Tag Archives: Kingdom Living

Godly Principles, Kingdom Living, Opportunity

Seeds of Glory

September 20, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth. …Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of My people” ~ Hosea 6:1-3, 11.

God returns to His people like the long awaited spring rains that promise new life for the earth when we turn from our darkness to seek after Him anew with wholehearted desire. He is the treasure possessed in the resurrection of His people to new life with Him.

This promise is true, no matter how late the season of our life, or that of the history of humankind. It is His people that God responds to, whether in response to our sin that invites the hand of the Father to discipline us out of His loving desire for our good, or that of the heart of the Father’s loving response to our seeking after Him with sincere desire to know Him. It is His people who seek after, trust in and rely on God as Lord that elicits His response.

Trouble comes in this life. That is an assurance Jesus warned us to expect (John 16:33). We are in the world, which falls to the dictates of fleshly desires, worldly ideology, and demonic influence. Those of the world do not believe God, seek Him, trust Him or rely on Him. As such, these vehemently oppose God, thus producing trouble in this life.

The trouble produced increases when the people who seek God forget God and fall away to the flesh, the world, and the demonic. God often uses trouble in this life to discipline a wayward child. That is what is happening with the people of God in the book of Hosea, yet God promises a return to Him that will find the reward of the fortunes of the spring rains.

What does God promise will come with that fortune? A harvest.

Beloved, God uses times of trouble, whether brought on by our own sin, or the touch of trouble found by our living in a world that opposes God and His will and way. Often, trouble in life allows us to experience the greatness of God and His grace toward His creation.

Trouble always brings opportunity. Sometimes that opportunity is to realize some way we have that opposes God so we can surrender to Him. Other times the opportunity is that of ministering to others in the midst of the trouble. Always, trouble presents opportunity to respond to God by choosing life over death, determining in our hearts that we will serve the Lord, as Joshua advises (Joshua 24:15). There is one more thing produced out of trouble:

Trouble in this life produces in us a harvest. As we learn more about God in seasons of hardship, it produces seeds of truth and righteousness in us, giving us a testimony to share with others. Winter seasons can be difficult, but even the winter has a purpose. It is in the winter that a tree rests from its work of produce, able to devote its time to growing deeper roots that allow for a greater harvest season. It is in the winter season that seeds mature in preparation to burst forth with new life. As we come into the spring of life, we share the things we learned during our season of growing deeper roots into our understanding of life with God. Through that, we reap a harvest of souls, inspiring others to know God.

In our days, as we travel this road in a very troubled world, experiencing the winter seasons of life that that trouble brings, there is a spring coming especially to this late hour in history. Come out of troubling times into the fortune found in God. That fortune provides us all we need to help others grow to know the Lord.

Beloved, don’t waste the times of trouble. Cooperate with God to allow trouble’s winter to deepen your roots into Him as God and to prepare your seeds for harvest. Understanding God and the good intended by God will produce its treasure trove within you. There you will find all you need to reap a Kingdom harvest that glorifies the Lord.

Godly Principles, Sanctified life

Speak as a Disciple

September 17, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“The Lord God has given Me the tongue of a disciple and of one who is taught, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He wakens Me morning by morning, He wakens My ear to hear as a disciple [as one who is taught]” (Isaiah 50:4, AMP).

When I pray having this verse of scripture in heart, I pray, “Speak, O God. Your daughter is listening. Grant me ears to hear as a disciple so I may speak as a disciple.” Today, as I pray that oft desired heart, thought comes regarding the word spoken about Peter when he denied Jesus three times. Standing around that campfire, warming himself, watching to see what would happen with Jesus, people ask him if he is one of those who run with Jesus. One person there says, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away” (Matthew 26:73). Peter’s accent and speech told the story of his heritage.

People who spend time with Jesus, seeking Him as a disciple, desiring to learn of and know Him as a child of the Living God, these hear Him and the things they hear effect the way they talk. Their speech is cleaner, refusing to dishonor God through cursing. They are not bitter, filled with anger, wrath, malice, and slander. They do not use smooth and flattering speech meant to gain approval, being deceptive or manipulative. Nor is their speech abusive, killing the soul and destroying destinies.

Instead, they talk with hope for the future and gratitude for the present. They are bold in speaking truth, showing care for the listener’s eternity and their here-and-now relationship with Holy God. They are uplifting, having words filled with grace, as though seasoned with salt, knowing how to respond to each person, able to “speak a word in season to him who is weary,” imparting discerning wisdom with truth and love.

Beloved, when standing in a crowd, does your way of talking give you away as being different, as being a disciple of Christ? Does your speech make it clear to others that you have been with Jesus that day as a faithful follower, His Kingdom representative? Do people tag along with you because of the inspiration flowing through your mouth and lifestyle?

Speak, O God. Your child is listening. Grant me ears to hear as a disciple so I may speak as a disciple.

Godly Principles, Godly Promotion

The Heart-Song of Godly Promotion: Intent on One Purpose

September 12, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“…Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose…” ~ Philippians 1:18-2:8.

Intent on one purpose, what should that be?

As I consider that question, I know my heart’s cry is to be like Jesus, who sought the Father and His purpose in all things, desiring the Father’s glory above all. My determined purpose cries out with Paul’s heart to know God intimately, being as one with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Philippians 3:8-11, AMP). The only way I see to godly promotion is found in unity with God and His purposes, which are not always easy or convenient, pleasant or desirable to the flesh.

According to this mandate from Paul, standing firm in this fellowship of the Spirit, we find unity of faith that whole-heartedly loves God and one another. That mutual, wholehearted love and unity of purpose makes one willing to deny oneself for the cause of Christ in loving God and others as Jesus exemplified through the power and leading of the Spirit of God.

With like-mindedness, having the same love one for the other, our unity comes in realizing that each of our purpose is to glorify God as God while helping one another to progress forward with joy in this faith, standing firm in it. Having this unity of heart with understanding of this love and humility exemplified in Christ, the only pride of our confidence found within is Christ and Him crucified: we boast in none else. Trusting His sacrifice, we live our lives with the realization of our need of Him, alive within us, uniting us as one in love of God. If you have ever met only briefly another person, and instantly known this unity of the Spirit with him or her, you know what I am talking about.

I read an inspirational quote recently that I cannot seem to find again, but the premise of it rolls around in my head a lot of late. Essentially, it said that in knowing who we are with realization of our purpose, our life choices would follow that path. Knowing who we are as believers of God in Christ does not only mean a realization of our fleshly being. It requires us to know who we are as God sees us, coming to realize His design and purpose in our being in this life at this time. When we know ourselves as God knows us and we know Him in ever-growing intimacy, that understanding dictates our priorities, empowering us to reach our desired end.

As we surrender ourselves fully to God, dying to our own interests that are dictated by our flesh-being trying to resurrect itself, having God’s purpose and priorities as our directive, we possess His heart for our own lives and for those in it with us. This mindset and this fellowship of the Spirit remove all distinctions between us. Always desiring God’s best plan for each individual, we no longer compete against each other. This desire removes all jealousy, each of us living for the other as people, living to please God alone. In so doing, we inspire one another to higher ground on our journey to a humility that leads surely to the exaltation that comes from God.

Each of us surrendering to be one with the Father through Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, finding His purpose for our own lives and trusting His purpose for those among us, we come into unity together in the fellowship of His Spirit. In this unity, jealousy that covets what another person has that we admire dies, for our focus is on God and His glory through our being all and only as He is, just as He created us to be. In this unity, the victories we each possess in life bring rejoicing to all, as our hearts bow to the glory of God found in each individual rather than in the exaltation of self.

Jesus set the example as He left the comforts of heaven to come to the cross for our benefit. He set the example through His desire for God’s priorities, purposes, and plans over that of His own or any other person’s desire for Him. Knowing and trusting God’s will made Jesus bold to stand firm in faith and to choose the path ahead in life (John 4:34; 5:20, 30, 43; 6:38; Luke 4:14-30; John 6:1-15). The King of kings set the example as He stepped into the lowliest of jobs saved for the least of the household slaves during that last supper with His beloveds (John 13:1-20). Taking towel and basin to wash their filthy feet, spending precious time in intimate communion with each individual one of them, He instructed us to do for one another as He just did for each of them.

Godly promotion comes to those who fully discover and understand humility that bows to God alone, taking a backseat to others out of faith in God who sees the heart of our surrendered-humiliation. One of the greatest things we can do is to deny self, even stepping into the lowliest of positions for the benefit of others who need the touch of God through us to the glory of God and the good of His Kingdom. Meeting the needs of others as God leads should be our only competition.

Beloved, sometimes bowing to God can mean being humble enough to allow another to wash our filthy feet, just as Peter learned while his Lord bowed to wash his. God knows our heart. He knows who needs the humility of serving others for a while and who needs that of being the one served. Both positions require surrender to God’s will and way, the emptying of ourselves through self-denial, and humility to submit. Following Jesus in surrendered service to God as both one who serves and one who receives the benefit of service is the pathway to promotion in God’s Kingdom.

“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor” ~ 1 Peter 5:6, NLT (see verse 1-11, noting especially verses 4-5 and 10).

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal” ~ John 6:27.

“Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege, the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ, and that I may actually be found and known as in Him, not having any self-achieved righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that genuine righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, the truly right standing with God, which comes from God by saving faith….” ~ Philippians 3:8-11, AMP.

“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself” ~ John 7:17.

Godly Principles, Godly Promotion

The Heart-Song of Godly Promotion: Humility of Mind

September 10, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped” ~ Philippians 2:4-6.

Humility of mind is vital to one’s ability to empty oneself and obey God at all cost. By implication, I see that failing to humble self before God stems from the prideful desire to be God. It sets our desire over His, failing to surrender to His right over us as Creator-God, Savior, Lord, and King. Humility is a major issue in the human condition, being difficult for us to truly achieve apart from the work of the Spirit of God within us: leastwise, that is my experience. Even in times of appearing most humble, there is too often a self-centered motive involved:

False humility says, “If I allow them to lead (humility to consider the interests of others as more important), perhaps they will like me (self-centered motive).”

God-centered humility says, “I must allow them to lead (humility to consider the interests of others as more important), because that is God’s will in this situation (God-centered motive).”

False humility says, “I must surrender to their ideal (humility to consider the interests of others as more important), because I want the managerial position opening up (self-centered motive).”

God-centered humility says, “I must surrender to their ideal (humility to consider the interests of others as more important), because I appreciate God giving me this job and I serve in this position, doing my best as unto the Lord (God-centered motive).”

True humility of mind forgets self, thinking only of God. It asks, “What is God’s heart desire? What is His will and way in this particular situation?” Note in our focal passage that, though humility “regards the interests of others as more important” than one’s own interests, that practice does not rule out times of one’s own interests taking precedence, as it says, “do not MERELY look out for your own interests.” This tells me that true humility of mind allows God to inspire a right system of prioritizing, so we know when to meet the need or desire of others, and when it is important to follow our own heart desire.

Following the lead of the Spirit to know the will and purpose and pleasure of God is the key to true humility. This humility before God is the ingredient that enables a wife to know when it is important to give self to a friend for the day despite the dishes in need of attention, and when it is important to remain faithful to the duties of homemaking so the needs of the family are met. Humility that allows God to be God is the practice that helps us to discern when our mate’s or child’s need for our undivided attention trumps our desire to read or to watch a favorite TV program, or when our physical need of destressing takes priority so we can have a right attitude toward meeting their need. Our humility is toward God, and that humility has a vital purpose in life:

“Do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: ‘He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us’? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” ~ James 4:5-10.

The Spirit of God empowers true humility; therefore, God is jealous to find His Spirit active and effective within us. The benefits of this humility toward God that surrenders quickly and completely to the leading of His Spirit, allowing Him to be God in our lives, include:

The Spirit of God increased and effective in our lives.
Increased work of God’s grace in our lives.
Automatic resistance and victory over the devil / demonic / evil.
Greater nearness to God, increased experience of relationship with Him.
Deliverance from habits and acts of sin.
Singleness of mind, settled on eternal purpose, having one heart with God.
Possession of God’s heart: rejoicing in the things that cause God’s heart to rejoice; weeping over that which brings Him to tears.
Exaltation / promotion by God as part of the royal court of God’s Kingdom.

