A New Day

For some time many have been hearing you are moving into a new day and many have become discouraged in the wait. In fact, the tendency is to settle into mediocrity and call it "good enough," wearied by their longing, disappointed in no change.

I was reminded that the new day begins at Midnight. We must never forget this fact. It is still dark at midnight and the darkest hours are to come before morning light. But, nonetheless, it is a new day. What we glean in this season of darkness...rest even...is preparatory for the dawning of light to come.

Just as winter is to the seasonal calendar, so is this period of darkness in the rhythm of our natural (rest) and spiritual (trust) life. It is a time that develops a deep sense of trust, which is different than the battle for faith. It is a time where motives are revealed, priorities sifted...but when we come through to rest/trust, we find nothing moves the Father's heart quite like childlike trust. Warfare waged from a platform of worship, out of a heart of childlike trust will change the atmosphere. If we can find Him, His nearness (as Psalmist in 73 :23-28 comes to...nevertheless, no matter, even so...His nearness is my good, Ps. 73:28), and it becomes more than enough, we are then equipped, entrusted and prepared for the light of day.

We are entering into that dawning of the day when light breaks forth. It is in this period of time, this stillness we must hear from the Lord. Often it is in these first moments of natural awareness upon awakening that we hear the still small voice of the Lord and it sets us ready for the day ahead. So, in this season, with this dawning, a fresh Word will come that will set us ready, prepare and establish us for the glory of His presence.

Isaiah 60:1-2 says..."Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, BUT (emphasis mine) the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you." His light will strike His House first...why...vs. 3, "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." This is not about us, not even for us...though it will bless us...it is for His Kingdom purpose first and foremost.

In these wee hours of the morning ... in the last throes of darkness, Job 38:12-13 speaks of the Lord commanding the morning, causing dawn to know its place, so that light may get hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wickedness of night out of it. We are in these wee hours, no wonder we are seeing so much wickedness exposed around us. We must keep alert, ever watchful even within our own spirits/souls for what He is shaking out of us to prepare us for the day ahead. It is a day to ask Him to search us and try us...that He would lead us in the way everlasting (which is the eternal path, His original blueprint for us).

He is opening doors...I was reminded that the first mention of door in the scripture is in Genesis and speaks of sin crouching at our door...it involves choice. We should be seeking Holy Spirit's direction in our choices...both in the significant and insignificant. Our lives are a compilation of choices. Thank God, for all of us, that He is a Redeemer; but we are to be wise through His leadership. Interestingly the last two times you see door it is from Revelation 3:20...He is standing knocking...we must open our hearts/lives to Him. Then the very last mention which follows immediately is Revelation 4:1...out of this fellowship, this rich communion with Him we are invited to a door standing wide open in heaven. From this vantage point, from this call, we will be shown what must take place in the future. This is precisely where we want to be positioned at the breaking of the day...and it is coming! Enjoy the light, embrace the day and don't be afraid of it!

Prayer...from Isaiah 26:12-15

Lord, You will ordain peace for us, for You have wrought in us and for us all our works. O Lord, our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us...forgive us...now we will acknowledge and mention your name only. They, these former tyrant masters, are dead, they shall not live or reappear,they are as powerless ghosts and they shall not rise and come back. You have visited and made and end of them..You have caused every memory, every trace of their supremacy to perish. Set our hearts in right order...and then You will bring increase, You will increase the borders of our land. We have known trouble and distress, we cried out to You. We felt as a woman with child, giving birth to wind. But, we believe because of Your redemptive hand, Your very nature, that which we have died to will live and we will awake and sing for joy! And we will live in the light of your Glory, for Your dew O Lord is a dew of sparkling light...bringing life to all it falls upon. Make us ready!

Who Am I?

Who Am I?

Good question. It was a simple, but very revealing question, Moses asked. Stripped of all he thought he was, he no longer knew who he was. Reduced from the pride of position and palace, with no more grand illusions, he was in perfect posture for God to reveal Himself.

Believing himself a failure, he was a clean page for the Lord to write His will upon. The brokennes, the emptiness..all he thought disqualified him...had in

truth prepared him for all the Lord was preparing him for.

A priceless secret is held in this passage. We find ourselves, not by looking at self, but by gazing into the face of our God who created us. In who He is, we find we are all we need to be. We find freedom. We discover it is not about us, it never was and never will be. It is all about Him. In living in this truth we find freedom. Quite simply, we are His, and that is enough because He is more than enough.

Moses reveals the tyranny of self we all wrestle against. It is a mirror of our own battle. In focusing on who we are, our human nature tends to be caught between thinking too highly or too lowly of ourselves. In answer to the wrong question, the Lord reveals the right answer, who He is. And there, in the revelation of the Great I Am, Moses not only found his God, he found himself. So with us.

Great answer!

The Face of John

JoNell's Background ...

Redemption's Song

If I were a songwriter, a singer, perhaps a poet, my life’s song would surely carry redemption’s theme. The scripture is replete with promise, bounteous hope and clear direction. But no theme quite captures my soul as the promise of redemption…both eternal and in the “here and now.” In fact, while our eternal redemption is truly promise enough and more than we could ever hope for. The reality of the redemptive nature of our Lord’s love invites me daily to lift my hands in joyous and resounding praise. Consider life without redemption’s promise. Bleak at best, I’d say.

While I may not be the oldest among us, I am certainly not the youngest and have lived enough life to have seen my Lord’s faithful hand redeem my circumstances, my choices, my very perspective. We are a people of promise, and we live with a vision for our future. But it is in times of honest reflection that we are brought to our knees in thanksgiving for His continuous, steadfast love.

Have you ever felt at the end of yourself? Have you ever known the consequences of a bad decision? Have you ever stood at a dead end knowing no way of escape? Have you stood in oppressive darkness with no light for your next step? If you have, then like me, you can shout from the rooftop…My Redeemer Lives!

He paid an incredible price to rescue you, to ransom me…to give us life and even kiss us with surprises. When I read the passage from Psalm 22, I am reminded of the price He paid for my redemption. The sinless, spotless Lamb of God knew horrific sin and the hopeless despair it brings. And yet He bore our sin, our shame and our guilt. He paid the price to buy you and me back from death and hell itself. He redeems our lives from the pit, the Psalmist says, from places that would destroy us through the wounding of life. All this He paid in full…for you, for me and for countless others who have found His love.

With the Psalmist, David, I ask this question, what would have happened to me had I not believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living? I will not think of what might have been, or fear what might be, for I have certainly seen His goodness and know Him to be trustworthy. Wait, hope, look for the Lord…because our Redeemer does live and His very nature is to deliver, to rescue, to purchase, and even re-purchase, us for Himself.

There is nothing we can do to deserve the magnanimous gift offered to us through His suffering, death and resurrection. But, daily I can and must live in the reality of this gift. I can and must embrace His love, count dear the cost and LIVE redemption’s song in all I say and do.

Will you join in the song? Will you do your best to enjoy a life well-lived, knowing the price is paid, the road is paved and the promise sealed? Will you dare to live as one redeemed, no matter your circumstance, trusting in the nature of the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever?

Jesus came. He came for you, He came for me. He is and will ever be faithful…He is our Redeemer. There is a Fountain, the old hymn, closes one verse with, “Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die.” Indeed!