Echoes From Zion

I am taking the time to reread my old journal entries from 2010. I want to make sure that I am obeying everything the Lord instructed me to do last year. On more than once occasion, the Lord spoke to me about remaining silent before accusers...which isn't just accusers of ME...but of other people. Will I give 'my two cents' when someone is accusing another person? Or will I remain silent to their conversation? OR...will I speak blessing about the accused? Whoa. It all begins with the crucified life. The Lord instructed me on living a crucified life last year. Below is a powerful word that he spoke to me in July. I read it and reread it...and reread it...only to say OUCH every time! It hurts...but it's a good kind of hurt. July 14, 2010 How do I know if I’m dead, Lord? You say in this book that death is easier for those who ask for it. This is a tall order. One I don’t want take lightly.   I don’t want to just ask for it because I’m suppose to….I want to WANT to. I w

This morning, I am praying for wisdom, instruction, discernment, and understanding. I am looking at Proverbs 1:1-7 and asking for all that is hidden there. Lord, I ask for eyes to see and ears to hear. While praying for ears to hear his voice of wisdom and instruction & eyes to see him display it, my vision was filled with a table spread before me. God has put before me a table filled with wisdom and knowledge, delicacies of council and instruction, plates piled with justice and judgment. His face is smiling and it beckons me to 'come and dine.' Once again, the idea that we have been given all things (2 Peter 1:3; 1 Cor 3:21) is presented to me. That includes all wisdom! Paul prayed in Col 1:9-10, 'that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.' Jesus himself promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 16:13). Now, as I sat pondering this beautiful spread before me, I didn't stop there:

Well...God convicted me once again of something I shared with someone that I should not have. Sigh.... I thought about it before I said it but my mouth shared it anyway. I wish time had a rewind button. Pause. Rewind. Delete! So, friends who are keeping up with my progress...I blew it once again! Truly that is the problem with too much conversation: it can lead to too much information. Ya know how it goes - "well, so-and-so is so-and-so and yada yada" and so it goes. Ugh. I'm learning some things in my head and I need God's Spirit to awaken them deeply in my heart. For instance, I've said it before but it is God's Spirit in me who speaks edification and blessing. My job? I must simply yield to the indwelling power of God. It's there! It's every present! The very DESIRE to speak only blessing is there, residing in me because it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. The trouble is...I forget that. I forget that I am dead. I forget tha

This post has nothing to do with my challenge...but I thought I should share this word with whoever will read and listen. Below is the entry that I typed in my journal with the Lord this morning. It ministered to me. I pray it does the same for you. January 14, 2011 Most beautiful Lord, I am seeking your guidance on John 3:3-8. There is so much hidden FOR me there, Lord! Holy Spirit, come and direct my steps in this passage. Open up my eyes…touch them and I will see. Touch my ears that I may hear. Only in YOUR wisdom do I see and hear and understand. Thank you, Lord, that you are faithful to do just that! J I wait for you. Come Holy Spirit. My Beloved is beautiful, he’s radiant and excellent… I’m singing this song…and then the Lord breaks in! To see me like this, child, takes a work of my Spirit deep in the inner man. It is a secret work, yet one that is fully manifested on the outside. To see me like this truly, your eyes are opened to the ‘outside’ unseen world. No man can dec

I'm spending a few moments at his feet this morning. Here, I am swept away by the love of my King. He's so amazing! The Song of all Songs is being sung over me...and it is this song that has turned back to Him as a prayer. Song of Songs 1:9 says that He sees strength in me. I see myself in weakness, but he declares that I have the strength of Pharaoh's horses, the finest and the fastest of that day. I see in me darkness (1:5), but he declares that I am beautiful before God. I am caught here, amazed at the way Jesus declares truth over me. Edification and encouragement pour out of his lips, telling me that I am more than what I think myself to be. I ponder such power...for truly, it is the strongest of individuals who can look past weakness and declare strength; who can look past flaws and see perfection. And suddenly... my heart cry rises: I want to speak as You speak, Jesus! Oh, to look past the weaknesses of others and see the hidden gold of God inside! Jeremiah 15:19 s

After a month on my challenge....my mouth still needs some work. By power of God's Spirit alone, I am able to speak blessing when challenged with a trying situation. At times I yield to His will; other times, I find my flesh is uncrucified. Monday night in prayer, the Spirit drew me into repentance for attitudes of the heart towards a certain community of people. For far too long, the church has felt justified in speaking judgment upon those who are unbelievers. We, like James in John in Luke 9:51-56, often have a harsh spirit towards those who are labeled as 'severe sinners.' How often, for instance, do conservative Christians speak ill of their president? Christ's Spirit compels us not to grumble and complain about our nation, but to rise up in prayer. James and John wanted to call fire down from heaven and consume the unbelievers (vs 54) but Jesus rebuked them and told them, in essence, that they were not of His Spirit as long as they carried that kind of attitude. J