for your Blood and the Victory that You gave to me!  I receive it and with the same comfort you have given to me, I will comfort others. In Jesus Mighty Name. AMEN!

When bad feelings or memories arise concerning things that you have chosen to forgive, reassert and speak again the forgiveness and your own freedom from it, because it is just the enemy trying to trick you into thinking you really are not free.   "NO! I chose to forgive that and put it behind me, so satan, take your thoughts and get out of here.  I will not entertain those thoughts or feelings anymore. I belong to Christ, and so does my emotions, HE is the Shepherd and Great Bishop of my soul. So GO in Jesus Name! "  You may have to do this a few times to enforce your victory and freedom, but just remember, Whom the SON sets free IS free indeed!  It belongs to you, so walk in it!

Be at peace dear one, and KNOW you are so Loved and God has GOOD plans for you and your life.  God BLESS You.

Deep searching the Depths of Your Heart

The time of status quo is over! It may be winter upon many parts of the earth, but I declare that the time of dormancy in the church and in your life is over.  I am stirring up dreams and desires in your heart that have lain hidden from view.  Slumbering and waiting for My Call upon the strings of your heart to cause them to burst forth in new life and song! 

I am reviving my work in and upon your heart. Work that I wrought long ago.  You have wondered if certain seasons of your life were over.  I tell you my love that there shall be a blossoming once again and a fruitfulness from seeds planted long ago.   The fertility of your heart is plowed and prepared, aerated so that so that the soil can receive a breath of fresh wind upon it and the rain of my Spirit can penetrate deep with in. 

You do not understand the seemingly sudden uncomfortableness that you have been experiencing.It is  at once both a leaving of the old and a growth , the coming on of the new.  Just a farmers harvest "new " vegetables signifying that they are young and tender and the first fruits of the harvest to come, so I am causing new fruit to come in place of the old.  Even so, remain tender towards Me!  What was acceptable before, is no longer to be accepted, or acceptable to you, for it will not be accepted by Me.  I am bringing you to a new level of accountability and Grace.
I am bringing you to a new "deep place" in Me.

Do not fear the place of uncomfortability, but rather rejoice! Look for Me in all things.  For even in the dark and uncertain places, you will find me, for I have promised to never leave  you.  Do not mistake these hard places as My Will for you, they are merely training grounds that you are passing through.  The enemy would like to quagmire you there, but I will lead you out and with a Shout!  So do not fear, but move with confidence in Me and you will see My Hand upon you in new and mighty ways, for these are Glorious days, and I AM your Glorious God and King. Watch as I bring new things into view for you.  From your heart they will spring.  So rest in Me and sing! 

Deep Calling Unto Deep

Deep Things 2 

Have you ever rounded a corner and been captivated by the beauty that lies in front of you?  The way the sun shines through the leaves, or the blueness of the sky.  You catch your breath and want to cry!

This is an example of "deep calling unto deep!"  Something so profound that speaks to your deepest inner being of GOD'S existence, HIS BEAUTY, HIS MAJESTY, captured in HIS artwork of nature...  

It is too exquisite for your soul to contain!  It overwhelms you. 

I remember going to Niagara Falls in Canada, some years back.  As we followed the river on the Canadian side, at first it was very placid and lazy.  But as we kept driving, you could see more of a current and then a definite "rushing" and finally the crescendo and ROAR of the Falls themselves as they thundered over the ledge into the frothy pool below.  I stood there with tourists all around me, with tears running down my face, crying as my heart reached with everything inside of me to the GOD that had created such beauty for us to see! 

I thought of the scripture in Rev. 14:2a  And I heard a voice from heaven that sounded like a roaring waterfall, like a loud peal of thunder. Rev 14:6  Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation.
Rev 14:7  He said in a loud voice, "Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!"Rev 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Rev 15:4  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. 

Deep is calling.  Deep is pulling on the recesses of your being to Worship Him.  To Trust Him. To Love Him all the more!  Deep is calling you to come out into the deep and be immersed and overwhelmed with HIM and IN HIM!  Deep is calling, will you answer His call?  What will you say?

Deep things part 1

Deep calls unto deep... God searches the deep things.. only God knows the depth of a man's heart and what is contained there in...

He is calling to you.  He is seeking the deep things of your heart. 
Are you seeking the deep things of HIS?

Thoughts are seeds

Secret thoughts eventually become displayed in word and/or action.  Hold a thought in your heart and carry it around, and just like a seed that is carelessly dropped into good soil, you will see the result springing up in your life!

Why do you think that Paul took so much time to speak to the Philippians
about their thought life?  We know we need to stay away from unclean thoughts, but Paul was addressing a much finer line of thought in his dissertation to them!

As we train our minds, as Paul instructed and allow the Word of God to search us, we are also guarding our hearts from things that defile.  For when we give place and allow things to take root that shouldn't, we will reap a harvest, even if it something you really don't want the fruit of.

Jesus said, "But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart.  The words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God." Matt. 15:118

I am always amazed at some things that people say, thinking that they have carefully veiled and hidden their feelings and thoughts, and yet they are so blatant
and exposed! (At least they are to me...)  

I have a knife I use for fileting (cutting) chicken off of the bone.   It is a very thin blade and ever so slightly curved.  It alowes me to slide it between cartilage
and meat and cut the meat right away from the bone that it would normally cling to.
That is how the Word of God works!  It goes deep into the heart of the matter (whatever it may be.)  It slices away all those things that try to cling to us, or we try to cling to.  It exposes the very meat, the inner most contents of our hearts. As they are exposed to the light of His Word, and the adept dealings of the Holy Spirit, as He holds up our thoughts against God's thoughts and God's measuring stick (The Word) we see where we fall short and come up lacking.

So when God shows you something, don't try to cover it up and hide it!  Don't try to push those feelings of anger, hurt, betrayal, rejection, fear, or "whatever" it is, back down inside.  Give Him and yourself permission to deal with them once and for all.
This is how healing takes place.  This is how we get delivered.

