God’s Positioning Spirit

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 4:12

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.   John 10:27

To say that I am directionally challenged in a huge understatement. In most cases, I make sure to get very specific directions to get from Point A to Point B. Yet, when I come to fork in the road (or an approaching exit), I didn’t get directions, and I have about ½ a second to decide my destiny – I tend to go with logic.

Such was the case driving to West Palm Beach from Orlando, Florida. I-4 East or I-4 West? Well, I’m heading toward the Atlantic Ocean, so east it is. I soon realized by my surroundings that I was going to wrong way. I then pulled off of I-4 to look at a map (finally) and ask for directions. Finally I was heading the right direction towards home. The money and miles were a waste, but the lesson was learned.

Life is a constant journey and logic can be very dangerous as a direction; especially at the moment of decision. “This road seems to be going right where I want to go: security, love, acceptance, relationship and fun.” I had been with the Guide for years, but His Map stayed folded up on a box. Pride took me down a path that, years later, ended at an exit ramp and a crash landing. Totaled my heart. Took years of repair.

At the end of the road was the Map and the Guide. The years were a waste, but the lesson was learned. I may speed and swerve. I may crash into consequences. I may get distracted and miss my desires. But with every mile, I know that logic lies and the Lord loves. He is my only hope for Home.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

My Two Dads

"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty    2 Corinthians 6:18

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

“Whenever you are ready, your Father's house is waiting." Rev. K.K. Devaraj, Mumbai, India to orphaned children, drug addicts, and prostitutes.


Earthly Papa

My dad divorced my mother when I was five. Though I come from a divorced family, I never thought that my father abandoned me. I simply thought that a normal life consisted of not living in the same house as my father. Not having constant conversations with my father. Not revealing my heart to my father. I would only visit him on weekends, with a little more time and attention on Christmas Day. Blessings were bountiful when we were together and life carried on as usual when we were apart. Sound familiar?

When we hear the name “Father,” we often tend to view Elohim Abba the way we view our earthly papas. This is not conscious. This is not consistent. But it is natural. Whether our earthly fathers were abusive or adoring, the truth is that our papas are parables and our Father as incomparable. As He is, not as I imagine He should be. I have a choice in laying down all of my life before my Eternal Father. Either my experiences can determine my view of Abba, or my Abba can direct me through my experiences.

If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith; but nothing can ever upset God or the almighty Reality of Redemption; base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God… Faith based on experience is not faith; faith based on God’s revealed truth is the only faith there is. – Oswald Chambers

Elohim Abba

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. I John 4:16

"The Christian confidence that you and I can approach God as Father is the unique and pressing gift of the Son" - Jill Carattini God is Holy. God is Perfection. God is Love. He is Everything; with or without a relationship with me. Then there’s a gift received. A shift in me. Immediately. The Father of the Son becomes my Father. Love beyond knowledge, beyond comprehension, beyond measure. He resides above all as infinite and He resides in me...most intimate. His greatest delight and desire is to hold me. Wow.

Now, with all of this truth of Who My Father is...how do I relate to Him as Dad? My friend Beverly reminds me, “Just keep trusting Him with everything, crawl into His lap and let Him brush your hair with His strong fingers, feeling His grip holding you close to His heart, and His heartbeat becomes yours.”

Click: Francis Chan (from Crazy Love) talks more on Abba's lap

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Abba

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship (adoption), and by him we cry, "Abba, Father!” Romans 8:15



“I love when she calls me Daddy. Melts my heart every time.” – David Mitchell, Father to two year old Belle who is battling cancer.


Abba, I belong to You. – Brennan Manning

Dastan was caught stealing. He was terrified. He tried to run, of course. But a criminal’s consequences will always find him out. This day, however, he was under the gaze of the king. Just as the sword raised to smite him, the king’s right hand raised to save him. The king’s left hand raised to receive him. In an instant, Dastan was offered redemption and adoption. The famished had a feast. The beggar had an inheritance. The king became his father; the orphan became his prince. Dastan deserved death; the king gave him destiny. Raised in royalty. Lavished in love. Hardships of humanity will never steal his identity. Saved. Chosen. Redeemed. Loved. Son. Heir. Prince. Forever.