Humility before God removes the joy that our sin once brought – sin being anything that goes against Him as Lord and His desire and purpose for our lives. With this heart toward God, we grow to desire the experience of God in every area of life. Anything that pushes away from Him brings remorse and bitter weeping. Growing to love God more than any other selfish desire produces ever-increasing love and desire for more of Him. When we reach this point in our love relationship with God, we grow stronger in our ability to obey at all cost, desiring that nothing come between our God and us. Beloved, as the day of evil increases in the world, it is vital that we develop this humility so our love of God protects us.

~*~

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. …The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who really loves Me; and whoever really loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him” ~ John 14:15, 21, AMP. (See also John 3:36; 1 Peter 4:17; 1 John 2:3-5 and Romans 6-8)

Godly Principles, Godly Promotion

The Heart-Song of Godly Promotion: The Reason

September 9, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” ~ Philippians 2:9-11.

On our journey to discover the pathway to godly promotion, the words, “this reason,” beacon us to discern the reason mentioned for Christ’s promotion to the Name above all. Finding the answer and discovering the pathway to our own promotion requires we go backward in the passage from here. Doing so, first we look at the example of Christ that is the reason for His promotion.

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” ~ 2:5-8.

Jesus had it all. He was in the Eternal, the Omnipotent, Omnipresent God, with full authority as God. He chose to leave the Eternal, coming into the limits of a flesh being so-as-to set the example and live the life that led to sacrifice for the eternal hope of all humankind. That journey led Him back to the eternal for all time, imparting to Him as Christ, the Son of God and man, the Name above every name as King of kings and Lord of lords. Simultaneous with Jesus’ promotion, God imparted to us the Way to Truth and Life Eternal in Christ.

Jesus began where He wanted to be, came willingly to where we are, then returned to the throne that was His all along, making a path for us to follow. Christ’s example points us to two things necessary for godly promotion:

The emptying of self.
The humbling of self to the point of obedience.

Jesus left His high position, emptying Himself of all He had and was, to come on our behalf as Christ, Savior and King. He calls we who are in this Beloved union through Christ to the same. “Emptying self” is the call of Christ found in Luke 9:23:

“And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me’” ~ NASB.

We must do as Jesus did, denying self-interest in order to take up the cross of self-denial as exemplified in Christ. The Amplified version of this verse tells us that to deny oneself means to disown oneself by losing sight of self-interest and concern, laying down one’s own interests, to refuse and give up self-centered purposes. Denying oneself takes up God’s purpose, plan, will, and way as one’s own.

Then the Amplified Bible explains that we take up our cross as we follow Jesus, cleaving steadfastly to Him, conforming wholly to His example “in living and, if need be, in dying also.” To empty self is the mindset expressed by Paul in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

The Persona of Pre-Jesus, described in our Philippians passage as One existing in the form of God, willingly chose to relinquish who He was and all He had in order to walk in human flesh as the promised Messiah—fully man, while rightly God. We follow His example by emptying self of our flesh man to take up His likeness in Spirit and in Truth. Emptying oneself lays down the person we think we are and desire to be in order to discover the person He destined us to be. It lays down our individual, selfish want and any claim on one’s own life in order to take up Jesus, give Him full reign, and allow Him to complete His work on earth through us. In so doing, we become the body of Christ. This is the humbling of self before Him to the point of obedience at any cost.

God “WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation” ~ Romans 2:6-8.

Godly promotion requires dying to self-interest, humbling self to obey God, trusting Him to be God, lifting us up and taking us to higher ground in His way and on His timetable. He knows what our promotion in life looks like and what it will take on our part for us to get there. Note that Jesus received a type of promotion through a degree of renown in the earth that led to thousands following to see what he would do next. However, even the closest of His followers scattered and denied Him when He was taken into custody and only a little over 100 followers of Christ remained in that upper room after He bore His cross. The true promotion of Christ came to Him as He took His seat at the right hand of the Father in the Eternal.

We too readily work for a promotion we can see here and now, failing to focus on the treasure of Heaven. If our promotion is not what we expect, bringing hardship and challenge to us as it did to Jesus, Paul, and others of Bible times, we too readily fall away and quit working for the things of God. The heart of Jesus often hurt over those who turned away, but He did not view His success from a worldview. He saw with eternal eyes and trusted the will and way of God. God’s idea of promotion and prosperity is not worldly, but eternal.

Jesus set the example to show us the way to godly promotion through emptying of self and living humbly as servant of God, trusting all to Him. Next post we look at what God expects of us who would receive promotion.

~*~

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” ~ Matthew 6:19-21 (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

Godly Principles, Godly Promotion

The Heart-Song of Godly Promotion: Realizing Opportunity

September 2, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” ~ Philippians 1:19-20.

The Apostle Paul was, and still is, a big man in Christendom. He is the example of one who follows hard the example found in Christ, taking every opportunity to glorify the Lord, “whether by life or by death.” As we begin our study to find the heart-song of godly promotion, what better place to begin than with Paul. Promoted by God as the best-known apostle of Jesus Christ, his road to fame was full of opportunity, but not of ease.

Paul wrote 2/3s of what biblical scholars deemed worthy books to include in the New Testament portion of the most published historic chronicle of our day. The Holy Bible is the go to authority for those desiring to follow Christ Jesus as Lord; and Paul was the number one, exemplary leader in teaching the way of following Jesus.

Because of his heart for God, Paul was highly promoted by God, but not in the way that we too readily tend to look for it. Paul often wrote from a jail cell or while in chains as a prisoner awaiting trial. He often relied on financial supply from those supporting his work and never, to our knowledge, had great, earthly wealth. Not much of a promotion in this worlds standard of measure, is it? Yet even here, in this letter written during one of those imprisonments, we hear his heart as he speaks of seeing the place he was in as an opportunity to accomplish God’s purpose and plan. Later in Philippians, Paul writes of learning the secret of being content. The secret he professes is that of seeing every situation in life as opportunity to trust in, rely upon, and glorify the Lord as his source of strength and supply (Philippians 4).

Paul was so successful as a follower of Christ, taking every opportunity to bear witness of Him, that people were jealous of his success as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see that in his testimony in chapter 1:12-15.

“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will.”

Others, seeing Paul’s example of faith in God despite circumstance, received inspiration to take every opportunity to share their own testimony of faith in God through Christ. Paul tells us that some preached Christ out of envy, hoping to cause trouble for him, but that did not bother him as long as Christ received glory in their sharing (1:16-18). These preaching out of envy are a picture for us of those who desire promotion with an ungodly mindset. They do not have as their greatest desire the promotion of the cause of Christ. Instead, their greatest desire is to achieve the prestige they see in others. These may have made a name for themselves in the earth; we don’t know for sure as they are not named, but these are an example to us of promotion sought after from a wrong mindset and heart-song. These desire prestige for self rather than the furtherance of Christ.

On this journey we walk in Christ, our promotion may not look like a good thing when viewed from a world viewpoint. Promotion as the people of God’s Kingdom, stationed in this world as ambassadors of Christ, God’s Holy Priesthood, truly effects our Kingdom position and eternal reward. Promotion from God’s viewpoint requires that we recognize every opportunity to take a step up for the glory of God, even when it may lead to our own momentary discomfort. The promoted and successful in Christ follow God and His will, accomplishing Kingdom purpose at all cost, knowing He is our supply, being content where we are, with faith that God is working His plan in and through our lives.

Each step toward higher ground with God only goes up when taken with a right and true heart attitude. Success on the journey requires we have a mind set to please God alone with a right heart attitude, so we successfully participate in His fulfilling eternal, Kingdom purpose.

Next post we begin the journey of discovering the reasons for Christ’s promotion and the instruction God gives us who are the called, equipped by Him to come up higher as His Kingdom representatives.

~*~

“Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves” ~ AMP.

A Praise the Lord Moment, Presence

God Purposed Justice

August 31, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Looking at several scripture passages today I ran across Isaiah 30:15-18 where God enlightened my heart regarding His idea of justice.

“For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.’ But you were not willing, And you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses,’ Therefore you shall flee! ‘And we will ride on swift horses,’ Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill. Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him” ~ NASB.

Wow. God desires us and wants to provide for and protect us, but He will not force himself on us. God’s justice is this, if we choose to flee His will and purpose for us, He allows us to experience life without His presence and care, suffering all the consequences of running from Him, His will, and His way. When we trust Him, desire and seek Him, following His lead, His justice is that we have Him, His presence, His provision, His power, His protection. All that He is He justly gives to those who seek Him.

Beloved, every storm tossed moment in life is opportunity to choose. Will we seek and follow God, or will we run our own way and leave the path He has for us? Every road upon which He leads us to traverse has one purpose, that we may know Him. As we discover Him on the road, we learn of His ways for us. He leads us safely through every storm when we trust Him and choose to follow His instruction to us.

“Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left” ~ Isaiah 30:21.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, “No, that’s not the road we want!”’” ~ Jeremiah 6:16, NLT

Do you fully believe and trust that God is with us and for us at all times, in all seasons, and in every place upon which we put our feet, having a good purpose in all things we walk through in this life? Do you know that He desires us and His greatest desire for us is Himself? Is God your greatest desire, keeping Him of first, most vital need and necessity, so much so that you will trust Him in the fire, knowing that as long as you have Him, all is good and very good? These are vital questions we must answer and make firm within self today, for the days are storm-tossed and we will be lost at sea if we are not standing with Him. Say “Yes” to God and see what the Lord will do.

Thank You Father. We need YOU. Instruct our hearts and help us to follow Your instruction. In Jesus, amen.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification… that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God” ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5.

Godly Principles, Godly Promotion

The Heart-Song of Godly Promotion: Introduction

August 25, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“There is no security on this earth, only opportunity” ~ Neal Caffrey character on the TV program, White Collar.

Several weeks ago, reading Philippians, I noticed something that caught my attention in a deeper way. I noticed the example of Christ with new understanding. Mulling over these passages in these weeks, while finishing the study of life at God’s side, asking Father the direction He desires we go as we look at these verses, my heart landed on one word: Promotion.

“For this reason also, GOD HIGHLY EXALTED HIM, and BESTOWED ON HIM THE NAME which is above every name” ~ Philippians 2:9 (read Philippians 1-2).

Promotion has long been a big word in this world. Many people desire to come up higher in life, be a recognizable somebody, do something big, and find security in the journey. More and more in the Christian community that one word rises up within bodies of believers. Many Christians watch for their promotion to higher ground in every area of life. They work toward it, long for it, some with undying resolve, others stumbling away from faith when their expectations go unfulfilled.

As I look at the example of Christ and think of the example of Paul, the author who penned the Philippians letter, I wonder if we are looking for promotion in all the wrong places and all the wrong faces. In light of the understanding flowing to me as I ponder these truths, “There is no security on this earth, only opportunity,” resounds with a wisdom that humbles me.

As I consider this saying from a secular crime show in light of the spiritual wisdom unfolding to my heart from God’s word, I can only hope and pray to write these thoughts with a clarity that helps us all to know the true prosperity God desires for us. As we share together this journey to discovering “this reason” that brings promotion, feasting on these words we will cover in Philippians, I pray we each desire and find the promotions in life that come from God alone.

Choice

I have a problem that sometimes loses friends.

August 18, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

I am saddened today as a result of losing a friend because of my problem. Here is my problem: I believe fully and completely every word within these covers…

The Bible of Christianity is not a “politically correct” book in our day. Essentially, it says this…

“There is Only ONE”:

One TRUE God
One Savior, the Son of God, Jesus
One Spirit who unites believer to Father, Son, and each other for all eternity
One truth
One Righteousness
One pathway to heaven
One gate to the…
One kingdom of God
One Door to the Father of all eternity
ONE and only ONE

I believe these things, not because my momma told me to; not because of the circles of people I run with; not even only because it is what I choose to believe. I believe this word…

…because I have experienced Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a way that compels my belief and strengthens my faith through the experience. It is what gives me courage to speak up and risk rejection, persecution, and alienation.

This word instructs me to understand that the greatest love is to deny fear of losing a friend so-as-to share these things I believe true with those who I do not know have ever heard; and to encourage the faith of those who struggle to believe. From my standpoint, the greatest act of hate is to remain silent about this faith I possess in this truth I believe because, from my understanding of these pages, there is only ONE.

If the Atheist is correct and the truth is, “There is no God, no heaven, and no hell,” we don’t have to worry about it. One day we will die, turn to dust, and be none the wiser that we were following the wrong truth. If the Pantheist is correct and there are many Gods and many ways to heaven, we don’t have to fret. We are each on a path and will meet up in eternity. However, if this word is the ONE…

…dare I be silent when given opportunity to say, “I believe…because…”?

