Phases

          Ever since I was a small child I have loved picture books and  story books with illustrations.  A small illustration can clarify what the author is explaining in words.  A drawing or photo can serve as a marker for information the reader needs, as in a how-to article in a magazine.  Word pictures and films are powerful tools in communicating a story. 

          Jesus taught short stories explaining the kingdom of heaven, the personality and character of God the Father, and many principles and purposes of relationship with Him.

          Since the Holy Spirit is one of the three personalities of God, and He knows me intimately, it is logical that He teaches and speaks through pictures in my mind.

          Lying in bed, in the quiet of the night, I listen. It is often this kind of moment I will see a picture or hear a phrase.  A couple of nights ago this concept suddenly presented itself to me.

Phase One	God the Father	Created our world and all that is in it.
Phase Two	Jesus the Son	Stepped into the creation He co-created with the Father
Phase Three	Holy Spirit	Came to inhabit the earth through His Bride, the Church

          Phase One:  God the Father spoke with such authority that particles of matter obeyed His voice and the world came together.  The world was established with systems of weather, systems of beginning and ending—like planting seeds, which grow into plants and then culminate into harvest.  God created man in His image and then gave mankind the opportunity to have the knowleged of good and evil.

          Phase Two:  Aware that man would choose the knowledge of good and evil, the Triune God agree to the plan of redemption.  Jesus, who participated in the creation, stepped into His own creation. 

“(3)All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. …  (10)He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him].  He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own—His domain, creation, things, world,], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.”  John, Chapter One.

To those seeking truth, Jesus taught how to become the Children of God.  He declared the Kingdom of Heaven, and demonstrated holy love to those willing to follow Him.  Through His death and resurrection, He established His supernatural government, with the promise of a Helper. 

Jesus gave instructions for them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise;  The Third Person of the Trinity would be called

·       Counsellor

·       Helper

·       Intercessor

·       Advocate

·       Strengthener

·       Standby

Phase Three:  On the first Pentecost about 120 people were together, with one mind and devoted to prayer when they received the sudden visitation, like the rushing of a violent tempest blast.  The Holy Spirit appeared to each person as tongues of fire, separating and settling on every individual.  His Presence was diffused throughout their souls.  The Holy Spirit so overwhelmed them that they began speaking in other languages.  The Holy Spirit came to manifest God’s Kingdom here on earth through His Church. 

The Holy Spirit has been working His wonders in Jesus’ name through the centuries.  Jesus asked of the Father, so the Father sent the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, to remain with us forever.  He is called the Spirit of Truth, whom we welcome and take to our hearts because we recognise Him. 

Because of the Holy Spirit, the Church was born.  Because the Holy Spirit is born within us, it is His empowerment that causes the Kingdom of God to supersede all remaining natural governments.  Any Christian is a citizen of Heaven and is welcome in any Christian congregation anywhere on earth; without a passport, without the need for a visa or any state government approval.  A person might be limited by international borders preventing travel.  But the Blood bought Church is universal.  The Church existed before my birth, and the birth of my generation.  It will exist long after I am gone from this world.  Yet, the work of the Holy Spirit will continue on. 

In my imagination I watched the unfolding of:

• Creation, like a shot of the earth from the space Shuttle
• Creation of mankind
• Creation of the covenant of salvation
• Creation of the supernatural, superseding Body of Christ the Church

In seeing that story unfold, I see that we were created for the Holy Spirit, as a gift from the Father.  How amazing is our God. 

I hope you can see the picture too.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,

“Lady Helene”

Starting a Journey

I want to draw near to God;  spending time focusing on Him, reading the Bible and studying it provides the opportunities of knowing God.  Another way I renew my mind and guard my heart is by listening  to Christian music.  I have four favourite on-line resources to listen to:  United Christian Broadcasters (UCB), All Worship, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), and Premier Christian Radio.  I’ve listed them in order of my favourite first to last.  I like each one for different reasons.   

UCB Link:  United Christian Broadcasters 

All Worship: Allworship.com

Christian Broadcasting Network: CBN Radio stations 

Premier Christian Radio:  Premier Christian Communications 

 

To have them as options to listen to thirty years ago would not have been possible, because I listen to them over the internet.  In the early and mid 1970’s it was only on Sunday mornings that I could hear a two-hour radio show with contemporary Christian music.  I’d use a small tape recorder sitting next to the radio to record the programme in order to listen to it during the week.  All other Christian Radio stations played preaching and teaching programmes.  It was in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that a local radio station tried using a music station format to play only Christian music.  Today there are many local radio stations that provide access to Christian music. 