The hands of God are Gentle, not rough! They are very skilled and His heart is full of compassion.   He does not want you partially healed, or partially delivered!  He wants you WHOLE! And to be wholly His. And to be Holy!  He came to bring light into the darkness, and sight to the blind.  He came to set the captives free.  Whether it is captivity of thought, or situation, or financal, or physical, He IS your answer, even when you don't know the question to ask.  He is Alpha- the beginning- your beginning of Real life!  And is Omega, the end of the enemy's stronghold in your life.

Here is America, there is a saying in some parts that is a veiled warning, "do not mess with me!"  It goes like this: " Don't start something unless you are very sure you are big enough and can finish it."  ( Usually referencing starting a fight or brawl.)  Well, the devil has started something, and he "thinks" he's big enought to finish it, or atleasst he wants you to think that.  But the Truth is, Jesus has already whipped his sorry self and made an open, public ridicule, displaying his defeat and shame and humiliation!

And He ( Jesus) expects us to enforce that defeat and to walk out our lives in the Victory that He has ALREADY purchased for us.  Does that mean it will always be easey? No!  Does it mean that we will never fall down and bump our knees?  No, we will probably skin them a few times along the way!  But when we fall, we can and must get back up by the Grace and Power of God and trust in His Mercy and Trust in His Love for us. Learn by the Spirit and the Word of God, because if you don't learn by that way, you will have opportunity to learn from your mistakes! We call it the School of Hard Knocks! Trust me on that one, as I have had lots of experience along those lines, in my journey with Him over the years!I am so glad that He never gave up on me!  And HE won't give up on you either, so don't give up on your self!

"For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are modest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are worthy of reverence and honorable, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious and amiable, if there is anything of virtue and excellence, whatsoever things are of good report; whatever things have honour, whatever things are upright, whatever things are beautiful, whatever things are of value, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue and if any praise, think on these things; keep your minds on whatever is pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things."
Philippians 4:8

Heb 4:12 (several translations) For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Philippias 2:13(WNT)  For it is God Himself whose power creates within you the desire to do His gracious will and also brings about the accomplishment of the desire.

2Corinthians 4:15(MSG)  Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

When you have put your whole heart in His hands, thhen you can relax and know that He is working it out for you!  Amen.

What Do You Confess Over Yourself?

Do you have negative or positive things to say about yourself?  Sometimes we get in a rut and keep saying the same old thing.  Like "I'm so tired" instead of "The joy of the lord is my strength!"   I challenge you to create some positive, God-centered, Word centered phrases and say them over yourself this week!
Here are some to get your started concerning The Word and You:

1. I declare I desire to lead a Christ Centered Life.
2. I submit my whole life and my will to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 
3. Daily I choose to put God's Word first in my life.
4. I am a Word person!
5. The Word is my measuring stick and my Guide.
6. I thank you Lord for preparing and opening unto me treasures                    from Your Word.
7. I confess my heart is fertile soil and my spirit and soul are                       pliable in Your hands.
8. Thank you for molding and shaping my life and making it                                 a sign and wonder for YOU!  

Now, think of some scripture based ones and write them down and SAY them OUTLOUD over yourself and watch the change that happens!
Love you.
Nancy

Son of God Christmas Video

Enjoy this beautiful video.  More importantly, enjoy and KNOW personally
the Son of God LOVES YOU!
God Bless You and Merry Christmas, with Love!
Nancy

Put On The Living Garment

Last year I was the keynote speaker for a luncheon at a women's conference in Portland, Ore. The whole conference was wonderful, and the worship was really great with lots of freedom to just freely flow.  When there isn't restrictions on the Spirit it is so much easier to step into the flow of the Spirit.

During the conference there were many special moments. He brought them back to my remembrance, and I felt quickened to share one with you.  One particular session, as we were worshiping, I was just lost in worship, loving Jesus and just worshiping Him.
  
Quite unexpectedly, He gave me a vision:  I saw a plain white fabric and it was kind of flowing and furling in front of my eyes.  And then I watched as Jesus was whipped the fabric was splattered with His Blood in a tie-dyed Batik design.

Except with each lash, the fabric and the design on it pulsated! I had the distinct impression that this was "living fabric" and it was beating in sync with Jesus' heart.  Each lash he took brought more intricate design to the fabric.

I (Jesus) created a garment- a Living Garment for you to wear- instead of shame, instead of fear, instead of sin. It is a Living Garment Alive and vibrant and beautiful.  It is time to cast aside the beggar garb- the self doubt, the self destructive thoughts, and feelings you've carried deep inside.  It is time to be wrapped in the Living Garment of MY Love for you and My Life given for you to walk in wholeness and newness.  It is time to be redeemed from the dark thoughts, the dungeon of despair that traps you, and the failures that haunt you.  Instead, be tie-dyed into and with Me.

Mar 10:48  And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
Mar 10:49  And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
Mar 10:50  And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

Quickened Road Names

Today and yesterday names of roads kept being quickened to me. Their names would stand out to me, and God  would whisper scriptures to go along with each name!  Here then are those names and scripture and the prophetic word that He gave.

Keepsake Way  

A keepsake is something kept or given as a memento, a memorial, a monument, a remembrance, a reminder, a token, a landmark, a marker, a testimonial or a tribute.

Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

His Name is our token, our keepsake to use here on earth.  Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit as a testimonial of Himself to remind us, to help us and keep us.  Communion is a Tribute to all that HE accomplished for us and is a memorial to remind us of His Shed Blood and

Broken Body to purchase our salvation, healing, restoration, deliverance and freedom!

Thanksgiving Road  

Psalm 100:4  (KJV)  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

What road are you walking on today and where is it taking you?  Are you in going in circles in Grumble Gulch?  Are you mired down in Bad Attitude Alley? Are you stuck in a traffic jam on Complaint Corridor? Are you stalled out, frozen on Worry Way?  Are you on Prejudice Pallasaides?