Dastan’s story is my story. Each of us begins in the market. Orphaned from day one by our separation from God. We are condemned by a law that we cannot keep. We try to run away and hide, but we will never our run our consequences. We are brought before a merciful king. His right hand, scarred with salvation, is lifted to save us from death. With His left hand, the King extends to us the option of adoption. Either we deny the king our sonship (and ourselves His Home), or we accept His amazing grace to call Him Abba Father forever. To accept His offer, we admit to our crimes, look Him in the eyes, and sign in Jesus’ blood. Then we are lifted on His white horse and taken to our inheritance. Dastan’s story is fable; our story is forever.

This is only the beginning, but it must begin to be. He created me to love Him, but I choose my destiny. Taking His hand, my journey begins. Love takes me in. (Click here for Abba's adoption song): When Love Takes You In by SCC

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Deathly Swallows

And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9

“Maybe the truth of the Adam and Eve story, maybe the greatest power of the story, is not so much that it happened, but that it happens.” Rob Bell

Pelicans are especially vulnerable to oil. Not only could they eat tainted fish and feed it to their young, but they could die of hypothermia or drowning if they're soaked in oil. - AP

Along with having oil-slicked feathers, the pelicans gather food in their normal feeding grounds and feed it to their babies. They don’t get CNN, NPR or the Gulf Times. They are completely unaware that death lurks inside the fish that they are feeding to their young. Can you imagine the outrage of finding out that you routinely bought oil-stuffed fish at the market, fed it unknowingly to your child and your toddler died as a result? You had no idea, but it never changed the results: death.

Yet, everyday we swim in death. We eat death. Then we feed it to our family, our friends, our co-workers, our children. We are deceived that our portion is pure. But really, it's filled with death. The first feeding started with the First Family:

Deception: "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." – Genesis 3:4-5

Delivery: When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. – Genesis 3:6

Death: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned; -Romans 5:12

Today’s Catch:

We are, in fact, born with “oil on our feathers and toxins in our mouths.” How then shall we live? We are not hopeless to die because into death we are born.

Unlike pelicans, we can choose to come clean and eat clean.

“…every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! – Hebrews 9:13-14

Unlike pelicans, we can choose feeding grounds of death or life.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. – Proverbs 18:21

Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you. Proverbs 23:6-7

From these verses comes the phrase: “a man thinks in his heart, so is he” and I might add, “so he calls to his friends to eat and drink from the tainted well of his heart.”

Unlike pelicans, we can choose to feed truth or toxins to the world around us.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:5-7

I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. Psalm 89:1

From my mouth to the multitudes, I choose pure.

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Spill Solution

Everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean, but it shall be purified with water for impurity. But whatever cannot stand the fire you shall pass through the water. – Numbers 31:23

At least 6 million gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf, though some scientists have said they believe the spill already surpasses the 11 million-gallon 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska as the worst in U.S. history. -Bluestein and Brown, AP


Problem.
Purity cannot abide with contamination. For example, obviously oil and water don’t mix. Even one drop causes the pure to become impure – affecting the water and every living thing around it. How much more damaging is gallons of gushing oil pouring into pure waters; constant contamination? We see this first hand in oil spills on the open seas, but how much more impurity contaminates our souls...every moment of the day. Disasters of environment are mere reflections of disasters of the soul…and they are everywhere.

We were born with BCUs (Broken Contamination Units). Like oil in water, sin is not under our control. Even a drop of disobedience results in death. No exceptions. Man tries in vain, but he is not able to contain the flow. Eventually, it will kill him and damage everything around him.

Purity.

