Buttermilk biscuits, a cup of strong coffee and my sweet memories

Biscuits were almost a daily staple for breakfast as I was growing up. We loved the Southern delicacy that was soft on the inside with a crust browned to perfection. Momma was from Tuscaloosa Alabama and could make the best scratch biscuit you have ever put into your mouth. I have vivid memories of her teaching me how to make them. I can hear her voice as if it was happening today, “Janet Renee, get into this kitchen and help your momma.”

 She would start with some flour, and I mean some, because momma never measured anything. Then she would make a well in the middle of the flour and add her oil. To this she began pouring in the goodness of buttermilk. Oh my! This is what gives them the amazing flavor! Swirling round and round she would stir not with a spoon but with her hand. She would make it into the most beautiful mound of soft, supple dough you have ever seen. She would pinch off about a hand full and shape them somewhat into a biscuit.  A greased cast iron pan would hold the creation and into a very hot 450-degree oven they went. The aroma of hot biscuits baking and strong black coffee brewing is a comfort akin to being all wrapped up in your coziest blanket and sitting by a wood burning fire.  In just minutes we would be putting a slab of butter in them with jelly oozing out all around the edges.

On those special occasions where we had visited my dad’s relatives in Shreveport Louisiana we would return home with dark cane syrup. This combination was something close to Heaven, I am sure! I guess my most favorite way of having them served to me and one of my earliest memories is sweetened coffee milk with a biscuit in it. We would eat it with a spoon to make certain we got every last drop of this perfection. Daddy never gave it a second thought giving his little ones coffee. It was part of his culture growing up in Spanish Lake, Louisiana and he passed it on to us kids. I can hear him saying, “It is good” in his best Cajun accent.  We loved it!

So, my memories flooded me this morning as I was standing in my kitchen making momma’s scratch biscuits. I miss momma and daddy terribly and it is so odd that they are no longer part of my life. I can still feel their love as I remember those mornings around our kitchen table. The many things that they taught me will live on through my children. I can see myself with my little grand daughters step by step showing them how to make momma’s scratch made biscuits, as we reminisce about days gone by!

Proverbs 17:6 (NIV)

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

He is able…are we willing?

 

Zechariah 4:6 (NASB)

Then he answered and said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.

When the Lord requires a new level of holiness from us, it is not to be obtained by our own strength or merit. It is only through humbling ourselves before Him and relying on His strength and power to achieve what He has asked of us.

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.

When I heard Him speak to me this morning about being more set apart, it did not cause alarm or dread. I can’t possibly accomplish holy living on my own. I believe that's how we get over into wrong thinking. I submit to the Holy Spirit and wait and see how He prompts me. It may be as simple as adjusting an attitude of my heart, or possibly repentance. It is His job to uncover these issues and to lead us into all truth. It is not for me to put regulations and rules on myself and certainly not on others!

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NASB)

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, always having all sufficiency in everything; you may have abundance for every good deed.

Grace has the power to change every circumstance! You only need to appropriate it. Apply this amazing grace to your present circumstance and watch God make the changes in it. He is able and willing to change that which concerns us. The Holy Spirit will begin to show us what needs to be tweaked in our lives. We submit to His leading and apply grace to the area of need, and then wait and see the beautiful transformation take place. I don’t know how long this process will take; it is different for each of us. There is no formula or timetable, so be patient and wait. We will see the deliverance and salvation of the Lord in our lives!

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.