It is time to bust loose!  Paul and Silas were beaten, their backs bloody and raw and bodies bruised and sore. Then they were locked up in the inner part of the  damp, dark, dungeon!  Probably there were rats and bugs in that place.  But they had  stood tall and spoken the Name of Jesus boldly and they were happy to speak it again, in that place. Not just speak it, but sing it!  Worship despite pain, despite conditions, worship instead of complain or cry! And when they sang, God's Presence busted loose all over and not only were their shackles and chains broken off, but the jailer and his whole family got saved!  Who ever has gotten saved from hearing a complaint?  But you have no idea what is happening in the spirit realm when YOU praise God!

Overlook Drive 

 1Pe 4:8 (AMP)  Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]. [Proverbs 10:12] (WNT)  Above all continue to love one another fervently, for love throws a veil over a multitude of faults.

1Co 13:7 (AMP)  Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (MSG)  Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

Waverly Road

James 1:5-8  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Hartmont 

Genesis 22:14 (KJV)  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

(Jewish Bible)14 Avraham called the place ADONAI Yir'eh [ADONAI will see (to it), ADONAI provides] -as it is said to this day, "On the mountain ADONAI is seen." 

Proverbs 23:7  For as he ( a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he...

Matthew 12:35 (MSG)  (MSG)  A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. (AMP)  The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.

Is YOUR heart the MOUNT of the LORD? The place where God will be seen by others?

Or is it choked with worry, doubt, fear, prejudice, resentment, judgment and bitterness?

NOW is the time, TODAY  if you hear HIS VOICE…THIS is the place to repent, change your mind and your ways, turn around and walk on the Path HE has chosen for you.  It is filled with peace and joy and blessing.  That does not mean that  there won’t ever be hardness ahead, or difficulties to face.  It DOES mean that you won’t walk alone, and you WILL be given strength and direction and help along the way!

So, I ask you again, What road are you walking today beloved?  Isn’t it time to get on the right road?  

Word of the Lord:

Yes Beloved, there are many roads for you to choose.  Even as I have said in My Word, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end there of leads unto death, so too it is yet true for you.  Do not choose in your own understanding.  Guard well your heart and the paths that you walk.  For I have mapped out a way for you that leads to life ever lasting.  It will keep you safe from many dangers, many heart aches that you would otherwise encounter.  Wide is the way that the world chooses to go, do not go with them!  Narrow is the road, strait is the gate that leads to intimacy with Me.  Satan has many obstacles to try to distract and crowd your way. Pay him no mind and give him no say!  Pick up your cross for I am the Way, I will teach you the Truth and what to say.  I give you Life day by day.

Keep yourself from all that would contaminate and ruinate, instead Meditate!  Think on those things that I have already done, think on the victories that have been won.  Think, my beloved of My promises to thee, think of how I have set you free!

Choose the High Road of Integrity. Hear the Spirit!  Here He bids you to “Come and Walk with Me.”

Ripe for the Picking

Song of Solomon 2:15

(AMP) [My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom. 

(MSG)Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, Foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden. 

Ripe for the picking” is a decidedly American colloquialism although there may be corresponding phrases in other cultures and languages.  It is the language of flim-flam men and con artists.  It signifies that they have pinpointed someone that they feel is vulnerable and naïve, therefore an easy target for a scam! Not a nice scenario at all.  But, in gardening, it means that the fruit or vegetable is ripe, fully mature and ready now to be harvested.  
  
But there is a spiritual as well as a natural application here. In the natural, there is a couple of critical junctures or times during the growing season, when the crop is most vulnerable.  The first being when the first blade of the seed presses through the soil into the light.  The roots are not yet deep and the whole plant is extremely fragile. It must be protected.

The other time is when it is flowering.  This is when pollination takes place and the fruit (or vegetable) is being set.  If the blossoms are destroyed, or the branches during this point there will be no fruit that year.

In Song of Solomon, the maiden is imploring her love, to protect their flowering garden from the little foxes so that it won’t be spoiled.  This is at once both practical and spiritual – an allegory if you will. 

The little foxes are actual foxes that live in Israel. They are smaller in size than the American Red Fox.  Probably a little know fact about foxes is that they are omnivorous, and opportunistic hunters. That means that although they like meat, such as moles, voles, grasshoppers and crickets, as well as small mammals and birds, they will eat seeds, nuts, berries and fruit!  They will even pilfer food from garbage cans! 

So, the maiden is concerned about their vineyards, with good reason!  Chasing voles and moles which burrow into the ground, and trying to dig them up in a vineyard will not only disturb the flowers, but destroy the roots of the vines, possibly killing the entire plant. The little known fact, I spoke of, is that foxes have a sweet tooth! They love honey, strawberries and grapes! The older foxes can adeptly pluck the grapes from the vine, but the younger ones actually would tear out the entire vine, thus destroying future crops as well.  No wonder she was concerned about the vineyard being ravaged by these little foxes!

In the natural and spiritual, you have some harvest that is ripe for the picking!  You have planted seed, you have watered it with your prayers and you have spoken words of Faith.  You have applied yourself at your job, you have studied hard in school… There IS a harvest from your labors. But, beware of the little foxes that want to spoil your vines. 

The word spoil in the Hebrew means this: to destroy, spoil, deal corruptly, offend, to spoil, corrupt, offend, to be ruined, to be broken, to pervert, withhold.

What are these little foxes that come into our lives, to steal our fruit, and destroy our harvest?  I will point out some to you, and I suggest that you seek God to have Him reveal your specific ones!  Little foxes in the Spiritual are petty annoyances, grievances, and offenses that come to try to cause you by your own actions to undo the works of Faith that you have been standing in. These actions include speaking negatively, losing one’s temper, being snared in unforgiveness and bitterness, or being tempted to act corruptly to get dishonest gain or advantage.  Other little foxes are distractions, false responsibilities that cry out that you should take them on, and busyness that keeps you from spending quality time with Your Beloved and King- the Lover of your soul.

