April 26, 2011

Fear is our Privacy Fence....It is on Our Property Line

We are going to be journaling about boundaries and phobias this week.  We all are survivors, not victims!  Each day we choose what we will think and how we will allow our minds to spin the events comprised within our moments.

Christ asked us to choose life, light, holiness.  But it is our choice all others can do is make a request.  And we say God does not allow us to have our own way - He is the one that said it was a good idea and then set the world and eternity up to respect it.

I love you all and pray that the veil be lifted from our minds, heart and visible surrounding.  Persevere as if Today is the only day you have to show this world what you are fighting for.  I know your intent will be on the "good fight".

I ask for you to see everywhere God is blessing you today - then write about it; share it with everyone that will give you opportunity.

Kisses,
Candace

Fears That Keep Us From His Presence

By Os Hillman



"Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So He got into the boat and left." - Luke 8:37




Jesus did many miracles when He lived on earth. One of those miracles involved the deliverance of a demon-possessed man. The people of the community witnessed this awesome demonstration of God's power when Jesus commanded the demon spirit to come out of the man and go into the herd of nearby pigs. The man was healed and sat at Jesus' feet.

You would expect the people who witnessed this to embrace Jesus as one performing good deeds and to honor Him. The opposite was true. Instead, they were overcome with fear. Why? Many of us respond the same way to Jesus when He does an out-of-the-ordinary act among His people. We are fearful because we have never personally experienced this before. So, we draw wrong judgments. The result is that Jesus removes Himself from us.

The Lord is able to do far exceeding above what we think. Jesus does not remain in the places where there is fear of His goodness. It is often subconscious fears that prevent us from going to a deeper level with Him. The people in Gerasenes could not benefit from Jesus' presence because of their fears.

Have you feared Jesus because of what He might require of you? Have you feared that He might ask of you something you are not prepared to give? Do not let your fears drive Him from your presence. His motive is always love for His children. You can trust Him.

April 20, 2011

Am I a Klepto?

Continuing on our topic of Yokes – what are we truly tied up to? What is harnessing us? You will know when you expose your thoughts by answering the following questions:
 
What are you protecting?

 
Your Love exposes the truth. Fear causes our loving arms to wrap around stuff / people / ideas forming a defense to keep what we cherish from being stolen. Liberty, generosity, trust, faith and love causes our righteous arms to support, protect from harm and yet free whatever is encircled by our care.

 
At times we deceive ourselves by not looking at this truth. We live such defensive lives we are not aware of the conversations going on in our own mind. Many of us are so fearful we constantly remind ourselves of how others fall short and that we are only doing what we must do because of their brokenness. While there is a mustard seed of truth in what we speak because ALL of us are a mess, it is important to remember: nothing can ever be taken from us when we are ready to give in a time of need. After all – we own nothing, every good and perfect things comes from Him.

 
Also, we must be aware that there are many times when we ourselves create crisis because we will not get up and do things ourselves. WE place expectancy on others in our midst to do the work for us. We choose not to look at what we are doing to them – and call it an unconscious mistake.

 
Ephesians 4:28, God lovingly took the time to tells us exactly what this looks like so that we may discern and take positive action to correct this as we transform through the renewing of our minds.

 
Thieves must quit stealing and, instead, they must work hard. They should do something good with their hands so that they’ll have something to share with those in need.
The original Greek word in the scripture above is klepto and yes it is where kleptomania is derived from. This condition does not really have anything to do with the value of items or even the act of stealing. It stems from mood disorders, addictive personalities or insecurity / lack of control. It is not thought out or planned it is more of an unconscious compulsion.

God explains how to get on track:
  • Get conscious
  • Look at what you have
  • Look for ways to do good for others
  • Get busy doing good for others

Think back about how Jesus related to people. Did he fix their discomfort by filling their lives with material comforts? No, he gave them truth, told them how to obtain what they needed. But when people had no other resource and it was a crisis he did give them physical things. 
 
I pray for God to keep our eyes on where we alone need to grow and being accountable for our own actions and walk so that we can be a lovely catalyst for tranformation of our communities.
 
With Love,
Candace

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 19, 2011

We Choose Our Yokes

I know what I am about to type is rather basic, and we discussed it Friday in group.  But I want us to think about it again, so humor me =D.

