Rushing Wind

Rushing Wind, blow through this temple... Just reading through the Scriptures concerning Pentecost. Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. "You shall receive power..."

As long as I've been a Christian, I've loved the Holy Spirit. Some think of Him as the quiet One of the Trinity, the "Silent Partner". But with His indwelling comes power and boldness (think Peter on that amazing day - 3000 people were saved after hearing him). 

He is the One who (intimately) connects us to the Father. Sometimes in order to appreciate what is, I consider what the situation isn't. If Jesus had ascended and the Holy Spirit had not been sent, we would have been here on earth, praying 'to the best of our abilities and intentions' - in our flesh. 

But we have the Intersessor, the Counselor, the Comforter, the Helper, the Advocate, the Strengthener, the Spirit of Truth.

John 16: 7-14. He intercedes for us because He lives IN us. The mystery of the Indwelling is as amazing to me as the Immaculate Conception and the Incarnation. 

But we love a God of miracles, who does the very things our minds cannot comprehend. That's why He's God ❤

So blessed Pentecost Sunday. May the Rushing Wind blow through your hearts and lives today in a new and powerful fresh way. 

Blessings! 

https://youtu.be/WNz_s7uV_uo

Simple things

Listening to a song that is beautiful in it's simplicity.

"Hallelujah" 8x

"Lord we love you" 

"Lord we thank you" 

"Lord we praise you" 

Just repeating these phrases. Nothing fancy, just simple honest adoration. I think sometimes He doesn't need all the fanfare; just a heart's cry to the Creator from the creation. 

We love You, we acknowledge You, we praise You, we adore You. 

You are our God and we are Your people. The sheep of Your pasture. 

The Father's heart connecting to the hearts of His children.  

I'm not a parent, but I can imagine the joy it would bring to a parent's heart just to hear their child say, "I love you. I don't need anything from you. I just want you to know how much I love you." 

For God so loved the world.... and His beloved loving Him back. 

Blessings! 

New Covenant

Last night I was reading in Habakkuk and Zephaniah, and I was thinking about the relationship between YHWH and the people of Israel throughout the Old Testament. He gave the Law, they broke it, He got mad, they repented, He forgave because of His great love and faithfulness. Till they messed up again, and the cycle repeated.

I had never really thought of the coming of the Messiah from THEIR point of view. What was it like to (try to) live by the Law and wait and hope expectantly for a Redeemer ... for 800+ YEARS? (Just using Isaiah as a benchmark).  To live in the days of prophecy and destruction, to hear of One coming from the Root of Jesse... generation after generation after generation.  Yet they knew they were the chosen ones and believed in the One True God.

Then, can you imagine how the people in Jesus' time felt when they realized they were in the presence of that One? (And yet some did not see Who was in front of them, but that is for another day) : )

We live now in a time of a New Covenant. The sin debt has been paid, bought with a blood price that we didn't have to pay.  We have the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and every book from Matthew to Revelation (in addition to the OT). 

We have access to the Father through the Son, with the Holy Spirit left with/given to us to guide and be our daily companion.  Wow. Do we have it good, or what.

Put yourself in the shoes of those who lived before the Incarnation, and lived by faith. They lived their entire lifetimes hoping, waiting, watching.

We are so blessed. We have it all.  Praise God for the New Covenant and for the One who was willing to come to (limit Himself to) time and space (as a Man) where He had not before. (That is, again, musings for another day!)

Blessings.

Cool mornings

What a lovely morning. Cool after the rains. I am sitting under the trees, making time for the Lord before the day gets busy.

The song "How great the Father's love for us" was going through my head, so I found the version by Selah and started my thoughts going in that direction.

I thought of Jesus' sacrifice, and that He is a reflection of the Father. If we want to know the Father, look to Jesus. He did not do anything of His will, but all He did and said was what He heard the Father say.

Reading Dave Hayes "Seeing in the Spirit". I love the way he writes; it is so down to earth (pun unintended) ; )

Here is what I read today, and I had to stop and ponder it for a while. It lined up perfectly with my earlier thoughts about Jesus being the reflection of the Father...

He is talking about spiritual light. "The light of Christ which shines from His throne in heaven is the source of all light found in the spiritual world. Even the light of the brightest angel is merely a refraction of the light of Christ."

We cannot comprehend with our physical and finite brains what this light looks like. We have our imaginations but even then I believe we fall short. Kind of when you keep your eyes closed for a while and then open them to see all the colors in nature in front of you.

'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard..."

Excited to be on the journey of training my spiritual senses to become more finely tuned to what is surrounding me...

Glory to God!

Blessings.

Amazing Grace

So now that I'm a seasoned blogger with 1 blog under my belt.. 😊. As I mentioned, I was looking for a place to air my spiritual musings.  Many years ago, I composed several devotionals for a friend who was travelling a lot. I still have them (they were returned to me) and I hope to share them in future posts, provided they have stood the test of time.

I think about God a lot. Since He changed my life when I was 18, my thoughts go to Him naturally. He is the heart center of my life, and I tend to relate situations to metaphors as a result. Something can be happening in the natural, and my mind will go to the parallel in the spiritual. And they tend to stay there, unless I speak them out or write them down.

I am continually amazed by God.  Whether it's the fact that He knows (and cares) about every detail in my life (micro) or by the fact that He loved His creation so much that He left the eternal realm of time and space to enter ours, to become a sin sacrifice and die for our debt payment (humankind). It was a spiritual solution to a spiritual problem, and has nothing to do with race, culture, etc. If you are a human being, He came for you.  Amazing. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God....

And so continues the journey of grace... we are not all on the same path, but He meets us where we are and walks with us, provided we ask Him to accompany us. That's the thing: He's such a gentleman that He won't force us to love Him, or seek Him... but when we do... we realize it's so much more than we can ever imagine.

Blessings.

New Beginnings...

Well, this is different. New, unchartered territory for me, for sure!

It's a little daunting to know that future conversations will be out there on the World Wide Web for all to see... to know that I will be sharing thoughts more personal than I might express on social media. Exciting, though, as the prospect of having a platform to present those thoughts (which will reveal more of my inner heart and mind) stirs me to create.

I was looking for a place where I could safely speak of my faith and the path on which the Lord continues to lead me.

So here is my safe space. I won't be talking of politics, or puppies. The revelations that the Lord gives and the devotions that He brings to my mind and heart will be the topics which I bring to the table.

If you want to comment or contribute, please do so as you feel led!