I quiet myself: “I am here, Lord. What is it You want to speak to me today, Lord? What is it You want to show me? I am listening. I am watching.”
Have you ever gone to a ‘come as you are’ party? This is an effort to get people to relax the artificial image they present to others. Do you understand that I throw the ultimate ‘come as you are’ party? You could not improve yourself enough to be presentable to me, but I will receive you as you are to perform my work of grace in your life. To approach me on some other basis would demonstrate that you don’t know your true nature or the nature of my redemptive work. Do you understand the value of time? Your efforts to clean yourself up waste time that you could put to better use serving me in my Kingdom. Come to me as you are. Now.
God says that He is new every morning. His creation continually declares the variety of His innovative power and His kingdom. As His children we are to do the same -- after all we have the ability to hear Him. Eighty times Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God; only two times did He talk about the Church. He loves the Church and died for it, but He really wants us to understand the Kingdom of God. A kingdom is not a common concept for most of us today. A kingdom is simply a place where a King rules -- it is the realm of his influence, where his values, laws and enforcement are in operation. When we have relationship with God, we start to understand His Kingdom, we begin to know our Heavenly Father’s heart and know His ways to demonstrate His heart, values, principles, character, and love to the world.
I quiet myself: “I am here, Lord. I watch for You. I listen for Your voice. Where You lead, I will follow. You are my daily bread.”
My Lord speaks: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word I speak. My words are life – nourishment for the body, spirit and soul.”
Do you find Christians to be judgmental? Do you think it is normal for them to be this way? They have received my commandments and I expect them to follow them. Should they expect others to follow them as well? Yet one of my commandments is that you judge not. Those who do not acknowledge me do not receive this commandment and can give harsh unrighteous judgment. Those who call on my name should acknowledge that they are creatures of mercy and this should make them reluctant to judge others. Those who judge demonstrate that they don’t understand the mercy they receive. Those who are forgiven much love much and judge not.
Except you become as little children you shall not enter the Kingdom of God. What qualities do you see in a child? One of these is inquisitiveness. They are curious about the world and eager to learn. If you are doing some new and unfamiliar activity they will come over to investigate. Have you lost your curiosity about new and unfamiliar things as you matured? My invitation to you to seek and find is not limited to a single event. If you keep on seeking you will keep on finding. Maintain your sense of mystery and wonder even as you grow. My Kingdom is an inexhaustible source of these things.
Do we have a special treat for you! I want to introduce you to our newest CWG Ministries blogger. Her name is Tara Dulin. I met her a few weeks ago at a large seminar on How to Hear God's Voice, with 400 people in attendance at Grace Center in Franklin, Tennessee. We had breakfast together with her and a friend and she shared some of her journaling with me, and I was immediately struck by the revelation that she was an amazing right brain seer and journaler.
I quiet myself: “I fix my eyes on You, Jesus. Where do You want to take me today, Lord? What do You want to speak to me about?”
Do you have questions about my Kingdom? Does it bother you to live a life of faith if you have unanswered questions? Do you realize that I prompt you with questions about things I want to teach you? Teachers engage students by posing questions to their classes. I do the same thing with you to encourage you to seek me for the answers. For you have my promise that if you seek you will find. Yet those who have no unanswered questions are self-satisfied and no longer seeking. Let your questions prompt you to ask of me, and I will delight to share the treasures of my Kingdom with you.
This seminar was JUST scheduled and is coming up August 12 - 17th at Singing Waters in Orangeville, ON, a beautiful camp / resort near Toronto, Canada. John and Carol Arnott are hosting the seminar, and they have a week of speakers on issues of health, dealing with spirit, soul and body. I will be sharing for 3 hours on August 15th. If you are seeking physical wellness, this would be a great place to go. All seminar details are here.
