Seeking wisdom from Holy Spirit today, and He never disappoints!

I quieted myself, shutting out the noise of everyday living. I need to hear His voice today. Holy Spirit you are so faithful to share the wisdom of Jesus.

A word from the Lord:

Abstain from all that defiles you. I am calling you to live a life set apart unto me, a life worthy of my name, one that represents me, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Be holy as I am holy.

You have heard the old adage, birds of a feather flock together. Let’s look at this through our kingdom eyes. You become like the one you spend the most time with. You take on his or her characteristics and mannerisms. Likewise as we are ever before the Lord of grace we become more like Him.

A few days ago before going to church I heard this from the Lord.

“You are a reflection of my glory. As you gaze at me, you become more like me.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NASB)

But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

When we come into the knowledge of knowing Christ as our Lord and Savior, a spiritual veil is removed.  We gain a better understanding of who He is. We see clearly what was hidden before our conversion. Holy Spirit makes this possible, as He is the one that leads us into all truth. He directs us to Jesus…always.

 As we are led into this truth, faith rises in our hearts. Once our hearts were shut up and dead to the things of God, but are now alive and transforming daily as we sit before Him. Our acquaintances begin to see a difference in us. You may hear that you look more rested; you are taking on a youthful glow! This is reflecting His glory! His ever-increasing glory!

How to stand in faith when the vision God has given is slow in coming

How do we stand in faith when the vision God has given to us tarries?

To answer the above question you simply press into Jesus and you pray without ceasing.  I do this to keep in faith and to not give into fear. It is so hard especially when others know of your plans and they are waiting with you. I often wish it was just God and myself walking this out without anyone else having knowledge of me hanging onto the precipice.

  

Psalm 27:13-14  (NASB)

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

  

Holy Spirit will you meet with me today? This is my prayer most days, but on this day I guess you can say I was desperate.

You know how it is when the God of the Universe speaks to you this amazing plan for the next phase of your life and you believe him. It begins small but then it grows and consumes your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans for your future. Then you wait! God’s timing is perfect, but really does it have to take this long? Sometimes it does.

I was not idle in the waiting.  I knew that there were many things that needed to fall into place.

So…what do we do?

• We believe what He says…HE Will DO!
• We believe God is always motivated by goodness and love.
• We believe we will see His goodness now, where we live, and where He is calling us to minister His Kingdom!
• We wait prayerfully.
• We gain courage through reading the word of God and praying in the Spirit.

Hold fast and don’t give up! I have a plan and it will come to pass. Don’t lose hope in it tarrying. Trust me in the process. Guard what I have entrusted to you. The call on your life is precious again I say guard it. I have set before you life…Take hold of it with all of your might!

Is the fountain of life flowing through you today?

What does that actually mean?

Jesus is the Living Water, when you spend time learning from Him, you will be filled with Holy Spirit and satisfied with good things and a victorious life. You will also be a conduit for this life giving water to flow through you to the world.

  

Jesus is the answer…always.

Psalm 36:9 (NASB)

For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light we see light

I want the life of Jesus flowing through me. This speaks of a non-stagnant flow. It is fresh and relevant. When we take time to sit in His Presence we take on His characteristics. In His light or His Presence we see our way clearly! The path of life is illuminated for us.

Psalm 34:5 (NASB)

They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed

Moses glowed with the Presence of God and had to cover his face so that Aaron and the Israelites could look at him. I want to radiate Jesus and never have my face turned downward in shame again.

Jesus is this fountain!

I am the fountain of life. All who come to Me for strength and purpose will not be turned away or disappointed!

Proverbs 8:7-9
For my mouth will utter truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverted in them. They are all straightforward to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.

We have been in Tyler, Texas for about a month now. It has been an interesting beginning to this next phase of God’s continuing plan for Nate and me.  It is remarkable to be walking out what has been spoken to me in the secret place of prayer.  Our passion is for the Body of Christ, to see them healed, trained, equipped, and mature.  This has taken shape since we arrived the first of June in our House Church.  I don’t know that I expected it so quickly. I guess I felt like we were still transitioning, but God said, It is time!