Song 8:6-7 (MSG)  Hang my locket around your neck, wear my ring on your finger. Love is invincible facing danger and death. Passion laughs at the terrors of hell. The fire of love stops at nothing-- it sweeps everything before it. Flood waters can't drown love, torrents of rain can't put it out. Love can't be bought, love can't be sold-- it's not to be found in the marketplace.

Guard your Love Walk in the Lord against the little foxes! Remember the Fruit of the Spirit! Keep an eye on your harvest!  Whatsoever a man sows that he will also reap. Gal. 6:7 If you give to others, you will be given a full amount in return. It will be packed down, shaken together, and spilling over into your lap. The way you treat others is the way you will be treated. Luke 6:38

The enemy has sent little foxes to you.  He also wants to sow tares into your field.  He wants to discourage you and pull you off track.  Don’t let yourself become “ripe for the picking” by the enemy. In due season you WILL reap, if you faint not. So be strong, be alert, keep your armor on, and walk in Love so your Faith will keep on working. This is a now word for you.

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

And still it comes, whether the sky is bleak or clear.  Stop now and Listen, to that still small voice- so you can hear;
 
Angel wings hovering, as the Spirit draws us oh so near.   Awake o' slumbering heart and sing- make joyful melody to the King of Kings!

Rise up oh man and woman, for Christ was born. Seeking to mend your lives so torn. Homes that are broken and hearts too.  Christ comes to you bringing life anew!

Weary ones, and faint of heart, surrender now-He gives a brand new start!
Lay your burdens at His feet, Take His yoke, it is light and He is Meek.
In your heart He will put a song, and give you Peace to sing along.  

This Christmas let's give back to Heaven the song that the Angels sing. Let us join in exultant voice with Praises to Our Lord and King. Jesus the Messiah, of Whom the Angels sing! 

© NEM 12-02-2011

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace, their King,
And the whole world send back the song  

Which now the angels sing.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear!

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear was written by Edmund Hamilton Sears in 1849. The carol started life as a poem written by its author who was a minister living in Massachusetts at the time. The music for It Came Upon A Midnight Clear was composed by American musician Richard Storrs Willis in 1859 who was inspired by the words of the poem.

MERCY

Mercy-
not getting what you so deserve, and also getting something that you don't deserve;
as in favor, compassion and mercy when judgement could have been given.


                    Meritorious
                    Evidence of
                 a Righteous
                    CHRIST who
        Loves YOU so!


Next time you are tempted to really let somebody have it...remember the MERCY that has already been shown to you and then ask Father what HE would have you do.  Sometimes, the loudest reprimand comes in the form of gentle mercy! 


We don't WANT to do things that  would bring shame to the Name of Christ, and yet we all fall short, we all mess up even if it is in a little thing... and we need His mercy and forgiveness.  So too, our mates, and our friends are not usually purposely trying to mess up... they may just be caught in a spiral that needs Divine intervention.  Our children may be in a stve of acting out and they need correction, but they also need much love!


I have a sign in our guest bathroom that reads: "People need loving the most, when they deserve it the least."  How true!  While we were YET sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8


If HE did that for us as sinners, HOW MUCH more Love and Grace and MERCY will HE give to us as His children who want to do right and are seeking to change more and more by drawing nearer to Him?  Remember we are told;  For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. Heb.4:12 


Jesus is the WORD made flesh... HE KNOWS our hearts, our thoughts, our motives and intents. So if He is dealing with you about something, be quick to repent and ask Him to help you, to change you and then LET HIM>  Don't frustrate the Grace of God, like our kids sometimes frustrate us when we are trying to help them and they are not listening!  How very patient and kind and long suffering HE is with each of us!  Since HE is still working on me, I think I can extend some mercy while HE is still working on you too!  Amen?

© NEM 12-01-11

EVENING SONG

The Evening Song.

I stepped outside about 4:30 pm today. It had been pouring rain all afternoon and had just slackened up slightly.  Even in the gathering gloom, with little light left and dark clouds overhead, I heard it!  Hear what you ask?  Why, it was, “The Evening Song.!”

My heart immediately lifted, not that I was down, not at all! It just leapt with joy to hear the sound and began to sing its own evening song. Come and sing an Evening Song!

The Evening Song.

The day it is done

And evening has come

It’s the time of the evening song

Won’t you come and sing along?

The birds lift their voice in Cheerful Praise

Thanking God for keeping them all their days.

In the shadows of the coming night

They know HE alone gives food and Life and Light.

Joining with Creation’s happy throng

My heart burst forth in joyful song

To God, My Saviour, Lord and King

I laugh and shout, Bow and Sing!

While evening shadows grow long

I offer up to You my Evening Song

For You Alone are my Everything

Your Love makes my heart to soar and sing.

You Alone are worthy! You Alone!

You Alone are Faithful You Alone!

You Alone are True, You Alone.

You Alone are my life’s Cornerstone!

You Alone Deserve all my Praise

For You Alone give meaning to my days

You Alone are Lovely and In You

I find My Home. In You Alone.

In YOU ALONE.

© NEM 11-29-11

Yea,Hath God Said?

I want to give you an encouragement today.  I want to be transparent for your sake, that you may gain Christ in a deeper way.  You may think that because I flow with His Words, that makes it easy for me.  Or you may want to flow, but you are afraid you'll miss it, or mess up, or won't say it right, or can't do it "as good" as I do, or as someone else may do it... 

I have talked to Apostles and Prophets, Pastors and Teachers and Evangelists alike and heard their hearts, and 1 thread we all have in common is - everyday is a Faith Walk for each of us!  We choose to walk out our giftings and callings day by day, in obedience to the ONE who gave them to us. 

