Was
thinking in the days of my youth, we as children in our pre-teen years would
walk down to the river on my uncle’s farm. We had heard all the snake stories
where the bulldog Mustard was bitten several times in his lifetime but always
lived to see another snake in the river. Besides all that, it was fun to walk
or even run to the river’s edge to have talks of what our summer would be like
that year. Anticipation filled our speaking as our future in the sun and fun
without school was good! ( we thought)
And we would finish that walk to the river
either by seeing one of our cousins take a swing off the rope to land perfectly with a big splash that centered in the river. Cheering him back to shore we
watched to see any movement toward the waves of the water and when seeing none,
our voices tired of speaking of summer events to come, we ran with a force back
to the house. Now our hearts were set on the hot cookies that would be coming
out of that hot oven. Running meant we would see who could run the fastest and
who would reach those fresh baked cookies just out of the oven.
Running to
the house takes a different meaning for especially me today. Running is like
seeing the Apostle Paul do all the wrong things to close his life doing all the
better things in God. He a leader with certain garments giving voice to his
calling, still in the later days, he would do the speaking with Holy Spirit
leading to do right and fulfill the Father’s promise in his life. He would find
himself still speaking of the Lord, the Gospel and His salvation but find
himself behind bars.
In one teaching we hear Paul arriving at 1 Thessalonians 5. And it is here the apostle Paul urges the saints to reorganize those who labored among them. Dealing with “problem brothers: included the unruly with irresponsible behavior, to comfort the faint-hearted, to uphold the weak: those who were spiritually weak and give support to those weak in the faith…….and of course to be patient with all.
We are told in verse 19 to not quench the spirit! And this
meant to not stifle the work of the Holy Spirit. Limiting Him is stifling Him.
Adhering to the traditions of men is stifling the Holy Spirit. Keeping up with
man-made rules is again stifling Him, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit should have full
access through our spiritual frame: giving of praise, being prayerful, being
thankful and the teachable keeps us in that justice of God and lights our way
into His truth keeping and to avoid evil.
Even here the apostle was running to the house. It is the
house of our Father God of where he ran!
We still walk to the River. No not the river called the Leon River in Texas. We no longer plan our summer events, but expect Him to appear before us. We run not for the cookies though they tasted really good, but we run for the best place before Him. We run to see His face and experience His presence. (I can smell His fragrance even now.) We run to reach Him when we hear Him speak, to hear His voice and pronounce His blessing. To hear Him give life to that which barely moves, to give life to see with new eyes and hear His peace and experience His love over our lives in a truly evil world.
We have His
guiding personage in the Holy Spirit. And by Him, we reject evil today. We reject
that which tries to speak it needs our support. No we support the truth of God,
to know God and have revelation knowledge of Him. Our purpose God placed in us,
that anointing is available every minute and also available to us to
know the evil of Satan and his plans and tactics to destroy man.
May we not be weak, no backbone people, but be
the strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, and that we are more than
conquerors through Him. He conquered death, hell and the grave and chose life and not death. We chose to
walk in His light and resist darkness for the Lord returns and He will find
faith on the earth. (Luke 18:8)
My Redeemer
lives. He was wounded for my transgressions, He was bruised for my iniquities.
The chastisement for my peace was upon Him, and by His stripes I am healed. He reaches from the cross to
take me with Him. He reaches with blood on His hands for taking our sins. He
reaches with a thorny crown and shows me His revealed crown of glory. In His
reach is nothing but love. In His reach is nothing but wisdom of God and His
great peace! In His reach is a consuming fire of brilliance revealing love from above but not to consume
you or me. But of Him we are in Christ
Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God----and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption-----He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.
We run to
the store for an article, a food maybe or paper for schoolwork. We run down to
the bank for that deposit or we run to pick up the kids or granddaughter at the
park. People in their everyday living have that run on the mind, never thinking
of God or the Son of His love. We bask in weak stuff, forgetting the mighty
thing, yet God triumphant in Jericho when the wall came down. He reduced
Gideon’s army to a mere 300 from 32,000 men. Samson defeated an entire army with
the jawbone of a donkey. And when we
prayed with our niece for her dad to go home from hospital before Christmas, he
went home to be with family for Christmas. Faith is the stuff the mighty have
fully in heart. Faith moves the mountains of doctors, their agendas and more
tests to prove God is alive and makes a glorious love in this hour for those
who love Him!
We might run to do a chore, do a thing as take
a meal to a hungry family, but we also must run with our hearts to the Lord who
Redeems. We run without any doubt, people of faith, expecting His kingdom to
appear. Yes, run with all that is with you for the Lord lives and He moves
where angels will not tread. But God is for us and He will not forsake us.
In Isaiah 45: 2-3 NKJV I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by names am the God of Israel.
In this
King Cyrus would see the Egyptian booty and control of Egyptian trade routes.
Those called by name, those called to be reconcilers will bring the light of
the gospel even in the dark places the enemy tries to take us…to bring
unwarranted sickness when we have Jesus as Lord. Still we live in a world of
sin, plaguing others, we seek the Lord’s heart and know HIM as the God of
Israel.
Those
knowing their heart for the Lord, will do valiantly. Their trust is in Him always. They speak to the mountains trying
to rise higher in their lives. The mountains of the enemy must move out of our
way. The Lord will straighten those pathways when we truly know and confess
from our heart His word of truth. Then the path levels out for our good!
How will we act in just living day to day? How will others see us in the height of wealth, the despair of disease, the lowest rung of the ladder starting over after a sudden divorce or death? How will they see us? Do any of these occur ever? Yes, they do occur and can come. But we look up to His return. We seek our future with Him. For in darkness of the enemy, we live to see the light of the Lord and to bring that light to others at work, at the hospital or medical center. We seek to be light to others in whatever situation may be occurring. But we rise, in Him, we rise to give voice to His goodness in the land of the living. If not us, then who and if not now when…..for tomorrow may be too late!
We run to meet this new year! We run not hesitating but always looking with eyes of wonder on Him who brings such beauty to a failing world. We run to meet the brightness of His coming for He brings light everywhere He goes.
We run, not
limited nor hindered! We run to light. We run to truth. Without Him we can do
nothing. Let’s take Him at His word and trust, morning will come with joy and
dancing. The night has almost ended, for it is His joy in us that rises….it
reaches the heights of heaven…and is better to us than anything the world could
ever offer. Amen and Amen.
New teaching at: Voice of Prayer
Rebellion on Earth: Revelation 11
Warning Given Announcement of God and Coming Judgement
