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My New Dawn
Hiding in the midnight,
I've watched life pass me by.
Haunted by each heartbreak,
And mistake I’ve let weigh me down.
Now feels like…
Chorus:
This is my new dawn
My yesterdays have come and gone
Walked in the dark too long
This is my new, this is my new dawn.
I’ve washed my hands now,
I’ve laid down all my doubt
I see that sun rising, baptizing,
And shining straight into my soul
Bridge:
Just like a child, suddenly everything’s new.
The colors collide, and I see a beautiful view
Now I feel alive…
My new dawn…
My new dawn…
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Welcome Home!
http://
Belief over misery
And now after all
I've got my memories
They're always
Inside of me
But I can't go back
Back to how it was
I believe now
I've come too far
No I can't go back
Back to how it was
Created for a place
I've never known
This is home
Now I'm finally
Where I belong
Where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching
For a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home
Yeah, this is home
Belief over misery
I've seen the enemy
And I won't go back
Back to how it was
And I got my heart
Set on
What happens next
I got my eyes wide
It's not over yet
We are miracles
And we're not alone
And now after all
My searching
After all my questions
I'm gonna call it home
I got a brand new mindset
I can finally see
The sunset
I'm gonna call it home
Now I know
Yeah, this is home
I've come too far
Now I won't go back
This is home
Sunday, May 25, 2008
"I know Whom I have believed" (II Timothy 1:12ff).
We don't know this Jesus we think we know. He is Wholly Other, totally, supremely, magnificently GOD. Only God can remain silent while we speak blasphemies and heresies in His name. He allows mankind to distort and misrepresent and bring people to a place of despair, just so He can then step in and reveal Himself for Who He really is. And He is never, ever, ever, ever what you thought. Nothing is as you have been told. And then, once you meet Him, you cannot describe Him, except to say He is nothing like what you had been told. Beyond description.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Prayer of a Minor Prophet
By A. W Tozer
This is the prayer of a man called to be a witness to the nations. This is what he said to his Lord on the day of his ordination. After the elders and ministers had prayed and laid their hands on him he withdrew to meet his Saviour in the secret place and in the silence, farther in than his well-meaning brethren could take him. And he said:
O Lord, I have heard Thy voice and was afraid. Thou hast called me to an awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. Thou are about to shake all nations and the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. O Lord, our Lord, Thou has stopped to honor me to be Thy servant. No man takes this honor upon himself save he that is called of God as was Aaron. Thou has ordained me Thy messenger to them that are stubborn of heart and hard of hearing. They have rejected Thee, the Master, and it is not to be expected that they will receive me, the servant.
My God, I shall not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The responsibility is not mine but Thine. Thou hast said, “I knew thee—I ordained thee—I sanctified thee,” and Thou has also said, “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Who am I to argue with Thee or to call into question Thy sovereign choice? The decision is not mine but Thine. So be it, Lord. Thy will, not mine, be done.
Well do I know, Thou God of the prophets and the apostles, that as long as I honor Thee Thou wilt honor me. Help me therefore to take this solemn vow to honor Thee in all my future life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to keep that vow unbroken while I live.
It is time, O God, for Thee to work, for the enemy has entered into Thy pastures and the sheep are torn and scattered. And false shepherds abound who deny the danger and laugh at the perils which surround Thy flock. The sheep are deceived by these hirelings and follow them with touching loyalty while the wolf closes in to kill and destroy. I beseech Thee, give me sharp eyes to detect the presence of the enemy; give me understanding to distinguish the false friend from the true. Give me vision to see and courage to report what I see faithfully. Make my voice so like Thine own that even the sick sheep will recognize it and follow Thee.
Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should become a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the face of the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet; not a promoter, not a religious manager—but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from the bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I ask for no easy place. I shall try to be blind to the little ways that I could make my life easier. If others seek the smoother path I shall try to take the hard way without judging them too harshly. I shall expect opposition and try to take it quietly when it comes. Or if, as sometimes it falleth out to Thy servants, I shall have grateful gifts pressed upon me by Thy kindly people, stand by me then and save me from the blight that often follows. Teach me to use whatever I receive in such manner that it will not injure my soul nor diminish my spiritual power. And if in Thy permissive providence honor should come to me from Thy church, let me not forget in that hour that I am unworthy of the least of Thy mercies, and that if men knew me as intimately as I know myself they would withhold their honors or bestow them upon others more worthy to receive them.
