If If Then

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive…”
(John 7:37-39)

If #1: If you come to Jesus

If #2: And if you believe in Him

Then: Rivers of God’s living water will flow from your heart.

Let us continually come to You, Lord. Let us put off all unbelief. Let us be filled with Your Spirit and have rivers of Your living water flow forth from our hearts. Let an ocean be formed from Your pouring forth into us and pouring forth from us!

Filed under: Christian, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry , Holy Spirit, jesus, living water, rivers of living water, Yeshua

The Joy Set Before

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

You endured the Cross for the joy that was set before You.

That joy was us for whom You died.

Help me to endure and live in the midst of whatever details are ever in my life, for the Joy set before me.

For that Joy is You…

Knowing You.
Loving You.
Being with You.
Growing in You.
Living for You.

No matter what is going on around us or in our lives. It’s all about You.

Help us to live worthy of Your calling, for Your glory.

Filed under: Christian, Devotional, Encouragement, God's Word, Heart's Cry , Hebrews 12, true joy

So There Arises…

Quotes from John G. Lake:

“So there arises in the heart the desire and prayer for the Spirit of God to eject, crucify, and destroy every tendency of opposition to the Holy Spirit. Think not that thou shall attain the highest in God until within thine own soul a heavenly longing to be like Him who gave His life for us possesses thine heart.

Think not to come within the court of God with stain upon thine garments.  Think not that heaven can smile upon a nature fowled through evil contact.  Think not that Christ can dwell within temples seared by flames of hate.  No! The heart of man must first be purged by holy fire and washed from every stain by cleansing blood. Know ye not that he whose nature is akin to God’s must ever feel the purging power of Christ within?”

Yes, Lord. Do it. Purify us and purge us of anything and everything in opposition to Your Spirit and Your Kingdom coming and Your will being done. Make me a vessel of You, a vessel of Your holiness, Your truth, Your love, and Your glory. You be greater and I less and less, it’s all about You! Make me into a habitation for You alone, a dwelling place for You, God.

Prayer of Consecration from John G. Lake:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You boldly in Jesus’ name. Take me as I am. I now give myself – my heart, my mind, my body, my time, talents and treasure to you. Fill me and possess me. I renounce all sins, self and satan. Jesus, sanctify me. Cleanse me, purge me, purify me. Your will be done in my life, on earth as it is in heaven. Let me manifest a faithful spirit, a pure mind and a sickless body to your glory. Amen.”

Filed under: Christian, God's Word, Heart's Cry , consecration, God, habitation, holiness, Holy Spirit, jesus, John G. Lake, Prayer, Refiner's fire, vessel of God's glory

You Are the Potter, I Am the Clay

…love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.
Many waters cannot quench love…

Lately God has been tenderizing my heart with the reminders of His love. He has been deepening my revelation of just how deep and wide and high it truly is. By His Spirit this is transforming me. Less and less do the details of what this life will bring matter, and more and more my heart longs merely to know God and live for Him in every aspect of this life – no matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels like. The touches of His revelation upon my heart are softening me in His perfect, all-knowing way. He is preparing me for whatever His purposes hold during the next few months and beyond, and also as a vessel wanting to be yielded to Him alone.

Without Him I can do nothing.

God is blowing my mind as He paves the way for me to embark on this time of consecration and growth in Him (as I’m seeing it). His preparation for me seems to be touching every area in my life and needs. This so tenderizes my heart… I don’t deserve this and never could! We never deserved even the sacrifice paid for us by Christ on the cross, and yet He paid the price because He so desires the restoration of unbroken fellowship with His people. That is something we can never cease to grow past knowing—after all, His love is unending and so is He!

Let my heart beat in sync with Yours. Let me live for You alone… to fellowship with You, living for the glory of Your name.

All I want is You to have Your way:
You are the Potter and I am the clay.
All I need is You to have Your way:
You are Creator and I am what You’ve made.
(Misty Edwards – “Finally I Surrender”)

Filed under: Christian, Heart's Cry , consecration, egress0902, finally i surrender, flame of love, Holy Spirit, jesus, Jesus Christ, love of God, misty edwards, spiritual growth, surrender, tender

When We Remembered Zion…

Psalm 137:

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, we also wept when we remembered Zion.
2 On willows in its midst we hung our harps.
3 For there our captors asked us for words of song and our tormentors [asked of us] mirth, “Sing for us of the song of Zion.”
4 “How shall we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil?”
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget [its skill].
6 May my tongue cling to my palate, if I do not remember you, if I do not bring up Jerusalem at the beginning of my joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, for the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, those who say, “Raze it, raze it, down to its foundation!”
8 O Daughter of Babylon, who is destined to be plundered, praiseworthy is he who repays you your recompense that you have done to us.
9 Praiseworthy is he who will take and dash your infants against the rock.