We cannot understand what we do not know.  We think we know much, but in fact we know little.  Then we close those files and mark them complete - when in reality we only have fragments of the complete picture. 

Now to break this down to a specific topic "God's love for us independently"

I believe the things I am going to list to be true - I ask that you think about them, then write about them a bit for the next few days or so.  We will be discussing them Friday.

  • God sees you as lovely - He created you with the best of all abilities, nothing lacking and nothing missing.
  • God is so in love with you - test Him see if you can out give Him
  • What we see as shattered pieces, God sees as a complete picture (again nothing lacking / nothing missing)
  • God does not need you to be complete, He just loves you with this love you can't understand if you have never experiences such an lavish, insane love (yes, perfectly defined - he keeps doing the same thing over and over and over again till he gets a different result)
  • He has never lost you - You just could see Him watching over you.
  • God knows how scary things can get and He does not "hold any bad thoughts or feelings against you". God has no thoughts or feelings that are not holy, lovely and pure - which is what he "holds against you / wraps around you.
  • Look for God: search everywhere as if you are looking for your most precious item that is near and dear to you.  He will show himself all the way.  He will expose himself - remember He desires to be with you.
  • Don't be scared - Remember the point before, I said God exposes himself, not you.  True love covers up the others nakedness, remember we are clothes in Christ's glory.
I know this is a lot - so I might not post again tomorrow.  I am leaving you with a poem to read and read again.  By the way - I always invite you to make improvements to any prose or collaborate on new ones. 

I pray that we all love with out thought of harm.  Trust that He will never lead us into temptation and always deliver us from the evil ones and believe that we do not know best how to love so that we request his guidance in all ways.

Always in Love - With Christ
Kisses,
Candace
_____________________________________________________

Give, Love, Heal

The days are alive as they pass way
Dancing between sunrise and sunsets embrace
Kept in motion by the gentle winds of our breath
Timed within the movements of our hearts tune
Many years continually pass before us
We observe the trail, of the tales of old, as they flow
Our lives engulfed by the momentum of their wake
As we hear the whisper “in full time your tale will be told”

Beyond the commotion, within the stillness a voice is speaking:

I am God; I create all things with care
You are My love and My delight with purpose I cast all things
I know all the pain that you’ve suffered
I see each tear that stains your sweet face
My spirit grieves as my love suffers
I am the Lord crying out for bondage to break
I died bound to a cross under the weight of burdens
But I emerged from beneath deaths defeat
What comes from earth covers the living spirit
I chose to contend for a brief time
In order to speak truth you could follow
So the spirit could be seen by your eyes
Where Christ is there is always liberty
You choose each moment in time
My spirit is empowered to embrace you
So sit here in stillness to find rest
Trust in the things you hearing
Request to see truth through your faith
Relax, you are home ….. Peace I offer
Believe all your boundaries are secured,
Nothing shall in anyway harm you
Vengeance is mine - but I am just
By my name our body is protected
As winds of truth blow, brokenness is set free
In dependence we unite supporting each other
Independent the fragments have no weight and are swept away
Remain in love with me; do not bind again to bondage
You are adored not created to adorn the pride of men

In gentle, kind ways you are loving
Cherished gifts of my heart to touch and heal them
Only a true man will receive such a present
And only a true man will protect what I hold dear.



By Candace Huffmaster
2007©All Rights Reserved

April 17, 2011

Interceeding for Those Who are Rebellious


2 Corinthians 3:17, 18 GWT



This Lord is the Spirit. Wherever the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever, increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.



This week we are going to take some really brave steps…together. We are starting with Isaiah 53 as the curtain is raising:

Who has believed our message?

To whom has the Lord’s power been revealed?

He grew up in his presence like a young tree, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that would make us look at him. He had nothing in his appearance that would make us desire him. He was despised and rejected by people. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn’t consider him to be worth anything.

He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded him, beat him and punished him. He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds, we have all strayed like sheep.

Each one of us has turned to go his own way, and the Lord has laid all our sins on him. He was abused and punished, but he didn’t open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was like a sheep that is silent when its wool is cut off. He didn’t open his mouth. He was arrested, taken away and judged.


Who would have thought that he would be removed from the world?