There is only one way to contain the sin from spilling out. Jesus' Blood is the only tried, tested and proven purifying solution. This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. – 1 John 5:6,7

In the beginning, God sanctioned water as the cleansing agent. The water itself was only a tool; man's obedience to immerse in the water was the door to purification. At the moment of the Saviour’s death, water and blood mixed to provide the ultimate door to purity. Just by asking for the solution, we are given the purity from contamination and the seal of salvation. His Word keeps the purity in place; our prayer keeps the purity in practice.

So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word. - Ephesians 5:26

Proof.
Once purity is within, it flows without. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." – John 7:38 Everywhere, everyday. Just as constant as the river that flows before the throne of God. May we be one, just as the Father and Son are One. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb – Revelation 22:1

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

Sight and Sound

I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Psalm 61:2

Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm. But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Psalm 55:5, 8, 16

“The witch is mean and I don’t like her.” - Madison

When my three year old niece Madison encounters anything scary, like a Disney villain, she instinctively keeps her eyes fixed on the fear, but places her hands over her ears. She silently soaks in every moment, until the scariness passes. We only have two hands to block out one sense, which do you choose?

What about when the horror is every moment of our lives? For example, disease, death or divorce? I think we respond like Madison. We sit in the dark. We stare at the terror. We scream at the situation. We cry fear instead of faith. We focus on the moment instead of His face. We watch fear like a hawk; we miss watching our Father like a child. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Not only do we continue to focus on our fear, but we also choose to cover our ears to God’s calming and comforting peace. When we refuse to listen to Truth, the nightmare grows darker and darker with lies.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 Real life nightmares will come to be our reality. Yet, Jesus tells us to take "heart" that He has overcome each one. We must hear Him to believe Him; never more urgently than in the middle of the storm.

My choice is always from my heart: stare fear in the face with faith, speak praise over pain, and listen to truth over terror. I will cover myself in garments of righteousness, lifting trembling hands before His throne of Sovereignty and Peace. This is my only hope in my present trouble. It may not take away the terror, but it will shelter me in the storm.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

Touch

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." John 20:27

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain" Revelation 5:6

Seeing is not always believing; but touching erases all doubt. By design, intimacy requires closeness, and the closest human experience is touch. I know this, well…first hand.

The most powerful moments in Israel came from a simple touch.Viewing the Jordan River was beautiful. Immersing in the Jordan River was breathtaking. Approaching the Western Wall was intriguing. Touching the ancient stones was indescribable. Moments of touching authenticity brought an intimacy that my heart could only know through my hand. There is a time where we watch from a distance, but then there is a moment when we touch for ourselves. From doubt to destiny.

I know Thomas understands. The name “Thomas” is synonymous with the word “doubt.” Yet, Thomas was the only one invited into intimacy for his honesty. To touch His Wounds...what a powerful moment! 

From this moment through all of eternity, Perfection Glorified chose to keep these scars. Everyone doubts. Could His eternal scars be, so that we all "see and believe"?

Turned from Upper Room to Throne Room, my moment stands with Thomas’ moment: My decision in faith, leads to my declaration of glory, and my blessing in belief.

My Declaration of Jesus as Lord: Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"  John 20:28

His Declaration of me Loved: Then Jesus told him, "Because you (Thomas) have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those (me and you) who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

The paradox is that we won’t touch these eternal scars unless we first believe…for Jesus brought to us a much greater gift – He brings us the touch from within.

“Reach out and touch My scars whenever you doubt Me at any time, in any way. Stop doubting and believe, again and again and again. Place your hands here…and here. Feel the scars, pressing you against My pierced side. I will never leave you, but I will intimately touch you now and through eternity.”

His scars testify of one word: Believe.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

Stain

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. – Psalm 51:7

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9

In heaven, things are not stained or broken; everything is as it was meant to be…As George MacDonald prayed, "Gather my broken fragments to a whole . . . Let mine be a merry, all-receiving heart, but make it a whole, with light in every part." But you can't do this at a distance; you can't ask Christ to come into your wound while you remain far from it. You have to go there with him. - John Eldredge

A stain. I’m not sure how it got on my new shirt, but it’s there and it’s obvious. No problem. I will just spray on the stain remover solution, let it soak in the detergent and wash. Three times I “washed and repeated,” but yet it remained. Now I’m not sure which is more irritating: the stain or the removal process. Getting a stain out requires more than just applying the removal solution. The solution must be rubbed in. This takes participation and persistence. Only then can the stain dissolve to be washed away.