Pray: Pray for Israel today — pray for peace. Pray that Jerusalem will be a praise in all the earth. Pray that God will set watchmen on the wall to pray night and day. Pray for the Jewish people to know salvation through Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus), God’s Son. Pray for Israel every day. Ask God to give you His heart for His chosen people.

Filed under: God's Word, Heart's Cry

Israel – A Seal Upon God’s Heart

I was listening to Misty Edwards’ song “You Won’t Relent” while driving home one night and God began revealing more of His heart for Israel to me. I’ve been praying that He would do this, and little by little God is opening my eyes and syncing my heart with His.

This song expresses the relentless nature of God’s love–the jealous flame of His love so unquenchable that not even death can stop it. Jesus, after all, died on the cross to take away our sins and conquer death, rising again to life and now seated at the Father’s right hand: THAT is real love!

“You won’t relent until You have it all…”

The Law and the Prophets, the Psalms, Song of Solomon and so forth–the entire Bible is the story of God’s love for His people and how He will do anything to bring them to return to Him. And He has set Israel as a seal upon His heart, desiring to this day that any of the Jewish people who do not know Yeshua as Messiah to be saved through Him.

“I’ll set you as a seal upon my heart, as a seal upon my arm,
For there is love that is as strong as death,
Jealousy demanding as the grave,
And many waters cannot quench this love.”

I see two different meanings in this:

That we pray for God to seal our hearts with His jealous, unfailing love:  “I’ll set [God] as a seal upon my heart.” And second, how He loves us so much that we are like a seal upon His heart:  “I’ll set [My people] as a seal upon My heart.”

And so I pray for Israel, that you would know God’s love in that He has set you upon His heart, and also that you would encounter Yeshua, setting Him as a seal upon your hearts.

As it is written in Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (ESV):

“Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it…”

God, I pray that Your beloved Jewish people would know You. Pour out Your great love upon them even more fully. I pray that You would set watchmen on the wall and that You would make Jerusalem a praise in all the earth. Let them and let us, too, know Your vehement, fiery love for us–a holy love that never ends. Give us Your heart, God.

Further Reading on SOS 8:6-7:  Set Me as a Seal Upon Thy Heart

Filed under: Christian, Devotional, God's Word, Heart's Cry , Christ, Christianity, God, God's heart, God's heart for Israel, God's love, Israel, jesus, Jesus Christ, Jewish people, Jews, Judaism, Messiah, Messianic, misty edwards, Song of Solomon, Yeshua, You Won't Relent

Write This on My Heart

Lord, write upon my heart the depth of Your love,
The love that You showed in the shedding of blood.

Inscribe upon my heart Your sacrifice given
With joy at the want of relationship with us.

Etch into my heart Your selfless humility, all that You are -
That I would live as Christ to this world.

Jesus, Your love – so pure and freely given,
Make me as one selfless and pure like You.

Write upon my heart, deeply on my heart -
All that You are, that I would love like You do.

Ever deeper and deeper, inscribe upon my heart
The depth of Your love, shown for me on the cross.

Write this on my heart. Etch it ever deeper, that I might shine forth -
Shining for the glory of God, who made and loves me.

You who are a King, yet You humbled Yourself to the point of death, death on a cross, taking the filth of our sins upon Yourself so that we could have a love relationship with You. Something so undeserved, and yet You love us that much! Do you know Jesus? God loves you!

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, Heart's Cry, Poetry, Writing , Christ, Christian poetry, Christian writing, cross, God, God's Son, Heart's Cry, Holy Spirit, jesus, Jesus Christ, Lord, poem, Poetry, Savior, Writing

How Precious Your Thoughts

I love what John writes at the end of his Gospel:

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
(John 21:25 ESV)

There is so much in the Gospels to show us what Jesus did and said, and how He lived and what He taught to help us live worthy of God’s calling on us. Each one was ordained by God to be recorded in the Word. I can’t help but wonder about the other things Jesus did and said as He ministered and taught the disciples and all those who came to Him for healing and help. Just reading the Word reveals the character of God in such vast measure.