Does that shock you?  Good!  I don't mean to disillusion you at all, but rather to encourage you.  And if you have all of us on some platform or pedestal, then there is a disparity taking place.  Yes we have a call, and yes it is to be respected and honor given where honor is due. But ALL honor goes to the LORD, who is Master over all.  God wants you to come to HIM. To hear from HIM His heart for you!  He welcomes you and desires that you would flow in a deeper relationship with Him.  So, don't look at your favorite minister and say, "Oh if I could only be like...."  You be YOU and we will all be blessed and happy!

Let me give you some insight to help you here.  Every time we open our mouths, whether to speak, teach, sing, prophecy, Blow the Shofar- or whatever it is that we are being prompted to do; it is a leap of Faith!  And it is not always easy for us to do.  Apostle Paul wrote: " 2Co 4:13  We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;"  I have to believe, exercise MY Faith, 1. that God is speaking , 2. that I am hearing Him  3. and hearing Him CORRECTLY, 4. and then OPEN my mouth and speak out what HE gave me to say (or write!)  It is no different than what Paul said!

And besides that, the enemy of our souls, still uses his age old ammunition to try and throw  each of us off course.  Do you know what that is?  (There are many, but I am speaking specifically to hearing and saying...) 

Let's go way back to the Garden of Eden and let me show you something that will be very illuminating!  Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said...?"  And then he went on to question: 1. Are you sure YOU heard correctly.  2. Was that REALLY God speaking?  3. IF it was GOD, did he REALLY mean what YOU think he said? 4. He (God, really isn't looking out for YOU, he's thinking about himself...

Do you see all that is wrapped up in those words, "Yea, Hath God said?"  And he comes today with that same question, to try to talk you out of hearing God for yourself. To smear your confidence in hearing and your confidence in God Himself!

Sunday, the pastor was speaking and he made this statement: "Is your "check faith" light on?"  Like when your check engine light comes on telling you something isn't quite right, you need to "check your engine!"

Well, the “light bulb” went on in my spirit and all these pieces to this posting began to fall into place!  Faith works by Love. (Galatians 5:6) So, the big question here is, "Do you believe He loves you?"  Because if you believe He loves you, then you will trust that He has YOUR best interest at heart in HIS plans for you!  And if you believe all this, then when He asks you to say or to do something, that seems out of your comfort zone, will you say like Paul “Because I believed therefore I spoke.” (I did, I obeyed, etc.)

Recently, a dear friend of mine, was out running errands.  She related this story to me, and I may not have it all correct but to the best of my recollection this is what she told me:  “I saw an older woman in the store and the Lord spoke to me, “Go tell her that I love her very much.”  She felt very unsure... "Is this me or is this YOU Lord?"  She hesitated, and the Lord urged her again, “Go tell her I LOVE her!”  Then HE ASKED her one of the most powerful and freeing statements, “What have you got to lose?”  She said, she had to answer, “Nothing Lord, I have nothing to lose.”  She went immediately and told the lady, and the lady just beamed.

That was just the beginning!  He has had her on a “steps ordered of the Lord” mission for days now.  And, every time she feels out of her comfort zone, she is reminded, “what have you got to lose?”

See the more we "practice" or exercise walking in Faith, listening, hearing, journaling, speaking, the more adept we become!  The more time we spend WITH HIM, the more familiar we become with HOW He speaks to us.  Because I can guarantee you, He speaks to each of us differently, with special nuances, tones and vocabulary that is special and unique to who we are. To WHO HE MADE US TO BE! 

Therefore, I ask you, “What have you got to lose, In obeying the Lord?  In surrendering? In TRUSTING and taking that Leap of Faith and opening YOUR mouth?  In ancient Greek there is a word: Nike! It means success, triumph and victory.  Triumph over your doubts and fears.  Nike! Just do it!

Who are your Giving Yourself to?

This world picks away at the very centre of your beings... demanding, demanding, demanding...  deadlines to meet, rushing, frazzled, people, you go through motions, disconnected and numb.

Zombies, walking around believing you are successful because you have 2 cars, and a mortgage and can meet the demands for more things imposed upon your lives by the marketroids of the advertising gods.  

Your kids have nice clothes with brand name labels, and you know some people who know some people...

Why then do you feel so empty and weary at the end of each day?  Why do you have no energy to play, to laugh to dream?  

"Oh, but I am living the good life! I am living the dream," you say, while your heart is locked a million miles away...

And you give yourself away, to people who don't care, who pay no mind that you're there...  you give yourself away, in exchange for things that won't last, for all this world shall pass.

And then at last, your soul shall be required, maybe before you retire...and then what will you find as you leave all this world behind?

As you stand before Heaven's door... will you hear; "depart from ME evermore- I did not know you?"  Or will you hear; "enter into the joy of your Lord, and all the Best that Heaven affords?"

The choice is yours, you choose it day by day...to WHOM will you give yourself away?

The same choice was given long ago as MY chosen people before two mountains stood.  Life and death, blessing and cursing... good and bad... seems so simple and yet they stood, wavering on which way they should...

Choose Life , Choose ME that was my plea... it is the same I give to thee.  Choose life, Choose ME, I hold all the keys to your destiny.  Give yourself away to only ME, for I've already given My heart to thee! 

© NEM 11-26-11

Will you sing this song to ME?

The Chambers of My Love: Behind the Veil!

Posted with permission of Henry Falcone. First posted on Open Heaven 11-7-11

http://www.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=38145&TPN=1

Brother Henry's post speaks so much of things that God has been speaking to me and through me.  I thought I would share his post with you. May you be blessed and drawn closer to Christ!

My beloved Love, Come and live with me in my chambers. "Oh my King, bring us into your chambers, is the cry of my bride. I have so many things to reveal to you that is on my mind that I must place within you.. Let my mind be in you, let my thoughts be your thoughts and my ways your ways.