It is my understanding that every devil behind every false belief has one goal: to keep as many as possible away from the ONE way, truth, and life.

As one who truly and fully believes the God of Holy Bible is ONE and only ONE, showing us the way, the truth, and the life, I cannot stand silent about what I know. I try never to push my beliefs on others, though my excitement and commitment may come across that way. Pushing would do no good, for God says we each must choose. However, I do have to share my beliefs as opportunity comes, for to do less is to participate in someone being separated from ONE for all eternity. If there is no interest in what I share, they made their choice and I move on to love them anyway, being the best friend I can be in the situation. If my sharing my faith insults another, I hate the insult, but I love the person too much to fail to share what I can.

One of Elvis Presley’s brothers spoke at a conference I attended. There he shared complaining to Elvis about his girlfriend continually telling him about Jesus and trying to get him to go to church with her; to which Elvis’ reportedly replied, “Brother, if someone loves you enough to tell you about Jesus, they REALLY love you!”

If my sharing plants a seed of truth that God later uses to help even one person find the path, I win a brother or sister. For me, as one believing the things I believe to be true, remaining silent is the true “hate crime”. In light of this, though I hate losing friends, I make no apologies for the faith I believe and proclaim because I truly love each one I am privileged to meet.

Light

In the Light ~ Step by Step

August 14, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life’” ~ John 8:12, NASB.

Each year God gives me a focal scripture to meditate on and grow in throughout the year. John 8:12 is the verse for this year, and, wow, what freedom is coming to me that is so very badly needed in this season of my life.

Not only is my life not exactly what I pictured it being when I was younger and thinking forward to my elder years, but there are constant challenges coming at me to hinder plans made in each day. Here, in this verse, God instructs me to trust Him to light each step before me and not fret the paths that do not light up and make themselves accessible to me the way I think they should.

That brings to heart another scripture that says, “The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

Here is something I am learning: disappointment, discouragement, and depression that comes when life gets in the way of our plans comes from failure to trust God, who directs our steps. God never promised a perfect life here in this world. Stuff happens, trouble comes, just as promised by Jesus, and the storms of life throw us off the course we lay out for ourselves (John 16:33).

God is never surprised or disturbed by the storms. He knows what is coming and why He allowed it. He has plans and purposes in all things. The true question is do I trust GOD to know the plan, lead the way, and work His purpose out in me, especially when the seas around me rage? Do I believe His presence and power to work the good He desires when the path around me is dark, shadowed, and gloomy, and all I can see is the Light that brightens my next footfall?

This is one thing I am learning as I focus my heart on the wisdom of John 8:12: Walking in light! What freedom that brings to my heart. It is the next well-lit step that I am to take. Whatever is out there…in the shadows, belongs to God. I don’t have to fret it. All I have to do is take each step as He lights it up before me, knowing with sincerity of trust’s faith that He is working His purpose into my life. As I follow His footsteps lighting the way before me, I see in each day His glory working the good in and through me that He has planned and purposed for my life. The path may lead to a cross for me to bear, laying down my will for His, but that cross will bring forth His glory, shining a light for others to step into His footfalls laid out for them. Thank You, Lord.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Conclusion

August 5, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand” ~ Colossians 3:1, NLT.

This series has been a challenge to write, with the busyness of life making it difficult to press forward from one post to the next. I wonder of the need of concluding thoughts, but desiring to bring full closure, we press to the finish line together, realizing that God honors us with the privilege of His right hand.

Today, as we close this series, let us rejoice with the realization that, because of Christ, we have the privilege of life lived with God, Thriving at His Side. Today, we take one final look at the life available for those with…

Sights Set and Kept Steady

As we set our minds and keep them set on the things above where Christ is (AMP version of Colossians 3:1), we take our stance as the people of God’s Own possession. We stand at His left in complete dependence on Him for what He will do. We stand at His right in complete reliance upon Him, made ready for what He would do through us. Knowing we already are the eternally established people of God’s Kingdom, representing Him and His interests in the world as God’s royal priesthood, ambassadors of Christ in the world, we draw near to His side for…

Abundant Life

“…¹³ How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. ¹⁴ For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. ¹⁵ She (Wisdom) is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her. ¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. ¹⁷ Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. ¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast…” ~ Proverbs 3.

It is wisdom to us when we learn to live life to the full at God’s side. Wisdom is vital to life with God, discerning His will and way for life abundant and full. To His right is longevity of life, for we can trust His care and provision to establish us on the path He designed us to walk. To His left is provision and the protection of those honored to set securely in His presence. There is abundance of life that supersedes every hardship for those who learn to grasp hold of godly wisdom that brings the good fruit of wisdom’s abundance to us (James 3:13-18). Of this wisdom, we are advised, “Happy (blessed, fortunate, to be envied) is everyone who holds her fast” ~ Proverbs 3:18, AMP.

Powerful Life

“Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left” ~ Judges 16:29.

As I read of Samson’s final triumph, his use of both arms, strategically placed for one last victory, I realize the true source of Samson’s strength and supply. His ability to rely fully on God for all he needed and to apply God’s provision wisely is a picture for us of a powerful life in God. When we face life with faith in God and reliance upon Him, realizing where our strength comes from, we too have power for a life that accomplishes God’s purpose.

Another beautiful picture as we consider the life of Samson is that no matter the pit of despair our unwise choices put us in, we can finish strong when we set our sights on Him and learn to thrive at God’s side.

Protected Life

“Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left” ~ Joshua 33:6.

As I read this use of the right and the left hand, I see the protection available to us when we choose to walk the path of God, each step taken at His side. This passage warns us to take care not to turn to going in one’s own way or to surrendering self to other gods. There is protection at the side of God that keeps us from personal harm and from harming others. A stance that keeps God as God, trusting, relying upon, and being well established in Him, equips and enables us to fulfill His purpose in life.

Refusing to turn to the right says to me that we do not fall to trusting our own strength and ways over God’s. Refusing to turn to the left says that we know from Whom our supply comes and do not trust our own or give credit to the conduit of God’s flow. Example: we know that though our job provides money for living (job = conduit of supply), God provides our job and our ability to work (God = Source of supply).

God receiving the glory due His name provides us with His protection, for it is He we rely upon and His name is on the line. He will not fail to do all His says He will. He is faithful to respond to even our mustard seed of faith in His good word and promise.

Embraced Life

“Let his left hand be under my head and his right hand embrace me” ~ Song Of Solomon / Song of Songs 2:6 & 8:3.

All of this teaching on thriving at God’s side has my heart throbbing, so it speaks of intimacy in our relationship with God. It speaks of the journey of a couple who truly enjoy their companionship. God desires relationship with us. Thriving at God’s side happens as we love Him above all and, desiring to please Him, we stick close on His heels, ready on the spot to move at His command for the accomplishing of His purpose, fully trusting Him who is faithful in all things, being faithful to Him as He is to us. Intimacy comes to us as we walk at His side and rest in His arms.

“The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, ‘Destroy!’” ~ Deuteronomy 33:27.

Father, I pray for all reading this series to be established by You as Your beloved, adequately equipped to Thrive at Your Side. In Jesus, amen.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 8: Blind-sided

July 30, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

King David is described as, “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22, *AMP) He sought the Lord earnestly, desiring Him, His purpose and plan, and His supply. He sought to possess the very heart of God. Therefore he tells us, “I saw the Lord always in my presence, for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken” ~ Acts 2:25-28 (Psalm 16:8-11).

David defeated lions and bears as he performed his duties as shepherd to the glory of God. He built of historical account in life that proved the hand of God with him in his battles. As a result, when Goliath came out to taunt the people of God, David did not have to think twice about taking the challenge with faith in the God he knew always in his presence. “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted” ~ 1 Samuel 17:45.

This same David, known as a man after God’s own heart, had his moments of forgetting God’s presence as we all do; thus, he fell to lust for Bathsheba, and killed her husband, Uriah, in an attempt to cover up his sin (2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Kings 15:4-5). Like David, who fell to the lusts of the flesh when he forgot God’s presence as he looked on Bathsheba, life’s challenges blind-side us, bringing defeat, when we forget the presence of God with us. The question we must ask is, “Are we remembering whose side we are on?”

Failure to understand the side

Failing to understand the principles of life at the side of God, His Presence with us always, Him faithfully standing for us and not against us, we find ourselves suffering a:

Wasted Supply
Fleeing Heart
Deceived Heart
Divided Heart

Wasted Supply

“They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm” ~ Isaiah 9:20 (see AMP also).

In the scriptures studied that reveal the normal flow of God to and through us, that which comes through the right hand reveals the fruit of our lives and the manifestation of God through us in ministry to one another. The moving of God’s right hand, flowing through us to move our right hand, is God’s power at work, affecting the world around us. The left hand is the hand that holds the provision of God. We stand at His left, blocking our right hand movement, when we are completely dependent on God for what He alone can and will do. We stand at His right, His supply flowing to our left hand, through us, to move our right hand, when He desires we join Him as His instrument for ministering His will and purpose in the place where He stations us for service. Beloved, failure to realize God’s work, provision, and power flowing to us for our use in any given moment of life leads us to blind-sided, defeat.

Falling to dissatisfaction in or failure to realize and rightly use God’s provision and calling, leads us to wasting His provision. When we fail to see the provision and power of God to and through us, it is as one who wastefully devours their own flesh without realization of the glory of God’s provision and the opportunity at hand. Failing to consider the worth and significance of all God’s supply, we eat up what He gives with dissatisfaction because its purpose goes unfulfilled.

It is vital that we understand the importance and supply that flows from the side of God and use His supply as people after God’s heart. We must be seekers and possessors of God’s desire, plan, and purpose so we use His supply with integrity that fulfills our purpose in life. Every step of experience we see at God’s side builds a history with Him that inspires our progress to greater strides in believing-faith. We face every challenge this life brings when we know God is with us.

Fleeing Heart

“Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” ~ Jonah 4:11.

Jonah ran from God because he failed to possess the heart of God for the people of Nineveh. Rather than get someone else to go to Nineveh, I believe God chased after Jonah until he surrendered to God because God knew he was not opposed to sharing the message. He had a heart for God and wanted to do His will, but he was only opposed to sharing God’s word of grace and salvation with this particular people group. Seeing things through his own understanding, he failed to know the purpose of God for the people He sent Jonah to warn. His hate for the people of that city caused him to fail to stand at God’s side and possess His heart for the people.

In the instant of his flight, Jonah failed to know the right from the left. Instead of trusting God, receiving the provision, and fulfilling the assignment, he tried to dictate from his own heart supply and understanding. He tried to reverse the flow and wound up on the run.

What situation are you facing that you cannot fathom as God’s will for you? Sometimes the trouble we experience is God, chasing us, desiring that we stand at His side and receive His heart as our own possession, so we have His supply for fulfilling His purpose in a place we would rather not go. He wants us to know Him, have His heart, and make a history that reveals His power at work to, in, and through us. He says to our fleeing hearts, “Choose today whom you will serve.”

Deceived Heart

“He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’” ~ Isaiah 44:20.

Failure to recognize and fully comprehend God’s presence at our right hand leads to our believing a lie. “I can’t” is a common lie we believe when we fail to weigh God and His supply into the equations of life’s choices. “I CAN, you watch me” is a lie we believe when pitting our will against God’s better judgment. The potential of the HIMpossible becomes the IMpossible when a lie is in our right hand. We feed on ashes when we believe the lies of the world, the flesh, and demons over the truth of God, when we fail to trust that God knows best.

Divided Heart

“‘As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off’” ~ Jeremiah 22:24.

At the right side of God, we have His authority and power for every challenge this life presents us. Our heart united as one with His, we are victorious in Christ when we possess His power that flows to us for our success in fulfilling the purpose for our being in such a time as this.

Here, Jehoiakim obviously failed to recognize God and take his stand at His side to get the heart of God for his service as king of Judah. When we stand on the right of God with His authority for life flowing through us, it is as if we are His signet ring, stamped with His Name, sealing the deal so all may know God in and through us. When we fail to realize God’s authority for life, we fail the purpose He planned for us, being of a divided heart. Pulled in every direction by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the boastful pride of life, easily dictated by the wisdom of the flesh, the world, and the demonic, we find ourselves separated from God.

