Monday, July 16, 2012

July 16-22


Monday: Genesis 28
Tuesday: Ruth 3
Wednesday: Psalm 53
Thursday: Isaiah 57
Friday: Zechariah 8
Saturday: Acts 21
Sunday James 2

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I experienced some incredible milestones in my relationship with God this past week. Heard from Him, received from Him, was washed and empowered by Him in ways I have not yet experienced to such amazing and tangible depths. I am praising and thanking Him for what He has shown me, spoken over me, and done in me. I feel like the hunger for "more" in me has been answered and that I am full up to overflowing of Him.

Unknown said...

this experience of Jacob's, his vision, and how God communicated with him and confirmed and affirmed His working and plans for Jacob through this vision, resonates with me in a fresh, new and amazing way after the week I just had. I have never been one to get "visions", and have always been rather sceptical of them... like they are just made up pictures in people's heads, whatever. But this week God opened a door in my life that has remained tightly closed until now and he gave me two very distinct visions, that were confirmed in amazing and thrilling ways... and throughout the course of the week he brought both visions to pass. I will try to share my story here, for His glory. But it's rather long so I will have to do it in a few posts.

Unknown said...

During the first session at camp the speaker wanted to lead us into a time of quiet, of coming to rest before God and emptying ourselves of distractions and prepare ourselves to hear from Him. He encouraged us to listen and watch carefully if God brought any verse, word, or picture to mind.

A picture came into my mind almost immediately. It was the strangest thign because it has NEVER happened to me before, usually God and I communicate with words. But I had this picture of me on a beach, sitting quietly, surrounded by many, many people, bustling around, almost like in fast forward speed, this sense of God on His throne above, and this picture of Him pouring pails of water out from Heaven and them washing over me, very warm and wonderful, and I knew that the pails were filled with Peace. He was pouring pails of peace out upon my head. It was interesting because I thought to myself "that's weird, the pails, shouldn't it be like rain, or something? Doesn't the bible talk about God "raining down" peace, or grace or whatever? And I tried to force the picture to change to rain, but I couldn't. It was clearly pails of water. Pails of peace.

Unknown said...

That was it. Our quiet time over the speaker asked if there was anything that anyone wanted to share, if a verse, or image or message had come to them. One lady across the room, shared the words of a verse that had come to her in song "my peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives....." the speaker then responded to her with a comment about how "God does not want us to receive a mere pitter patter of peace, He wants to pour pails of peace out upon our heads." I just about started hyperventilating at that point as you can well imagine, and I with a heart beating out of my chest I shared the image that I had seen. It was SO amazing. Such a powerful presence of God giving us a clear message as a group, it was almost electric for me.

Then later in the week I experienced another vision, it was of my heart, all bound up with thick ropes around and around it all knotted with tight sailor ropes and my heart feeling so constricted, and wanting to be released from the pressure. My fingers were trying frantically to untie the knots but I couldn't loosen them at all. Then I heard this voice saying, "Let go.... Let me." And when I let my hands fall, the ropes just unravelled and fell away.

Unknown said...

I had a sense of understanding it, through a fog, in a way but it was not until the end of the week that everything came together, and peaked and reached fulfillment. The night before we left some issues came up with certain people that allowed me to put my finger on my own inner struggle of late. I came to the point of being tired of crying out for God to heal me of all the "wrong" stuff that kept coming up in this one relationship, so frustrated that I couldn't get over it, get past it, "loosen the knots if you will." On the last day of camp, at the very end of our last staff meeting when we were all turning to go I just grabbed hold of the speaker and told him that I couldn't leave without asking Him to pray over me regarding this issue.

I told him very little, but he is the kind of person where a little goes a long way. He addressed every key issue in me with every catch word applicable and imaginable to my situation... offense, rejection, insecurity.... he had me confess them all... it was so "right" everything he was saying. And then he told me "God wants you to know that you have been trying to do this on your own strenght for too long.... this is not a work you can accomplish on your own power, he wants you to let go, and let Him."

I started sobbing at that point. Because God had already told me that earlier that week, but in that moment it all "clicked" and I felt a wave of something warm and powerful sweep over me from myhead to my feet and I bet you know what it was, right? PEACE. The feeling of pails of warm peace pouring over me.

I just wanted to share this while it was all fresh and undiluted by the passage of time. I want to thank God and praise Him for revealing Himself to me in ways I never could have imagined, and I want to testify to His power and glory that I have experienced at work in me and I want to thank Him for the new understanding and freedom that I don't have to fight to be all he wants me to be, I have to let go, and let Him accomplish mighty things in and for me.

Lois said...

Thanks so much, PC, for sharing such deep things from your heart.

Unknown said...

Ruth 3 I was struck when Boaz said, "If he wishes to redeem you, very well." How hard it is for me to say "this is what I want but if God has other plans, very well." Boaz' attitude in this situation was such a "The Lord's will will be done" attitude. I want to have that attitude, but I am not mature enough to truly have it most of the time. I just still am like a little kid who wants what I want and wants it right now.

Unknown said...

psalm 53. The truly wise will seek God.

Unknown said...

the last part of this chapter really spoke to me, v15, how God restores the HUMBLE and revives the courage of those with repentant hearts. v 16 "I will not fight against you forever..." later "I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way. I have seen what they can do, but I will heal them anyway!.... May they have abundant peace, both near and far..... but those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt. There is no peace for them."

God is faithful and gracious but sometimes we surround ourselves with turmoil by not being willing to humble ourselves, repent and RECEIVE that peace because we wrestle with our flesh, our pride, our own stubborn will and patterns.