Can you imagine all that Christ did, all that He spoke, felt and thought?! To picture the libraries of Heaven that would hold all such things is unimaginable! Wow.

Just pondering and reflecting…

“How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!”
(Psalm 139:17 ESV)

Filed under: Christian, Devotional, God's Word, Heart's Cry , God's character, God's love, God's Word, Gospel of John, john, knowing Jesus, Psalm 139, psalms, reflection, relationship with God, scripture, the Bible

Fire of God: Better Than Fireworks

He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness.
(Malachi 3:3)

Life lately has seemed a rollercoaster of ups and downs. The rollercoaster has not been predictable though, as if someone has blindfolded my eyes and plugged my ears throughout the ride.

Now, for someone who doesn’t like actual rollercoasters, sometimes I’d actually rather this be literal, not a metaphor of the life of a growing Christian being continually refined by the God who loves her. In all honesty, I’d rather it be easy! I’d rather be strolling in the garden with my Savior, smiling and laughing, not walking by faith in what is not seen (Hebrews 11:1). But you know what, God is worth it!

Our walk with God is about faith in what we don’t yet see, faith that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Even when we don’t understand His ways, we can trust that His leadership of love is perfect. After all, His ways are higher and better than ours, yet also His love is perfect (Isaiah 55:8-9).

As God grows us in love for Him and into holiness, His refining fire is definitely not always fun and games (1 Peter 1:6-9, Malachi 3:3). At times we deeply feel His great love for us in that He is the very Flame of Love (Song of Songs 4:9-10). At other times the zeal of His jealous love burns our flesh as He seeks to purify our affections for Him (Song 8:6). And even at other moments God seems distant as if He has forsaken us though He never will (Deuteronomy 31:8), teaching us to really walk out our faith in Him and growing our love for Him (Song 5:4-8).

As frustrated as I have been today about spending yet another holiday away from friends and family, God is the best Father ever and I am beyond blessed to be accepted into His awesome family in Jesus! I know He is with me by the dwelling of His Spirit of grace within me, even though He has felt distant and His Refiner’s fire burns painfully at times! Knowing He loves me and that I am His is more precious than any fleeting holiday celebrations!

For me this Fourth of July holds more precious fireworks than those of celebrating independence. The “fireworks” for me today are those of the fire of God and of dependence on Him alone, being refined to pure gold as a vessel set apart for Him alone, the very Flame of Love and the truest Source of life.

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry , Christ, fire of God, fireworks, fourth of July, God, God's love, hebrews, Holy Spirit, jesus, Jesus Christ, July 4, purity, real fireworks, reality, Refiner's fire, refining, Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, the very Flame of Love, the very Flame of the Lord

The Reason for the Wilderness, Hope Deferred

“You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
(Deuteronomy 8:2)

That You, Lord, do not outright place us into the abundant place of blessing in our destiny right away is a thing of immeasurable good. You first bring us to the wilderness. There You bring us to the end of ourselves and to the fullness of You. You test and humble us, equip and grow us–lest we fall hard and become prey to the temptations of success and blessing.

It is because of Your great goodness and love that You do this. You know what is best for Your children whom You love. Your banner over us is love! Your leadership is perfect! Your ways are just, true and right.

You want us to live for You and by Your living words of life, being led by Your Spirit alone. To do so more and more, to be deep calling unto Your deep, takes time spent growing in relationship with You. It takes time spent seeking the depths of Your Presence in the Holy of Holies by which we have access through the blood of Christ. It takes growing in hearing Your voice and obeying You. It takes patience, trust and faith in You.

You are good, so good. Your love for us is so deep. Your leadership of our lives is wholly right and truly perfect, laden with Your perfect love for us as You say, “I only want the absolute best for you. Will you trust me, My child?”

God has the very best for you. In hardship or trials, trust Him. In the pain of hope deferred, trust Him. In times of fear or failure, trust Him.

He sees you! He loves you! He has the very best for you!

Filed under: Christian, Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Writing , delayed hope, desert, Deuteronomy 8, difficulty, God's faithfulness, God's leadership, God's love, god's will, God's Word, hardship, hope, hope deferred, pain, relationship with God, spiritual growth, the wilderness, trials, trust, trusting God