No matter where God has us in life, there is an eternal purpose for our being there. If our life choices lead to our suffering consequences we would rather not have to face, even there God has purpose. Ask Jonah, who wound up in the belly of a whale before following God to Nineveh, where hundreds came to saving knowledge of God through the message he professed. Ask David, who sat in sackcloth and ashes, seeking the heart of God while awaiting the fulfillment of consequences for bad choices. He knew that God could change His mind and spare him the suffering he faced, but when the decision was clear, he rose from his bed of pain to serve the Lord with renewed fervor, receiving well the Lord’s decision. His example continues to influence us when we fall, helping us know the grace of God that puts us back on our feet at His side.

God’s plans for us are good, to give us a hope and a future. In every experience with Him, good or hard, there is a lesson to learn that helps us firm up our need to remain at God’s side. There is always opportunity to bear witness of God’s work in our lives that will draw others alongside Him with us. God wastes nothing. When we falter and fail, even there, God will stand beside us to supply us for fulfilling His purpose and plan.

David was victorious king, known as a man after God’s own heart, because he proclaimed the truth of his success as, “I saw the Lord always in my presence; He is at my right hand!” He knew from Whom his supply came and the purpose for its provision. He trusted God’s heart desire and used well the gifts of God’s supply, giving God all the glory due His name. When he faltered and failed, through repentance he returned quickly to faith in God, remaining at the side of Him who’s Presence he knew and loved. It is vital we come to the same understanding if we want to succeed in our journey to thrive at God’s side.

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” ~ Psalm 16:11.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 7: Surprise Reversal

July 25, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

God feeds us our need at His left, flowing His power and provision for us to participate with His Kingdom purpose as we sit at His right, authorized and empowered as one of His Royal Ambassadors. However, God also has His position of…

Surprise Reversals

God is ambidextrous. His left arm is as strong and powerful as His mighty right. His right arm is as full of His supply as His ample left. He is able to reverse the picture we see in Scripture, often as a show of His might and as a surprise attack to overcome the enemy. We see this picture in the following Scriptural examples:

“Out of all these people 700 choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss” ~ Judges 20:16.

Right-handedness is the norm, as it is the most seen. In our day, the stats I saw in my google search reports only 10-15% of people to be left handed. In our story, we see that out of 26,000 the men of Benjamin found ready for war, these 700 God chose because they were left-handed. In the story, we are left with the understanding that, out of the 26,000 men ready for war, these where the only ones who were left-handed. It was a surprise tactic, not only in that the number was so few, but their blows in battle would come from the opposite side of norm.

As I consider the flow of God, I see the left-handed people of God standing to His right when dependent on Him for all things, then placed to God’s left in service, where His supply flows to them for their strength and authority in life. That through-flow is the norm as seen in Scripture. In researching the sides, God’s supply we are dependent on Him for is on one side, flowing through Him to the same side of His servant that pictures the storehouse of His supply. For right-handed people, God’s supply comes from His left hand, flowing through Him to His right where it pours to our left, then through us to the right hand that accomplishes His purposes. For left-handed people, the flow reverses, making their left arm strong and authorized for service, often a surprise reversal of God’s hand.

“But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. …Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly” ~ Judges 3:15, 21.

Here God chose a man who was not normal to the flow of God in his positioning. His power flowed from right to left. As we read the story of this deliverer, we see that he dressed himself as if his strong arm was the normal right-handed flow. The reigning king then thought nothing of his moving with his left hand, not realizing the danger his left-handed thrust brought to the life of this evil king.

Now take our understanding a step further as we picture us as the Body of Christ. Jesus takes His seat to the right of God, the place of authority as King of kings. We are the Body of Christ as pictured in scripture, thus the promise to Jesus extends to us, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet” (Hebrews 1:13). We are seated with Him in the heavenlies as His body, having His authority flowing to and through us.

Jesus continues His active and effective life through our service to Him as His Body. We are in him and him in us. Jesus moves His left hand to receive supply from God, which flows to us as His Body. Jesus moves His right hand of power that works His purpose through us as His Body, moving on His behalf in life. Thus, Christ lives on in us, accomplishing the “greater things than these” promised us in John 14:12. Through us, He has many feet moving throughout the earth. Through us, His hands reach farther than ever before. Through us, His voice resounds throughout the world. As God’s people, we stand to His right and to His left for supply and ability. In the power of the Spirit, we move as one in Christ.

For me, picturing this flow adds strength and assurance, as I understand the positioning of God with His purpose that authorizes and supplies me for life more abundant and full. I can sit at His right hand now, realizing that He has all of my life and the concerns that brings to me in His capable hand. He pours forth all the resources I need to take up the authority He gives me to accomplish His purpose, while fully trusting Him for all that is beyond my control and power to fix.

Just FYI for you who are ambidextrous like God, the percentages I found reported through google search is 1-3%. Whichever side of God you find Your flow coming from, beloved, understand this fact seen in Scripture and go forth to serve with power in your arms. The thing we need to grasp is that we must depend on God in all things and trust His power to flow to and through us with authority to accomplish His purpose. It is vital that we understand the part He authorizes and equips us to accomplish as opposed to that which only He can do. Our beloveds must come to understand this flow for themselves, depending on Him for their supply. God will not allow us to take His place in their lives. So, yes, those we love will face challenges in life that is beyond us to fix, giving them opportunity to seek God and us opportunity to trust God. Which side are you on, beloved? It is vital that we learn to discern our position in Christ, for we thrive at God’s side. …

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 6: Empowered

July 20, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Beloved, God positions us at His side with eternal purpose, empowering us for success on the journey of life. The supply of our position, empowered first by growth in surrendered living that is dependent on Him and His supply for life, is abundant and full.

As we grow in our ability to surrender to and trust Him, He moves us to His right side where our apprenticeship as His servant-child begins. There we grow in our stability as His followers, coming up higher to understand our role as part of His royal priesthood and our responsibility in His royal court as stewards gifted with authority for His Kingdom purpose. Growing strong as His representatives, equipped as His ambassadors, we grow in our victorious journey as His lights, being in the world while living as people of His Kingdom, charged with power to fulfill His purpose in our day. As people who understand our responsibility in our left and right side stance with Him, we are…

Empowered and Endued with Authority to Accomplish His will in His way

“Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name” ~ Isaiah 63:12.

Moses was the visible instrument in the hand of God, through whom His power flowed to produce miracles in the world. As we stand to God’s right side, in the position of responsibility with authority to act, God feeds us with full power to do all He calls us to accomplish in His name. With His resources flowing to our left hand side, the side of dependence and trust, He empowers and supplies all we need for stretching out our right hand of action and obedience, equipping us to fulfill His purpose for our lives. With Him empowering our right hand through our left hand dependence on Him, all things are possible for us who know and trust that nothing shall be impossible with God.

In understanding this power, I love the picture seen in the animated movie, “Lion King” where King Mufasa, standing behind his baby, Simba, adds his roar to his sons. Simba, facing an enemy assault, takes a posture of authority and power, letting out a roar to send the enemy off in fear. The king, knowing Simba was too small and weak to have any real influence against the assault, takes a stance behind him, roaring out in unison with the son. The kings roar added to Simba’s gifted the son with the authority and power necessary for the son’s actions to be effective.

That is an awesome picture of our stance with God in Christ. Anything we accomplish of God’s kingdom purpose where we stand is His power flowing through us to make us effective. That power is ours to possess as we learn to thrive at God’s side. I see this dependent supply and empowered action pictured in the following passage:

“Then the priest shall take the one male lamb and bring it for a guilt offering, with the log of oil, and present them as a wave offering before the Lord. Next he shall slaughter the male lamb in the place where they slaughter the sin offering and the burnt offering, at the place of the sanctuary—for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. The priest shall then take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The priest shall also take some of the log of oil, and pour it into his left palm; the priest shall then dip his right-hand finger into the oil that is in his left palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of the oil seven times before the Lord. …The priest shall also pour some of the oil into his left palm; and with his right-hand finger the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil that is in his left palm seven times before the Lord” ~ Leviticus 14:12-16, 26-27.

Blood pictures cleansing and oil pictures renewed relationship with God that anoints with authority and power for life made new in Him. Note the bowl of blood and the hand full of oil is in the priest’s left hand, showing supply from God. The work of ministry He pours through the priest’s right hand of obedience.

The priest then applies the blood of cleansing to the right ear, hand and foot of the person anointed for service to God. Right ear, hand, and foot shows left-sided dependence on God to make one clean and ready for right-sided service to Him. The anointing of the oil he sprinkles on the person as a whole, empowering them for service that depends on God’s supply.

Right ear hearing: That service flows to ears made ready and empowered to depend on God to make Himself heard. Given the ear of a disciple, to hear as a disciple, we then take that word to others made ready to hear God’s word sent through us.

Right hand working: The right hand cleansing pictures a person made ready to reach out with power to fulfill the will of God in ways that minister to those we reach to with His gracious supply. God then uses us to empower others to come to His side in likeness to our example, made ready to serve Him.

Right foot moving: With God’s supply that cleanses our feet, He makes us holy, setting us on a righteous path. We become His witness wherever He sets our feet to walk.

We no longer kill the fatted lamb; Jesus is that lamb for us, and He is the priest, reaching out His hand to touch us with His blood of cleansing and empower us with His anointing oil of gladness, making us one with Him in purpose and service. God, through Jesus, supplies our left hand and empowers our right.

“When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’” ~ Judges 7:20.

Note that in these last two passages for this post, as we thrive at His side, our lives meld into His. We become one with Him, our left hand as His own, filled with His supply, and our right hand moving with His, effective in ministry. The left hand of God is the place of His protection and provision; our left hands hold His supply. The right hand of God is the place of His authority, power, victory, and wisdom; our right side flows forth the revelation of His right hand power in us.

When God sets us on His left, grabbing us by our right hand, all is His to do as He leads us safely through this life. When God sets us on His right hand side, He shows us what we have authority to accomplish while empowering us to do so. There, He grants us wisdom to know and do our part as His representative in the world. There we have His authority as if we are His signet ring on His right hand (Jeremiah 22:24). There, we become His instrument for victory, His pouring forth to and through us with the power He gives us to win the day in His Name and to His glory.

In life lived for God, we truly are seated on both sides at all times, dependent on Him and moving in unison with the authority He pours through us at all times. At the right side of God, with the trust of His left side supply, we become His swords in the earth, rightly dividing the word of truth and influencing the world for good. Fully dependent on God, as good stewards trusting His supply, we live out our days as His instrument, accomplishing Kingdom purpose where we live.

But wait! We have an ambidextrous God…

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 5: Victory!

July 16, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

God seats us on His left in areas where complete reliance upon and trust in Him and His supply is our need. On His left side, we are dependent on God for all our need with nothing we can do to affect the outcome. However, when God seats us to His right, we become His instruments and partners in all He does. There, we not only have supply from His right hand, but we become an extension of His holy arm. Discerning the difference that signals which side God has us on in any given moment and learning how to rest at God’s side is the journey we are on as we consider God seating us at His side.

“O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him” ~ Psalm 98:1.

Today we see that God’s victory comes at the move of His right hand. When God seats us to His right, it is so that we can participate in and enjoy victory with Him. At the right hand of God, we have…

Victory’s Assurance

“The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’” ~ Psalm 110:1.

Beloved, as I read this verse in light of considering all it means to be at God’s right hand, I realize that He speaks this word to us through Christ, when He sits us to His right side. God calls us to trust Him for victory over our enemies, just as Jesus did and does. As seen in the life of Christ, a part of the battle is ours to win through the authority we have in God through Christ. As we stand firm with God in this life, He uses us in His work of delivering us to victory over our enemies.

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me” ~ Psalm 138:7.

Note the Psalmist says he walks in the midst of trouble. Jesus warned that trouble will come to us as part of our experience in this life because we are not home with God yet. I don’t know about you, but too often, when trouble comes to me, having eyes on the trouble knocks me for a loop and hinders my ability to keep walking through it. Such fear and stagnation do not accomplish the work of God. God has a work for us to do here, victories for us to win, and a witness for us to bear forth so that others may join us on our Kingdom journey. One thing that equips us to walk with God is the realization that He walks beside us in the trouble, fighting for us, bringing us into victory with Him. As we keep eyes of faith on God, we can walk forth to accomplish all He calls us to as partner with Him in His work.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” ~ Isaiah 41:10.

In order to realize victory in Christ, realizing God’s presence with us, it is vital that we keep focus on Him, trusting His hand to uphold, strengthen and help us. “Do not anxiously look about you” is the key to our recognizing and participating in victory.

