Up, Up and Away....

Recently while cleaning out and organizing journals, I found a note  from 1997 which was written, scrawled would be more appropriate, while I traveled from Virginia back to Texas.  I was happily surprised since it's all I have left of anything written from that year.  Writings and journals from that year as well as the years before had not survived moves and reorganizations.  I filed everything away so I could easily look through them and I attached the little 3 page note I had written while on the airplane to the front of the 1998 journal and put them all away.  The little note kept coming to mind, so I got it out again with the thought of perhaps sharing it here.  Once I read it again, it seemed like a good idea to do just that, so here it is just as my thoughts flowed from me without changes or corrections...well, one correction which you will see as you read.

    (flying home from VA)                                                                                  9/24/97

We started off at an altitude of 31,000 ft, now we are about 35,000 because of turbulence.  Earlier, you could see nothing outside the plane because of the thick clouds-barely even the tip of the wing.  Now that we've risen above the clouds, you can see blue skies, sunshine and the clouds beneath.  It all reminded me of the poem Eagles Flight, which I wrote some years ago.  10 years to be exact.  [it was 20 years, to be exact!]  It speaks of going along on eagles flight to see the "workings of God on plains of light."  And now I considered what it takes to go along on eagles flight-those birds who fly higher than any other.  This was not considered when I wrote the poem, I just wanted to go there. 

But as we were cruising  at 31,000 ft., and you  couldn't  see past the wing tip, and the turbulence "turbulated," it was unsettling.  But I reminded myself how God is in control knowing I'm His and He is more powerful than anything, and further, nothing by any means could hurt me (as I felt Him speak to me in my spirit and chose to accept it) I thanked Him for that certainty for myself and all those aboard the plane, and the aircraft itself.  Then, as the plane began shaking again a little more, I felt much calmer.  At this time I noticed that we had begun to climb-and soon were above all that seemed so troublesome.  That's when the poem came to mind, and with it, the simple reminder and deeper understanding of what it takes to get on a higher plain, and the fastest way is to go straight through the turbulence, facing the struggle, which is common to us all, and go forward.  The light will break through when you're on the right path. 

One thing I've discovered which is still absolutely true even after 20 years is this: the best way through turbulence is UP. God, when He's your personal Pilot, will take you there. He's the only One who can.

And just in case you've wondered about the poem, it's from a little collection of inspired poetry I wrote over a period of two years in the late '70's which I aptly titled Rising, and here is the one mentioned:


                                                        Eagle's Flight

Contained in earthen vessels,

these spirits that should soar,

       above the  earth as eagles-

whose flight my heart adores.

      Transparent thoughts do take me

along on eagle's flight,

       to see the mighty workings

of God on plains of light.

      With flesh and bones unable

to reach the mountaintop,

      my spirit reaches onward,

toward heights beyond the top.

     

  For no bounds knows my spirit,

ev’n though now it’s contained,

      in an earthen vessel fitted,

while this journey yet remains.

AJBB 1978

   

A New Day...

....but it's still me.  The new day means a time for change, as you can see!  Looking forward, myself, to see the new direction this new day brings.

It's All About Hearing

You know, it really is all about hearing and I don't mean just physical hearing, but hearing in order to gain understanding and knowledge concerning all things spiritual.  The it I just mentioned covers every area of our lives whether pertaining to things, people, courses of action, problem solving, anything and everything.  We need to know who or what is speaking the things we hear. 

Jesus spoke often about the importance of hearing,  emphasizing what He was about to say sometimes with, "he who has ears, let him hear."   This reminds me of something He spoke to me not too long ago which I found rather humorous and actually laughed out loud when I heard Him say it to me.  I had been asking Him for a breakthrough in a long standing situation for a family member which had been of great concern to us.  After I had laid it all out to Him, made my request and had become quiet, I heard inside, "All is well, all is exceedingly well."  My response was, "Is that You, LORD, or am I just talking  to myself."  His immediate response to me was, "I hope I wasn't just talking to myself."  I laughed so hard.  He does have a sense of humor!  I always smile when I remember that, and at times laugh out loud all over again.  It's not the only thing He's said to me which made me laugh, but this was to me the funniest!  He definitely knows my sense of humor...and He knows yours, too.

