How Long is Long?

How does one measure the depth of deep?

What limits the length of pain?

At what point does far begin?

What distance determines an end?

~ from Fabric of Life 

In 2006, I would have been about 44. I was studying God's word and journaled my reflections.  It is good for us to reflect on our growth and God's truth as we perceived it, to ensure we are striving to manifest the character of Christ.  My opening thought shows that I must have been also meditating on the lines listed above.  How long is long? What determines End........ To think that in my forties I felt I had already been alive for a long time, now seem rather ridiculous.  However, if I remember correctly, I thought the same thing around 20 as well.  God tells us that to Him one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day.  He also tells us that He is not slow as some might think to fulfill His promise, but rather He is patient for our sakes. Peter wrote about this and the end of all life asking: what kind of people ought you to be?

Here is the rest:

Be realistic about what your race is. Do not look for the quick fixes or things based on worldly limited understanding.  Do not seek to accomplish what you, in your own strength can accomplish.  This is settling for failure, or at the least something vain and will not be beneficial toward reaching the finish of your race.  Seek to understand, to gain wisdom; to be strengthened by the grace of God. Then you will be able to bring aid to less mature athletes; showing them what you learned, encouraging them to endure and be strengthened.  By sharing your story within God's whole story, you are telling Christ's story and adding their character in.  

"Above all else ....Guard your heart" Use discernment.  See with eye's wide open.  Do not hope only for what you know you can face; pray for the "day" and that God's glory be seen.  You can face the longest of distances if you look at them through truth, in His presence.  When others sense His peace in your situation, you blanket them with His peace to endure, if they will receive it.  This opens doorways which might have taken years, otherwise.  Allow the Lord to use you as His doorway, He to them and them to Him, in their time of need.  

Do not always be looking for what is in it for you.....Look far beyond yourself so that you might see what He is looking at.  He has already provided for all your needs, so that you may help another with exactly what He has given into you.  He never asks us to give beyond our measure.  See beyond yourself, but do not give from yourself - extend from the Lord.  To those who have been given much, much is expected.  "Do not taste the goodness of the Lord and turn back".  

Think on these things and decide for yourself in whom you believe.  I pray that we all are maturing, moment my moment, in His truth and the expression of His love.  How long will we suffer....until Christ returns to take us home.  But how we suffer can be determined through His mercy, grace and our will. 

With Hope in Christ Jesus ~ Kisses,

Candace

Copyrights Reserved ©Candace Huffmaster 2014

Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc.®

The Tailor's Perfect Suit

We spoke last week about considering that we are God's soul mate.  To which I  remembered a scene from my favorite movie "Only You".  Marisa Tomei plays the role of a teacher, if I remember correctly it is high school philosophy.  She is speaking on the topic of pestoni which she states to mean: to take a trip which the destination is predetermined.  She is speaking about ying-yang, eternity and soul mates.

These fragments of all these thoughts began moving around in my memory, along with what we have been writing in Uproarious Delirium where Julie finds her soul mate.  I'm sure most of you have already had the epiphany I'm about to type - if so you will be glad to know that I caught up with you....sorry to be so slow :)

We have discussed that God is spirit, we are flesh with His spirit breathed into us and Christ is God made flesh.  But let's look at something a bit more abstract beyond that.  God stated that He could not content with man forever, for we are flesh and blood.  So He numbered our days to 120.  He also tells us that our battle is not with flesh and blood, it is a supernatural battle taking place in the heavenlies. 

We are not going to get into "the battle" again, we have been discussing the angles of this for almost a decade.  Today, we are looking at it in view of a soul mate.  People talk about finding their "soul mate" all the time.  The younger we are the more we think this is a reasonable statement.  However, those of us who have at some  point found our soul mate and then the next and so on and so forth come to understand that a soul mate is like chasing after the wind. 

Think about the reality of this equation: 1 (soul) + 1 (soul) = 2 (souls)  Relate this to our basket of apples without an orange.  Can you see where I am going with this yet?  If we are the same, who is among us to lead us away from harm, into safety and have resolve with complex issues which we do not comprehend?  However, when the holy spirit is found by a yearning soul and allows that spirit to  strengthen it in its weaknesses, now this soul may have peace and joy. If this soul then decides to join with another soul, then it will have something unique to offer in order to come to wise discerning resolution when needed; as long as it does not forsake its first love for the comfort of a soul which is not willing to abide in the same spirit.