Think of Peter, taking that step of faith to get out of the boat and walk with Jesus on that storm tossed sea. He was fine until he took his focus off Jesus and put it on the crashing waves. When we are anxious, feeling defeated and impotent, it is because we are looking at the waves of life’s storm tossed seas. Refusing fear, realizing and trusting God’s presence, keeping eyes on God so as to overcome anxiety, and resting in His right hand that reveals to us the way of righteousness that works victory is our pathway to hope’s assurance and help in the battle.

In addition, God promises in the Amplified version of Isaiah 41:10, “I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties.” Since trouble is a natural part of living in a world dictated by fleshly, worldly, and demonic wisdom, persecution and difficulty comes swiftly against those of godly wisdom who walk in ways that differ from this world. That makes it vital that we trust God to use the trouble to harden us against its assault. The closer we walk to the side of God, seeing victory at His right side, the more difficult it is for the trouble that comes at us to make a dent in our armor. Our faith stands firm and sure with greater strength as we grow in our ability to keep eyes on God, having a trust that is secure in Him, hardened against trouble.

“The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm, ‘I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; Nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored’” ~ Isaiah 62:8.

The promises of God come to us by the power and might of the strong arm of His right hand. It is the right hand of God that moves on our behalf, saving and protecting us, fulfilling His every good word to us. His right hand holds us up so we may stand firm of faith while we participate with Him as partner-instruments in His victory. Thus, we praise Him, because we know His presence with us, we trust His promises, and we understand that any good accomplished by us flows to us from His right-hand supply.

“The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly” ~ Psalm 118:15.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 4: Stability

July 15, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted” ~ Psalm 89:13.

As I look at verses describing God’s arms and hands, I note that the right hand of God makes His strength and stability available to us. We are strong and stable at the right side of God.

“My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me” ~ Psalm 63:8 See Psalm 37:24.

God orders His creation. There is order found to the right and to the left side of God. He determines at any given moment the side on which we stand according to His purposed plan, our need, and His authority over our lives. He is the creator God who is Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end, the first and the last. All provision is in His hand and He teaches us to prosper at His right side.

At His right side, as we learn of Him, we gain strength of body, character, soul, and mind. As we grow strong in knowing our God and trusting in Him, we grow stable, able to stand firm in Him even when the earth quakes beneath us, shaking up our lives, and tempting us to question and doubt our God, His faithfulness, His love, His power. Knowing God as an apprentice at His right side, He equips our…

Stability ~ Empowering Strength

“Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself” ~ Psalm 80:17.

In my dream shared in the introduction to this series, revealing the place of God’s positioning for me to possess, He has me at His right hand side, facing Him, having a throne of authority and responsibility that is just my size. All my concerns are before Him, all the people and things I seem impotent to influence in life. His positioning my throne to face His, Jesus makes it clear that there are things I must trust Him to deal with, trusting His “I’ve got this”. As I trust Him with all the things that concern me and rob of strength, keeping my focus on Him as my throne faces His, He empowers me to know the things for which I do have authority to influence, strengthening my stability and stance as partner with Him in His Royal Court. At His right hand, we learn to know our part and the power and authority He grants for doing our part in His will and way.

“Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together” ~ Isaiah 48:12-22.

God is the Perfect Coordinator of all things. He placed the planets in their orbit. He gave the birds their distinctive song. He knows the plans He has for us; plans for good and not for evil, to give us hope and future (Jeremiah 29:9-14). Trusting God’s direction equips us to stand with those who stand firm in Him, accomplishing His purpose and plan in our day. Trusting Him and following His instruction for life enables us to live eternity now as we prepare to enter His eternal Kingdom for all time. Trusting God stabilizes us while we walk in this world as people of His Kingdom, representing Him and His interests for eternity.

“…behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. …the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” ~ Luke 17:21; Romans 14:17.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 3b: Apprenticeship

July 12, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“Now what I mean is that as long as the inheritor (heir) is a child and under age, he does not differ from a slave, although he is the master of all the estate; but he is under guardians and administrators or trustees until the date fixed by his father. …But we, brethren, are children [not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise” ~ Galatians 4:1-2, 28, AMP.

Reading Galatians 4 this morning spurs further thought regarding our apprenticeship as people positioned as children of God, Heirs of Promise.

In my journey to understand this position in Christ, I began with the understanding that I am no longer slave to sin, but slave to Christ. Under the guardianship of God’s Spirit, having teachers entrusted as trustees of my growth, I learned to no longer allow myself to be slave to lusts of the flesh or to demands of others, but to do all as slave of Christ and slave to righteousness (1 Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 6:5-6; Romans 6:16-19).

Once I understood my need to surrender myself to God in all things as a slave to a Master, God began teaching me the difference between a slave and a bondslave (Exodus 21:1-6; Luke 1:38; 1 Peter 2:16). The difference between the two is subtle. A slave is a slave that wins the heart of the Master, receiving His favor by choosing obedience out of realization of one’s need to please the Master so as to receive the benefits gifted for a service well done. A bondslave is one who falls madly in love with the Master. Trusting that he is better off as a slave of God than without Him, and having as one’s greatest desire that of pleasing and tending well to the business of the Master despite any difficulty that may mean for the bondslave of Christ, they surrender themselves to His ownership for life. Love and trust trumps trouble, and surrenders to the Master for all eternity.

Once I understood slavery to Christ for life because of loving trust, God led me to understand that I am a child by His choice, child of promise through Christ.

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” ~ Romans 8:16-17.

“We, brethren, are children [not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise” (Galatians 4:28). We are children of God and heirs with Christ forever. Learning that, now, finally, from age 58-60, God is bringing fuller comprehension of the responsibility and authority I have as child of God and heir with Christ. We are children in the Royal Court of God and His Kingdom, having full authority in Christ and responsibility under God to represent the interests of His Kingdom in our here and now life and throughout eternity. As we discover our heritage as children, we understand that we are no longer slaves, but owners of the Kingdom with Christ. Our responsibility moves from that of ones commanded, to ones who possess and protect the Kingdom of our heart. We are in the world, not of it, for we are child-heirs, part of the Royal Court of God’s Kingdom, fulfilling Kingdom purpose for Kingdom prosperity to the glory of Father God and King-Ishi. Thus, we are…

Positioned as Children

In this Galatians 4 passage, we learn that our training in Christ leads us to understanding of God as Father and our ability to draw near to Him as a beloved child climbs into the lap of her daddy.

“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God” (vs. 6-7).

The goal of God in our apprenticeship under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit is to equip us to make this transition from “slave of God in Christ” to “Heir apparent”. Having full assurance of our security in Christ, we realize our position in the Royal Court, fully possessing our authority to carry out our responsibilities as His representatives where He has us stationed in the world.

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?” ~ vs. 9.

God is God, all knowing and all-powerful. He knows who we are, but this scripture instructs that as we serve Him well, that service catches God’s attention, growing the closeness of our relationship with Him as we draw nearer still to Him, and making us one He knows with a favor that makes us stand out as His representatives in life. I am sure you know a Christian whose relationship with God inspires you to know Him better. Those who know God well, trusting Him fully, not being easily swayed by false doctrine or the desire to please others, and that He draws near to because of that close, personal relationship stand out as His children of Light (Ephesians 5:7-10).

“…you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself” ~ vs. 14b.

The one who is heir with Christ realizes that many will only come to know Him for themselves as they see Him in us and experience His presence through us. We are conduits of all that represents God, His will, way, purpose, and Kingdom. When we come into this position of letting Christ live through us, we are near to the heart of God, well known by Him and recognized by others as “having been with Jesus” (Galatians 2:20; Acts 4:13).

“So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you. My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you” ~ vs 16-20.

Children of Light, Heirs of God in Christ, grow in stability, following God’s truth, having full faith in Him. Here we see that those who were speaking religious legalism to the children were luring them away from the truth of God. Paul reminds them that it is good, being sought after commendably. To me that means we are to be that example of Christlikeness that draws others to seek us as teachers, examples worth following, as they seek Christ for themselves.

However, these followers of Christ found themselves sought out by those wishing to draw them into religious legalism that denies faith’s assurance in Christ. Instead of trusting Christ fully for saving-grace and the path to son-ship, growing strong in their relationship with God, pleasing Him, they fell back into the old covenant of law, trying to add Jesus plus works of the flesh as necessary for true salvation, seeking to please those religious leaders. That leads to constant struggle as we try to balance the pleasure of other people with pleasing God. Assurance of our position in Christ is difficult to realize when wavering between relational-faith that produces the fruit of the Spirit and good works that make one a pleasure to man’s ideology.

Paul reminds them that those true children, filled with the Spirit and following the dictates of God in the Spirit’s power do not need legalistic ritual added to their salvation. We are free in Christ to be God’s children, but if we choose to believe salvation through law, we must keep all the law without fail (Galatians 3:1-14). We cannot claim trust in Christ and the earning of our way into God’s kingdom. Instead, our trust in God through Christ, as empowered by the Spirit, produces in us the good works of God’s desire for us. Works of a righteousness of our own making do not save us. Our salvation is in Christ who is our righteousness, and through that, we are empowered to live righteous lives for the glory of God as pleasing Him. This is the heart of the one who understands their position as a Child of God and Heirs with Christ.

“Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. … you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise” ~ vs. 21-31.

“As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” ~ Ephesians 4:14-16.

The hour is near for Christ’s return. Time grows short for us to shine the Light of God so all who will enter into this Kingdom life with us may come. It is time for us to grow up in full understanding of who we are in Christ, heirs with Him, given charge to represent Kingdom interests wherever God stations us in life. God positions us as children with Kingdom purpose where He places us. Some of those places are hardened soil, challenging to our holy feet, but we must grow strong in knowledge of Him so we may live in ways that make us known as His lights, children of God’s favor.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 3: Apprenticeship

July 11, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“And as her soul was departing, for she died, she called his name Ben-oni [son of my sorrow]; but his father called him Benjamin [son of the right hand]” ~ Genesis 35:18, AMP.

I believe that God calls those who truly desire to surrender to Him as child and partner in Christ “The son / daughter of My right hand.” There is great significance to our placement at the right hand of God. We are heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, called and equipped to serve along His side in fulfilling Kingdom purpose. Our position as heirs, people of the Royal Court of God, begins with that left sided surrender, receiving from His hand of supply, trusting His care, protection and provision. In that place of trust in God, we find Him preparing us and moving us to the position of apprenticeship at His right side. Once we truly understand His trustworthiness, He places us at His right as His instrument for use in our days. We are each in training for our role in His Kingdom …

Positioned for Instruction / Understanding / Discernment

“Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me” ~ Psalm 139:10.

When God’s right hand lays hold on us, His hand places us to His right. The right hand, as we will see throughout the remainder of this series, is the place of action. While placement at His left side is the position of dependence, protection, and personal supply – the relational position of His ministry to each individual of us, the right hand of God places us in positions of usefulness and authority – the place where His supply pours out through us to affect those around us. There we are in training for the purpose of ministry and the fulfillment of His plans for us in our lifetime. His right hand flows all that we need to accomplish His will in His way with power and authority to be His instrument in our day.

“As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness” ~ Psalm 48:10.

It is at the right hand of God that we learn righteousness. In this position, God begins the process of transformation, changing us from the inside out, beginning with our way of thinking. Scripture instructs us to understand that transformation begins in our minds, equipping us to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:1-6). Our thoughts effect our heart attitudes and desires, and from the heart flows the produce of our lives (Proverbs 4:23). At the right side of God we learn to recognize the difference between the wisdom that is false, coming from the flesh, the world, and demons, and that that is from God. Learning the true, right, godly, pure, excellent, worthy of praise thoughts that lead to good, righteous, and peaceful outcomes, changing the fruit of our lives, is the goal of our right hand position with God (Philippians 4:6-9; James 3:13-18).

“And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things” ~ Psalm 45:4.

The right side of God is the fruit bearing side that effects life where we are living as in the world, but not of it. Experience is the greatest instrument in the hand of God for our training. As we experience Him at work in and through us, we grow strong of faith. As we learn to receive the instruction that comes to us at the right hand of God, we learn His ways that equip us to accomplish His eternal purposes where we are in life. As we live in agreement with His way of thinking and being, we see victory, truth, meekness, and righteousness in our day. The “awesome things” of God become our joy and song of praise to Him and that that brings His favor to us. Through that experience, His right hand flowing to us to affect the work of our right hand, we grow strong in Christ.

Apprenticeship through Christ makes us partners with God, set to learn His ways so we produce the good works He planned for us from the beginning of time (Ephesians 2:10). This surrender of “Yet not my will but Thy will” is the beginning of our journey to walk in the authority of Christ for His Kingdom purpose in us.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 2: Dependence

July 10, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Left Sided Stance: The Position of the Dependent

“That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and answer us! …For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you’” ~ Psalm 60:5; Isaiah 41:13. See also Psalm 20:6.