“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:12-13

God noted the same thing in my own stained heart. My heart is cleansed in His Blood, but it daily contracts stains that require confession for cleansing. He wants to talk to me, very specifically, personally, and sometimes painfully, about my stain. I must participate with Him until His peace comes. I may stare at the stain, talks to friends about the stain, and even reads the label on the "stain removal Bible". But to rub in the solution feels more like salt in wound than a healing balm. It's too much to touch.

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. – Revelation 19:13

To wear the white linen, I must touch the red robe. I must press through the pain to know His healing. I am responsible for bringing my stains to Jesus’ cross; He is responsible for removing stains through His Blood.

Only His Amazing Blood removes stains. Rub It in.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

Red

Love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 

By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast Ephesians 2:8-9

I have an awful driving record. I’ve totaled a car or three and have built police stations with speeding fines. You’d think I’d be rehabilitated, but alas no.

I was approaching the intersection to turn into Walmart. I was just stopping in to pick up bread for a communion meal. As I come to the intersection, the lights go from red to green…except for the turn light which remained red. Out of habit, I focused on the green light and turned left. Immediately I realized what I had done: I just ran a red light. My first thought (not for my safety, ironically), was “Yea, no cops!” ½ a second later, I thought, “Oh, this intersection has those cameras!” ½ a second later I pray, “Lord, give me grace.”

How often this describes my sin life. Being a Christian forgives my sin nature, but does not exempt me from sinful behavior. Though my intention is sacred, my attention is scattered. Keeping with the law is good; keeping with the Lord is freedom. With sinful action I am not exempt from consequence and cost. My confession doesn’t remove my guilt, but it does bring it before the One forgives.

After sinful behavior, my first thought is: “Who was watching? Who will condemn me?” Then I am relieved to see that no one was around to “catch me in the act and charge me for my actions.” Oh, but there is the only One Who is ever right to judge the sins of my life – Jesus. Not to punish, but to teach. Lord, give me grace. Grant me what I don’t deserve, Your mercy.

“Do you know what you did?” “Yes, Officer, I do know.” “You know you have to pay the fine because there are consequences to shattering the standard, but the points will be removed from your record.” “Why, Officer?” “Because you acknowledged your wrong action and the Chief of Police has agreed to take on the ‘permanent record’ of anyone who confesses and accepts his forgiveness of all offenses. Whether or not you were intentional, the law remains broken and someone, either you or the Chief, has to reconcile it. Either he fixes your record for you, or you pay for it forever. There are no other options, and if there were, they wouldn’t satisfy fixing the broken law. These are not points of punishment, but options of forgiveness. ”

Wow. How much more am I apt to focus on such Giver of grace? How quickly do I forget the reality of grace and eternal costs?

Sin may seem like our minor infraction, but that’s because we are deceived into thinking its severity is based on our determination of “right and wrong.” Sin is not based on the moral mind, it’s based on the heart’s holiness. There are no “minor and major” offenses because there is no “minor or major” separation from Holiness. There is no “time served or parole based on crime severity or good behavior.” The penalty is death and we choose the ruling – “death already served or death for eternity.” This is a very real choice we all make. Ignore the citation, but someone still pays.

Most of us know the salvation, but forget the Saviour. Most of us pay the fine but forget the cost.

Lord, help me to know the severity of my sin to know the wonder of your grace.

Enjoy Him, Michelle mlpack1@yahoo.com

Water to Wine

…and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. John 2:9-11

Sip the cup.
What an amazing gift! $12 seats to opening night of the opera Carmen! Such a wonderful night for such little cost! Naturally, the first question is “Where are the seats?” For such a great deal, I imagined that the seats were on the edge of the universe. But, who cares, it’s opening night and I’m going to the opera!