And now, O Lord of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to Thee; let them be many or few, as Thou wilt. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven. Though I am chosen of Thee and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray Thee therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save me from myself and from all the injuries I may do myself while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with thy power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in Thy strength and tell of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.
Then, dear Lord, when I am old and weary and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me above, and make me to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen.
This is the prayer of a man called to be a witness to the nations. This is what he said to his Lord on the day of his ordination. After the elders and ministers had prayed and laid their hands on him he withdrew to meet his Saviour in the secret place and in the silence, farther in than his well-meaning brethren could take him. And he said:
O Lord, I have heard Thy voice and was afraid. Thou hast called me to an awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. Thou are about to shake all nations and the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. O Lord, our Lord, Thou has stopped to honor me to be Thy servant. No man takes this honor upon himself save he that is called of God as was Aaron. Thou has ordained me Thy messenger to them that are stubborn of heart and hard of hearing. They have rejected Thee, the Master, and it is not to be expected that they will receive me, the servant.
My God, I shall not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The responsibility is not mine but Thine. Thou hast said, “I knew thee—I ordained thee—I sanctified thee,” and Thou has also said, “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Who am I to argue with Thee or to call into question Thy sovereign choice? The decision is not mine but Thine. So be it, Lord. Thy will, not mine, be done.
Well do I know, Thou God of the prophets and the apostles, that as long as I honor Thee Thou wilt honor me. Help me therefore to take this solemn vow to honor Thee in all my future life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to keep that vow unbroken while I live.
It is time, O God, for Thee to work, for the enemy has entered into Thy pastures and the sheep are torn and scattered. And false shepherds abound who deny the danger and laugh at the perils which surround Thy flock. The sheep are deceived by these hirelings and follow them with touching loyalty while the wolf closes in to kill and destroy. I beseech Thee, give me sharp eyes to detect the presence of the enemy; give me understanding to distinguish the false friend from the true. Give me vision to see and courage to report what I see faithfully. Make my voice so like Thine own that even the sick sheep will recognize it and follow Thee.
Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should become a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the face of the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet; not a promoter, not a religious manager—but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from the bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I ask for no easy place. I shall try to be blind to the little ways that I could make my life easier. If others seek the smoother path I shall try to take the hard way without judging them too harshly. I shall expect opposition and try to take it quietly when it comes. Or if, as sometimes it falleth out to Thy servants, I shall have grateful gifts pressed upon me by Thy kindly people, stand by me then and save me from the blight that often follows. Teach me to use whatever I receive in such manner that it will not injure my soul nor diminish my spiritual power. And if in Thy permissive providence honor should come to me from Thy church, let me not forget in that hour that I am unworthy of the least of Thy mercies, and that if men knew me as intimately as I know myself they would withhold their honors or bestow them upon others more worthy to receive them.
And now, O Lord of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to Thee; let them be many or few, as Thou wilt. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven. Though I am chosen of Thee and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray Thee therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save me from myself and from all the injuries I may do myself while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with thy power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in Thy strength and tell of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.
Then, dear Lord, when I am old and weary and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me above, and make me to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Fasting and Prayer in Missions Preparation
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood." Isaiah 58:5-7
As we move forward in the days ahead and focus our attention on the nations, we cannot help but stress the importance of fasting and prayer. Fasting along with prayer will be a key used by God to launch you into His work, whether in country or overseas, and it will be vital to your success. We want to encourage you to begin to make fasting a part of your life. God will give you spiritual discernment and an increased ability to hear His voice when you fast. He will enlarge your faith and help you to increase your focus on the eternal. He also gives spiritual power to those who fast, and we certainly need that in reaching the nations. The urgency to reach the nations is increasing at an incredible rate. We must be prepared and ready to go. Fasting and prayer prepares us in the quickest and most powerful way for our future work for God.