The Knight in shining armor, charged with the care of the Princess Bride, fills the screen as a battle rages around them. Watching, we see the Good Knight position the Princess to his left.

There is purpose in this position. Her stance to his left places her in the place where he can shield her against the enemies blows. It also keeps her out of the way of his own efforts to defend her as he wields his sword, held in his right hand. This beloved, is part of the picture we see as we consider God placing us at His left hand side. Any passage that speaks of God grabbing our right hand places us to His left hand side, a picture of dependence on Him for His care, protection, leading, direction, and provision.

“For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them” ~ Psalm 44:3.

Scripture teaches that we can do nothing apart from Him; that all we have truly comes from His hand. Left sided stance is realization of our dependence on God as a child depends on her Father; as a charge depends on her Protector. In all things we do in life, though charged with a task, given authority and responsibility to carry it out, all we do has a left sided aspect to it. We are always dependent on God for His provision and care.

“I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” ~ Psalm 16:8.

When God is at our right hand, that puts us on His left. Dependence on God keeps us from feeling shaken by things in life that threaten our security. For example, scripture teaches that God is our defender (Proverbs 22:23; Isaiah 51:22; Matthew 10:19). Second Corinthians 6:7 tells us that God placed the weapons of righteousness that are for our defense in our left hand, the picture of our dependence upon Him who is our shield of defense.

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread” ~ Psalm 37:23-25.

“Nevertheless I am continually with YOU; YOU have taken hold of my right hand” ~ Psalm 73:23.

Left handed positioning remembers that God is always with us and never leaves us. Though our choices, that of others around us, or God’s placement for ministry may lead us to places we would prefer not to go, God is with us even there.

Left handed positioning in scripture is always a picture of our dependence on God for His protection and provision; wisdom, direction, and leading. This understanding is the heart of David when he prayed in Psalm 20:

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high! May He send you help from the sanctuary And support you from Zion! May He remember all your meal offerings And find your burnt offering acceptable! Selah.

“May He grant you your heart’s desire And fulfill all your counsel! We will sing for joy over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

“Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. They have bowed down and fallen, But we have risen and stood upright. Save, O Lord; May the King answer us in the day we call” ~ Vs. 1-9.

We stand upright and strong at His left hand with hearts fully surrendered to and trusting in God.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Part 1: Positioned

July 7, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Positioning the Bride

Read Psalm 45

“Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir” ~ Psalm 45:9.

Before looking at what all is going on when God positions us at His right or at His left, we first need to realize that we who are His through Christ are the Bride of Christ, the queen at His side. Endued with power and authority as the queen Bride of Christ, we work Kingdom purpose at His side. This study is to help us understand what it means for us to stand beside our King-Ishi (Husband).

“Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies; at Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house; then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him. …” ~ Psalm 45:9-13.

First, we stand beside the King in gold from Ophir. We are not an ornament on His arm, with no intrinsic worth besides that of belonging to Him. We are the apple of His eye, valued as worth the price of relationship. He cherishes us and He nourishes us, not only meeting us at our need, but enriching our lives, empowering us to become all He designed us to be. He not only stands us beside Him as a show of ownership, belonging to Him as His wife, but He nurtures the good He places within us, equipping us to use the gifts and abilities He supplies with the authority we hold as ours to possess at His side.

Nurtured and empowered as we listen to Him; inclining our ear to receive instruction from His teachings and authority from His commands and promises, we live as His companion and helpmeet for Kingdom building.

As queen at the side of Christ, we work with Him to accomplish His Kingdom purpose in life here and now. We accomplish this best as we learn to not only listen, but to bow down to Him alone. We honor our parents as commanded by God, but there comes a time when the bride leaves the home of her father to join her husband in making a new home. We must leave our child-like submission to our parents and the authority they have, the opinions of other companions and the pull they have, to surrender ourselves fully to our King-Ishi. Our beliefs and practices no longer come from desire to please others, but we grow to develop our own beliefs and the practice of His ways based on personal relationship and surrender to Him.

God can use other relationships to instruct and teach and help us become His bride with strength, but we bow to the King at work through them, not allowing other relationships to have greater authority and power over us than He holds. No relationship should lead us away from bowing to His right of authority as King-Ishi. As we bow to Him, receiving His teachings and instruction, we join in agreement with Him to do our part as His companion in building the new home He desires to have with us.

“…The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor. The King’s daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is interwoven with gold” ~ Psalm 45:9-13.

As we, the people of God, bow down and surrender to the Lordship of the King, recognizing Him as Husband, and receiving the authority He gives for us to stand at His side and help Him in His work, God gives us favor with others. The more we grow in likeness to His heart desire, the more others seek us out in their journey to become His bride, partners with Him in the building of the Kingdom in which to dwell.

Jesus makes us all glorious within, able to bear His image as our outer adornment, representing Him and His interests in the world so that we become lights to draw others into the Kingdom with us. This understanding and surrender to Him as King is the first step in our journey to understand what it means to stand side by side with Him.

We thrive at God’s side as we bow down to the King, working with Him as queen Bride, having His heart desire as our own, accomplishing His desires in the authority He gives.

Thrive at God's Side

We Thrive at God’s Side ~ Introduction

July 6, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand has held me up; Your gentleness and condescension have made me great” ~ Psalm 18:35, AMP.

Upon waking on the day I write this, grieving over so many family issues, I saw myself standing in a desert place, crying out with arms outstretched to God. Immediately the Spirit exclaimed, “That’s not where you are!” In that instant God reminded me of another dream, shared with you before, and again here and now.

The Dream

Jesus, sitting on his huge throne leans over the arm to His right hand side where He has me sitting on a just-my-size throne, like His own but much smaller and turned facing His right hand side. As I weep before Him, He leans over the arm and says, “You rest here. I’ve got this.” Looking up at Him, I scan to my right and see all those I love and weep for standing as brilliant, gold light before Him. Realizing they are His and He has this in His righteous and holy Right Hand, weeping fills with hope.

~*~

Today as I realize He continues to seat me at His side where His authority in all things great and small is made sure to me for areas of concern, I also understand that He has me sitting on a throne of my own, smaller – just my size. God grants us authority and choice in life. We have a throne of authority gifted to us by Him. He expects us to be responsible stewards of all He grants us authority to handle. The challenge comes in realizing what we are empowered to do as opposed to those things we must know is His to handle.

The things going on in my family and in the world around me are too big for me and they are out of my control. As the Spirit asked my heart upon waking recently, so I recall to mind now, “Why are you fretting over things you can do nothing about?” These things I must entrust to my Lord, who has “got this”. Otherwise, I have no strength and focus for handling the things He gives me authority to possess.

As I consider these truths on this day of God reminding me where He positions me, I find myself wondering what I can learn about those positioned by God on His right hand side. Researching that, I find several things that help us understand not only what it means when we are on the right of the Lord, but also what is means when He positions us on His left. Thus begins a study to know how we can thrive as we learn how to function to the right or the left hand side of God.

Beloved, we thrive at God’s side.

Assurance, Body of Christ, Exact Representation, Godly Principles, John 17, Sanctification

In Jesus Name: a Look at John 17 ~ Part 6c

July 3, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read John 17

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. … Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”” ~ vs. 18-25.

Sent In Jesus Name

Concluding this look at John 17, desiring to be His people, His response to this prayer of Jesus for us, we acknowledge His work in us. God sends us into the world in Jesus Name to be a people sanctified by and set apart to live a life of truth, being in agreement with God, His will, and His way. God sends us into the world in Jesus name to be His image bearers, making His love known to all: For God so loved the world. Finally, today, God sends us into the world in response to Christ’s desire that we be…

Set in His Presence to Make Him Known

Jesus prayed that we may be with Him where He is and that we may see His glory. Yes, that is a prayer for us to join Him in the Kingdom He prepares for our eternity, and for us to see Him as He is, in fullness of glory. However, I also think of these words of Jesus regarding His work with the Father in the world:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” ~ John 5:19.

See self through God's eyes. — See self through God’s eyes.

Jesus knew the presence of God in His midst as He walked through life in the world, but not of it. He recognized the glory of God as He realized the work of God in His path. Jesus joined the Father in what He did in the world where He served Him to accomplish His purpose. Jesus is our example for life. I believe that as we surrender to the leadership of the Spirit, we too can know the presence of God in our midst and see the glory of His hand moving so that we can cooperate with Him to accomplish the purpose He has for our being in this age of the history of this world.

Beloved, God sends us into the world to contrast the character and nature of God against that seen in the world. He sets us apart to be a people of truth, led by and living in agreement with all God says is true, right, good, and worthy of praise. He sends us out as recipients and conduits of His love, making the love of God known in the world. God sends us into the world, but He does not send us out alone. We have the Spirit of God who gives us eyes to see His glory, ears to hear His instruction, and a heart made ready and willing to accomplish His purpose.

Father, You send us into the world to represent You and make You known, therefore we are not to be of this world philosophy, acting in the ways deemed true by its wisdom and priorities. We who live for You, knowing Your presence and following Your lead, are Your response to this prayer of Jesus. Make us to know You that we may walk in Your ways and make You known, being a people after Your own heart, united as one in the power of Your Spirit at work in and through us. In Jesus, amen.

“I saw the Lord always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will live in hope; because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence” ~ Acts 2:25-28.

Assurance, Body of Christ, Exact Representation, John 17, Sanctification, who I am in Christ

In Jesus Name: a Look at John 17 ~ Part 6b

July 2, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read John 17

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. …The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me…” ~ vs. 18-25.

Sent In Jesus Name

In the previous post (Part 6a) for this series, we noted that Jesus sends us into the world just as God did, sending us to believe, speak, and live truth as God intended truth to be. Choosing our own sanctification in truth in likeness to Jesus brings unity to all who believe and practice His truth in kind. Today we see that this gift of glory from God ~ our ability to be one as He is one, perfected in unity ~ is ours from God so that the world may know that God sent Jesus. In making Jesus known as the Christ who saves, God tasks us with making the truth of God’s love found in that sacrifice evident to all who hear. Just as God sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us to make it known to the world that God loves them just as He loves Jesus and us. We are…

Sent in Love to Love

Jesus sends us into the world because God the Father and Jesus the Son so love the world that they gift us to our age in history as His image bearers, living love out into the world. As people of God, fully called and equipped to live sanctified lives in kind so the world may see and know the love God has for all, it is vital that we “be” love as He is love. Love is our nature in Christ, the outpouring of His Spirit at work in us.

Filled with the Spirit, the attributes of love that I have written about many times, will be evident in us: love, being unconditional and incorruptible, fulfills the law in our attitudes and actions toward one another. In the practice of love, the love we have for others covers a multitude of sins, not waxing and waning with insult. Though hearts may hurt when trust is stressed by sin, thus hindering our ability to put ourselves in harm’s way by trusting again, care for the best possible life for those we love remains, and that best is always God, His will, and His way.

Those in our sphere of influence can know that though we hate sinful actions, we love them, as we learn to love unconditionally and incorruptibly. In so doing, we find fear of losing our love cast away as those we love struggle to grow in knowledge of truth and love. As those around us see this love from God’s heart flowing to them through us, they are equipped to know and trust God’s love for them.

As we grow in knowing and receiving this love of the Father found in the Christ, we unite as one with all who have gone on before us and all with us on this journey now. United in this power of God’s grace, called to a committed life in unity with God through love, we set the example as people who know how to love in Jesus Name.

Jesus prayed for us that we would succeed in the power of God as we sanctify ourselves through faithfulness to trust and follow Christ’s example out of love for those in the world who need to know that God loves them. We are God’s gift to the world, charged with making His love evident in likeness to Him. His desire is that we join Him in eternity, having fulfilled this work of God in the earth, being love as He is love so that the world may know that God so loved the world.

Father God, Your word makes it clear that You are love. You love not because we do all things well, but because that is Your nature. Your word also makes it clear that we are to love as You love. You desire our perfection in unity with the Father, Son, Holy Spirit and one another, therefore, we must receive the seed of Your nature that bears forth the fruit of love in likeness to You (1 John 4:7-11). Love is the glue that binds us together as one when we fail to fully know and walk in truth. Father, pour forth Your love through us that we may be one as You are one, successfully making Your love known in the world. In Jesus, amen.