Cheaper wine is served later when it is less appreciated. Cheaper seats are located further from the stage. We don’t think twice about it. It’s just how life “rolls.” Imagine the surprise when the first the cup reaches the lips….

Saved the best.
Upon arrival, we got the tickets from will call. The seats were in the Orchestra section, 11 rows from the stage! $120 seats for $12! Wow! I immediately knew that this was one of those “water to wine” moments. Out of nowhere, He takes an already amazing event with natural expectations and elevates it to the very best possible! All because He can! He got my praise and thanks for His glorious display of favor, and I received the blessing of His Presence throughout the night. Fleeting is the moment, but forever is His Presence.

Serve and see.
Many may not know where such favor comes from, but as His servant, I know. I also know why He brings such moments of miracle: that our Father be glorified and that we may put our faith in Him. Mark 2:12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

He also showers us with gifts simply because He loves to delight His children…and in such creative ways! Splitting seas and orchestra seats! We expect so little and receive so much! Oh, and the greatest upgrade in the universe: Heaven. Throne room seats. Whispers are as rushing waters and colors are indescribable! All as a gift from a Friend. He paid, I praise. He gives, I receive. My water to His wine.

Take the ticket, receive the joy, rest in His grace. If even for a moment, of Eternity, foretaste.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

Via Distraction

Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:27

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Luke 9:23

In Jerusalem, Israel the Via Dolorosa is the “Way of Suffering.” It is a crowded, uphill pathway that Jesus is said to have walked from His place of trial to His place of crucifixion. In 2,000 years, some things have not changed. Crowds still line the noisy path. But today, instead of angry mockers, they are vying vendors.

I kept looking around thinking, "This is my life. Everyday I walk the sacred steps of Jesus and everyday my steps are pulled with constant distraction."

Deny the Distractions.
If you walk this sacred road, you are a target. Distractions are everywhere from beginning to end, left and right. So much temptation surrounds us to "scan, shop, socialize," etc. The issue was not to deny shopping, it was to deny distraction. Denial of self is not suffering, it is salvation.

As with my life's journey: the place is the venue, the purpose is the value. The first focus is Jesus, the following focus is people. The first focus is my freedom, the following focus is their freedom. Often all in the same moment.

Take up my Cross.
"Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." 2 Corinthians 4:10 Every day I am called to take up my cross – in confession and conviction, never condemnation. Sin's suffering is a cross that I already carry in me through the sacrifice of Jesus. His cross drags through my daily moments and encounters.

Whatever our day may bring, whether or not there's suffering, we all carry the cross inside and we all face the pulls of life.

Follow Me.
As we walked, we had to keep our heads down and our ears in tune to our guide’s voice. Exactly like following in His steps today: keep humbled, hear His voice, walk as He guides.

Every day is a Path. Every turn is a distraction. Every step is a choice: Daily desire, denial, and deliverance. Until stone turns to gold, Blood flows as I follow.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com

Beauty of Bubbles

It is not service that matters, but intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This will give our life the attitude of child-wonder which He wants it to have. -Oswald Chambers

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

My nephew Mason worked so hard at getting the bubbles just right, that he never looked up to enjoy them! “Mason, look up,” we’d say, but to no avail. He was busy. That is me as God’s child; I am so busy “producing beauty” for others to enjoy, but miss the entire reason God brought me to that moment: to enjoy Him.

“She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” Luke 10:39-40a

Just as Mason needed to bring the bubbles and as Martha needed to bring the bread, I am needed to "bring the beauty." But, just as Mason needed to soak in the joy and Mary chose to soak in her Savior, I am needed to "be still and know that He is God." Otherwise, what a moment lost on my heart's distraction!

We are either preparing for or practicing in His Presence! What loss is mine when I never look up to receive my Redeemer; what joy is mine when my lamp’s oil blazes with His brilliant Light! (Matthew 25:4,6,13)

Is this moment in preparation or in celebration? Still and soak in the wonder, dear child.

Enjoy Him, Michelle
mlpack1@yahoo.com