He was killed because of my people’s rebellion. He was placed in a tomb with the wicked. He was put there with the rich when he died, although he had done nothing violent and had never spoken a lie.

Yet, it was the Lord’s will to crush him with suffering. When the Lord has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, he will see his descendants for many days. The will of the Lord will succeed through him. He will see and be satisfied because of his suffering. My righteous servant will acquit many people because of what he has learned through suffering. He will carry their sins as a burden.

So I will give him a share among the mighty, and he will divide the prize with the strong, because he poured out his life in death and he was counted with sinners. He carried the sins of many."He intercedes for those who are rebellious."
                                   _______________________________________________
As we are taking pause to allow the truths of this scene to resonate I want us – in faith – to intercede for those we believe to be rebellious. I personally pray for those that have physically abused me and my family….punished us, judged us and in their minds led us like a lamb to be slaughtered as they left us unprotected by all that was coming against us.

May we realize that we are more than conquerors in Christ as we bravely look at the yokes of our bondage this week.

I also ask that you send me the names and any pertinent details for purposes of prayer of those you are praying.  If you are not comfortable with a name first or last then even an initial will be fine. I will not be posting them however I would like to lift them and you up in prayer this week. You may send them anonymously as well. If anyone would like to join me or talk, text or e-mail I will be available:

candyhuff@aol.com

My love to you all as we continue to fight the good fight and LOVE without ceasing,

Kisses,
Candace

April 14, 2011

Are You Free to be Delivered?

Yesterday we were thinking over the promises made to us through God's word to be rescued.  Think back across the scriptures that speak of  "your faith" being the catalyst for the change to happen.  Today we are going to look at some Hebrew words and be sure we understand the translations of scripture fully. 

Chacah is translated  Refuge - meaning to take shelter

Natsal is translated  Rescue meaning to escape or physical deliverance

Bayith is translated Stronghold meaning physical provision of a structure but also a net, snare or grave to fight for you.

Yasha is translated Save meaning to be open wide or free to be delivered, saved, get help, give victory, to take vengeance or to preserve.

Yasha is also where the word Savior is derived and the word Hosanna is directly traceable to this word.

In the old testament the word pointed to a physical deliverance from a very real enemy or catastrophe.  Later however "save" developed a theological meaning.

As we think over these meanings let's remember that God is concerned about:
  • Our physical well being
  • Our emotional status
  • the salvation of our soul
As we remember these points choose to believe that God has the ability to save us from anything which would harm us.  Tell yourself with faith that "God's love and action IS salvation".

Isaiah 49:6, 52:10

There is none outside Him, it is an everlasting salvation which was coming and is already here.

Is it too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel, I will also make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
It goes on to talk about how we will be brought forward and out of darkness out of lack - God has laid the road before us - His road.  He desires for us to be comforted by His compassion for our condition and circumstances.

God will not force you to accept anything He has laid before you.  That is the reason he keeps beseeching us to choose what is good, holy, lovely and pure.  He wants us to have it but He is not a bully - it's a gift.  You and I free to be delivered from all things......the question is will we see that to be true? 

I know these things to be true and I truly wish I could give you my eyes, mind and heart to see what I see. But I have faith that just as He was able to change my vision, mind and heart He also will do that for your when you allow Him to. 

Even if you don't believe me...please write a little something about your it today  - even if it is your doubt.  I pray that He heals you of any doubt this day. 

With the love of our Christ,
Kisses,
Candace

April 12, 2011

Knowledge that is Productive -by Os Hillman

This week why don't you go back over what you have been writing about for the past three weeks.  Take a look at what your mind has been set on.  Are you hyper focusing on something other than a healthy growing relationship with your creator and your intimate family members.  This is where our priority is supposed to be.  Make sure when you are focusing on those two things that your focus does not become about "what is not going your way".  If you have no family around you then your focus is more liberated to help those outside of your relationship with God.  The only reason we are alive today is to be able to have relationships - all else is useless - vanity - chasing after the wind.

I thank God for his mercy and grace, for his desire to prosper us in real ways and for his relentless desire to abide with right where we are in the condition that we are in right at this moment - Not later when we are "all better".  I request that our souls get comfortable settling down with His spirit and allowing it to prosper us in all ways.