Assurance, Body of Christ, Exact Representation, Godly Principles, John 17, Sanctification

In Jesus Name: a Look at John 17 ~ Part 6a

July 1, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read John 17

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me…”” ~ vs. 18-25.

Sent In Jesus Name

In this part of the conclusion of Jesus’ prayer, His words instruct our hearts to know that, just as the Father sent Him into the world, so He now sends us, His followers, into the world. Like Him, we are in the world, but not of it. He deploys us into the world as soldiers of the Kingdom of God, charged with a strategy for making God, His love and His truth known.

God sent Jesus into the world because “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We will cover more on the love aspect of His sending us in the next post. Suffice to say today that just as God sent Jesus, so He sends us, out of love and a desire to reach those lost to relationship. Today we focus on our deployment as those charged with the call to be His people…

Sanctified in Truth

With this realization in heart that God sent Him into the world because of His love for those of it, so Jesus sends us. That love leads to His praying, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

Truth is vital to unity, beloved, and unity with God and each other through Christ is the goal of truth’s sanctification. We cannot be one together as His body without guidelines that help us know Him, His will, and His way. That plumb-line we stand up to is the truth of the inerrancy of every word given in His Holy Bible.

Jesus chose to sanctify Himself fully to God for His use in fulfilling this Kingdom purpose for our sakes, providing us a pathway to a sanctified life through Christ. He chose for our sakes to know the truth of God, believe that truth, and live His life as led by that truth. Set apart to following the truth laid out by God, He led by example; thus, we now are His people, called and equipped to fully commit ourselves to truth in serving God, just as Jesus did.

Now with His example set to show us the way, He sends us into the world just as the Father sent Him. One thing the Father sent Jesus to accomplish is to correct the false understanding about Him, His will, and His way that was destroying His people, keeping them in discord and disunity. Thus, Jesus chose to know and live truth according to God’s intent, and He sends us into the world with the weapon of truth that protects unity. The question is, will we sanctify ourselves as He did, following His example in taking up the cross of self-denial in order to follow God’s truth in all things.

In the remainder of John 17, we see that Jesus includes us living in this day in this prayer as He prays not only for those with Him in that moment, but for all who believe because of their testimony. Our response to those before us, who believed because of the testimony of these disciples of Jesus and who passed that testimony on with their personal testimony, makes us a part of God’s answer to this prayer of Jesus. In responding to the testimony of God in our day, we become the ones prayed for by Him, us becoming His “sent” ones to this generation in the world. Thus, the baton of faith is passed to us for this age, calling us to bear the testimony of this God who so loves us.

Now we are the deployed of God, sent to bear this testimony of a life of purpose chosen by us in Christ. God’s purpose in sending Jesus and Christ’s in sending us is because of their great love for all. Their purpose for sending us provides understanding for us who are the sent in Jesus name. God sends us so that others may know the truth about Father and His love. Therefore, we must seek to know the truth, setting ourselves apart to live as people of truth, bearing forth His testimony in the world as people alert to our being the beloved of God.

This is the first of our purpose in Christ as the sent: to choose as Jesus did to sanctify self in truth for the sake of those He sends us to, living and speaking the truth of God, so that others may come to know the Father and His great love.

Father, we choose today whom we will serve, whether the god of this world, or You, the true God of all creation. Grant us to choose You today as people set apart to live in truth, made complete in You and made one together as those sanctified in truth. In Jesus, amen.

Assurance, Exact Representation, Godly Principles, John 17, Sanctification

In Jesus Name: a Look at John 17 ~ Part 5

June 30, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read John 17

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth” ~ vs. 14-19.

“Sanctified in Truth; Your word is truth.”

Beloved, there is a danger in the world today that threatens our ability to work and live as Name bearers for Christ: that is, failure to realize and live as people who believe God’s word is true; inerrant in every way. The two things threatened when we fail to believe that God breathed His word in full truth through the thoughts penned by His authors include our ability to receive His instruction and our ability to trust His promises.

Sanctified in Truth

Sanctification means to be set apart for a purpose, fully useful in the hands of God in accomplishing His work in the earth; fully surrendered to His will and way, desiring His work fulfilled in us.

When we fail to believe God’s word fully represents Him, His will, His way, and His truth, we will pick and choose what we want to believe from the pages of Holy Writ and fall short in our sanctification to Him as Lord. When we close ourselves off to the relevance of His word in our day, we become unteachable of spirit, unable to transform with the work of His word in us.

When we are unteachable, we refuse the transforming power that equips us to renew our minds (way of thinking and believing) and to know the will of God, which is good and acceptable and perfect. When we cannot discern the will of God because of unbelief, we cannot please Him. Sanctified living requires us to believe the inerrancy of God’s Word and its relevance in our day so we are equipped to love Him through full obedience that makes us adequate for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 12:1-3; Hebrews 11:6)

God’s Word is Truth

When we fail to believe that God’s word is truth, we cannot fully receive, accept application to our lives, and walk with hope in the promises of God. They are without relevance if His word is a lie.

Jesus believed all God said was true of Him and His life purpose, thus He was able to withstand temptation to fall away from the path God laid out for Him. Believing God’s word to be true and that He would do all He promised, Jesus refused a lesser crown in this life. Bowing down from His high position to be a humble man, walking with the power of God’s supply to experience a cruel cross in order to purchase a people for His own possession as King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God because He believed God’s promises, taking Him at His word.

I am really excited that following this study of John 17, God is teaching me the significance of our sitting to His right and to His left. I don’t want to give it all away in this post, but suffice to say, Jesus believed God and He received authority to fulfill the purpose of God laid out for Him from before time began. Jesus is our example, beloved. We are to walk in Jesus name as a people sanctified and set apart to God for His purpose. The only way to accomplish that is to believe God, taking Him at His word to and for us.

Truth is truth. Walk ye in it.

Father, the world hates anything that is in opposition to it. Your word is truth, standing in direct opposition to the ways and wisdom of this world. Therefore, we who believe are the hated, reviled by the world, just as Jesus was. Truly believing God, taking His word as God-breathed, is not an easy road to follow, but it is the road to eternal purpose that is worth the reward it brings us. Grant us hearts that believe You, taking You at Your word, being teachable of heart, and trusting fully in every promise You give. To do otherwise is to fall into the hands of Your enemy, allowing Satan to win our lives as his to claim. In Jesus, may we truly and fully believe You so that we may see Your glory in the fulfillment of all You planned for us from before time began. Amen.

Act of Marriage, Kingdom Living

We are His KINGDOM People: In the World, Not OF It

June 26, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

As I watch the news today, my heart breaking for our nation as it steps farther from God, I find myself praying, “Here am I, O God. Help me to know how to be a Christian, in love with and serving You, being one who is in the world, but not OF the world.”

Today in this nation, same sex marriage gains approval in the court of human appeal. As one who believes God means it when He tells us that marriage is one man to one woman, having purpose in that union, it makes my heart sad to see this decision come to our nation. However, the thing that God reminds me of is the fact that God’s ways and Laws are given to distinguish those who are His from those belonging to the world. We are People OF His Kingdom, on assignment IN this world, charged not to be OF its system. Beloved of God, this world is dictated by a different wisdom and principles than God leads us to possess.

The world has every right to be the world. That is the nature of THE BEAST. Why are we so shocked when the world in which we live behaves in agreement with its nature? Our challenge is to remain in the nature God calls us to possess as people of His Kingdom.

The travesty is that too many of our children are going the way OF the world. That breaks my heart still more. However, Beloved, like it or not, this is their right of choice, given them by God.

“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes AND HIS JUDGMENTS, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” ~ Deuteronomy 30:15-20.

Our children and all those in each age have right of choice, to choose whether they will believe God, love Him and adhere to His ways, or whether they will serve the god of this world. What is our choice and responsibility as Kingdom people who are in the world, but not of it? As Paul said in his days of challenge, so must we say, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge” ~ Acts 4:19. We are responsible before God to make our choice and set an example for our children to follow. In so doing, as parents we are responsible to give our children the seeds of truth they need to possess so they can make their own, well-informed decision.

It is vital that we make a distinction between the ways of this world and those given us by God. Our children need to realize the choices set before them and the consequences when making them. They need to know that to choose God is to choose not to be of this world and its ways. They need to understand the difference available to us in God’s Kingdom. If we fail to help our children have understanding of what it is to be of God’s Kingdom, Children of the Royal court, tasked with eternal purpose, we will lose a generation of our children.

Watching the way of the world unfold and take hold in our nation is scary to me, for it signals failure to choose God and His way, which signals consequences that will come in behind those choices. That fear makes me want to lock my children and grandchildren away and protect them from this world. I want to make their choice for them to protect them from the fallout coming on the world. The problem is that God does not give me that right. He only grants to me the right and responsibility of a parent and grandparent tasked with setting a good example and training those He gives me in the ways and truths of the Lord.

Our nation is in trouble: not because I say so, but because God says so in His warning to those who follow Him, found and outlined throughout His word. The hope of our children lies with God, and we must do all we can to give them the resources they need to make the choice that is for their best “today” and their eternal destiny.

Beloved, our nation is in trouble because it chooses more and more to go the way of this world’s system, and that is the fulfillment of prophesy long ago warned of as the end of days draws ever closer to its conclusion. The question is, are we following God as Kingdom People, or are we toying with life as part of the world and its philosophy, afraid of taking our stand with God for fear of losing our position in this life or connection with those in it?

“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, we will serve the Lord” ~ Joshua 24:14-15.

We each have our choice to make. Choose today whom you will serve and be the people of God’s Kingdom despite the ways of this world. In that decision, be head under God in your own home, refusing to allow the ways of the world to find refuge there. Realize, parent, that the father of the prodigal had to release the son to the world for a time, allowing him his fill so he could realize the caregivers in charge of hogs have it better in the Father’s house than one can have in the world. We all must die to self before resurrection in Christ can come. They must make their choice just as we had to do.

Our choices have consequences, be it blessing or curse. Our nation in this world is toying with the curse, in keeping with the dictates of this world. However, Beloved, the world has no hold on us who are the Blessed and Beloved People of God’s Kingdom. Walk as Children of Light (Ephesians 5:7-10; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

“…Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE Lord, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ” ~ 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 (read 1 Corinthians 1-2).

Choice, Exact Representation, God's Faithfulness, John 17, Protection, Sanctification

In Jesus Name: a Look at John 17 ~ Part 4c

June 26, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read John 17

“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves” ~ vs. 11-13.

Hedged by His Name ~ Part 3

As we live within the hedge as people of God’s name, we possess a mind set on and driven by eternal purpose; and we bear His image, having His nature in heart and flowing out as adornment. Last in my thought for the hedge we have when we are In Jesus’ Name is found in John 15:

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” ~ vs. 8.

When we name our Children, we give them personal names that distinguish them as individual, but they are born automatically possessing our family name. It tells the world that this is Joseph of the family of Smith. Discipleship is the same. This is Peter, disciple of Jesus. Andrew was disciple of John until he united with Jesus, changing his alliance: he married into the family of Christ.

A family’s character is judged by the reputation of its family members, each making an impact on the reputation of the whole. Likewise, the teacher grew in reputation partly by the actions and behaviors of those aligned under his discipleship. That is what happens with us as we become disciples of Christ, we come under the name “Christian”, representative of that family name. People know of Christians what they see and experience of our actions and behaviors. Thus, they believe they know who Jesus is through that experience. Do we represent Him well? Our lifestyle is the answer that reveals the sincerity of connection with the Christ. It is not just words, but it is our actions and ways of living that reveal the truth.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” ~ vs. 1-8.

God has long had a people in the world, tasked with representing Him and His interests. They are called “the Children of God” and are of the lineage of that Name, disciples fed by His heart desires, through which the fruit of His Spirit at work in and through them makes Him known. That name comes with great responsibility and with the full resources of God for the fulfillment of our responsibilities as His representatives in the world. As we abide in the vine of Christ, possessing the family name He passes to us, we are His disciples, tasked with discipling others.

Like with the nation of Israel, others may see what God is doing for and through us, His great blessings toward us, and desire to take part in that. Their desire may draw them in with claims of possessing the family name, but they are weeds beside us, never fully grafting to feast on the vine in true commitment and surrender to Him. Such people are unproductive branches that sap the provision of God meant for feeding the vine.

Simply saying, “I belong to Jesus,” is nothing without fruit that proves adherence of the graft. The things we do and the words we speak have power that will reveal the vine upon which we feast. Beloved, if we call ourselves Christian, but live as one fed by this world’s philosophy, we blaspheme the name.