This only re-emphasized another statement He made to me sometime before that.  One day I was putting on my spiritual armor while literally thinking about what each piece represents. When I got to the helmet of salvation, I was declaring in faith that I have ears to hear and that's when He interrupted me right on the spot.  What He said to me was quite effective and it was this: "You have ears that hear,  you need ears that listen."   Oh my.  How the depth of the meaning pierced my heart.  I had heard Him speak many times, but this let me know it was time for a greater awareness to hear what He was saying to me.  From that day I've endeavored to have listening ears on purpose and to receive by faith greater acuity by His Spirit to hear and respond more readily to what He is saying.  I don't have to strain to hear as I did in years past, but I do have to quieten my soul and be still in order to listen to Him speak, and not surprisingly, He always does.  Sometimes it's without words, an impression,  a knowing on the inside, or simply a sense of peace that all is well.  

I've said all this to share at this point that our surroundings and circumstances "speak" to us, also-our bills, jobs, cars, the news, the weather, our body, our bank accounts, or even lack of them- they all have a voice and speak to us in any number of ways even as the fig tree spoke to Jesus.  It definitely spoke to Him because He answered it!  Take a look at Mark 11:14:

Jubilee Bible 2000

Then Jesus, answering, said to the fig tree, Never again shall anyone eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.  (my emphasis)

And in the King James Version

 14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.  (my emphasis)

The Word lets us know He answered a fig tree.  Isn't that amazing?  That  statement has always captivated me.  What do you think the fig tree said to Him?  I think it was something like,  "Ha, ha, ha!  You're hungry, but you won't get anything to eat from me!"  Kind of like something the enemy would say, don't you think?  (And just so you know, if a fig tree had leaves it should also have something on it you could eat as well.  For more information see paragraph 4 and 5  Here.)

So, if a fig tree spoke to Jesus, you know our surroundings and circumstances speak to us! Especially when we're in need of something, and you can be assured that what they're saying is always going to try to enforce the negative.  Since Jesus answered the fig tree, maybe we should start answering the  negatives coming from the things concerning our lives and well being.  We at least need to become aware of what we hear because often we've become so indoctrinated to hearing all the things that are wrong, we allow them without opposition and that's what the enemy of our soul desires.  The more unopposed his influence, the greater the damage that can be done to us over time.  

Jesus knew how to answer the enemy of His soul and He knows how to deal with the enemy of ours.  This brings me back to what He said to me that made me laugh so hard.  He really is glad when He's not just talking to himself when He so much desires for us to hear what He says to us personally to help us overcome our problems.  There is no greater help in time of need than He is.  As usual, I must add, it's our choice to receive Him and His help.  He won't force His way or thoughts on us, but He's always willing to bring us up increasingly on His level of seeing, understanding, and yes, answering.  But we really do need to ask Him for listening ears and practice hearing what He has to say to us personally.   As He told me, (if we've received Him) we already have ears that hear, now we need to practice listening to what He has to say.  It will always be for our good. 

I'll say it again, it really is all about hearing....and that's all I've got to say about that....at least for now.

Prayer Time Correction

Correction for prayer time dial in:

Instead of ending at the last day of September, the dial in prayer call will continue through election day, November 8.  

Thanks to all who are participating, and there are thousands with the number of people increasing daily!

Here's the information if you want to call in:

phone number:              1 641 715 0700

code when requested:   230273# 

Prayer for the United States of America

I'm sharing information with you I received today concerning joining in on a literal daily prayer call for the United States during the month of September.  

For those outside the U.S. I do not believe the call is toll free, so please check into what your charges might be if you choose to participate.  The information follows:

Dr. Don and Mary Colbert "Pray for America"

Starting Labor Day, Monday, September 5, and ending the last day of September, a nationally known minister will lead a united prayer conference call every morning from 8:00 to 8:15 CDT; that's 9 to 9:15 EDT.

You can join people from across America on this prayer call.  Here's how you do it:

Dial:    1-641-715-0700

A voice will welcome you to the call and ask you for the code.

Code:   230273#

God will hear and answer our heartfelt, united prayers for The United States of America!

Thank you! 

P.S. About Set Times

Just so you know, I had the greatest difficulty getting  About Set Times posted but, it is posted...and I'm so thankful for that!