The Purifying Power of Fasting and Prayer
"If my people… will humble themselves and pray and seek My face" II Chronicles 7:14
"After 45 years of emphasizing evangelism, discipleship and fulfillment of the Great Commission, some may think I have gone off on a tangent with my strong emphasis on fasting and prayer. The fact is that the best way to help individuals become evangelists for Christ is to bring them into a relationship with God in which the Holy Spirit renews them. Only fasting meets the criteria of each aspect of II Chronicles 7:14: 'If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.' When you humble yourself and pray and seek God's face and turn from your wicked ways, something happens to you and you get excited about the Lord in a way that you do not through any other means." Bill Bright
After returning from India last year, I am convinced that God wants to bring His people into a deep and holy life style. I was challenged deeply by the pure, humble and simple lives of the Christians I met in India. The harvest is ripe there, and the Christians are positioned in a holy and pure life style that is necessary for the ingathering of souls. God is using them in bringing signs, wonders and miracles. Fasting and prayer purifies the believer and makes us ready for harvest in the nations. Fasting does much in our lives internally. God desires that we seek a love relationship with Him. He longs for intimacy with us. Fasting and prayer remove the distractions from our lives so that we can focus on Him alone. Our relationship becomes purer, and our devotion becomes more intense. We get to the place where we seek Him only and not other things. The benefits listed below show us just how powerful this purifying is when we take time to seek God in fasting.
It humbles the soul - Jesus is our example. He humbled Himself unto the death on the cross (Philippians 2). Through brokenness, the Holy Spirit empowers us to live the resurrected life and touch the nations with His glory. "I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting." (Psalm 35:13)
It chastens the soul - The closer we draw near God's heart, the more we will share His sorrows. "When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment." (Psalm 69:10, 11)
It brings the body into subjection - We need to discipline ourselves physically on a daily basis. "Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (I Corinthians 9:26-27)
It breaks down the barriers in man's carnal nature - These soulish barriers hinder the Holy Spirit's power. Fasting can enable the Holy Spirit to work unhindered through your prayers. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." (Ephesians 3:20)
It sacrifices our personal will - It is the discipline of the heart and mind and emotions. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)
It is a time of examination - God examines our inner attitudes and motivation. Fasting and prayer quiet us so we can more clearly hear His voice. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)
It brings us into a deeper level of brokenness - "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)
It enables God to focus on our heart - He looks deeply in our hearts during times of fasting, encouraging and revealing any need for repentance. "Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind." (Psalm 26:2)
It causes us to face ourselves without escape routes - This brings us into a deeper relationship with God. "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." (Psalm 42:1-2a)
Fasting opens the way for God's grace - God gives grace to the humble. We need lots of grace on the mission field. "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'" (James 4:6)
Ask God How to Personally Incorporate Fasting into Your Life
When we fast and pray, we are conscious of His presence, and we yield to His Spirit in humility. God will flow through those who intimately know Him. When our carnal nature of selfishness is broken, pride is replaced by submission, and we grow in our obedience and love. He will always use the broken and humble. We read in James 4:6, "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" As we experience the grace of God in a greater dimension in our lives, we give Him all the praise and glory. We especially encourage you to employ fasting in your life before you go overseas. The following are some helpful ways to incorporate fasting into your lifestyle.
Seek God regarding fasting in your own personal life - Ask Him to increase your ability to fast and pray. Start where you are. Skip meals and pray, and then fast for a day or a few days. As He leads, you will want to move into times of longer fasts.
Ask God to give you some key things for which to pray during times of fasting - Write them down in a journal so that you can pray for them regularly. As you ask God to speak to you, and write down anything He says, ask Him for spiritual discernment and guidance for the future.
Pray for God to increase prayer and fasting in your city and the nation where you work or plan to work - Bathe that country in prayer during seasons of fasting.
Read books on prayer and fasting.
Be encouraged as you seek to develop your fasting and prayer life. Fasting is an important part of being an effective overseas worker. God will empower you for service; He will give you grace, and you shall not be disappointed. He will come through for you in a powerful way. After years on the mission field and years of involvement in Christian work, we have found fasting to be one of the most important disciplines in the Christian life. There are not words to express the value of fasting with prayer.
Fasting is spreading throughout the world as a vital part of the life of God's end-time workers. We started fasting many years ago on the mission field. We started small with 1-day fasts and moved into 3-day fasts with small groups. We have often fasted between Christmas and New Year's Day for yearly guidance. In time, we moved into more lengthy fasts of 21 days, 30 days, and a 40-day fast. We also recommend fasting until dinner before major ministry trips or for particular needs or guidance. Some of us are called to a fasting life style for reaching the nations. We recommend a 3-day Global Bridegroom Fast every first Monday-Wednesday every month. The value of fasting cannot be fully expressed. It has the power to break through any obstacles. After every long fast, we have seen God break through in a multitude of ways. Let God challenge you to this most strategic discipline. You will have God's grace and will never be disappointed in the resulting victories!