The oneness I desire with you begins with my thoughts filling your thoughts and my ways filling your ways. This is not a theory, but the very life of my being bringing my glory in you and through you.  There is a unity of thought and action that we must have for the days that are approaching.

My thoughts are going to guide you in the ways of truth. My thoughts are going to provide for you, care for you, guide you and lead you in the way of true righteousness and holiness. My desire is to guide you with my own eye.

This will take a much deeper intimacy than you have realized.

I want to guide you with my whisper. I want you to know the nod of my head, so that I was in the World so shall you be. I desire you to become the reflection of my glory that you desire. You must truly understand not in your intellect or your emotions but in the depth of your being, we must be one.

We must truly be one as my Father intended from the beginning of creation. Not in theory, not in emotions, but in the reality of the Glory of Heaven. I in you ,you in me, that we would be one. The two shall become one. A oneness that can never be broken or corrupted. A love that is perfect between us. This is my Glory being revealed to all those who will come and be with Me.

I have so much I must speak and impart to you now. I have much that I have to speak to your heart from my burning presence, but I can't do that if you allow other things to come and fill the time you need to be with me. I so desire you my love. More than you can ever, ever imagine.

I desire to fill you with my richest and deepest presence that you would know the very words I speak will burn from my heart to your heart. That my words would be in you as SPIRIT AND TRUTH in you. That my words will be fulfilled in your life, your family and the lives of those I am sending you to.

The oneness I desire with you starts with our thoughts and my plans filling your very being. This is what truly "living together" means. It means we share our thoughts and desires like a husband and a wife. It means that we are both united in one purpose and one plan, just as I am and always will be united with my Father and His plans.

I know it may seem to you today to be impossible to do. I know you hope I will do it, or someday I will do it, but I say behold Now FAITH IS! I am not going to do it my love, I have done it. It is finished! Only when you come and live behind the veil, only when you come and live with me in my chambers can the "it is finished" become your life's experience.

I know you love me. I know you want this, but you can't allow your failures, your shortcomings keep you from pressing on to the prize of the high calling of God. I have made a way for you to be one with me. I have made a way to fill your entire being with my thoughts and plan. It is a new and living way, the veil of my flesh. As you enter in through my blood and through my flesh, you find the entrance to my chambers. The mysteries of all mysteries.

My chambers is where I desire for us to live so we can truly become one. One in heart, one in thoughts and one in purpose. There is no other way to be one with me unless you come through the veil that was torn in two into the very realm of my Glory.

In that Glory I change you, your thoughts, your mind, and your will, will be totally mingled with my will and my plans. It is behind this veil where our hearts will be together as one. It is here my thoughts will BECOME YOUR THOUGHTS AND MY WAYS WILL BECOME YOUR WAYS!

I want to change you from glory to glory so you will know my whisper. I want us to be one so you will know that I moved without me even speaking to you like a well trained horse knows the movement of his master.

I want to guide you with my own eye. This is the deepest place of intimacy between us we can ever have when my own eyes are guiding you. This is where we live together as onw. This is what i will reveal to you in my chambers. My Chambers are where the "two shall become one."

So please don't stay away from me. Come in your weakness. Come in your emptiness. Come in your neediness, and I will fill you with my Glory and lift you up to the very chambers I have prepared for you. Here we abide together in my will, my thoughts, my plans. In my chambers you will learn how to become with Me in reality and do those very things on earth as they are done in heaven.

I am waiting my love for you to come up higher. I am waiting for you to allow us to be one as I desire for us to be. Then your mind will be renewed. Then you mind will be new. The our minds and thoughts will be one just like mine our with my Father. Then you new creation live will manifest in life in power and dominion. Then there will be a witness of my Glory in every thing you say and do. Then the nations shall see my Glory filling the whole earth.

Come my love, my fair one, and come away with me. I have a place for you beside me, a place for you with me, and a place of our abiding together that your soul has longed for. Come and take my hand today and allow me to take you to the chambers of my love and burn my love, my thoughts and plans in you so we will be one forever and ever.

Edited by Henry Falcone on 11/07/2011 at 7:33am

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                                                                                                            11-15-11

Beloved's of the Lord,

I thought it important for those who read these post that I feel God is giving me to give a "frame of reference" of how the Lord has revealed Himself and still does reveal Himself in our ongoing relationship.

The Lord has taken me on a journey of pursuit that I can only reference from the book of the Song of Solomon. I realize that we are all different parts of the Body of Christ and each one develops a relationship with the Lord uniquely with them, but built upon the same sure foundation in Christ.

My journey has been very similar to the journey the King takes the Shulamite woman to truly desire Him and be changed by experiencing the depth of the Kings love. In that love she learns how to become "willing(ly) submissive" to His desires and to His ways...

The Song of Solomon portrays to us the intimate desire that our Lord Jesus Christ desires to have with us. It is above working for Him, doing things for Him, it is what Love truly desires, TO BE LOVED AND TO GIVE LOVE!

The Shulamite woman is taken on a journey to develop an intimate relationship with the Lord where He awakens her love for Him alone by taking her out of her self life by allowing the circumstances of her life to create a deeper desire for Him alone.

She is taken out from the "daughters of Jerusalem" the "church proper" that have a knowledge of the Lord  as to be "used for his work to satisfy His heart," to be singularly taught by the Lord Himself to desire Him alone and meet the true need of His heart.

Song of Solomon 1 verse 6-7 speak of her working hard for the Lord in the church, but her "own vineyard" she hasn't kept. That speaks of "the relationship of intimacy with Him as a Person has been neglected.

Verse 6 "[Please] do not look at me, [she said, for] I am swarthy. [I have worked out] in the sun and it has left its mark upon me.  Verse 7 My stepbrothers were angry with me, and they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard [my complexion] I have not kept."