In the 1990’s ministries began using the internet to share the gospel around the world.  One of those ministries is Joyce Meyers.  Her programme is now televised on TBN Europe.  Last week I became aware of Joyce Meyer’s 3030 Challenge—studying the Word for 30 minutes a day over 30 days.  I had been lacking self-disciple and focus when it came to Bible Reading and Bible study.  I signed up for the challenge, began getting the e-mails on Friday, 15^th May.  But it is a battle to avoid the distractions—like television, playing on-line games or desk-top solitaire.  And of course, there are interruptions—phone calls, taking Maisy out, eating lunch. 

I am determined to persevere.  On Monday, 18^th May I made some quality decisions about what I want to study from the Word.  Studying is different from just reading the Bible.  To study is to read the verse several times, look up words in a regular dictionary as well as in a Bible concordance.  I’ve done this in years past.  I am always inspired, encouraged and surprised by what I learn.

I know about obedience.  But I am not good at obedience—the kind of immediate obedience that shows the Lord that I am serious about making Him known to others.  So, I want to understand what it really means to obey, and then get better at being obedient. 

                Biblegateway.com* provides a search function for key words or scriptures.  Using the New King James Version options, I found that “obey” is listed 157 times in the Bible.  (Other versions have different numbers of listings.  For example, New International Version has 207.)  I took the time to write the list down in a stenographer’s notebook, so I could easily look them up in my Amplified Bible. 

                I read a few of the verses as I looked at the list and observed two things very clearly:  consequences for not obeying and consequences for obeying. 

                In the year 2000 I began a study of the words “obey” and “obedience”.  I wanted to study these words in relationship to the fear of the Lord.  Because I need more fear of the Lord.  Following are some points that I made back then.

• Obedience is an act of love.
• Obedience is an act of worship.
• Obedience positions me for blessing.
• Obedience breaks the yokes of bondage
• Obedience brings anointing
• Obedience brings joy and joy becomes our strength.

Yesterday morning, (19^th May), as I was out walking Maisy, I was thinking about Joshua.  He was anointed and appointed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.  Because other tribes were living in Canaan, the Israelites had to fight to take possession of it.  Obedience had taken them into the position to battle. 

The first verse I looked up on the list was Genesis 22:18:  “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

At first glance I thought about Isaac, because he was the son that God promised Abram.  Isaac was the promise, the seed.  In Romans it is written that Isaac was the seed of Abraham, and that it was Abraham’s faith that was counted as righteousness.  In Galatians 3 Paul writes “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

My heart pondered the question:  “What is MY seed that will bless the nations?”  I had no children, gave birth to no child.  “What application does Genesis 22:18 have to me, to my life?”

In my heart came an answer:  “Your ‘seed’ is the gift of your talent.  A promise that God gave you is your ‘seed’.  Ideas that you invest your time in is your ‘seed’.  “

I began to understand that the ‘seed’ that God planted in my life is the talent that leads to ideas that will pre-occupy my mind, my imagination, to the point I long to and purpose to obey God’s call on my life.

So, I have begun a journey of study.  In the coming days I will share what I learn here on my blog.  Maybe it will help someone else.  Mostly, I want to strengthen my self-disciple in regards to obeying those nudges, following those ideas that my Loving Heavenly Father places in my mind and heart.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,

“Lady Helene”

*Bible Gateway : https://www.biblegateway.com/

She's calling your name

19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; ²⁰ By His knowledge the depths were broken up, And clouds drop down the dew.

²¹ My son, let them not depart from your eyes— Keep sound wisdom and discretion; ²² So they will be life to your soul And grace to your neck.  Proverbs, chapter 3

            Within my heart and mind is the knowledge that if I spent more quiet time with God, I would certainly have more access to His direction in my daily life.  I have lots of ideas; and know that if I made listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit a priority, how to accomplish them all would become clear. 

                This morning, as I was reading Proverbs, I was reminded of this again.  I’ve often thought that wisdom is presented as a feminine attribute of God’s character, because the writer of Proverbs frequently refers to “Wisdom” as “She”.  I think it is a good balance of some of the masculine attributes expressed by David and writers of Psalms—that of a mighty warrior, a Holy Oracle. 

