God’s Promises

I’ve written some on this subject before but I need to go into it again. I’ve known “about” God since birth, maybe while in my mother’s womb since she was in church every time there was an open door. So I’ve known who God was forever and I professed Christ as my savior and was baptised at 15. I’ve been baptised 3 times because as I changed churches, denominations, they required being baptised in their doctrine. So maybe I had the feeling I was really covered and needed no more. How many Christians grow up and even grow old thinking that there isn’t any more for them, that they have all they need? And then suddenly they come to a crossroad and find there is more and they take a step onto a new path with God.

That is the crossroad I’ve hit several times in my maturing as a Christian and I’m not there yet. When the Charismatic movement came in the 80’s I learned about the gifts of the spirit, something denied me in the denominations I’d been in. That was a big step and explained a lot to me about healing and miracles which I’d already had in my life at that point but didn’t recognize. In the 90’s I learned about prophecy still being alive and relevant to our lives and had my first prophetic words spoken over me. I pondered over a word I was given for years only just learning the full meaning a couple of months ago. But I don’t think I have the full implications of it yet.

Then two years ago this month my whole life changed once again but I wasn’t too upset as I was sure I could bring things back into line like turning the rudder on a boat to redirect it back into the slipstream of life. Eight months later I was still struggling with becoming the captain of my own ship (something a counselor once told me I could become with simple easy steps). And then along came God. He gave me a promise from out of the blue that I could not deny. He was to be the “true” captain of my ship but oh what a process that was to involve … my favorite study on God’s promise and what it means is from *Graham Cooke and I share a small portion below:

“God gives you a promise so you can experience the best while going through the worst. It is life in the spirit, as Jesus knows it. We are learning how to possess what God has spoken. Promises are given to teach us possession. To possess means to obtain something, to inhabit something. It’s not just about obtaining, getting hold of that promise. It is about taking it into yourself, it’s about inhabiting that, and it’s about stepping into the very thing because that is now your space.

It’s about making that promise your new prayer closet. Your new place where you are standing and you are going to pray from that space and check out your life. We can’t be passive about our promises or the words God has spoken over us. Not when you look at WHO GOD IS and whenever He speaks He creates something. What is the life that should be coming to you through the promise God has given you? You need to inhabit that promise. A promise gives you a different place to stand. God puts you in the promise and says, “Let’s look at your life in this promise and see what needs to change from this point of reference. Let’s have a conversation from here. What does your life look like from here? In relation to what I’m saying to you what is your life experience giving you for this place.”

A promise gives you a different place to stand and view your life and have a different conversation with God. It shows you what you need to change. It teaches you how to pray differently and see differently and actually excitement comes into our life because of it.

When life is under threat that whole ability to take possession of something is absolutely critical because when the enemy comes calling that is the moment when you need to seize your promise and occupy it. You know the enemy is going to take you straight back across Jordon because he wants you back in Egypt where he can control you. The more you whine the more it helps him do that. Whining and complaining is the worship language of hell. You need to be occupying your promise and taking possession of it because it is currency.”

That promise God gave me is what started my confinement as a Prisoner of Hope with Him. I didn’t know it as that for a while but gradually God brought revelation to me over so many things and I learned I was not getting out of prison until I learned the lessons God had for me, always with the promise before me of what had always been the desire of my heart. Yes I could go AWOL but I know I have to stay and learn. That promise was an anchor for my soul and I cannot let it go. My past life has to do with mistrust and running from problems and God knew how to stop me. He tricked me into getting in a place where my promise could come to light, by using my own attempt to prove He couldn’t do something … LOL. The laugh was on me. God is good at moving us into a position where He can talk to us and show us what we need to change for our own betterment.

*Graham Cooke, OPPORTUNITIES IN A PLACE OF CONFINEMENT

 

A Time to Sit & Rest

Psalm 23:2-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows; you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

When I read that verse I can’t help but remember a year in Montana when I was working on a big ranch. In the summer they move the cattle into the mountains to graze. In fall they all have to be collected from every place they are grazing and driven down to the lower meadows. There they will graze until harsh winter snows fall and then there will be baled hay for them to eat until spring returns.

It was fall which comes early to Montana, up on the Canadian border. I had gone with two of the ranch dogs to look for the last of the stray cattle high up against the government land fence. I had collected a few cows, calves and two stray horses and was heading them all back toward the ranch. I had stopped in a lovely meadow for lunch while the cattle kept going along the well-traveled trail through the trees. They knew the routine and would continue on their own to the lower meadows so I’d catch up to them after lunch.

I lay on the warm grass with my head on my rolled up jacket for a pillow and looked up at the sky. I thought of that scripture about the Lord making me lie down in green pastures to restore my soul. I had ridden by a slow moving stream during my journey so I could totally relate. When I rose up to finish my day the Lord would show me the right direction to go to pick up the cattle and take them down to the ranch. It was my first ride up into this part of the ranch which was vast so I needed the Lord’s wisdom in picking the right trail.

“It is in these wonderful times in life that God teaches us about His love, mercy and grace. I call these seasons “It’s all about God” seasons. In these times, it seems that if I make any great efforts like trying to work hard, pray long or study diligently, that kind of messes it up. I know these are times that I am supposed to learn how to rest in God and how to trust Him with my entire life, but it almost feels as though God is sanctioning ‘lazy’.” (Quote)

Now years later I am on my prisoner of hope journey with God and I am finding that there are different positions He puts us in to fulfill His work in us. In Ephesians, Paul depicts three distinct seasons in our lives. He uses the postures of sitting, walking and standing to metaphorically represent these seasons. I quote Kris Vallotton in this blog from his book Spirit Wars and he says, “It is all about God Seasons.”

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” Ephesians 4: 1

“Walking seasons are marked by our initiatives to co-labor with God’s divine purposes, to extend the borders of the Kingdom into the lives of others. As the winds of change blow over our lives, the elements inspire different attributes of God to emerge from our person hood. The time to sit resting in His grace has passed, and now it is time for His power to flow through our efforts as we walk out His high call in our lives. When we understand the spiritual seasons of our lives, then we can raise our sails and let His wind drive us to the shores of destiny. But when we are seated when we should be walking, it undermines His ways and derails His purposes.” (Quote)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Ephesians 6: 10– 13

There are times when we sit and rest, times when we walk in the direction He points us and times when we stand and fight for what He has given us. So I find I am spending time resting on the Lord and learning of His love and mercy. Then at other times I’m walking toward the promise in a different way on a road less travelled and last there are times when I have to stand and hold the ground I’ve gained and fight for more. That is another story, another blog.

(Quotes) from Kris Vallotton – Spirit Wars

Make Good Choices

God Can & He Will!