God says that He is spirit and desires a body to unite with.  Remember the verse which states: sacrifice I do not desire but a body to call my own.  When God loved us first, he loved us complete.  When God tells us to love ourself, He is asking us to love us as He loves us.  God is loving himself, Christ within us and caring for us through the power of His spirit.  He comsumes and invades our depths with vast purity, light and radiance - It's glorious!

This is the part which overtook me though: when God says for us to Love others as we love ourself, he meant; as I loved you and delighted in entering into your soul, not because it was perfect....but because I could perfect you and give you a life that can never be taken away;  this is how you are to enter into relationship with another soul.  My spirit now has a physical form which is able to manifest a touch, a look, a blessing in a physical way through your form so let's go do that to someone else!

Our love covers a multitude of sin; but only the love which comes from the spirit.  God made us glorious, He is the perfect tailor constructing the suitable attire to cover our nakedness.  We have no reason to ever be ashamed of what He dresses us in.  I believe I spoke about how if God is not ashamed to abide in my body, how dare I ever be ashamed to show Him off.  I love the suit He has made for me to wear, no one can say it is not unique and a special fit =D

Think about marriage vows:  A man shall leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife; the two shall become one.  What God has joined together let no man separate.  It states that we will go through a process of becoming harmonious with each other, as God continue to resolve our soul issues.  God cannot divide from Himself, but whatever is not of him will be cast off.  Which brings me to the last pixel for today:

God is tearing down walls, buildings and ideology.  God doesn't want our good works, our sacrifices; He doesn't want our alters, church buildings, programs, committees or businesses.  God wants our soul....eternally.  You see, all these other things are going to burn up.  But His body and His love ....now that's forever.  So, whatever you are holding onto, holding back from, running away from or chasing after take an honest, clear look at it.  If your soul can find no rest in it then Stop, Drop, Roll..whatever you have to do to get to the cross road and ask for the ancient path - the one which He says will give you rest for your soul  then WALK that way!  He says this is the way Zoe Life walks, which is the life giving spirit within us.  Don't make his spirit contend with your soul, as for me I have laid my anchor down and my soul is well suited.  In fact, I think it is a classic!

I pray that our runway in down the heavenly highway; God isn't that a lovely picture.....
Come on girls...let's practice our catwalk stride and make our tailor proud!

In Christ Jesus, find peace
With love,
Candace

©Candace Huffmaster 2013, All Copy Rights Reserved

Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc®

“Forgiveness is not saying it’s okay; It’s stating there’s a better way”~CH

We have been looking Honestly at many of the Lures which entice our soul - their purpose, or perceived gain in order that we, the creature, might be comforted instead of “conditioned”.  We talked about how Gods love is unconditional; however relationship is conditional~ based on our willingness to BE conditioned ergo ABLE to relate intimately with our creator.

Let’s look a couple of segments from Philippians Chapter 2:

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests(selfish ambition), but also for the interests of others.

⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

This attitude was not manifested from man's worldly wisdom – it is PURELY by way of the Holy Spirit enabling God’s wisdom to be revealed unto us:  Willing our Soul to give the right of way to  God. 

  Now, let's pause for a moment and make sure we do not simply read the following words, then apply our shallow meanings and say we see.  I desire for us to Look and Understand what HE was actually imploring us to grab hold of ,cling to simply because He loves us:

⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality(he did not take the advantage) with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

I am sure that this understanding is not new information for most of you.  We all have heard that Christ came here in the form of a man to save us from our sins through dying once for everyone, then be raised by the power of God to live eternally cleansed and reign as the Lord of all eternally. 

 But have you REALLY paused to think what this looks like, acts like and exemplifies?  Christ could have regarded His equality and taken advantage of His power while among us; however it was His hearts desire to show us what it looks and acts like to believe that we could empty our self and take on the likeness of Him.

We already discussed how we do not have to die on a cross for others – we simply have to die to self. 

God knows we need an example to follow – we are consumed with taking others thoughts, positions, possessions, some even go for the whole identity.  Christ comes to us with this preposterous theory of giving good thoughts, positions, possession, even dares to go for giving a whole new identity to people for no other reason than the Love of God.

In Matthew 11:7-19 Christ was talking to a group of people who had come to see John the Baptist.  He said that people wanted to SEE something different than what they had in their cities. The kings and leaders who dressed in the “right clothes” even touting the “right words”.  They wanted more something that had depth, truth, stability and an outcome which aligned with what they paraded in the sight of the public. 