               

                As God’s creation, we reflect God’s desire to put the world to rights.  When the world was first created, God made everything beautiful, uncorrupted, healthy.  But man was given the opportunity to choose the knowledge of good and evil.   And we have struggled since—with injustice, selfishness, cruelty.  The evil brought darkness, illness, perversion.  I’ve heard it said that our Holy God creates, but Satan-incapable of creating-can only corrupt

In the midst of this world of suffering,  Human-kind has yearned for forgiveness, restoration, healing and health.  Even when people don’t believe in God, or have a Christian faith, there is a strong desire to set the world back in order.  This is reflected in things like:

·         engineers who design wells for water in desert countries;

·          doctors who travel to places of war and natural disasters in order to treat those who are injured;

·         Advocates as they seek to change laws, raise awareness of and rescue the abused, neglected and oppressed

·         Scientist who research drugs to fight AIDS, Cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes, etc.

·         Politicians who seek to bring peace through arbitration, negotiation and promotion of democracy

It seems to me that religion is seen by a majority of people in the world as a tool to put the world back to rights.  Through religion we begin to learn about right, wrong, compassion, generosity, reverence, respect.  Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, as well as other religions teach about the necessity of making peace with God, and living in harmony with each other. 

The Apostle Paul wrote that the law serves to teach us what sin is, but grace empowers us to live a life that overcomes sin. 

                God instilled into our souls the desire, the passionate yearning for peace, order and joy.  The soul’s hunger drives the mind to seek for knowledge, for answers to suffering and pain.  There are those in the world whose minds are numbed against the understanding that in searching to unlock the mysteries of brokenness in the world, we are in essence seeking to find God.  In the revealing of nature, God’s goodness is silently, patiently, consistently speaking.  His voice is the voice of Wisdom:

"20: Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. ²¹ She cries out in the chief concourses,^[b] At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words:"

Proverbs, chapter 1

So "THAT'S" what happened!

I’m grateful for  http://www.biblegateway.com/ for many reasons—the many resources, such as keyword search, topical index, and passage look-up.  Over twenty translations/versions of the Bible are available for comparison study and/or reading.  But one of the tools I really like is the Daily Reading Plans.  http://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/ 

            Over the years I’ve pretty much stuck to the Old and New Testament readings.  But this year I thought I’d go for the Chronological Reading plan.  So today’s reading was from Joshua , chapters nine through eleven.  Most times I try to take a few minutes to pray and ask God to speak to me through the daily reading.  Otherwise, I might as well be reading any other casual reading material. 

            I don’t know about other people, but it can be the obscure words or phrases that catch my attention.  Especially if it is a word I’m already familiar with—and think I know it’s meaning.  Then I look up the word and find out that it means something different.  Or, I see that word in a new context, and how it applies to my life. 

            Today, the word, “Hamstrung” caught my attention, when I read:  ⁹ So Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire."  Joshua 11:9  

My first thought was, “Why weren’t the horses just killed?  Wouldn’t hamstringing them just make them useless? “   

Apparently such is not the case.  After an internet surf to search, I learned that cutting the tendon at the back of the horses’ hocks rendered them incapable of speed and the strength to pull heavy loads.  But once the horse healed, it could be used for transportation, and carrying light loads.   This was certainly a new thought to me. 

One of the links presented the question to me:  “Hamstrung?”  http://reachingfinland.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/hamstrung/ 

This article is well worth reading.  It put an incident in my life into a new context.  In 2000 I had sent a manuscript to my friend, Elaine Wright Colvin. (Elaine Wright Colvin is a market specialist, editor, and career consultant for hundreds of authors. She directs the international organization Writers Information Network and publishes the WIN-INFORMER, marketing and trends newsletter, from Bainbridge Island, Washington-- http://writersinfonetwork.blogspot.co.uk )  Elaine kindly sent the book manuscript to two editors for critique.  These kind women did critique it with notes and instructions.  Instead of having the box sent to my post office box, I had it sent to my street address.  Unfortunately, the box disappeared—never to be found. 
At this point I’d been hamstrung.  I wanted to do the re-write—but didn’t know how or what to change.  And here I am, fourteen years later and no further with a writing career or a re-written manuscript.  My writing actions are what my mother would have called, “Played at”, but never have been driven. 
Earlier this year, I prayed for a breakthrough in this area.  I needed to know what had knocked my determination to follow this calling.  God spoke through this scripture, through another person’s blog post and now I can pray for healing. 
Please pray with me and for me. 
Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,
“Lady Helene”