The Secret Place

I can hardly believe it. I'm here!

After all these years, I've found it.

I wandered for so long and longingly looked at the map.

I sweated and anguished over my dying body and I thought my strength would not last. But now I'm here.

Where is this place I'm talking about?

I'm talking about the secret place!

" He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

A-h-h-h. How did I get here? I'm not sure!

I wish I could tell you for certain but I think I got here through many trials and tribulations...

What does this all mean?

It means I have peace;

peace of mind and heart and that everything is going to be alright.

Nothing is beyond God.

I have learned to trust Him!

Does this mean I'm not tempted?

No.
Does this mean I'm not tried?

No.
Does this mean I never waver?
Well, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

I am here today.

One day at a time. That's what He asks of me- today.

I just wish I could explain it all but at this point in time I do feel thankful for tribulations.

Yikes! Did I really say that? Yes, I did.

Totally surrender today, dear ones.

Lay yourself upon the altar and completely give up your life. Refuse to indulge in SELF pity.

Relinquish your "right" to have what you want.

You are crucified with Christ.

Walk in that! It's true.

It's right.

It's the gift of God.

He's not just saving us but He is setting us free!

Get lost in Him today and I hope you will find- the secret place.

What's life all about anyway?

"What's life all about anyway?!"

Ever heard that? Ever said that? I have.

It's a familiar cry that has escaped my lips many times through out the years. You see, I'm a visionary. I like things to HAPPEN. At times I've been guilty of trying to make things happen instead of waiting on the Lord. Well, whether you're a visionary or not, perhaps this same cry has echoed through out your life, through your crummy day or your sleepless night...

The last time I asked this question I think it was actually more of a mutter than a cry but my gracious Father answered me through the scriptures with this wonderful verse:

~ and He died for all, that they who live, should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. ~
2 Cor. 5:15

That's what life’s all about!

To no longer live for ourselves but to live for Him.

No matter what, where, when or how,

our purpose is to live for Him.

That's why He died and rose again on our behalf-

so we could have something to live for- Him.

Go ahead - get a life!

The Seaside

"The same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the sea side...."

You may think it's funny but the above verse is one of my favorites in scripture. Throughout my Christian life, as I would come across this verse, I had to pause afterwards. A holy hush would come upon me. I could picture Jesus gazing out at the waves and I would have a longing to be there with Him, stay there and never leave.

Following the last time I read that verse, I went on my prayer walk and was wondering what made me so reflective about it. Then it all came to me!

You see, before I was converted, there were many times that *I* sat by the seaside and gazed out at the immense waters. Even as a small girl, I loved the ocean and couldn't wait to run out to the sand dunes and be alone there. Oh the emotions that would well up inside me! Oh the longing that I felt for... something.

But I didn't even know what it was.

When I became a young woman, I fancied that it was some sort of romantic feeling and that I was longing for someone to love.

Do you know what? I *was* longing for someone to love.

I was longing for HIM!

I was longing for a God that I hadn’t met yet.

An empty spot within my heart, that only HE could fill was longing to be filled by HIM.

I felt HIM there at the beach too. Was I born again yet? No.

Was HE in me yet? No.

But HE was there!

I didn't know He was there at that time.
I didn’t know what it was that I was feeling.
I didn't know it was my future Lord and King.
But I felt HIS presence and was hushed and moved by it.
HE was there with me!
Now I know the full reason for the intrigue surrounding that beloved verse.

It is because we sat by the seaside- together! Thank you Lord!

So, what is my reason for telling you this misty and romantic tale? It is because I want each and every one of you to experience God's love in such a real way that it is irresistible!

I want you to know that HE is a living, loving, and speaking God. If you're already experiencing that love, please tell others!

I had to wait and wait for someone to tell me. And if you would have looked at me with the natural eye, you would not have thought that I was a likely candidate for accepting the Good News.

Oh how I needed HIM! Oh how we all need HIM- and that desperately.

Let HIS love fill you today, for God is love.

To Know Him

Oh I want to know you more
Deep within my heart I want to know you
Lord I want to know you
And I would give my final breath
Just to know you in your death and resurrection
Lord I want to know you more
Lord I want to know you more


Do you know God?