Look at the questions He asked them:

·         What did you go out into the wilderness to LOOK AT?

o   A reed shaken by the wind?

·         But what did you go out to SEE?

o   A man dressed in soft clothing – behold those are in Kings Palaces.

·         But WHY did you go out?

o   To see a prophet – yes I say to you and one who is MORE than a prophet.

Christ is asking them to pause and check their soul.  What was their soul lured by?  Did they come to LOOK or to SEE?  To BEHOLD the real deal or to LOOK AT a masquerade?

This is the same question He asks us every day – every moment – through every encounter we have.  He says “Check your self, go slow; pause if you need to.  Be sure your motives are PURE.

Matthew 12:33-37 talks to those who desire to “pause and see” saying: If you want more than a king in a palace, in soft clothes, empty on the inside – you have to LOOK by way of what they are producing.  They may appear tall, strong and bountiful with much to offer; however SEE what the outcome of their words manifest – that is their “intent”.  Look at how they speak, is it careless when it leaves their lips – not showing up as they projected?  This is not the manifestation of His fruit.  What we will SEE is that their own words condemn the goodness they touted.

What we actually SEE is that they robbed the Holy Spirit of His identity, purpose and rightful glory – all so that THEIR soul could be built up.  Christ gave up what was rightfully His so that the Holy Spirit of God could have freedom, liberty and full ability to flow unhindered.  All we have to do is decide if WE want to help Him relieve the grieving of the Holy Spirit.

I end with this thought for us all:

God is Love.  The Holy Spirit searches the depths of all things even the depths of God / Love.  Christ left this harmonious relationship for the sake of unifying ALL things in this Love.  The Holy Spirit, for the sake of Unity will fulfill the will of Christ which is to plunder any opposing “strong man”; in order that ALL may have liberty in the home of GOD – and God’s house WILL NOT DIVIDE!

So..Today I ask you to pause and request wisdom, discernment having gratitude for His mercy and grace.  Take an honest account of the words you have spoken, the manner in which you have spoken them as well as any ways that you have comforted your soul through justifying your carelessness toward anyone.  THEN ask to be forgiven for grieving the Holy Spirit.  Ask God to transform your heart in order that He may produce “God Fruit” which is good to enliven others for HIS glory and Name Sake.

For the cause of Love – always in all ways:

Kisses

Candace

©Edited 2011, Candace Huffmaster, All Rights Reserved

Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc™

“The Tear”

Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. Ecclesiastes 4:1

I have been studying for our Honestly series all week. Even though I already have enough material for several months, my inquisitive mind is never satisfy to stand on the surface of an underlying message. You would think after 49 years I would have hit bottom on at least one topic. But as soon as I have clarity on that level it’s like a Fun Land slide gliding me, swirly, twirly around to land upon yet another adventure to dig for buried treasure.

In Ecclesiastes 4:1, for a moment I heard the grieving of the Holy Spirit through Solomon’s words. So I went back to study the Hebrew text. In the fullness of those words I understood the reason He wanted me to find this jewel!

Then I looked again………..

This is not a flippant second glance. It is when you have turned but there was a shadow, blur or bright light that caught your attention and haunting you till you turn back to give it your full vision; searching to find what you overlooked.

This is what Solomon did. He stopped and turned because of a small translucent glistening sparkle caught his eye and connected his heart and mind when he saw “The Tear”. That tear must have opened the flood gates because the words Solomon uses explains this:

Every single time someone exercised authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner, troubled a person mentally or physically, threatened, caused adverse conditions caused anxiety OR obtained something by force / coercion whether it was information, money etc. using any unacceptable method, Solomon saw it in their tears.

But I believe what truly grieved him was the injustice. The oppressor had so much power over the poor soul, and they would not stop it – they would not repent! Worse yet there was no one there to grieve with the person, to say they were sorry and give them some relief or comfort from what they were experiencing. It was so terribly inhumane!!

I believe what Solomon saw was what Christ bore for us. Maybe Solomon was seeing the past, present and future who knows but God.

Start thinking about what it would be like to see from a transformed mind; to see for the first time, in clear reality. Can you imagine? Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing? I think about all the distortion of our minds eye and how the perversion of truth / memory distorts the moments of our day that I am moved to frustration and yes maybe even at times anger because it is not how God intended us to live life.

