What Next?

If you are here, reading this blog, whether for the first or 50th time, there is something inside you that is seeking to know more about God. That is why I write, to try to put in words what it seems God is revealing to me. I do not believe that you have to be a member of an organized church or even call yourself a Christian to truly seek God. It seems to me that all you need is a heart that knows there is more to life than what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears.

I haven’t written here for a long time. Today is well over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic that has changed the whole world in ways we cannot fully understand right now, except to know that life in the before times was much different for all of us, and it is unlikely to ever go back to what we considered “normal.” Somehow, I have let myself get stuck in a rut–too much TV, too little exercise and fresh air, too much inertia and stalling and paralysis as I sit in my living room, stretched out in the recliner, with a blanket over me, waiting for the pandemic to end and life to begin again for real.

Phooey! What nonsense! Life is here and now and it won’t wait for me. I have to run behind that train and either get on board or take my own path. I think I’ll begin with a little, slow stroll here, reminding myself and hopefully someone else that life is what we make it. If I am not satisfied with how my life is going, then it is up to me to make changes, to push in the direction I want to go.

Right now, I am still employed full-time at a job I love, but more and more, I think about retirement. I am, after all, 63. I have decent health with a few problems to take care of in the near future (hip replacement, oh joy!). I still have a brain that mostly runs on all cylinders, although it’s never won any races, always preferring the slow, unpaved lane.

In the next 30 days, I plan to write here every day. I have no idea if anyone else will want to read this. Most times, I think my own thoughts turned into words on this blog are probably just boring to anyone else. But maybe there is someone out there who is seeking to find what God has in store for him/her too. If so, come along with me. I hope that in my quest to figure out what is next in my life, you will also begin to figure that out for yourself. And, I especially hope we find God is smiling over us in the process.

“He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, He increases strength.” Isaiah 40:29. Just ponder that for a moment. Maybe, just maybe, when we feel the most worthless, the weakest, and the least mighty, if we reach out to God, He will show us how to tap into strength we didn’t even know we had.

See you tomorrow, friend.

Amen and amen.

Yahweh Highway

Interstate 24 on the southern edge and 64 on the north carry travelers east and west.

I57 connects north and south of this region we call home. We know that the tragedy and trauma, the dark clouds of poverty, and all manner of mayhem and death are not natural; they are demonic.

A decade has passed since we claimed healing for our land. It is high time to reclaim the truth of the heritage of our name: Little Egypt can no longer connote misery and shame. We are the bread basket, the heart of this State, the provision in this era of famine. People are dying for lack of sustenance from the Word, from having nothing to consume but the empty boxes labeled promises from the world.

We are soaring above as we wait on the Lord but rooted and grounded solidly in God’s love. We understand and accept and are using the keys we’ve been given to unlock God’s power to turn the evil unleashed into our region into lovingkindness. In humility but without shame, we accept the mantle of Melchizedek, both priest and king, as Christ lives in us and we allow Him to reign.

Distractions cannot impact or bind us because the great and mighty gavel of the Lord’s judgment has landed with a thunderous sound, releasing His river of living water to refresh and cleanse our land. He has sent us out to execute His judgment, the sentence of imprisonment to bind Satan’s realm, freeing the redeemed.

“Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise.” Isaiah 60:18

The authority to execute God’s judgment is our burden and joy. He has released His arrow to the North and the South. In answer to God’s leading, through the blood, oil, and salt, we have annointed the entire area. God’s light now shines to light the way for all who are called by His love.

The Spirit of the Lord now goes before, allowing us to safely rest, trusting Him to keep evil at bay and tragedy and trauma slayed. We rest in Him as we continue the push and pull of praying against evil, poverty, addiction, and disease, and calling for God’s light to shine and our authority in Jesus to prevail against all forces of darkness.

We have seen the water shimmering above, below, and all around, pouring brilliantly through His open window to fill our homeland and wash us clean, breaking off the chains of fear and dread. Malachi first saw the refiner’s fire and knew the launderer’s soap would purify us as priests and kings, making this offering pleasing to our Father, who has come near us that we may witness His judgment “against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien–because they do not fear” God, the Lord of hosts. We listen as God tells us now that He is rebuking the devourer for our sakes, and He assures all who will listen that the fruit of this ground shall no longer be destroyed and this vine shall not fail to bear fruit for us who are out in His field. “‘And all nations will call you blessed, and you will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3.

The Yahweh Highway is open and clear. Travel it freely wherever He leads, with praise in your heart sung out loud without fear.

Amen and amen.

Triage

Some say it takes a village to raise a child, and I believe that’s true,

but all villages include thieves and liars and fools.

Whether we like it or not, each makes an imprint the child carries with him always.

So what our children really need is a triage team that prays;

some who see the yearnings, and some who see the fears,

some who battle the enemy, and others who know the tears

the child has cried, alone in the night,

as well as his greatest delights.

Every day brings another load of emergencies to prioritize, stabilize,

and heal from the inside out.

It takes a triage team, waiting nearby, standing in the gap,

knowing when and what to pray about

to raise a child who’s always protected,

knows s/he is loved, now by us,

and eternally by God.

Amen and amen.