With the Love of our Christ,
Candace
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman

"For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Peter 1:8

Productivity is a term all workplace believers can relate to. It is the by-product of what we desire from our work. Without productivity, we do not make sales, we do not deliver goods, and we do not achieve our goals. There are things in our work lives that can creep in making us unproductive. The same is true in our walk with God.
The apostle Peter tells us that we can become knowledgeable of Jesus but fail to be effective and productive in our relationship with Him. We are a society that has great knowledge, but our comparable scale of productivity from that knowledge is extremely weighted to the knowledge side. The apostle Peter tells us there is a solution to this dilemma.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-8).

Is your Christian experience filled with knowledge, but little power? Is there staleness in your walk with God? Is there unrest in your soul? It may be due to a need to develop character that only the Holy Spirit can develop out of an obedient heart. Ask the Lord today to add these qualities to your faith so that you can be productive as a soldier of Jesus Christ.

April 1, 2011

The Radical Cowboy

Cowbody Take Me Away! 

Honestly, I used to sing this song and pray that God would come and take me away - out of my circumstances and stand me in the middle of a beautiful field where all I could see was His glory shining all around me.  I NEEDED to see His face.  I Needed to feel the wind under my wings for just a moment of freedom.  I felt like I was in a sea on concrete I don't even remember if I felt like any of my limbs could break out and move.  But now when I hear this song it makes my heart jump because He did show up, and He did liberate me - but I had ALOT of strength training to do in order to fly.  So let's celebrate our training, lets see it in it's reality.  Nobody likes it!! Seriously - nobody. But we are not nobodies are we?  WE are somebodies! 
"Cowboy take me away fly this girl as high as you can into the wild blue
Set me free, oh I pray, closer to heaven above and closer to you....
Closer to you...." Dixie Chicks Lyrics

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 (GWT)

We now understand that freedom is the ability to not be bound, to have made it out of our turbulence so that we CAN help another person. I want us to be sure we understand what we are actually free “from”. What does He mean when he says “do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” ?

2 Corinthians 3:17,18 states:
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

To understand what the true meaning of this statement was we have to look at two Greek works that this is derived from:

Duleiua: meaning servitude, dependence. It means to be in the position of a servant and to act accordingly.  If we are serving we are subject to their authority and must take their direction.  It also means to be reduced to bondage under someone and deprived of freedom. Metaphorically it means to be a slave to something - such as our pleasures.

 Doulos: or the state of Doulos is defined as a slave or servant.  It is one who is in a permanent relationship of servitude to another.  The difference is that this persons will is altogether consumed in the will of the other.  It means to bind.

To understand these things helps us look at our thoughts with more clarity.  God tells us that we are His bond slave.  A bond slave is  a slave that has been given their freedom but chooses to stay with their master because his master treats him so well.  Yet there is always the understanding that the slave is free to go at any time.  This is a relationship based on love and respect - not guilt and punishment.

Is there something a habit, poor self control, bad memories keeping you from being all you know God created you to become?  Maybe you have freely chose to stay in an environment where you did not have authority over yourself who allowed this type of respect - and now you do not feel the liberty to leave.  You know all the pain that comes with leaving due to their authority and control over your life.  What can you do other than panic and loose hope?

Today just write about the "masters in your life"  some of them are figments of our imagination.  Some of them are ghosts of our past whom we have never walked away from.  Some of them are still very real.  We are not going to move today.  Today we are going to be still and know that ultimately we are bond slaves to the Mighty Lord God Almighty and He will always show up at just the right time to rescue and deliver us.  He is faithful and true and He promised to show us the way out.  But we have to be still and listen.  His voice is not like the others, it is gentle, loving, kind, patient and ALWAYS encouraging us to keep going - keep believing and remember how much he loves us.

God I pray that you show us with unveiled faces where we allow ourselves to serve another master; where we have unintentionally put a God in your place. We know that the Lord is the Spirit and your spirit searches the depths of all things even you. Forgive us, restore us. We ask to see clearly and to allow all that you are to transform us, step by step into the same image; from glory to glory till we radiate as does the Lord. Let us permeate His glory into this place.

In Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Candace



Get outside today, kick some dirt around, dance like you believe your Heavenly, Radical Cowboy is coming any day on His magnificent white stallion to take you away - 'cause He is ya know!