Something  happened this morning, though, which I took as a nice confirmation to me about things speeding up in this Set Time we are in.
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Most of you are probably familiar with ordering just about anything online  from Amazon.com.  Most of the orders placed  arrive in 2 business days.   If you order on Wednesday, usually you get your merchandise by Friday evening  by 8:00 p.m. if it comes directly from them.  Of course sometimes it takes longer, say if you order on Thursday or Friday it most likely won't arrive till the first part of the following week.  Well,  yesterday (Wednesday) I ordered two bar stools to use at my kitchen counter, and to my great surprise they  arrived before noon today (Thursday)!

That has never happened before.  It all took place in a 24 hour period of time.  Just one day!  And I think this would certainly qualify for something that happened, "quick, fast and in a hurry!"  How about you?

About Set Times

So, this is the thing, (pardon my colloquialism) but I'd like to attest to the truth and practicality of the message in my last post, Link to a Great Message! and also connect it to a complimentary truth.

Joel Osteen's topic was Emptying out the Negative.  I wrote that the only thing I'd add was to invite God to show you anything that you may not be aware of that needs to be cleaned out, and not to be surprised if He does.  Well, He absolutely did that for me and I am so delighted!  I even feel lighter and freer.  For me, it was an area where I was open to harm and hurt simply because of who I am, my life experiences, where I was born, the family I was born into, and my particular personality-and we all know by now that we have an enemy who hates mankind.  It's not that I haven't been aware of my particular issue over the years, and though much progress has been made, none-the-less, I hadn't broken through to victory.  But now! Yes, now, I can say that I have because the "set time" has come! and that's what I wanted to link to the last blog.

Time-a slice of eternity set aside by God for man's benefit-has definite times and seasons that God set forth from the beginning.  He said in His Word that Jesus, The Lamb of God, *was crucified before the foundation of the earth, and it came to pass in the "fullness of time" or in God's **"set time" exactly as He planned.  He was conceived and born at the set time.  The children of Israel came out of Egypt at the set time after the 400 years of slavery and oppression spoken by God to Abraham many years before,  Genesis 15:13 and referred to in Acts 7:6.  I say these things so we all can lay hold of, believe  and have greater understanding of the set time we are living in right now.  It's our time now-the Church's time, and the time for anyone who desires to receive what God is offering-to begin to come out of all that's held them back in every area.  God's had enough. Really.  It's His time and we can go with God if we want to.  (1)The time has been right ever since Jesus was born into the earth- the angels declared it (Luke 2:14).  I've decided to receive, and it's so much better because His desire is for us and for all mankind is Good,  but we have to decide to receive from Him, He won't make us.  On the other hand the enemy will overrun and break-in and steal, kill and destroy where ever he can get by with it because that's what thieves and murderers do.  But God is a gentleman and respects our choice, He will not force His will on anyone.

Zeroing in on  my theme, where emptying out the old and the complimentary truth of God's desire and ability to reveal areas in our hearts we haven't been aware of, and now, because we've entered the set-time,  and He fervently desires to make us whole, He's also doing it "fast, quick and in a hurry!" (using this popular slang expression fits better than anything else I can think of...and besides that, I like it! 

I listened to Joel's message on Sunday and posted it the same day, and on Monday morning God brought up the root of the problem I mentioned  above....talk about an accelerated rate! And not only that, He continued over the next several days bringing healing and helping me to see more clearly how to live more freely trusting practically as I go about my day to day life in a more unhindered, more relaxed way.  I'm quite amazed at the speed in which He made me aware of these things.   I would have written this much sooner, but my difficulty came in finding words to describe it.  Today I just chose to write it however it came out, so here it is in simple prose.  And the truth of it is, there's been even more He's doing.  All I can say is that He's so much more amazing, Good, and full of Kindness than I ever experienced personally before, but yet He continues revealing His true nature to all who choose to get to know Him....and I know I've been far too slow at allowing this kind of intimacy with Him, though I've had much intimacy, but there are greater levels to everything I suppose. 

I'll close with this simple statement: His responsibility is to watch over His word to bring it to pass,  and our job is the same as what Jesus told Jairus to do in Luke 8:50, and that was to "believe only."   And we do have the choice to continue to trust what we've known and experienced or to jump in and choose to believe what He says.  It really is our choice,  He'd never, ever make us...but if you listen, I'm sure He's calling you there, too even in that still small voice!

*   Revelation 13:8

** Psalm 112:13, Genesis 17:21, Genesis 21:2,  Exodus 9:5 (Just a few of many concerning set times or the fullness of time)

(1)  http://biblehub.com/kjv/luke/2.htm  see Luke 2:1-14