- By Danielle Ramos-
I have no idea how I got on this email list, but every week, I get an email called “Whispers” written by Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodriguez, from The Passion Translation with BroadStreet Publishing Group. It is written in the format where you are hearing from Father God directly. Like he had a message just for you and decided to send you an email. At the end of the email there is a bible verse that backs up the previous couple of paragraphs, followed by other things coming up. The marketing and presentation is truly genius. I think it is something that the world could really use in general, but especially in this particular global season with the restrictions from Covid19 city-wide lockdowns and the upcoming uncertain post-Covid19 world we will all be facing. It is my opinion that the uncertainty is what feels to be the biggest obstacle for so many, and these mini emailed messages from God are truly inspiring. This morning I woke up and found my email message from Papa God. It was based out of Isaiah 61:2-3, and it was exactly what I needed to hear, of course! It brought to mind a song by one of my favorite singers: Heroes by Amanda Lindsey Cook. It felt like Papa was really talking to me. Every day for the past week I have woken up and read my Psalm chapter for the day and they have all been an ode to remembering what the Lord has already accomplished. Today’s Psalm along with the “Whisper” really made what God has been speaking to me sort of “jump out” at me; it was the neon sign in the dark. It made me realize that in this time of social distancing that rather than resting in the Lord, I have allowed myself to fall asleep. I have stopped doing the things that give me life, just going through the motions of life. My heart and spirit have not been intentionally engaged with Holy Spirit throughout my days. Rather than spending time in his presence and letting him fill me up to help me to actually be rested, I have been physically sleeping more, I have been watching movies and cleaning my house, cooking dinners, and working. You may be asking, “But, Danielle, I do those things daily too. Are you saying that I’m not engaged with God either!?” My answer would be to let me explain. In doing all of those things, I was intentionally disengaged from God. I do not mean to sound uber-spiritual, but there is a way to be engaged with Holy Spirit and cook dinner or do the laundry. In the Amplified version Colossians 3:23 says, Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men. https://www.bible.com/1588/col.3.23.amp It is my belief that that verse tells me it is possible to sweep up the dog hair in my house, clean my bathroom , or perform at my job in a way where I intentionally engage with Holy Spirit. I can actively engage with the Lord to seek out the best way to perform any activity and make it about Him. I can turn my heart to to do my very best as an offering to God; I can turn my heart to loving him and being open to him in watching a movie. Every other time that I have doing the household duties, working, or watching movies and listening to music, I was escaping Him. I was hiding. I would not turn my heart to him. I do not know why I was hiding or escaping, but I do know that is what I was doing. I am sure in spending time with him I will find out why, and maybe I will have another lesson that turns into another thing to write about. My point in sharing all of this is this: Do not discount the little things you do. They can all be used as a way or road to intimacy with The Lover of Your heart, with the only Father who truly gave up everything to have a relationship with you. The most menial and minute action in your eyes can be the biggest attraction to Papa God. That point, and this one too: He can send a message to you using anything! That nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach can be Father speaking to you. The lyrics of that one song that makes you cry, the email that “accidentally” got sent to you, that quiet feeling that you cannot completely explain but is encouraging you to something that just seems out of nowhere… All of these are examples of how God speaks to me, how he normally does, and has been speaking to me. Last night my family I were watching Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (great movie btw!) and this particular part of the movie really caught my attention. At nearly the end of the movie the almost-King Arthur is fighting a seemingly formidable opponent who has knocked down and almost out the hero of the movie. At marker 1:49:30 Arthur is lying there and the scene that he has spent the entirety of the movie running from unfolds. He sees his dad and hears him say, “You don’t need to run anymore. You don’t need to look away.” His dad has dropped to his knees, thrown the sword up in the air and awaits as it falls into his neck. Arthur, however, hearing his father’s words is encouraged and rather than letting the sword fall, runs and is able to catch it before it touches his father. Father looks up at son and says, “The sword is yours, son. Take it.” With that, Arthur is awakened and with a renewed identity. He goes on to fight his opponent telling him that with out all the troubles he went through he would not be the man, the King, he is. His enemy is defeated and Arthur is King! It is a scene that is inspiring and a very good cinematic display of how I feel Father God desperately wants us to return to our own battles: knowing who we are in Him, knowing that we are more than conquerors with Jesus! I encourage you to Wake Up!, and to not turn from him; he is not finished with you! I want to encourage you with the song I mentioned earlier, Heroes by Amanda Lindsey Cook. It helped to wake me up this morning. She sings, “Awake my soul to sing with your breath in me, I will worship; You taught my feet to dance upon disappointment and I, I will worship.” This is wholly biblical as David regularly speaks to his soul in the Psalms asking his soul is downcast, and telling his soul to praise the Lord. I encourage you to decide in your heart right now to say “Yes,” even if it is just a whisper under your breath, or a hefty and hearty “YES!” at the top of your lungs. I pray that you give God your yes to his lordship over your life, and then I pray for the strength of character and will over your desire to truly let him be the Lord of your life. So many times he has shown me his faithfulness and desire to only give me good things. I pray that your eyes, ears, and hearts be open to the things he has done in the past, to help strengthen you to trust him in your current circumstances and for your futures. I pray for new warm fleshly hearts to replace any cold stone hearts, for any places in your hearts that have turned away to have courage to about face and see the eyes of the father looking back lovingly and with approval. I pray and declare experiential knowledge over everyone who reads this that God knows you, loves you, approves of you and just wants you to come back home! I declare a renewed sense of identity over you; that all of your trouble no longer disqualify you, but with Father God’s healing from their hurts, they become the weapon you turn against the enemy of your life to defeat him. I pray and declare that the identity of more than conquerors begins to stir and grow as you turn back to Father God. I declare all of these by the authority of the Blood of the Lamb and in the mighty name of Jesus! Amen!
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