"Prayer intercession moves into the breach, the spiritual gap, and begins to pray repentance, restoration, revival and redirection for people - saved and unsaved. This should be the intercessor's prayer while fasting. This is the prayer God desires from fasting intercessors. 'Is this not the fast I have chosen?' Combine this spirit of intercession with the fasting of an honest heart, with Isaiah 58:6-12 to guide us, and the result will be powerful prayers with Kingdom results."
Monday, May 12, 2008
Quotes from Vance Havner
~The devil will let a preacher prepare a sermon if it will keep him from preparing himself.
~We are the salt of the earth, mind you, not the sugar. Our ministry is to truly cleanse and not just to change the taste.
~Too many churches start at eleven o'clock sharp, and end at twelve o'clock dull.
~Plenty of church members are shaky about what they believe, while not many are shaken by what they believe.
~Some preachers ought to put more fire into their sermons, or more sermons into the fire.
~The church is a hospital for sinners, and not a museum for saints.
~Preaching the truth makes the people either sad, mad, or glad. Too many people today leave church on Sunday neither sad, mad, nor glad; they go out as they came in. Better go out mad than just go out!
~There is a trend today that would put a new robe on the prodigal son while he is still feeding hogs. Some would put the ring on his finger while he still in the pigsty. Others would paint the pigsty and advocate bigger and better hog pens.
~VH Spurgeon wrote something to the effect that it is better to be a lean bird in the woods than a fat bird in a cage. Today's young minister is tempted to feather his nest in a comfortable parish with plenty of security. A caged eagle is a sad sight but sadder still is a caged preacher.
~We are the salt of the earth, mind you, not the sugar. Our ministry is to truly cleanse and not just to change the taste.
~Too many churches start at eleven o'clock sharp, and end at twelve o'clock dull.
~Plenty of church members are shaky about what they believe, while not many are shaken by what they believe.
~Some preachers ought to put more fire into their sermons, or more sermons into the fire.
~The church is a hospital for sinners, and not a museum for saints.
~Preaching the truth makes the people either sad, mad, or glad. Too many people today leave church on Sunday neither sad, mad, nor glad; they go out as they came in. Better go out mad than just go out!
~There is a trend today that would put a new robe on the prodigal son while he is still feeding hogs. Some would put the ring on his finger while he still in the pigsty. Others would paint the pigsty and advocate bigger and better hog pens.
~VH Spurgeon wrote something to the effect that it is better to be a lean bird in the woods than a fat bird in a cage. Today's young minister is tempted to feather his nest in a comfortable parish with plenty of security. A caged eagle is a sad sight but sadder still is a caged preacher.
Friday, May 09, 2008
The High Calling..
Just feeling the need to repost this from an earlier one:
I will attempt to help you understand the call as a pioneer. When we look at others who have gone before us, it can help us with where we find ourselves currently. Though we see through a glass darkly, it still helps to catch just a glimpse of what we are going
through. We could be called “forerunners” or “reformers”…. It can be seen as one who runs in front of the crowd. One who will search out the best path for others who will soon follow. One who will be the first to encounter un-plowed territory or land. Your vision or perspective will be vastly different from others as your eyesight will see from a completely different vantage point. You are much like the “Pioneers” of old who headed west in search of new land to settle in. They had to trail blaze through uninhabited land to make a way for others to cross with ease. They were “way makers” and visionaries”. What kept them pressing forward was a dream, a dream that held great promise of a better land in which to settle and grow strong roots.
This fire placed within you was placed there by the Lord of Glory Himself. Knowing this is from Him will help us to continue in the journey though many obstacles will be encountered. We press for the mark of the high calling of Christ. The cost is great. It could cost you everything you have and then some. You will be frequently misunderstood, rejected, slandered, ridiculed, mocked, condemned, betrayed and left by your closest loved ones. The greatest pain will come from those that you love the most. It will come from friends who you thought to be faithful. This walk is indeed very lonely. But yet He is asking, “Will you follow Me as I lead?” I can only pray that your answer will be ” Yes, Lord, let it be unto me, according to Your will”.