I can’t state the details, but I can tell you that Nate and I did exactly what we have passion for and that is to bring truth into the lives of God’s people. The enemy would twist and pervert the Word of God, but Jesus is Truth.  He requires truth from His holy people!

Psalm 145:18-19
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

I love this scripture! We must come to God with truthful lips! To say that we love God and then twist His Word is deceitful. It lacks the fear of the LORD! To walk in the fear of the LORD is to hate what is evil. Lying is sin and it is evil.  So, as we have had to confront some of these issues, we are falling on the LORD for grace. We do not in any way want to injure God’s people, but to ignore sin is not a loving response either. 

So, we seek Wisdom to lead God’s people. We ask to be clothed in humility and compassion as we speak truth. Wisdom is supreme the proverb states, and I believe it. As we seek the LORD, He brings His wisdom to the situation.

A couple of days ago, I awoke feeling heavy in heart.  I did an introspective look at my heart. I needed Jesus, plainly and simply.  I had been so caught up in the counsel and issues of the church that I had neglected my quiet times. I had grabbed a word here and a quick prayer there, but just enjoying the lover of my soul? I had neglected Him!

He is so faithful when we are faithless! He restored my soul.
I began reading a verse that has become a life verse for Nate and I.

Zechariah 4:6-10
Then he answered and said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of Grace, grace to it!

Also the word of the LORD came to me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel, these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth

This is an excerpt from the book of Zechariah. He was a prophet during the first generation after the Babylonian exile had ended.  God wanted the temple to be restored and He used Zechariah as a voice to the people of Judah to get this accomplished.  He also used Zerubbabel the governor of Judah to begin the work. It says in the above passage that Zerubbabel laid the foundation of the Temple, but construction ended for a number of years. Why? Because Temple worship, the law of the LORD was not popular among the people of Judah. They were comfortable in their sin. They did not want a righteous standard brought back into Judah.  God’s word to Zerubbabel was one of encouragement; don’t give up, don’t despise this small beginning, it’s not by your might or your power that this Temple will be finished. My Spirit will accomplish it through you! I know we can all relate to this passage. It also says that these seven will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. The plumb line was used for measuring a wall so that it is built true to plumb. It is a carpenter’s tool for making something square. It is symbolic to God bringing in a righteous standard to a situation. His righteous standard is His Word.  God will rejoice! Man may or may not rejoice when they see a righteous standard coming into their city, or coming into their church, but God will! He will also empower you for the work! He will accomplish what He has planned and He will be glorified through us!

It is not always a popular place to be used of God to speak truth. To set things straight in the lives of God’s people is tricky, but Nate and I know we are called to do this. This is not our only calling, but for this Cassia Offering this is the topic.

I read this entire book as I was studying this topic, and I uncovered something in Chapter three that I want to share.

Zechariah 3:7
Thus says the LORD of hosts, If you will walk in My ways, and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here.

This is such a beautiful promise from the LORD spoken through Zechariah to Joshua the High Priest during that time in Judah. Christians are all priests according to I Peter 2:9.  We are to walk in His ways by patterning ourselves after Jesus, the good Shepherd.

Performing service in the Hebrew lexicon states, to safeguard, to watch, take charge for, and to protect. Govern my house in the Hebrew means to judge, to minister, to plead the cause, and to rule.  Having charge of my courts would be to walk in God’s authority.

God speaking through the prophet Zechariah then says, I will grant you free access among these who are standing here. Who is God speaking of? Read this in context and you will discover the angel of the LORD was there. I would say He is speaking of Jesus. We have access to Jesus. This is earth and heaven coming together.  I will say, Nate and I love the Body of Christ, and we are sometimes required of the LORD to take a stand against sin in the Body. Why? To safeguard her, to protect her, to plead the cause for her.  God is faithful to bring forth the fruit, we are only required to be obedient and love.

In my footnotes regarding the above passage it stated. 
Joshua the High Priest was given authority to govern, render justice and judge the house of the LORD on the condition that he himself walked in the ways of the LORD.

That is very good counsel! I love, love the Word of the LORD!

A word of the LORD from my quiet time on June 28th

I have begun a work in you that will have a lasting effect on generations to come. Wisdom is Supreme and you have chosen well. Wisdom has called aloud in the streets and you have responded to Her call.  Steadfastness has been the fruit of seeking Wisdom.

