Seduced Away!
Small Straws In A Soft Wind by Marsha Burns -- August 26, 2008:
Awake, arise and return from your distractions to ongoing fellowship with Me, says the Lord. Many things have demanded and even required your attention, and you have been seduced away from pure devotion to your God. Silence your flesh, and come away to spend time in My presence. I will encourage and strengthen your body, soul and spirit. Don't delay; respond to My wooing.
Nehemiah 1:9 'If you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.'
In the above message I have a couple sentences highlighted and underlined as instructed by the Holy Spirit. I have spent this whole day in communion with the Holy Spirit after much time spent with the ‘things that have demanded and even required my attention.’
This message rang so true in my spirit and also confirmed the way I had been feeling. It was like I was living my life in some sort of vacuum sealed bag and nothing was allowed to penetrate inside it, not even the power of the Holy Spirit. My days are full of ministry and so had become my nights as well. I just began to feel like the Lord called me and anointed me to do this job for Him so the job HAD to get done regardless of what or who had to take second place….
Ahhhh, the seduction became so crystal clear. At first my heart broke because I thought I had neglected to fulfill a duty that I was require to and let the Lord down in some way, but in an instant the Holy Spirit gave me the revelation as to why I had been feeling so numb and then my heart REALLY broke.
For eight years I sat and learned how to do ministry. The middle of the ninth year was much hands on preparation. That began in the summer of that same year. According to the seasons and also the Spiritual shifts the summers are when we as Christians grow and move forward the most in the areas of ministry we are being groomed for.
Just as in the natural, spiritually we experience winter, spring, summer, and fall in virtually every element of our lives; ministry, marriage, spiritual growth, business, finance, relationships, etc. These individual aspects of life will experience seasons similar to what we face each year we live. Winter is a time of uncomfortable ness, a time to get warm and intimate with God, a time to rest physically and to exist on what has been stored from the previous harvest. It is a time of gaining direction for planting, to glean from past mistakes, to repair and prepare for the coming spring.
Spring is a time of planting and activity, a time of work and effort to carry out instructions gained in winter, a time of great spiritual and physical energy and a time that great energy is required. It is a time of plowing new and sometimes hard ground and a time to fertilize the soil with prayer. Summer is a time of watering (praying) and weeding (doing warfare over) the freshly planted crop. It is a time in which the crop is in potential danger from the heat of summer, thus the need for much watering. It is also the time we begin to see the first evidence of our planting (First the stalk, then the ear, then the full colonel in the ear.) Fall is the time of harvest; a time where the physical evidence of our hard work during previous seasons has arrived. It is a time of Thanksgiving, a time of refreshing and a time for storing for the winter that is sure to come. Fall is a time of utilizing the harvest, of good stewardship and proper dispersing of what has been harvested.
Without the ability to discern the times (seasons), I have followed false leadings, heard incorrectly, sought harvest in winter, and in many cases, simply “missed God.” As I dove deeper into this revelation, the Lord began to open up the scriptures to me in a wonderful and fascinating way that not only explained the reality of spiritual seasons, but of even greater importance, allowed me to see that with this discernment I was now much more able to hear God correctly and more accurately know His direction for various times (seasons) in my life.
http://www.lighthouseprophecy.com/prophecy/TheRealityofSpiritualSeasons.html
These past twelve months have basically zoomed by for me and I really cannot recall the winter and the spring because I was in the summer season all through the ninth year and today August 27, 2008 begins the 10th year! Much time has been spent doing what the ‘ministry’ required and after I read that message early this a.m. I knew that I had basically placed the ‘ministry’ once again ahead of the Lord.
Years ago this happened to me as well. Back then I made a vow that I would never put anything and anyone ahead of my God and the time that I am required to spend with Him. The Holy Spirit and I have this message that He sends to me to remind me that I have not spent enough time in fellowship with Him. For years it’s been the song by Phillips, Craig and Dean ‘No Matter How Far’. I don’t have the video to the song but I wanted to include the words.
I watched you as you stumbled out of bed Rushed out the door your coffee in your hand And you looked so lost and lonely I knew I had to find a way To make you understand, I wanna be your friend So I painted a sunrise in the sky And I caused the birds to sing you lullabies And I whispered sweet "I love you's" In the breeze that brushed your face You didn't even see, you never noticed Me No matter how long it takes, somehow I'll find a way No matter how far you run, there's no distance that's too great 'Cause when the wind blows through the treetops And in the music of the rain Somehow My love will find a way No Matter how long it takes I watched you as you fell asleep last night And I trembled as I watched the tears you cried So I splashed your face with moonlight, and I longed for your embrace You never called My name, I loved you just the same In the laughter of the children I'll be calling out your nameSomehow My love will find a way Somehow My love will find a way My love will find a way No matter how long it takes
Each time I would hear this song I knew I was slacking on my intimate communion with the Lord. Immediately I would drop all that I was doing and go to my secret place and just fellowship with Him for however long He needed me.
