Friday, February 22, 2008

The Seven Spirits of God

It never ceases to amaze me how often time God can reveal something “new to us” with something we have looked at, read, or heard many times before. It certainly proves to me, again and again, that not until HE opens our eyes to see can we really see with HIS eyes and know with HIS wisdom. Not until the time is just right by HIS timetable does He reveal to us what He chooses to reveal.

I was reading in Revelation about two weeks ago, and I really “saw” something of great interest for the first time. Although I had read these passages many times before in the last few years, this was the first time that I was struck by the importance of “the seven spirits of God”. What is the meaning of the “seven spirits of God”?

The “seven spirits of God” are mentioned in four verses in Revelation:

John, to the seven ecclesias which are in the province of Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is coming, and from the seven spirits which are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Suzerain of the kings of the earth. (Revelation 1:4-5)

And to the messenger of the ecclesia in Sardis write: Now this He is saying Who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:” (Revelation 3:1)

And out of the throne are issuing lightnings and voices and thunders. And seven torches of fire are burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5)

And I perceived, in the center of the throne and of the four animals, and in the center of the elders, a Lambkin standing, as though slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God, commissioned for the entire earth. (Revelation 5:6)

The seven spirits of God are of such importance that John includes them as part of the ones from whom the greeting to the seven churches comes from. The greeting states:

Grace to you and peace from…

“Him Who is and Who was and Who is coming…”

and

“the seven spirits which are before His throne…”

and

“Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Suzerain of the kings of the earth

In Revelation 3:1 the “He…Who has the seven spirits of God” refers to:

“in the midst of the seven lampstands One like a son of mankind, dressed in a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle. Now His head and hair are white as white wool, as snow, and His eyes as a flame of fire, and His feet like white bronze, as fired in a furnace, and His voice is as the sound of many waters. And he has in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth a sharp two-edged blade is issuing, and His countenance is as the sun appearing in its power” and said to John that He is “the First and the Last, and the Living one: and I became dead, and lo! Living am I for the eons of the eons. (Amen!) And I have the keys of death and of the unseen…” (Revelation 1:12-20). He” is also the Lamb that has “seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God, commissioned for the entire earth. (Revelation 5:6)

He”, “One like a son of mankind” and the “Lamb” is Christ. Christ says that He “has the seven spirits of God”; they are at His disposal because God has chosen to do His work through Christ.

In Revelation 4:5 we are once again given a word about the seven spirits of God being before His throne and in this verse they are as “torches of fires burning before the throne”. It also says that from the throne come lightning, voices, and thunder.

Pondering about the seven spirits and the fact that John is not speaking of only one spirit of God but of seven reminded me of a story that I love in the Old Testament. The story can be found in 1 Kings 22 or in 2 Chronicles 18. The story is most thoroughly told in 1 Kings 22, and I encourage you to read it completely for yourself. I will briefly summarize it here and only quote the part of the story which pertains to the “seven spirits” discussion.

King Ahab of Israel wanted King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him in going against Ramoth-gilead. As Jehoshaphat encouraged Ahab to seek the word/advice of God through the prophets, we are told of the prophets that only spoke what Ahab wanted to hear and then of the one true prophet of God, Micaiah, who spoke the following to Ahab:

Hear the word of YHWH: I saw YHWH sitting on His throne and all the host of the heavens standing by Him, to His right and to His left.

YHWH said, Who shall entice Ahab, so that he may march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? Now this one said thus, and another was saying thus.

Then a spirit came forth, stood before YHWH and said, I myself shall entice him.

YHWH asked him, By what means?

He replied, I shall go forth, and I will become a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.

Then He (God) said, You shall entice, and, moreover, you shall prevail. Go forth and do so.

And now behold, YHWH has bestowed a false spirit into the mouth of all these prophets, for YHWH Himself has decreed evil concerning you.

(1 Kings 22:19-23)

As I pondered further on the seven spirits of God, I recalled that the spirit whom Christ connected us with, through our faith in Him, has a particular name and responsibility. In the Gospel of John Jesus said the following things of this spirit:

And I shall be asking the Father, and He will be giving you another consoler, that it, indeed may be with you for the eon—the spirit of truth, which the world can not get, for it is not beholding it, neither is knowing it. Yet you know it, for it is remaining with you and will be in you. (14:16-17)

Now, whenever the consoler which I shall be sending you from the Father may be coming, the spirit of truth which is going out from the Father, that will be testifying concerning Me” (15:26)

But I am telling you the truth. It is expedient for you that I may be coming away, for if I should not be coming away, the consoler will not be coming to you. Now if I should be gone, I will send him to you. (16:7)

Still much have I to say to you, but you are not able to bear it at present. Yet whenever that may be coming—the spirit of truth—it will be guiding you into all the truth, for it will not be speaking from itself, but whatsoever it should be hearing will it be speaking, and of what is coming will it be informing you. That will be glorifying Me, seeing that of Mine will it be getting, and informing you. All, whatever the Father has, is Mine. Therefore I said to you that of Mine is it getting, and will be informing you. (16:12-15)

‘According as the Father has commissioned Me, I also am sending you.’ And saying this, He exhales and is saying to them, ‘Get holy spirit! (20:21-22)

So far we see that a spirit from God can take on a deceiving role as in the case with Ahab and the prophets and we also see that a spirit from God can be the spirit of truth and consoler.