Exchanging yokes with the Father today was absolutely remarkable! I believe with all my heart what it says in Matthew 11 about yoke exchange. But when a substantial heart change happens to you personally it shakes your world. Maybe it doesn’t literally shake your world, but if you could see into the spirit world, things were rocking! All because of coming before Jesus and letting Holy Spirit lead the way to freedom!

Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.

Jesus is instructing us how to get free through a detailed scripture. It requires an action out of us. We must first come to him. We do this through quieting ourselves before the One who created us and who knows us better than anyone else. We then are told to take the Father’s yoke in exchange for our heavy weight; the things that are pressing on us physically or emotionally. In doing this we receive wisdom to know how to change our circumstances, we also receive grace to walk things out till they change. His yoke is always better, easy, full of grace, and kind.

Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law.

Let’s continue to humble ourselves before God; even when it is not our problem but the other persons. In doing this we are receiving more of God’s nature as our character, our soul is being transformed in the process. The fruit of this is God’s way of thinking, God’s way of communicating, and God’s way of loving people who are not so loveable at times.

When studying the above scripture there were two Spiritual fruits that stood out to me: one was kindness, and the other one is love. It seemed to be the two things Holy Spirit was emphasizing. Kindness means to be fair, justly dealing with others, doing that which is good. We all enjoy being around people who are kind. They are uplifting in their conversations.

When Jesus said my yoke is easy, He is saying it is my nature to be kind and willing to help. That is the Greek meaning of easy. I have been in conversations with people and have had a momentary loss of thought, and the person I’m talking with fills in the blanks for me. It is comforting and there is a healthy ebb and flow to the conversation. This is a simplistic example to being kind, but for me it’s huge and stands out. The Lord is never cynical and He is never sarcastic. I love the way he is and I want to be just like him! I believe we can take on more and more of his character through exchanging our yoke of insecurity, which produces the bad fruit, and receive a transformed mind that abounds in good fruit!

God is love. He is our source of love. He teaches us how to give and receive love in a healthy way. If we are producing the opposites of kindness and love in our lives, we should welcome Holy Spirit to take a closer look at the root of our bad fruit. I believe a poor self image and negative self talk is one source of bad fruit. God is our source of kindness and love and it is only right to go to Him to help make the lasting changes we need.

I John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

Fear of many things also keeps us from experiencing God’s love and keeps us from giving love in a healthy way. Many who have experienced salvation continue to struggle with fear, and the fruit of fear does not know how to love the way God loves.

For many years it was my prayer, to be perfected in love. I came to Christ with a fractured soul; fearful of so many things. As God began to heal me emotionally, I began to learn from him how to give and receive love. He is so patient and kind with us. He knows how we are made, and he knows our beginning and our ending. He wants us to experience freedom!

I Corinthians 13: 1-8
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 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.

Wow, we can have spiritual gifts operating in and through us and still not be perfected in love! Basically, that is all of us who call ourselves believers. We are in the process of being sanctified, but Jesus still allows us to preach, teach, and prophesy. He is a God of patient endurance in regards to his children. In saying that we must also say this, we are nothing without love. The gifts of the Spirit profit us and our hearers little if we are not motivated by God’s agape love firstly.

Colossians 3:12-15
And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

This is a priceless scripture! Put on compassion, this is yet another action we are required to do. I do this by simply saying or asking, Lord would you clothe me with compassion? I put on compassion, love, and kindness. I choose to walk in these.

We are to forgive the one we have a complaint against. Why? Jesus forgave us and continues to forgive us. I would add, be quick to forgive. Go immediately into your secret place and ask the Lord to reconcile your heart towards that person. Speak blessing over the one who has offended you. Then watch what happens. There will be a transformation of your thinking and your actions. Jesus does this through the yoke exchange He spoke about in Matthew 11.

Finally we are instructed to put on love. Here we are called to action once again. We do this the same way we did with compassion. It is by faith that we say, I choose to put on love!

Holy Spirit spoke this to me in my quiet time today.

Be quick to forgive when the offense comes. Press into Me. You will gain strength to love without conditions attached. I will perfect you in love. Love given from a surrendered heart is perfect love. Love not seeking its own gratification but love given, freely given.

