Transcendent God

The Holy Spirit has been speaking so powerfully to my heart lately. Though my body is weak, and tired. Though my knowledge and understanding is limited. Though my time is limited. Though I lack many abilities. HE IS ABLE to use this fragile, weak, frail and "dis-abled" person in order to accomplish His magnificent purposes.

He is a God who transcends our limitations! He's placed His transcendent, Mighty power in these fragile earthen vessels, so that we might know it's Him, and NOT us.

It is through the Spirit of the Living God that we are able to live beyond the limitations of this body.

It is through the Spirit that we experience fullness of life.

It is through the Spirit that we experience peace, though our life's circumstances may be chaotic and crazy.

It is through the Spirit that we experience freedom, though we may be behind prison walls, or imprisoned in our own body through disability, imprisoned to live in a highly dysfunctional family or trapped by some other hindrance outside of our control.

It is through the Spirit that we live as wealthy sons and daughters of the King, though we may live in poverty, debt, or other need.

It is through the Spirit that we are pure, perfect, holy, and righteous though we still struggle with sin daily.

It is through the Spirit that we experience love to the very depths of our souls, though we may not have family or friends that love us.

It is through the Spirit that we experience healing, though our bodies may be filled with cancer, chronic disease, or other illnesses.

It is through the Spirit that we are made wise, though we may be uneducated, illiterate, and dumb.

It is through the Spirit that we are full of incomparable power, though we may have no position or influence in society or we may have bodies that strain to pick up a grain of rice.

It is through the Spirit that we have hope, when there seems to be no hope.

It's a mysterious and wonderful process that cannot be completely understood or explained. We need only to believe in order that this perfectly full life, might be experienced in a world that is FAR less than perfect. We're not doomed by life's circumstances, our own abilities, or our resources. All of His gifts transcend circumstances and abilities.

So we live by faith and not by what we see.

Here are some truths to ponder as you seek to live beyond your limitations.

..The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. Romans 8:26

For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom 2 Corithians 3:17

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Ephesians 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

2 peter 1:3-4 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature,having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Phil 3:20-21

The Pebble and the Majestic Water Fall part 3

Finally, one day the pebble saw it.  It was a most glorious sight.  It was a grand and glorious palace.  A palace fit for one of great majesty and power.  A dwelling place for a Great King!  There was only one problem.  The palace wasn't complete.

The pebble wondered about this.  How could a palace so grand as this be started and not completed?  The pebble decided to ask the Great Water Fall about this.

"Oh Great Water Fall, who is this beautiful Palace for?"

"It is my Palace."

This disheartened the pebble very much, since the palace was not complete.

"Do not be downcast my little  pebble.  You will help me complete my palace.  Remember I promised you that you would do something beautiful for me.?"

Of course, the pebble thought that was an impossible task, but this was the Great Water Fall speaking. It was this same Water Fall that had taken a rough, ugly, seemingly useless pebble and made it into a sight to behold.  Actually, the pebble didn't really know how beautiful it had become.

While the pebble was giving itsself a headache trying to figure out how it could help complete the castle, one of the Great Water Fall's servants picked it up.

"This is just what we need over  here."  And with one quick and fluid movement, the  pebble was  placed along side of other brilliantly shimmering  jewels in the palace itself.

"Oh, no!"  The pebble thought.  "I cannot be here.  I am too ugly.  This palace is for the Majestic Water Fall.  He should only have the best."

His servant replied, "That is why you've been chosen.  You are among the  pure, radiant stones that have been made beautiful by the Great Water Fall Himself.   He prepared you to be a living stone in His dwelling place.  And because the Great Water Fall has crafted you Himself, you are a sight to behold, like these other living stones."

The pebble was confused and speechless--again.  But then the pebble remembered the Great Water Fall's promise.

"I will make you a beautiful gift--a worthy offering that I may enjoy forever."

So the little pebble pondered this.  It thought about all that it had endured, even remembering the day it discovered that it was beautiful.  It looked all around itself at the other stones--jewels actually.  Each one was glistening in the sun.  Each one was a small part of the Great Water Fall's Marvelous palace.  As the pebble, absorbed all of these sights, it began to wonder.  Could I too be like these other jewels?  Just as this thought had entered its mind, one of the Water Falls's servants approached it with a mirror. And it saw itself.  Actually it did not recognize itself for it had never seen anything so uniquely brilliant.  It was as if it saw a glimpse of the Great Water Fall itself.  The pebble gasped.

This was far better than it could have ever imagined.  Oh, what joy filled the little pebble!  Oh, how proud it was to have a gift to give the Great Water Fall.  Oh, how elated it was to do something beautiful for the One it loved!

