Powerful Pain

C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, once wrote a book called The Problem with Pain. He had experienced the loss of his mother at a young age, a close army bunk mate, and his wife of four years to cancer. I don't necessarily want to address the process of grieving and suffering as he did, but offer some thoughts on pain's role in your life and the benefits of it.

First of all, emotional pain was introduced by Adam and Eve in the Garden. Before this, sin did not exist and man had complete communion with God. Man's soul and mind were shielded from the type of pain that sin incurs. Emotional pain is always the result of sin, others' sin or our own. Sometimes it is a combination of the two. Once our divine unity with God was broken, we were literally "separate" from Him. This distance is at the root of our reactions to pain.

Have you ever heard of "separation anxiety?" Well, the human race has a major case of it. We have been separated from the very One who can calm our anxiety and fears, and revive and invigorate us with His glorious love. The cross is the remedy. We have already been given everything we need for life and godliness. Our communion can be reunited and engaged once again. There are some basic spiritual practices which will help us regain this level of intimacy with our God. One being the way we deal with emotional pain.

When you experience emotional pain, what is your response? Is there a passage in your heart that leads you straight to your Father? Or do you worry, medicate, explode? Your reaction may be to rehearse the problem mentally, or try to figure things out on your own. God wants us to trust Him with our pain and our hearts. In fact, He invites us to.

If you bring Your heart in surrender to Him, it will become tender and malleable in the Spirit's hand. He will be able to have His way in your life. You can kick and scream in this process, but it doesn't profit you. (There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death.) The ways of God always bring forth life, understanding, and hope. If we do things His way, we will be transformed miraculously...looking like our daddy (Abba) more everyday and feeling stronger emotionally and spiritually. God will give us authority to overcome if we participate. He will turn that very pain into power! This power will be released in us and through us to others. Jesus allowed pain in His life to bring forth greater glory and joy.

Lord Jesus, help us to walk in your footsteps. You are our example. Use the pain in our life the way You want to. Your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts higher than our thoughts. We bring all of our burdens and anxieties and pains to You today. You are the Lover of our souls, heal us, purify us, and make us clean. Help us to walk in all of Your ways so we will be a true representation of You in the earth. Thank You for Your great mercy! Thank You for the oil that heals our hearts. Make these passages in our hearts perfect in that we will come to you first when something happens. Release Your power in us. Blessings forever to you!

What Are You Wearing?

I was reading Isaiah 63 this morning and this stood out to me: "Name yourself, so splendidly dressed, advancing, bristling with power!"

This is referring to Jesus when He comes back with a vengeance to the city of Jerusalem, but something else is striking...It occurs to me that Jesus wears different types of clothes and garments throughout the Scripture. This is an Old Testament prophecy of what Jesus will be wearing at the end of our Age. He purposefully puts on these clothes as we do, getting ready for whatever occasion it is. He thought it would be a good idea to dress to the "9s" which is interesting since "9" is one of the numbers that represents judgement. Since his garment is stained crimson with men's blood, that seems appropriate!

Jesus' concern is advancing His kingdom in the earth. He is getting prepared and ready to return. Are you prepared and ready for His return? Wouldn't you like to be dressed for the occasion? He is looking for His bride to be ready, watching, and without spot or wrinkle. Watching, praying, and waiting for Him. His stance is advancement. He wants us to go forward, not backward. Can you feel His resolve and strength inside of you today to look forward, be dressed for whatever occasion you are called to?

Bristling with power! Wow! Let His power fill you today, let Him work out all the roadblocks in your Spirit that keep you from that oneness with the Father. Let his dynamite power work its way out of your life. What kind of garments is He asking you to wear today? Get into the throne zone and find out. It will change the way you think and live and approach every day. Get dressed, get ready, and advance the kingdom of God today. Be bold and courageous, take new steps, think new thoughts, get outside of the box, give Him everything.

Easily Distracted While Praying?

Recently, several people have mentioned to me how they are easily distracted during times of prayer or "tuning in" to God. As always, Jesus is our example. He spent many hours away seeking the Father and communing with Him. He also had an uncanny ability to "know" what God wanted Him to do in any given situation and was able to interact in a supernatural way with people, the physical world, and the spiritual world.

The Scripture talks about entering into His rest. In a practical sense, we must learn to dial down our soul and body when they try to take over the work our spirit is accomplishing while in communion with God. This communion or connection with God is desired 24/7. This is the great battle against our mind and soul. To stay as close as we can to His Spirit and be one with Him. In effect, in that communion we are like Jesus as we know what God's heart is for differing situations we may encounter.

For the next several days, I will add my thoughts to how this can be accomplished step by step. It is extremely difficult to maintain this type of communion if you are easily distracted and we must discipline ourselves toward focusing our spirit for victory in this arena.