Psalm 68:11
The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host

In this Psalm, David is actually pulling words from Deborah and Barak’s victory over the Canaanite King and his army.




Before looking at the story of Deborah in the book of Judges, I want to look at the Hebrew meanings of a couple of words in this verse. In the verse we see the Lord giving a directive and the women responding to it.

To proclaim the good tidings means to be fresh, full, cheerful and rosy! It is a verb meaning to bring good news.

Wow! I have felt this joy after hearing God’s heart beat for the nations and knowing He wanted me to go. I have been full with the pregnancy of vision for a people group. I believe I have glowed with the Holy Spirit and expectancy of greatness coming forth!

A great host speaks of a mass of persons organized for war. Can we just for a moment think about all the mighty women of God we know standing shoulder to shoulder ready for battle? We have heard our Commander-in-Chief’s directive and we say, YES! Lead us into battle, lead us on to victory! I know through intercession God has re-routed spiritual powers of darkness. I also know through praise and worship God has set ambushes against our enemies. As we raise our cries up to the Most High, He moves on our behalf!

Looking at the story of Deborah in the book of Judges begins with God’s judgment against Israel. Israel had once again done evil in the sight of the Lord. The Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan. Sisera was the commander of his army. So, after twenty years of being oppressed severely by the Canaanites, God heard their cry and spoke to Deborah a prophetess who was judging Israel at that time. Deborah sent for Barak and told him God’s plan for delivering Israel from this Canaanite King. She had very clear instructions from the Lord as to how they were to defeat Sisera and the Canaanite army. He clearly told Deborah, “I will give them into your hands.” Barak did not receive this word with great joy or faith. He said, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

When you have been in the presence of the Lord you are filled with faith for the battle. Deborah knew who her Commander-in-Chief was. She knew the Lord would be true to his word to her. She was pregnant with the message, full of faith, and I believe it showed on her face. She was confident in the authority God had given her. Barak on the other hand wasn’t fresh, full, cheerful or rosy!

Deborah answered Barak by saying, I will go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman. This is interesting to me, as Barak did trust Deborah and was obedient to the word she received from the Lord, even though he was not brave enough to go on his own.

God led them beautifully and defeated Sisera and the Canaanite army just as He told Deborah He would. It says the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera took off on foot. All the Canaanite army fell by the sword, not one was left! Sisera’s outcome was a little grisly, but is worth mentioning because of who killed him.

Sisera ran to the tent of a friend. The friend’s wife Jael told him to come inside and basically she would hide him from the Israelite army. He was exhausted and asked her for a drink of water. She gave him milk to drink and he lay down to sleep. Jael covered him with a blanket. When Sisera fell asleep, Jael took a tent peg and hammered it into Sisera’s temple. She sent the peg through his temple into the ground and killed him. The Israelites pressed on and destroyed Jabin the King of Canaan. God did what He told Deborah he would do!

God is looking for women and men who will take time to listen to his thoughts; He desires for nations and people to know him intimately. God desires for the oppressed to finally find freedom in Christ. God wants to partner with you in faith and intercession for many things. He will re-route armies because of your prayers.

Most of the Bible is written by men about men who have done crazy exploits for God. Today in my quiet time, He focused on two women Deborah and Jael who did his bidding. In the song of Deborah and Barak in chapter 5 of Judges, they sing, most blessed of women is Jael. King David also speaks of Jael in verse 12 of Psalm 68. Kings of armies flee, they flee, and she who remains at home will divide the spoil.

Jael was not just a mere woman. She was obedient to God and helped defeat the Canaanite army. Deborah a judge for the Israelites had wisdom and above all believed what God told her and was obedient!

I want to complete this Cassia offering with a word from the Lord to the mighty women of God.

I have a mighty company of women who want to do my bidding. They are courageous and persistent in their love for me and my Kingdom. They sit at my feet to receive their marching orders to go here and there. They receive grace and strength from me for the task. My heart is full of pride and love for each one of you. You are like Deborah and Jael, strong, full of purpose, knowing your Commander. I am able to accomplish great exploits through each of you!