In 1 Samuel we are given another instance in the Old Testament where we are told of the spirits of God playing good or evil roles for God’s purposes. At first we notice in 1 Samuel 11:6 that “The spirit of Elohim prospered over Saul” during King Saul’s early rule over the Israelites. However, after Saul begins to stray away from following the instructions of God and after the immediate anointing of young David by Samuel, we notice a different spirit of God having its way over Saul. It says in 1 Samuel 16:14-15 that the spirit of YHWH that had been the one that “prospered over Saul” and led Him to do the good things had now “withdrawn from Saul, and an evil spirit from YHWH frightened him. “Saul's servants then said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. At that time young David was brought before Saul that he may play the harp and calm Saul down every time the evil spirit from God came upon him.

So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him. (1 Samuel 16:23)

Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul's hand. (1 Samuel 18:10)

Later on in 1 Samuel 19 we are also told that

Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, "Where are Samuel and David?" And someone said, "Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah." He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

Here are a few more examples from the Scriptures where the spirit(s) of God have different roles for different purposes:

"Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze” (Exodus 31:1-4)

It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy--everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy” (Isaiah 4:3-5)

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit [speaking of Jesus Christ]. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist” (Isaiah 11:1-5)

The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly, the princes of Memphis are deluded; those who are the cornerstone of her tribes have led Egypt astray. The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; they have led Egypt astray in all that it does” (Isaiah 19:13-14)

For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers” (Isaiah 29:10)

I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10)

What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day (Romans 11:7-8)

How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)

If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1 Peter 4:14)

Then I fell at his feet to worship him but he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10)

The word “spirit” in all the instances of Scripture above is the same Hebrew or Greek words. In Old Testament Scriptures it is the word “ruwach” literally meaning “spirit/breath”. In the New Testament it is the word “pneuma” literally meaning “blow-effect/spirit/gentle blast”.

I don’t claim to have a full understanding on everything that is said about the spirit(s) in the Scriptures or for this brief writing to be a complete exposition on the spirit(s). But I found the mention of the “seven spirits of God” in Revelation so interesting that I merely wanted to point it out and bring attention to it. If God chooses to reveal anything further on this topic to me or through this writing to inspire others to seek Him that He may grant them a greater understanding, then so be it in His perfect will and time to do so.

As always, may it all be for HIS glory!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Because He Loves

As “LOVE” is celebrated today, I want to share how I feel about THE Greatest Love of all—the love that God has for me and for EVERY ONE of us—the love that completely changed my life.

A few years ago I took a popular song by Celine Dion and re-wrote the words a bit so I could sing it to my LORD. This is for my “one God, the Father, out of Whom all is and for my one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all is”. (1 Corinthians 8:1-6)

Because of their incredible love that has covered me and how their love has done incredible things in my life I dedicate this song to them:

For all those times You stood by me
For all the truth that You made me see
For all the joy You brought to my life
For all the wrong that You made right
For every dream You made come true
For all the love I found in You
I'll be forever thankful Lord
You're the One who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the One who saw me through, through it all

You are my strength when I am weak
You are my voice when I can’t speak
You are my eyes when I can’t see
You see the best there is in me
Lifting me up when I can’t reach
You give me faith 'cause You believe
I'm everything I am
Because You love me

You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, You gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I have Your love, I have it all
I'm grateful for each day You give me
Maybe I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I am blessed because I am loved by You

You are always here for me
The tender Wind that carries me
A Light in the dark, shining Your love into my life
You are my inspiration
Through the lies You are the Truth
My world is a better place because of You

I'm everything I am
Because You love me

(Original song is by Celine Dion, words slightly different
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CkKuA86Mis)

I am everything I am because that love has covered me and done a miraculous work in me. Who I used to be (lost to my own ways) is a total stranger to me; for that, I am ever grateful.