Lately, He has chosen His own song and when I discerned what He was trying to say to me I listened each time it was played and it was played a whole lot, I thanked Him and just went on with my daily grind. Never once did I stop what I was doing, never once did I go and just be with Him. Never once did I realize how much He missed our times together as much as I needed them. Please don’t be offended, I am no favorite of the Lord however, I do know that the time that we spend with Him in intimate communion is as important to us as it is to Him.
Today I spent the whole day with Him. Oh did some chains break, did some tears fall and then just swept away as if into His very body did I fall in deeper love with Him even more so than ever before. We sang, we danced, we spoke Scripture, and we reminisced about previous visits and just sat and thought about how much He has brought me through.
I was so empty, so barren, and so dry and then deluge. He held nothing back, He held nothing against me, He never lost one ounce of love for me because I was not devoting the time that He so rightly deserves to Him. He just opened His arms and welcomed me back. How loving and gracious was that? I do not know any other person that could be that understanding, that forgiving, that loyal. I did not have to wait hours for His love, it was there the instant I repented and asked His forgiveness.
Saints, what’s taking up His time in your lives? What have you placed ahead of Him in your lives? He’s a jealous God. But most of all He’s a loving God and He misses His children greatly. I remember years ago I would wake up, get the kiddos to school and then come back and sit at my favorite place with my tablet and my Bible in hand because I was expecting His talks.
When I would notice, my children were walking through the door coming back from school. This relationship went on for years, and then seasons change and I had to re-adjust me not Him. I’d find myself getting up very early and just being with Him, no words, just one on one intimate fellowship with Him. I needed Him; I needed to feel Him, smell Him, and be near Him! My day could not start without that time spent with Him.
Then seasons change, He didn’t but I did. Slowly our time together became shorter and shorter. And I became dryer and dryer. Then I decided to give Him the first fruits of my day and start from 12:00am and until 3:00am that was the new fellowship time.
He never complained. He was always so faithful. He never stopped loving me. However, now, after this morning revelation I know He was hurting. I love the Lord with all of me, and the one blessing that those intimate hours of communion birthed had begun to take His place. I was instructed a few months ago to take some time off.
During and after my daughter’s surgery I still kept a full load. Ministry, advocate, counselor, encourager, I just knew I could do it all. Oh how much less drained I would have become if I had only listened. Oh I had all the ‘what abouts’ what about the court dates Lord, what about the scheduling Lord, what about the meetings Lord, what about the conferences Lord, what about the new book Lord then I hear so plainly What about….. ‘ME’ CeCe? Oh how rebellious I had become!
Today I put away the ‘what abouts’ and decided to get back to the ‘hello my Lord’ Your handmaiden has come to seek Your face! Oh what a joy this has been. Oh what I had missed! I wrote this poem and I wanted to share with you all:
My heart racing, My eyes tearing, My knees weakened.
I could hear Him, I could smell Him, I could sense Him.
The pounding from my heart became rhythmic, The song became clearer, My spirit began to leap inside me, And then I see Him.
Robed in all His Glory. Gleaming as if gold had been poured upon Him.Glorious, Beautiful, Gorgeous, and Oh so handsome.
As He took my hand my body became weaker, Just them I feel His embrace as my face gently laid upon His chest. Deeper and Deeper I began to breathe, As if I could never get enough.
How I missed Him, How I loved Him, How I was just taken with Him, More so than ever before.
Against His chest, Wrapped in His embrace, Overwhelmed by His presence, I am home.
Safe in His arms, Nourished by His Spirit, Inside butterflies, As if we had just met.
“I’ve missed you My daughter … I longed to hear you call Me … I love you more than My own life … Drink deep, release the strife that this world has put upon you … You are Mine … I do not share this time with anyone or anything … You need Me in this season of preparation more so than you have ever … Come My child, walk with Me, talk to Me, tell Me about what’s on your heart, I care, I’m here, sit with Me and I will take you and visit the places that only you and I dwell.”
My heart is on fire, My breath is labored, My feet feel like air, My spirit is ablaze.
No more pain, No more hurt, No more strife, No more wounds.
Just He and me like always before. Close, Closer, Oh pull me closer. Drink deep, Drink deep leave nothing unquenched. Swept away by the love of a lifetime.
He is mine and I am His, No other distraction will take His place, Come now when He calls, Get on my face, And enter the place where true love abides.
By His side, In His embrace, Close enough to feel the beating of His heart. I am swept away. Lost in His love.
People there is no love like His love. Human romance doesn’t even come close. Take some time and listen to this song. Close your eyes and envision yourself right there in His arms. Wrapped safely. It’s time to get back to Him. Take sometime and renew your relationship with Him and allow Him to take you higher than you have ever been! Respond to His wooing! You’ll never regret it!
In His Love,
By His Spirit,
I scribe His Heart ♥ƸӜƷ♥
No comments:
Post a Comment