I am excited to be writing again. It has been a few months since I last posted in Cassia Offerings. I love being transparent in my writings, it is really who I am and it is dealing with everyday struggles trying to follow the Lord in obedience. This road has taken us to The Netherlands and to the industrious Dutch people.

This actually began as an email to a dear friend. I read through it and realized it was my heart being laid bare, but also the Lord laying His cover over it. I believe you may be able to relate to my struggles and garner something from it. My prayer went something like this on that day sitting by the North Sea, looking out at the dark water, the buoys, and the grey skies.

Holy Spirit as I sit here, I pray for a word. What is your word to me? Your word is a lamp to my feet, directing and guiding us as that buoy does for the ships and tug boats. Let your praise be lifted high! I delight to do your will more than I desire the comfort of home. I love you Jesus. Thank you for establishing us, settling us.

Grace my daughter as you enter this stage of your life. More grace to learn new things, as you try to adapt to the Dutch way of living. You delight my heart as you are so far out of your comfort zone. My mercies are new to you everyday. There are boundaries set up for your protection. They keep you from the rocky edges and the shallow water. Go deep Jan, Launch out into the deep of Holland. You will find an amazing catch. You will bear much fruit in this season of your life. Trust Me, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

I delight to do His will more than I desire the comforts of the familiar. Yet, I need Him desperately every day, several times daily. I have been dealing with some negative self talk, or perhaps the enemy talking in my ear. I take these negative statements captive because I know what the truth is, but at times the negative statements make sense to me. It is crazy what Nate and I are thinking of doing here. We are not young, we do not know the language, we fumble in the Dutch culture, are we relevant for this generation?

God affirms daily that we are where He wants us to be. That He will make us relevant to those twenty and thirty years younger than ourselves, and He will give grace to learn the language and the Dutch culture.

So, I continue on, trusting that God himself will do what he is speaking to us. “I will establish you in The Netherlands.”

Isaiah 46:4
Even to your old age I shall be the same and even to your graying years I shall bear you. I have done it, and I shall carry you; And I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you.

Isaiah 46:9-11
Remember the former things long past. For I am God, and there is no one like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from the ancient times things which have not been done, Saying my purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure; Calling a bird of prey from the east. The man of my purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.

These are two scriptures that I received in my quiet time today. They are encouraging and applicable. He is faithful to speak and each time He does He covers me.

In the above passage, it says; God has spoken, He will bring what He says to pass, He has planned it, surely He will do it! I would say this takes the pressure off of the one being spoken to. Yes? It is God’s plan from the beginning; I pressed in and overheard His heart. At this point I had a choice to be obedient or to talk my way out of it. I believe that God is so gracious that He could have continued to use us in Albuquerque, or in Tyler, Texas. He asked would we consider serving in The Netherlands. To which we responded, Yes Lord. Just because we responded yes to The Netherlands does not change things. It is still God’s plan and He will establish it!

The first few weeks of being in The Netherlands were ones of striving. I knew to not try and make things happen, but it kept rising up in me. You know that feeling of ….I need to do something; I need to set up appointments to meet people, praying Holy Spirit open the door for ministry, asking close friends to pray for open doors. I felt in my gut the anxiety of it all. It was ridiculous! If you know me, you know I rest in the Lord. I pray and I trust Him to do things. I have taught on resting in the Lord and how we should not strive to make things happen. I was sharing this with Martijn and he told me that this is an issue with the Dutch people. They are constantly striving to make the most of every single minute. They have difficulty resting. We call these folks industrious, hard working. This is good in the work place, but in life, in the kingdom of God we must learn to enter the rest of God. Complete trust that He will bring things in our lives and ministry to fruition. We include Him always in our decisions and He directs our paths. He will do it!

It is always interesting to me how God uses our natural surroundings to teach us more about Himself. So, we are resting in Him, and believe He will continue to illuminate our paths. He has the plan for The Netherlands and He is showing us a little bit more of it. I wish it was a clear outline, but then that would not take faith or dependence on Him daily. So, I fall on Him often. I run into Him and I feel safe. I am vulnerable, clumsy and naked, but He covers me with His robe. Trust Him with your lives and in the process of it becoming clearer to you, He is there to encourage and cover you.

Philippians 2:13
For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.