If it were, why would He tell us all things in advance?

It if were, why would He have to send His most precious Son to show us reality and The Way?

If it were, why would He continually tell us to cast down false imagination?

If it were, why would He tell us to be on guard for the enemy is crouching waiting to devour us?

If it were, why would He tell us to be aware of the wolves I sheep’s clothing?

Obviously, I have not even made a dent in this list. Yet we, being so smart and all, act as though it is perfectly acceptable to live in this state as though we don’t need clarity we simply need to trust God.

While I do agree with the statement that God’s ways are not our ways, He makes it clear that the reason we are to be aware is so that we will not close our mind, heart and eyes inward to our own thoughts which will lead us back into confusion.

We do not know what is up ahead, but God does.

We don’t always know what to do, but when we listen, discern and have accurate information in our heart and mind encompassed by trust and faith in Our Father and salvation through Christ we can have confidence that He will be there showing us every step of the way. We will also know that there are Angels standing guard over us. So again, there should not be distortion, confusion, anxiety or perplexity.

It is NO wonder that He told us not to worry about tomorrow --He knew we were going to have enough worries simply wrapping our worldly minds around clarity for today. He isn’t going to cut our time short – so we shouldn’t do it by worrying about our time being cut short.

Just live, laugh, love, and trust in His faithfulness – today! And I bet you’ll get to do it all over again tomorrow – I believe those are pretty good odds =D

With Love and a prayer of Thanksgiving –

Kisses,

Candace

 

©2011Candace Huffmaster, All Rights Reserved

How Far is Far? What Determines an End?

We are entering a very mature segment of things to ponder, but I have faith that each of you is ready for this.  We are not entering a race, although at times your discomfort might desire to run eagerly toward the finish line.  But allow yourself to slow down and experience each moment, thoughtfully.  This will be your space of openness, liberty and safety.  Remember that!  Here, unlike most of your experiences in the past, there will be no expectations, only acceptance of your questions, thoughts and understanding.  With that in mind, we will base our direction on a plea and warning from Gods loving words to us.

Jeremiah 6:16 (GWT) This is what the Lord Says:  Stand at the crossroads and look.  Ask which paths are the old, reliable paths.  Ask which way leads to blessings.  Live that way, and find a resting place for yourselves.  But you said that you wouldn’t live that way.

Galatians 6: 7-10 (GWT) Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God.  Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest.  If you plant in the soil of your corrupt nature, you will harvest destruction.  But if you plant in the soil of your spiritual nature, you will harvest everlasting life.  We can’t allow ourselves to get tired of living the right way.  Certainly, each of us will receive everlasting life at the proper time, if we don’t give up.  Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers! (Emphasis added for our study purposes).

Deeply was about where you are.  Honestly is about where you are going.  We will take this sojourn viewing these questions: 

Where are you going?

     What is your mental focus toward?

     Are you aware of a spiritual focus?

     How do you perceive your future?

     Are you facing your life honestly?

These are not in any specific order.  They are just things to think about.  I do not expect you to answer them, yet, just ask yourself the questions remembering “the sojourn is the answer; the question an endless plight” We are here to fly, not be live weighed down by sorry conditions!

So today, we are going to stop blaming others for what they did or did not do for us and to us.  I am not saying these people were kind, right or fair.  I am simply stating the obvious “they will be an obstruction for you to have a full view of your own life, where you are going and what you desire to discover about yourself”.

Sometimes we use this distraction to protect ourselves from pain. It is easier to deal with what we do not have any control over than it is to deal with what we have the power to alter and change.  This is not a feat for the faint of heart!  Let’s be brave though….one small step at a time, one complete day at a time; okay?

We never see ourselves as others do, good or bad.  We are too close and our view is askew.  Changing your life begins with honestly looking at your “self”.  We create our life not others.  Others may only suggest, reflect and have an impact toward us.  The affecting, altering power is under the dominion of “yourself”.  Knowing this helps us comprehend that in order to change our self perception we must stop using others perspectives and opinions as our truth.  It is only a piece of the puzzle not all pieces perfectly placed.

We know that there is only one True View Point and that is from the eye of God, His mind and the pure will of His heart.  We must be willing to discover and follow His ways for us. 

For the sake of all good things being done unto you, I pray that you will honestly consider the things we will be journeying through, together in Him.