There is an intellectual knowing of someone like a friend or co worker that has some degree of intimacy in it, but then there is the relationship of intimacy only a husband and wife can know.

The bible says, Adam "knew" His wife. That knowing was a complete submerging of the "two becoming one" physically, emotionally and spiritually. This is a picture of the type of intimacy the Lord desires for us I believe and the scriptures support.

That is why marriages are so attacked today, because they were supposed to be the "natural picture" of the relationship that God so desires for us to have through our Lord Jesus Christ. When Satan can destroy the picture of the family, or the marriage, he destroys the "natural picture" of what God desires with us "supernaturally." I am sure you have seen in this nation a desire to "change the meaning" of the term marriage from being between a man and a woman to become a relationship between two men or two women of the same sex.

Beside the morality of it being an abomination to God, it is worse than that. It is an abomination to destroy the "picture of God and man" and the intimate relationship we are to have with Jesus as our Bridegroom King.

Intimacy and oneness can only be experienced from God's perspective in this natural realm between a husband and wife, and Paul teaches us the importance of this relationship as a "picture of God's desire with us," and he calls it a "mystery between Christ and His church. "

Ephesian 5: 31-33,

31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

32 This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning [the relation of] Christ and the church.

33 However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].

He says in verse 32 " this mystery is very great, but I speak concerning the relationship between Christ and the church. That relationship is not supposed to be just a "work relationship" or even a head knowledge relationship between the man and woman. It is intended to be an intertwining relationship where the two becoming one. They become a "family." A family that can bring forth fruit or offspring that reflect the marriage.

We will never be God, but we surely can become one with Him. Us in Him and Him in us. Just as a husband and wife can experience the totally of them becoming one with their spouse, but never become the other person.

They can become one in heart, purpose, plan, spiritually, physically and emotionally as one as God has made them to be, yet still 2 different people but one. (A little picture of the John 17)

The Song of Solomon is a beautiful picture of what our developing relationship with the Lord is to be as His Bride. Like many in the Body of Christ who have come to the end of "knowing the Lord by working for him alone, she begins to see a new revelation of His person.

It's starts with a revelation in her heart, "I am doing all this work for you, but do I really know you the way you desire. I am still left empty inside. There must be more of you but I have done all this work but, "My own vineyard, I have not kept."

This is what happened to me and why I am explaining it now so you know the "point of reference" I have in the knowledge of the Lord and how He may speak to me and through me. It is not better than anyone else, it is just the relationship that God has revealed to me and in me up to this point in my life.

I have not arrived in any manner, and I don't even really want to write this reply, but I am endeavoring to keep the bond of peace and the Spirit of unity amongst the Family of God the best I know how. Also to try to avoid any confusion by what God is giving me to write.

One of our God given rights in our new life in Christ is to "test and judge all the things we see, hear and experience through the Holy Spirit's gift of discernment. "The Spirit bares witness with the Spirit of what is and what is not of God."

So please feel free to examine what I write in light of that God given right as I am free to use as well for what I read, see or experience through others. What a beautiful God we serve. So we can compare Spiritual things with Spiritual things in the Holy Spirit.

The Shulamite comes to the end of her being filled by "working for the Lord alone, and she begins to desire Him more than just going to church, or just working for him in some ministry and all the other "religious
activity" she did for Him.

This new desire in her heart brings forth a very important 3 fold prayer found in Song of Solomon chapter 1:4 She prays: Draw me! We will run after you! The king brings me into his apartments (his chambers).

Draw me is a "cry" for intimate fellowship with the Lord. "We will run after you is "the totality of her being, body, soul and mind" now in pursuit of truly knowing Him as he desires. "The king bring me into His chambers" is the place of total intimacy as on a Honeymoon night with your bridegroom where the "two become one."

This speaks of a relationship that is heart to heart and from place to place. On earth as it is in heaven.  This is the desire of the Lords heart found in Rev. chapter 3:20 where He is standing at the door of the "church age"  and addresses not one of the seven churches anymore, but to the individuals in the Body of Christ and says to "anyone that can hear, " I stand at the door and knock if anyone hear my voice and opens the door and lets me in, I will come and sup with them and they will sup with me."

This happens at the end of the church age as we know it. There is no where else for the church age to go during this dispensation until chapter 4:1 When John who is in the Spirit on the Lord's day, gets caught up deeper in the Spirit and hears, "come up here, so I can show you the things to come."

This knocking is take us from the church age into the Kingdom age that is now beginning to manifest on the earth. Two prophetic days happening at the same time. The closing of the 6th day and the opening and revealing of the 7th day.

That is why the Song of Solomon is so important. In Rev 19:7 "the Bride has made herself ready and she is permitted to wear the fine line garment which are the righteous acts of the Saints.

So there is an intimacy with God that goes beyond space and time and anything we have ever known. What is this supping with us and us with him in relationship that will lift us up into a higher identity with our Lord. This is the "mystery I speak concerning Christ and the church," Paul wrote to us about. 

The closest living natural example for us to see of the desire God has for us is the picture of the husband and the wife, the bride and the bridegroom. In this natural human relationship of the husband and wife, God "gives us the way" into His heart to see the deep abiding relationship He desires for us.

To gain that access to His heart the Song of Solomon points the way. The Lord must deal with that self life of desiring the Lord for any other reason except He is worth desiring.

In the beginning of our new life in Christ, we desire the Lord to "meet our needs." This is absolutely normal and accepted by the Lord. He wants to reveal to us His love, care and His ability to provide for us. But He also doesn't want us to remain babe only drinking the milk of His word.

The Shulamite woman finds the Lord on this level in chapter 2. She sits under the apple tree and she says, "feed me with flaggons and raisins." She is content in knowing the Lord as "meeting her needs." You could call this a selfish type of love between her and him, because she is desiring him for "what He can do instead of just for who He is. Our children do that to us and it is normal for a while, but we expect them to grow beyond seeking us "just to get" something from us.