It was about that time that something extra wonderful happened.  The pebble began to hear every melodious harmony of what sounded like thousands of birds.  It could see little water creatures gleefully dancing through the water towards the Palace.  It could hear the echo throughout the Palace, "The King is arriving!  The King is coming!"

The winds began to swirl all around the palace, with joyous laughter, "He's here! He's here!  Behold the King!"

Then all at once, the water surged into that palace like a Great Tidal wave,  terribly frightening but simultaneously more beautiful and glorious than anything the pebble had beheld.  It was the Majestic Water Fall, but somehow the Water Fall was different.  I mean... the pebble recognized the Water Fall, but it was as if it was seeing the Water Fall clearly for the first time.  The little pebble, now a radiant jewel, never knew that it had only seen a faint reflection of the Majestic Water Fall before.  Now it saw the Water Fall face to face in the FULLNESS  of its glory!

This is where words fall miserably short, for there are no words to describe what the  pebble saw.  It was as if all that was good, glorious, brilliant, radiant, pure and marvelous had come to rest in one place, only with an intensity that was actually unbearable, yet at the same time completely satisfying.  The pebble felt complete, whole, and in a perfect sate of contentment.  It was as if it had waited for this moment its entire life.  In fact, it had waited for this moment its entire life, yet it did not know it was waiting for this moment..

One more part left:  The conclusion of the story coming soon!

the blessing of confessing

Recently, the Holy Spirit led me to have a devotional with my kids on how to deal with sin.   So we talked about what happens to us when we sin(or think we've sinned).  We feel ashamed, afraid, guilty...  When we choose to stay in the the dark, rather than coming out into the light and confessing, Satan keeps his finger on us.  His power is strongest in  the darkness.  He tries to keep us hiding--with lies of course.  We hide in so many ways.  By making excuses.  By blaming others. By ignoring our sin. By keeping our sin a secret.  When we refuse to admit our sin, confessing it to God and each other, it hurts us.  We can experience no peace or rest in our hearts.  We live a life of guilt, shame and fear.  We lose our intimacy with God.  That sin creates distance in our relationship.  Not only do we lose intimacy with God, but we lose intimacy with others.  Unconfessed sin can even cause health problems.  If sin continues on unconfessed, it leads to isolation.  Because we're still trying to hide.  It's a downward spiral.  Does that sound like a life you'd like to live? 

But there is a remedy.  God has given us a gift.  It is the gift of forgiveness.   But we can only receive forgiveness if we are willing to confess.  We must come out of the darkness, into the light of truth.  We must call our sin by its name--sin.  We must refuse to compromise, or making excuses for our sin.  Just admit it.  God already knows.  It's amazing what happens when we confess our sins.  The process of healing and restoration begins.   Our hearts can again be filled with peace.   Our intimacy with God is restored.  Our intimacy with others can be restored.  We can live again in community.  Even our physical bodies can experience healing. 

God's forgiveness is total and complete.  He separates our sin as far as the east is from the west.  We are washed completely.  There is no need to continue punishing yourself.  There's no need to continue meditating over that mistake thinking of all the things you could have done differently.  Yes, there may be business that needs to be done.  The Holy Spirit may give you instructions to work toward reconciliation.  He may give you instructions to make restitution.  You will need some accountability in  place to help you in your area of weakness.  But understand, that you're already forgiven. Receive it.  Live like you're forgiven, because God says that you are.  I admit that I really struggle with this.  I have struggled with perfectionism my entire life, so when I fail, I can't let myself "off the hook".  Even after I've gone to God for forgiveness, I continue to punish myself chasing down that sin like a pit bull refusing to let it go.  I'm learning how to live in His grace more and more.

Paul said the more sin increased, the more His grace increases.  That scripture gets under the skin of us rule-keepers, because we think that we're giving people a "license to sin".  But even Paul talks about the foolishness of this line of thinking.  Why would anyone want to sin saying grace will cover it? Why would I want to live in guilt, fear, and shame when I can live free?  It was for freedom, that He set us free!

Lastly, I asked each of my kids if there was some person they trusted enough to confess their sins to.  It's important to have those person's in place before we sin, because it's hard enough to confess without having to add looking for a person we trust.  I now see the value in Catholics going to priests for confession.  What a blessing to have a fairly easy way to go and confess to someone you trust. But confession must go past admitting our sins.  We must also allow others to hold us accountable.  That requires an intimate relationship.