Brokeness will be a requirement. He will insist upon it. To be a vessel fit for His glory to reside and for Him to trust you, brokenness must come. There will come a time when one will begin to accept the refiner’s fire and actually ask for more of it. Those who have been given the revelation of just how precious that refinement is, knowing that it is bringing us forth as gold. I liken this brokenness to the story of Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus as the pharisees rebuked her. She took the bottle of alabaster and BROKE the bottle and the seal so that she could anoint her beloved Jesus with her most precious gift. She wiped His feet with her tears as she poured out her love to Him. Beloved, YOU are that bottle that needs to be broken. When broken, the fragrance of that brokeness will be so glorious before the Lord that it will rise to His nostrils and be most pleasing in His sight. The breaking brings forth humility and a contrite spirit which is of great worth in the sight of the King. Continual resistance from outside forces will only cause you to push in that much closer to the Lord. To remain stagnant would be like death to them. >For it is built within them an internal push that cannot remain still. Mundane routines are very hard to endure. For a fire is blazing within them.
Like the pioneers of old, they will encounter great difficulty. Some included impassable mountains, dense brush, severe weather, sickness and disease, wild animals, hunger and thirst as well as enemies. You can be certain there was much fighting in the ranks. It would take a strong leader to endure through it all. The pioneers’ battles were mostly in the natural but what drove them to succeed was a dream. Our battle will occur in the mind, the natural and in the spiritual realm. But always keep in mind that the King of Kings goes before you and will light your path. If He is for us, who can be against us? He never said this walk would be easy. He only said, pick up your cross and follow Me. He is still saying that today. May our spirit be quick to say, “Yes Lord, I will follow You
wherever You lead”.
Hallelujah to the King…….
The Lord will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
I will attempt to help you understand the call as a pioneer. When we look at others who have gone before us, it can help us with where we find ourselves currently. Though we see through a glass darkly, it still helps to catch just a glimpse of what we are going
through. We could be called “forerunners” or “reformers”…. It can be seen as one who runs in front of the crowd. One who will search out the best path for others who will soon follow. One who will be the first to encounter un-plowed territory or land. Your vision or perspective will be vastly different from others as your eyesight will see from a completely different vantage point. You are much like the “Pioneers” of old who headed west in search of new land to settle in. They had to trail blaze through uninhabited land to make a way for others to cross with ease. They were “way makers” and visionaries”. What kept them pressing forward was a dream, a dream that held great promise of a better land in which to settle and grow strong roots.
This fire placed within you was placed there by the Lord of Glory Himself. Knowing this is from Him will help us to continue in the journey though many obstacles will be encountered. We press for the mark of the high calling of Christ. The cost is great. It could cost you everything you have and then some. You will be frequently misunderstood, rejected, slandered, ridiculed, mocked, condemned, betrayed and left by your closest loved ones. The greatest pain will come from those that you love the most. It will come from friends who you thought to be faithful. This walk is indeed very lonely. But yet He is asking, “Will you follow Me as I lead?” I can only pray that your answer will be ” Yes, Lord, let it be unto me, according to Your will”.
Brokeness will be a requirement. He will insist upon it. To be a vessel fit for His glory to reside and for Him to trust you, brokenness must come. There will come a time when one will begin to accept the refiner’s fire and actually ask for more of it. Those who have been given the revelation of just how precious that refinement is, knowing that it is bringing us forth as gold. I liken this brokenness to the story of Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus as the pharisees rebuked her. She took the bottle of alabaster and BROKE the bottle and the seal so that she could anoint her beloved Jesus with her most precious gift. She wiped His feet with her tears as she poured out her love to Him. Beloved, YOU are that bottle that needs to be broken. When broken, the fragrance of that brokeness will be so glorious before the Lord that it will rise to His nostrils and be most pleasing in His sight. The breaking brings forth humility and a contrite spirit which is of great worth in the sight of the King. Continual resistance from outside forces will only cause you to push in that much closer to the Lord. To remain stagnant would be like death to them. >For it is built within them an internal push that cannot remain still. Mundane routines are very hard to endure. For a fire is blazing within them.
Like the pioneers of old, they will encounter great difficulty. Some included impassable mountains, dense brush, severe weather, sickness and disease, wild animals, hunger and thirst as well as enemies. You can be certain there was much fighting in the ranks. It would take a strong leader to endure through it all. The pioneers’ battles were mostly in the natural but what drove them to succeed was a dream. Our battle will occur in the mind, the natural and in the spiritual realm. But always keep in mind that the King of Kings goes before you and will light your path. If He is for us, who can be against us? He never said this walk would be easy. He only said, pick up your cross and follow Me. He is still saying that today. May our spirit be quick to say, “Yes Lord, I will follow You
wherever You lead”.
Hallelujah to the King…….
The Lord will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
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