Jesus said,
Greater love than this has no one, that anyone may be laying down his soul for his friends… (John 15:13)

Jesus also said,
My soul I am laying down for the sake of the sheep…I am laying down My soul that I may be getting it again. No one is taking it away from Me, but I am laying it down of Myself. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to get it again… (John 10:14-18)

He laid down His life for me so that He could give me true and abundant life. He has done the same for you, for all of us. It doesn’t matter where you are, where you’ve been, or who you are or have been, His love will do a perfecting and beautiful work in you.

Beloved, we should be loving one another, for love is of God, and everyone who is loving God is begotten of God, and knows God. He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God among us, that God has dispatched His only begotten Son into the world that we should be living through Him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loves us, and dispatches His Son, a propitiatory shelter concerned with our sins. Beloved, if thus God loves us, we also ought to be loving one another. No one has ever gazed upon God. If we should be loving one another, God is remaining in us, and His love is perfected in us. In this we know that we are remaining in Him, and He in us, for He has given us of His spirit. And we have gazed upon Him, and are testifying that the Father has dispatched the Son, the Saviour of the world. Whoever should be avowing that Jesus is the Son of God, God is remaining in him, and he in God. And we know and believe the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who is remaining in love is remaining in God, and God is remaining in him. In this is love perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judging, seeing that, according as He is, so are we also in this world. Fear is not in love, but perfect love is casting out fear, for fear has chastening. Now he who is fearing is not perfected in love. We are loving God, for He first loves us… (1 John 4)

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails... (1 Corinthians 13)

GOD’S LOVE IS…

EXTRAVAGANT

INCORRUPTIBLE

BOUNDLESS

INESCAPABLE

UNFAILING

In the arms of Perfect Love…

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Healed

By the wounds of Christ we are healed…

“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53)

He was despised, forsaken, sorrowful, stricken by God, afflicted, pierced, scourged, chastened, oppressed…And YHWH, His Father, was “pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” so that through His sacrifice and sufferings we would be justified. He endured it all (nothing He deserved) without complaint, whining, anger, or rebellion.

Oh, we stutter and we stammer till You save us
A symphony of chaos till You play us
Phrases on the pages of unknown
‘Til You read us into poetry and prose
We are kept and we are captive till You free us
Vaguely unimagined ‘til You dream us
Aimlessly unguided ‘til You lead us home

By Your voice we speak
By Your strength no longer weak
We are no longer weak
And by Your wounds we are healed
And by Your wounds we are healed

Passed over and passed by until you claim us
Orphaned and abandoned ‘til you name us
Hidden and disclosed ‘til you expose you hearts

By your death we live
It is by your gift that we might give
That we might give
And by your wounds we are healed
And by your wounds we are healed

What kind of love would take your
shame and spill His blood for you
Save us by His wounds
By Your wounds, we are healed
By Your wounds, we are healed
What kind of love
By Your wounds, we are healed
Tell me what kind of love is this
By Your wounds, we are healed

(“Healed”, Nichole Nordeman)

http://www.discoveringgodministries.org/Healed.mp3

As we are united and become one with Christ do we expect that we will not also share in the same types of sufferings that He Himself endured on our behalf? Do we expect that we will not also be called to endure or give sacrificially of ourselves for the sake of others? No, that cannot and will not be so.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (1 Peter 4:12-14)

As through the sacrificial pains and sufferings of Christ we have been healed and justified so also through our pains and sufferings God brings His love, compassion, and healing to the pains of others.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)

In every affliction, in every sorrow, and in very sacrifice may we say, “For Your Glory, LORD!” Is this as easy as writing it here on this page; absolutely not. However, God has assured me that whatever affliction we may experience here on this temporal earth, the magnificence of Who He is, His power, and His presence will surpass them all. I cling to His assurance. May we all cling to His assurance.

For His praise…

There Are No Orphans

Broken…Guilty…Hurt…Abandoned…

Orphaned…

Stranger…Outcast…Unwanted…Unworthy…

How many of us can relate to one or more of those words?

It is of no matter whether through someone else’s actions or our own we have faced and lived any of those words, God’s love and grace are above and beyond ALL of them. He is Father to us all and to us all He gave breath and life. At any time we can run into His open and waiting arms and find what this earthly life will not always offer…

In His arms we will be

Restored…Forgiven…Healed…Accepted…

In His arms we have assurance

We are His child always…

In His arms we experience

Being truly known…Unconditional Love…Always Belonging…

In His eyes we are forever

Worthy

He will never forsake nor abandon His love and care for His children

Who here among us has not been broken
Who here among us is without guilt or pain
So oft’ abandoned by our transgressions
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this

There are no strangers
There are no outcasts
There are no orphans of God
So many fallen, but hallelujah
There are no orphans of God

Come ye unwanted and find affection
Come all ye weary, come and lay down your head
Come ye unworthy, you are my brother
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this

O blessed Father, look down upon us
We are Your children, we need Your love
We run before Your throne of mercy
And seek Your face to rise above

(“There Are No Orphans”, sung by Avalon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrPiVKul3G4&feature=related

We are sons and daughters of the great YHWH, the Father all…

Monday, February 11, 2008

Praise HIM!

Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord
Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord

Praise You in the morning,
Praise You in the evening,
Praise You when I'm young and when I'm old
Praise You when I'm laughing,
Praise You when I'm grieving,
Praise You every season of the soul
If we could see how much You're worth,
Your power, Your might, Your endless love,
Then surely we would never cease to praise

Praise You in the heavens,
joining with the angels,
Praising You forever and a day
Praise You on the earth now,
joining with creation,
Calling all the nations to Your praise
If they could see how much You're worth,
Your power, your might, your endless love,
Then surely they would never cease to praise

Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord
Let everything that, everything that,
Everything that has breath praise the Lord

(Matt Redman, “Let Everything That Has Breath”)

You can listen to the song above at the following link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKyHcplqi2Y

I’m PRAISING Him…

Monday, February 4, 2008

His Will Shapes My Life

I have to chuckle at observing my life over the past 4 weeks. It is almost a surreal experience of all the various trials that have taken place; some big, some small. But they have been coming in rapid succession. I commented to a friend and to my husband that I feel like I have been enrolled into a training program and my Trainer is working me very intensely.

Well, I have come to the conclusion that I am in an intense training program in “God’s Gym” with God as my Trainer. Although each training session has not been the easiest or most pleasant emotionally, each one has afforded an opportunity for me to look up to my Trainer and trust Him to show me exactly how to approach and deal with the task at hand. There hasn’t been any need to excessively fret or be anxious because my Trainer can be trusted to take me through it all, step by step. He assures me that WHATEVER comes next, HE will give me HIS strength to endure; and to endure well and grow stronger.

You see, “God’s Gym” is very different than a worldly gym. At the worldly gym you must rely on your own physical strength and be limited to do only as much as you can physically handle. In “God’s Gym”, God is with you at ALL times and gives you the strength to bear up under every strain. HIS strength gives you the strength to be strong; to stand firm with your legs and to hold your arms up and bear the weight.

I do not work out at the worldly gym. In fact, I have no desire to work out and build up my physical muscles with extra exercise. A walk here or there with my dear doggy or a bit of jumping on the kids’ trampoline when the weather is nice is fine for me. My focus of training is not with my physical body, it’s with my spiritual nature. The focus of my “workouts” has to do with soul and spirit. Daily, I am remaining in very close contact with my spiritual Trainer and allowing Him to make me strong. As He takes me through daily life, He teaches me many things and makes me spiritually muscular.

There is another different aspect of “God’s Gym”: I never get the choice of what machine, or what exercise, or what weights I will work with next. My Trainer, He does all the choosing because HE knows absolutely and positively and without question what is best for me to grow stronger. My part is not to complain or get all flustered about His choices for me; my part is actually very simple. My part is to relax and surrender to His care and to implicitly trust that HE will provide the instruction and strength needed for the training.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction…that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;” (2 Corinthians 1:3-9)

Will I trust Him to have His perfect way with my life or not? Do I believe God will have HIS will with me or not? Will I trust God to fulfill HIS dreams and HIS will for me? For ALL of us?

“He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah... Bless our God, O peoples, and sound His praise abroad, Who keeps us in life And does not allow our feet to slip. For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:7-12)

The following song touched my heart deeply a few days ago. I thought it was very appropriate for the “training regimen” I’ve experienced recently. You can click on the following link to hear the song, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxlmcELauMk&feature=related.

A shapeless piece of steel, that's all I claim to be
This hammer pounds to give me form, this flame, it melts my dreams
I glow with fire and fury, as I'm twisted like a vine
My final shape, my final form I'm sure I'm bound to find

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds

And the water, it cools me gray, and the hurt's subdued somehow
I have my shape, this sharpened point, what is my purpose now?
And the question still remains, what am I to be?
Perhaps some perfect piece of art displayed for all to see

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds

The hammer pounds again, but flames I do not feel
This force that drives me, helplessly, through flesh and wood reveals
A burn that burns much deeper, it's more than I can stand
The reason for my life was to take the life of a guiltless man

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the pain
And hurt a little, hurt for me, my future is so bold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds

This task before me may seem unclear
But it, my Maker holds

(The Hammer Holds by Bebo Norman)

I am surrendered to HIS dreams for me, HIS will for me, HIS ways over me, and HIS strength to make me stand and bear up under the weights. Christ gave His life for me that God may have HIS perfect way with me; I will honor that sacrifice with every trial I am called to endure.

In His most capable arms and filled with overflowing joy about Him being King over my life…