Kisses,

Candace

Candace Huffmaster ©2006 all rights reserved

Tripping on the the Stone of Blame

Today we are going to look at Job’s journey through everything we learned when discussing “Trip, Fall, Fly”.  It will be helpful if you do not have these, to go to the top left search area and just type it in and then allow it to pull up those posts for you.  Each one will help you understand a bit deeper the topics we will be discussing this week.

Last week in groups conversations we looked at these following subjects and we all added our two cents worth:

~Angels are referred to in a masculine gender when written about

~Satan was roaming the earth looking for someone to devour

~Satan like other angels was coming from the North, East, South and West taking charge over God’s words

~Our battle is not with flesh and blood

~The battle is supernatural taking place in the heavenlies

~Christ was tempted by the devil in the desert, when he resisted the devil the angels came to comfort him

We are now going to look at several scriptures about this heavenly battle.  In Ezekiel 28 from the NLT

¹Then this message came to me from the LORD: ²"Son of man, give the prince of Tyre this message from the Sovereign LORD: In your great pride you claim, 'I am a god! I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea.' But you are only a man and not a god, though you boast that you are like a god. ³You regard yourself as wiser than Daniel and think no secret is hidden from you. ⁴With your wisdom and understanding you have amassed great wealth—gold and silver for your treasuries. ⁵Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich, and your riches have made you very proud.

⁶"Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you think you are as wise as a god, ⁷I will bring against you an enemy army, the terror of the nations. They will suddenly draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom and defile your splendor! ⁸They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die there on your island home in the heart of the sea, pierced with many wounds. ⁹Will you then boast, 'I am a god!' to those who kill you? To them you will be no god but merely a man! ¹⁰You will die like an outcast at the hands of foreigners. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"

¹¹Then this further message came to me from the LORD: ¹²"Son of man, weep for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. ¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone ^F39 —red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald—all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. ¹⁴I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. ^F40 You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire.

¹⁵"You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. ¹⁶Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. ¹⁷Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings. ¹⁸You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire from within you, and it consumed you. I let it burn you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. ¹⁹All who knew you are appalled at your fate. You have come to a terrible end, and you are no more."

When ever we look at “Trip Fall Fly” we align that with “Warnings, Woes and Wisdom”  Since Job is a Wisdom and Poetry book we know that we are studying this to glean wisdom. 

This was not about Job it was about God.  Satan was provoking Him.  He wanted to push God to ruin the poor guy for no good reason. 

Satan’s plan thus far was foiled, he had to regroup.  He left for a time and came back into the presence of God with the Sons of God.  Again God addressed him.  You notice he did not say to Satan, “See I was right, in your face wise guy!”.  God did not even bring it up.  He again asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”  Simple, straightforward and non confrontational isn’t it?  It is Satan that is wanting to challenge God.  He had some time to think about it as he was wandering all over the earth.  He had killed all the places he had to inhabit around Job….or had he?

Today, read Job 2:1-10 which I am posting below.  Think about how vulnerable Job was and who should have been his largest encourager.  Please write your thoughts about all this.

One day when the sons of God came to stand in front of the LORD, Satan the Accuser came along with them. The LORD asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From wandering all over the earth.” The LORD asked Satan, “Have you thought about my servant Job? No one in the world is like him! He is a man of integrity: He is decent, he fears God, and he stays away from evil. And he still holds on to his principles. You’re trying to provoke me into ruining him for no reason.”Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has for his life.  But stretch out your hand, and strike his flesh and bones. I bet he’ll curse you to your face.” The LORD told Satan, “He is in your power, but you must spare his life!”Satan left the LORD’s presence and struck Job with painful boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.  Job took a piece of broken pottery to scratch himself as he sat in the ashes. His wife asked him, “Are you still holding on to your principles? Curse God and die!” He said to her, “You’re talking like a godless fool. We accept the good that God gives us. Shouldn’t we also accept the bad?”Through all this Job’s lips did not utter one sinful word.

I pray that we look at our thoughts in reality to who God is: The God of Love.  I ask that we look at the characteristics of satan and give him all the credit he deserves for trying to deceive us of our true knowledge and understanding of how loving and all caring our Father is.  Then ask for forgiveness for not believing in all His promises to love, protect us so that we can receive all the good he has in store for us.  Let’s not take any more harm from Satan okay.

My love to each of you and I pray that you seek Him with abandon of this world, in all your ways acknowledging Him.

In the Name of Christ Jesus our Lord,

Kisses,

Candace