So after having our devotional and praying together, I had the opportunity to experience the blessing of confessing.  One of my children came to me asking if he could speak with me privately.  Of course.  So we went into my bedroom and he proceeded to confess a secret sin.  His heart was so broken over his sin and he felt that he had disappointed me. This may sound crazy, but it what such a joyous moment for me.  I was able to give him the gift of forgiveness and unconditional acceptance.  We sat together and embraced, as he cried.  I told him I loved him and that I totally forgave him.  He prayed and asked God for forgiveness.  Then I told him that he didn't need to think about that anymore.  It was done and over.  He was forgiven.  Now, there was business that needed to be done.  There were some things that I needed to do, so that he wasn't tempted to sin in that way again.  But it wasn't to punish him.  It was to help him.  And amazingly, he gladly received my help.  It actually seemed like a relief to him.  Later that day, I asked him how he felt.  He said he felt much better.

I pray that you may experience the blessing of confessing the next time you sin.

GAL 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 1JN 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

 James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

2CH 7:13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain (hmm... sounds like a drought), or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, [14] if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [15] Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. [16] I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

My Last Bath

One day I decided to have a talk with God.
"Are you really there?"
"Is this Christianity thing real, or
is it something people made up to make weak and incompetent people
feel better about themselves?"
I heard no reply,
but a mirror appeared.
And I saw myself.
I almost threw up!
It was a most disturbing image.
I was FILTHY!
My clothes were full of muck and yuck.
My hair was matted, with dirt, dust and...moving creatures
My teeth...
I cannot describe,
Let's just say I looked like one of those zombies from the movies.
So I did what any self-respecting, intelligent person would do.
I went to clean myself up.
I took a long shower,
washed my hair--using the best products with LOTS of soap.
Put my clothes in the washing machine, then dried them.
And you won't believe this!
I went back to that mirror,
and I looked EXACTLY the same as before!
What the...!
I was puzzled, befuddled, confused, and disturbed.
How could that be?
Perhaps I need to wash multiple times before I would be clean.
Then one appeared before me,
One like a god,
He was overwhelmingly beautiful!
In fact, so beautiful and pure that I immediately felt as I looked,
putrid, ugly--a mess
His beauty took my breath away
and I fell at his feet as though dead.
He spoke.
"Get up"
In my mind, I said, "I can't."  For I could not speak.
He responded as though he could hear my thoughts.
"Yes, you can.  I will strengthen you."
So I stood before Him vulnerably, ashamed of my filth.
So ashamed...
So afraid...
So dishonored...
And yet he spoke to me with such gentleness and love,
with such compassion,
yet with power and GREAT authority.
His words pierced my soul
and went deeper than deep.
He said, "Do you want to be clean?"
"I tried to clean myself," I replied.
"Do you want to be clean?" He said again.
" I was about to take another bath, in fact several baths and wash my..."
He interrupted me and spoke with such power that the earth shook and my soul vibrated with His words.
"Do you want to be clean?!"
At that, I fell to my knees in anguish and managed to conjure up a feeble,
"Yes.  I want to be clean."
He nodded His head and smiled.
He at once removed His glorious robe, leaving his under garments exposed.
He put His hands in a bowl of soapy water which I had not seen before,
grabbed a washcloth and stepped towards me with it.
At once, I stepped back.
"No, I cannot let you..."
He simply looked at me with those compassionate eyes.
"Ok." I said.
"When I clean you, you shall be clean."
And He began to clean me.
He washed my hair.
He removed my clothing and washed every part of me.
This glorious one knelt before me and cleaned my feet.
I had never felt so alive!
I had never felt so loved!
Every touch brought healing.
Every touch brought freedom.

When He had finished washing me, I saw myself in the mirror
and I was not ashamed.
I was cleaner than clean.
I was astonishingly beautiful!
Radiantly beautiful!
Amazingly pure--with no hint of the filth that was once there.
Then he brought me a robe.
It was a robe so pure,
so glorious,
so brilliant
so, so beautiful.
I reached out to take it and he shook His head.
"I must clothe you with my robe.  It is not yours to take, only mine to give."
It was His robe! You know what I was thinking.  I couldn't take His robe!
Again, reading my mind, He said,
"Receive this robe as my gift to you.  I want you to have this gift."
So I bowed my head, letting Him clothe me with His robe.
Truly words cannot explain what my eyes saw when He clothed me in His robe.
My eyes were filled with tears.
I was overcome with joy.
I couldn't speak.
Yet in my gratitude, I knelt before Him and kissed His feet and His hands.
It was then that I saw the scars--
the horrid scars on his hands, His feet, His side.
It startled me for I hadn't seen them before.
Reading my mind, He said,
"Yes, I took these scars so that you can be clean."
"Who are you?"
He replied, " I AM the one who was, and is, and is to come.
I AM the beginning and the end.
I AM the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
I AM the King over all Kings.
I AM the All-powerful, Mighty conquering one who delivers.
I AM...
               Jesus."