Or do you only know about Him?

He wants us to know Him- intimately.

He wants us to have a relationship with Him.
We can fellowship with Him.
We can abide in Him and stay in Him.
We can learn from Him.

Do you enjoy Him?

Is He your delight?

If your Christian life revolves around a list of "do's" and "don'ts' and a looking to see whether you measure up or not, you are missing out on so much!

Do you know God?

He knows you.

He knows the very number of hairs on your head.

He knows your thoughts and everything you've ever done.

But there's another level of knowing that He wants each and every one of us to enter into.

He wants us to willingly let Him know us.

He wants us to yield to Him and be one with Him that He might live through us.

He wants to commune with us and fill us.

My prayer for all of us is that we will look to our creator as a loving God and Father who delights when we draw near to Him. Oh how He loves you and me.
I want to know Him more.

The High Places

Through out the years as I would read in the Old Testament about the forbidden high places, I would seek the Lord for their meaning. I would ask, "What are they a type of Lord?" I had thought of several different possibilities but I never felt like I saw what the Lord had for me.

When the Lord (once again) led us away from organized religion, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and led me to look at the high places again. This is what rapidly unfolded upon my mind:
What are the high places a type of?

Is it:
Not worshiping God in spirit and in truth but rather at another altar? The altar of man-made religion? A strange mixture of spirit and error rather than spirit and truth? Is it a compromise that leaves one's senses dull to what is so painfully obvious to God, just like the high places were so clearly wrong yet visited by God’s people and the heathen?

Is it worshipping God in a way that is different than what He directs, copying the heathen and taking cues from the world of darkness and worshipping with strange incense and unlawful sacrifices. Is it taking what the world loves to do and trying to make it work for us?

The high places look so religious and acceptable but the casual observer sees nothing wrong with them at all. Oh Lord, raise up Josiahs and Hezekiahs in our day who will tear down the high places - and may they never be built up again.

When God is Silent

I believe in the sun
Even when it isn't shinning
And I believe in love
Even when there's no one there
And I believe in God
And I believe in God
Even when- He is silent

Those are the words to a song that my husband would often sing when we first met. I didn't understand it then because I didn't know God then. But then I met God and knew Him but I still couldn't understand that song. I couldn't understand it because God was not silent to me. We enjoyed a very communicative relationship, but now- now I understand.

I have passed through a season of silence.
I'm still not sure why- but I trust Him.
If you are passing through such a time of silence, I hope to encourage you with these words:

He will never leave you or forsake you.
Lo, He is with you always.
Trust Him.
He will speak again.

Who Is My Neighbor?

I would like to introduce you to my allegory neighbor. I will call her, Martha. Martha is my neighbor and she is a Christian. She and I are quite chummy and it doesn’t matter to either one of us what doctrines we really believe. We both serve the same Lord, right? I’ve never “been to her church” and she’s never “been to mine” but that’s okay- we’re friends!

But imagine with me now, if I did "go" to Martha’s church. What if I began to go regularly? What if I committed to her church by attending all its prescribed meetings and served on its committees? Well, then we would really be close! We would take all those verses about unity, knitting hearts and being in one accord and we would apply them to ourselves! We would be the people who are really there for each other. And we would hope that the world would see that we are Christians by our love.

But imagine again, what would happen if I left Martha’s church? Let it sink in…. devastation, rejection, turmoil, deception, accusation - a severed cord...

If I did happen to see Martha afterward, we would smile and talk and try to pretend that everything was okay- but it’s NOT okay. And why isn’t it okay? Because the high place of right doctrine and “church” has come crashing down. I no longer worship at her altar therefore I no longer am embraced with an open heart.

Poor Martha. She tries to reach out. She tries to pretend that it’s okay; that it doesn’t matter, that we can still be friends. Something within her tells her that it should be so. But, because I made a commitment I could not keep, a silent vow, a hypocritical oath, I entered into marriage with her and her church instead of Christ and she is now a divorced woman.
Forgive me Lord. And please heal Martha.