 In Chapter 2:16 she says, "My beloved is mine and I am His." This means she seeking Him for her own needs first. "He feeds her under the apple tree with raisins and apples and declares, "His banner over me is love."

In our beginning walk withe the Lord, He does not mind this infancy relationship, but He must teach her to stop seeking Him just for things but to desire Him for who He is alone.

He then takes her on a journey of how to "know Him" as a person. Many people know the presence of God, but few know His person in reality. After dealing with her heart issues and commending her for her desire for Him alone. He helps her to begin to see the "self life" that is in the way of her true desire for Him. He allows testings and trials to come to awaken that "love for Him alone" by allowing her to make right and wrong choices. Each teaching her what she needs to learn in knowing Him.

I don't have time to go to in depth here, but for those who are reading these posts, I hope it will explain the frame of reference that God has worked in me.

As she allows the Lord to deal with her self life and the reasons she is slow to respond to His person, He begins to stir up the flames of love for Him alone. Midway through the book, she has developed a new sensitivity to His desire for fellowship with her.  He brings her to a 60 fold maturity level verses the 30 we just read about in chapter 2. A good portion of her life has come under some submission to His love and His desires for her life.

She is now seeking Him first for Himself, but still has some of that remaining self life in her to seek Him for her needs.  She makes some progress in her spiritual growth and testifies of it by saying in chapter 6 verses 2 and 3:

"She replied, My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies I am my beloved's [garden] and my beloved is mine! He feeds among the lilies [which grow there].

Now the Lord is first (I am my beloveds), but her needs are still quite important, (and my beloved is mine) but there is a change. She now knows she belongs to Him first. She has hasn't arrived to the 100 fold yet, but He plans on allowing further dealings and testings until she is "completed" or she understands the "Omega side of God." The finisher.

When the Lord completes His work in us, we will have a new testimony because we know longer "live for ourselves, we have been crucified, but nevertheless we live, but not I, but Christ lives in me. This testimony is found as a "group of overcomers" in Revelation chapter 5:9-10,

"And [now] they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth!

In the heart of a bride that same testimony would speak like this is found in the Song of Solomon when the self life has been put away in her life. She has been made complete and has the overcoming testimony as found in Rev. 5 but personalized to Him alone as her Bridegroom.  Song of Solomon 7 verse 10: She proudly said] I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me!

Now her "knowing the Lord has become "true intimacy" with the Lord like Adam knew His wife.  Her testimony speaks not of a "place"but as being together as one. "I am my beloveds, and His desires is toward me." Another words, His desires are my desires. My desires are His desires! His thoughts are my thoughts and His will is my will. Only after this testimony is she "given the right" to tend the vineyard. (That is a word isn't it)

Song of Solomon 7:11-12, She said, Come, my beloved! Let us go forth into the field, let us lodge in the villages.mLet us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened, and whether the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.

Do you see this beloved? This is the first time she says, "let us." She is not leading the Lord and telling Him what to do. He is now speaking as one with her. They are together as one! Let us go forth... Let us lodge in the villages... Let us go out early... there I will give you my love.  I could write forever on that alone, but I won't.

Notice the together with the Lord in her speaking. She is not "working for the Lord." She now lives with and in the Lord and the Lord in her and that is where "I will give you my love." Paul calls this the "mystery of Christ and His church.

I think if we try to limit the Lord to "where he dwells and how he dwells" in trying to intellectually explain it we lose so much. Remember, not many wise man or nobles are chosen, but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. God had to make this developing relationship simple with us. We as men have made it so complicated I am afraid to report.

If we are not careful we can miss the "reality or experience" of this relationship like the Pharisee's in Jesus day. They knew the scriptures, but they couldn't see Him as the Messiah.

So there is a "seeking of the Lord" that is more than just information, plans, strategies, prayer and other stuff. Not that we should not study the Word of God, no matter of fact we must meditate on it day and night. But it becomes our life's experience when we "wait upon Him" to teach us their true meaning as spirit and truth and for meat for us to eat.

This seeking of the Lord in becoming married to him and becoming truly one with Him is "the deepest expression of what love is." The Shulamite woman says in Song of Solomon 3:1-4,

1: In the night I dreamed that I sought the one whom I love. [She said] I looked for him but could not find him. 2: So I decided to go out into the city, into the streets and broad ways [which are so confusing to a country girl], and seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I could not find him.

3: The watchmen who go about the city found me, to whom I said, Have you seen him whom my soul loves? 4: I had gone but a little way past them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me."
Is that the passion in our hearts tonight for Him beloved? Is there any other love that compare to this kind of love burning in us for Him? How does meet the need of His heart? Is this what He is truly longing for?"
Let us read the Kings reply to her in closing. I hope this gives you a reference point of how God give me to write about Him and His love. You don't have to agree, it is just who God has made me to be at this point. I put this on no one else or even present this as "opposed" to something else. It is just a point of reference.
It is a testimony of the burning love in my heart to know this God, our Lord Jesus as a Bride would desire her husband and be pleasing to him in every way. That is my desire.
Read these most beautiful words of our Bridegroom King to His Bride to be: Song of Solomon 4: 7-11:
7: He exclaimed] O my love, how beautiful you are! There is no flaw in you! Come away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride, come with me from Lebanon. 8: Depart from the top of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
9: You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart and given me courage with one look from your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. 10: How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride! How much better is your love than wine! And the fragrance of your ointments than all spices!
11: Your lips, O my [promised] bride, drop honey as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the odor of your garments is like the odor of Lebanon.
Here are a few more foundational scriptures the Lord has burned in my heart:

John 17:3  And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.

Ephesians 3:17-19:

17 May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];
19 That you may really come to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
In His love always,
__________________
Henry J.Falcone
http://www.flameoffire2007.org/aboutus.php