“The person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people” ~ Numbers 15:30.

We can walk along side and claim the people of God as our own, but we cannot claim God without vitally uniting with Him. The truth of our unity with God will reveal itself by a life changed to agree with Him and His nature. The Amplified version of this verse in Numbers is scary to me:

“The person who does anything willfully and openly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one reproaches, reviles, and blasphemes the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [THAT THE ATONEMENT MADE FOR THEM MAY NOT INCLUDE HIM].”

“Whether native born or a stranger.” Strangers hear and see the blessed of God and enter the fold to claim the blessing without wholeheartedly taking the marriage vows that make for vital union and right of name bearing. Likewise, we can be born and raised among God’s people, but without personally choosing relationship found in vital union with God through Christ, we cannot possess the family name in righteousness and truth.

If we truly belong to God in Christ Jesus, taking that family name through belief in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on our behalf, giving us life and a new name, it will show in our lifestyle, choices, words, thoughts and desires. We will faithfully feast on the vine of Jesus, bearing fruit that represents our God, Lord, Father, and King. If we fail to bear the fruit of abiding, we are impostors and not true Children, and we are in danger of eternal damnation, separated from God and His family forever.

“…To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature…. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” ~ 2 Peter 1:1-11.

“Make certain of His calling and choosing you.” That suggests we can have a false encounter with God that tricks us into believing that we are safe and secure in that relationship. We cannot bear true fruit without real relationship. The proof of relationship is in the fruit of our lives.

These things, Lord, You speak in the world so that we may have Your joy made full in us. We can face this life as we unite more and more with You, being one together with You in the power of Your Spirit, bearing Your name, flowing out of and adorned by Your nature, as righteous representatives of the family of God. As You have spoken over us, O God, so let it be done. In Jesus, amen.

Exact Representation, God's Faithfulness, Godly Principles, John 17, Kingdom Living, Protection, Sanctification

In Jesus Name: a Look at John 17 ~ Part 4b

June 25, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read John 17

Hedged by His Name ~ Part 2

Last post we covered that, as people living in the hedge of God’s name, we possess a mind set on and driven by eternal purpose. Focus on the eternal leads us to our need to clothe ourselves in our new nature through the internal flow and external adornment of the image of God.

“Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him…. So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart…” ~ Colossians 3:9-10, 12.

As the Beloved of Christ, made One with God through Him, we are to put off the old self and put on the new that bears the image of the One who is God. That image we put on flows from a heart that is changed and made One with Him.

The heart of our soul is the essence of our character and nature. Made new in Him, His new creation, having His image in us brought to life, the habits and character of our old nature that was dictated by fleshly, self-centered desires, is pushed out and overruled as we possess the nature that is God. The most quoted passage, speaking of the nature we possess in the power of God’s Spirit is Galatians 5:22-23.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The remainder of Colossians 3:1-17 describes these and other attributes of God’s image found living in us. These characteristics we possess as our own, allow the Spirit to freely live in and flow through us to express God’s glory in the world around us.

Note that when we have His nature living and active within us, that image we bear has no law that stands against it. Our fleshly nature fell under the dictates of many Laws of God set in place to rule the ways of humanity. Even in today’s world, it is too often laws that motivate us to do the right that is expected.

In our flesh, which is self-indulgent, we run from God and walk all over any who get in the way of our fulfilling our desires. However, God’s nature is perfect and holy, fulfilling eternal purpose based on God-centered desires for unity and glory, and His Spirit transforms our nature. Leaving the worldly behind, we walk with godly intent and purpose. We are no longer motivated by force of law, but by the power of a right heart in Christ. Possessing His nature fulfills the Law and reaps a harvest of glory, hedging us in the protection found as we live our lives in Jesus Name.

These things, Lord, You speak in the world so that we may have Your joy made full in us. We can face this life as we unite more and more with You, being one together with You in the power of Your Spirit, flowing out of and adorned by Your nature. As You have spoken over us, O God, so let it be done. In Jesus, amen.

Assurance, Body of Christ, Exact Representation, John 17, Kingdom Living, Practicing His Presence, Sanctification, who I am in Christ

In Jesus Name: a Look at John 17 ~ Part 4a

June 24, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read John 17

Hedged by His Name

Beloved, look at what Jesus is praying here. He placed a hedge of protection around us who are in His Name.

“…keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are…”

In His Name, living and breathing and moving and speaking as people made One in Him, is a hedge of protection for us. It seems vital, then, that we understand what it means to be in the Name of God / Jesus. As I think of where to take us in discerning the fruit of being in His name, the following come to heart as a beginning of our discovery, getting you started on the road to living it. In keeping these posts more devotional length, we will look at this subject for several days, covering each passage in turn.

The most vital need on our journey to become one with God, hedged and protected in that name is having His priorities and mindset for life, being eternity driven:

“If then you have been raised with Christ to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead, aim at and seek the rich, eternal treasures that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your minds and keep them set on what is above, the higher things, not on the things that are on the earth. For as far as this world is concerned, you have died, and your new, real life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in the splendor of His glory” ~ Colossians 3:1-4, AMP.

God keeps bringing me to this realization, that I am one with Him, made complete in Him. All that I do, think, and speak is to flow out of this unity. It begins with possessing eternal perspective. To get a picture of what this mindset looks like as it bears its fruit in us, we must consider Paul’s teaching through verse 17 of Colossians 3.

Vs 5, Amplified Bible (AMP), warns us to beware the things that work “the deifying of self and other created things instead of God.” Our lives must always reveal God as God in us. This eternal perspective gives us power over fleshly emotions and desires. When God is God in us, we do not give ourselves to fleshly impulses. Instead, we walk a life that reveals that we are no longer children of disobedience, obstinately opposed to divine will, being fully surrendered to the Spirit residing in us (vs. 6-9).

Vs. 10 advises that we in Christ have clothed ourselves “with the new, spiritual self, which is ever in the process of being renewed and remolded into fuller and more perfect knowledge upon knowledge after the image and likeness of Him Who created it” (AMP).

Letting go the flesh and its desires and putting on this eternal takes a lifetime. The produce of it reveals itself in us as spoken through the remainder of this Colossians 3 passage:

Vs. 11: all distinctions vanish. When we are one together in Christ, seeing Him in each other, we are no longer separated by race, color, creed, family history, etc. Past issues set aside, we are one together with God, removed from all dissension, hatred, unforgiveness, distrust, etc. We find unity in the love of God that flows through us as new creations in Christ to each other.

Vs. 12-17: our very nature bears His image, being holy as He is holy through the adornment of the character and nature of God who flows through and covers us.

That brings us to the focus for our next post on the subject of being in Jesus Name through our individual possession of unity with Him as His image bearers.

These things, Lord, You speak in the world so that we may have Your joy made full in us. We can face this life as we unite more and more with You, being one together with You in the power of Your Spirit. As You have spoken over us, O God, so let it be done. In Jesus, amen.

Choice, Godly Principles

The Problem with Offense

June 23, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“I am offended by that!”

“That offends me!”

These words grow louder in our society every day. Every day a new – old offense, touted on our newscasts, raises the temper in America. With each one, I find myself taking a side on which to walk my offensive line.

Most recent in the news are those “offended” by the flying of the confederate flag. As I watch the reports pour forth, stores get in on it, spreading a flag out, stating, “We will no longer sell these flags because we do not want to ‘offend ANYONE’”.

Immediately that “offended” me. Not because I want a confederate flag to fly, but because I want the right to fly one if I desire. However, as quickly as the offense hit me, God’s Spirit called me to shush it.

Think about it. What is the meaning of “Offend”?

Offend ~ Resentful or annoyed, typically as a result of a PERCEIVED INSULT.

Offense comes from a place of resentment, and is most often caused by festering anger. Note also in this definition that offense sprouts out over a “perceived insult.” It is based on our perception and opinion, which may, or may not, be based on truth.

Do I care if people fly a confederate flag? We don’t fly one, but others have every right to do so, and I want the right to fly a flag without fear that some person passing by, who does not know me or my heart, will judge me by their perceptions of that flag.

We are in a nation of free speech, and flags speak of allegiances. We fly an American flag because we are of that allegiance. Others fly a flag in honor of those who fought under that flag. Flags can speak of ideology, yes, but we need to know the ideology that has a person flying the flag.

The confederate flag speaks, yes. For some, they speak of a heart that is not right toward American-Africans (Not a typo, will explain in a bit). That is sad, but true. However, the Civil War issue of slavery was secondary to the cause of the war.

My understanding of that time in HISTORY is that the war started because people in the south felt the leadership in the north was making unjust demands against their produce, requiring more of them than they felt just and right and doable. Therefore, war broke out. The slave issue came into play as the north, needing to increase their depleted army, promised freedom to those slaves who would fight for their side.

Did the slaves deserve freedom? YES! Was the war a just war from the beginning? Everyone has their opinion. Nonetheless, many fought and died on both sides, and they fought and died for a cause they felt worthy of the fight. The African slaves, seeking freedom as Americans fought with the northern states because they deserved freedom and felt it worth the effort if they could win their freedom in the fight.

To me the confederate flag stands for our right to choose. It stands against unjust government. It is the southern voice shouting “Don’t tread on me!” I love that flag. LOL

To others it speaks of racial discord and the right of white over black; unjust slavery and hardship. This is sad to me. But why punish those who honor their fallen under that flag, seeing it for what it was in their eyes, a people looking for just government.

Offense tells the one we perceive offense from that their heart ideology is wrong, and it says that we only care about our own viewpoint. It assumes knowledge of another’s heart issues. It judges the heart of a person that we often do not know.

Think of the offensive side of a football team. Their goal is to push for territory they want to gain, even if they have to run over another person to get there. That is what acting out of offense does. It pushes, too often out of festering anger that works destruction, forcing “my way over your way.” It judges the heart of all who are on the other side as being of evil intent. Going on the offensive automatically puts those opposed on the defensive, even if they know you have a right to your opinion. The battle of the offended against those on the defensive brings all to discord and disunity.

The thing God spoke to my heart in the Spirit this morning as offense threatened to pull me into the battle is this, “WE CHOOSE TO BE OFFENDED.”

I am sorry for the offense perceived by others and I hate that which causes their offense. On the other hand, I am too easily offended by others trying to force their will off on me; my personalizing the injustice of their perception. Thus, I have to choose whether I will let that anger get hold of me and dictate my life and actions. The choice is mine, and it is quickly quelled when I refuse anger and choose the right. The right I want is our unity as a nation: to deny offense based on anger that brings division and walk in righteous paths of peace, love, and grace.

People, if we keep going the direction we are in, we don’t need ISIS to come in and destroy us. All they have to do is sit back and wait. With enough time and ammunition, we will destroy ourselves from the inside out.

Festering anger breeds offense. The offended put others on defense. And the battle is on.

A house divided against itself will quickly fall.

It is vital that we learn how to fight the good fight of faith, knowing how to choose our battles. A battle line drawn out of anger and resentment breeds discord, which brings disunity that will bring the house down. A battle drawn from a stance on what is right and good will draw people together. As we seek out of love to express what is right and true, others seeing the righteousness of it will join in, and a union forms that stands in strength.

I honor the right of others to take a stand. However, I pray that stance is made out of a desire for a righteous outcome. If anger, resentment, pride or arrogance is the fuel, destruction will come as people pushed to offense take their side. Note the base for your stance, beloved. If anger is the base, we choose to be offended and to judge the heart of others out of our angry perspective, thus breeding anger in kind. If we are standing on a base of what is right and a desire for truth and unity, there is no need for an offensive: Only live right and others will soon follow.

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another” ~ Galatians 5:19-26.

Side Note

Why do I prefer “American-African / Latino / Asian / Irish / etc.”:

I am American-Irish. I word it that way because I want unity in my country, so I am an American first, and I happen to be of Irish decent. I have never been to Ireland. I love my Irish roots and the people who spawned me. However, I am and always have been American.

Only as we move our roots fully to possess and grow a strong America as Americans first will we see this discord begin to calm itself. Hanging onto the past as if it is our present reality, our perceptions dictated by the hardship of our history, we will never build a strong America for our children to live in.

Only as we become an American who happens to have blood from other nationalities and races can we be one people, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We need to know our history, pulling from the good to continue that, and making sure we do not repeat the bad; but we do not need to keep living in the past. May we as Americans make our now and our kids future better by living the good we know in our now lives, producing good soil for the growth of future generations.

Seeking Holy Habitation, seated at God's feet (Exodus 15:13).