"Your Place or Mine?"

Just to be clear -I am make most of my observations and discernment based on how unlovely I can be at times.  I say this because I would never want anyone to think I am pointing a finger toward them.  I have enough material of tripping, falling and flying to be an unquenchable source of what NOT to do.  Thank God He  continues to grow me into useful what TO do materials as well.  But that is not of me - I am and will always be the what NOT to do without His "extra" on my ordinary.  And yes, that is the reason for my extraordinary hope, faith and perseverance of all things.

But down to business now:

We have been speaking about getting alone with our thoughts.  But not in the same old way.  Instead of being isolated from insight we are trying to be still in His presence with our thoughts.  If Satan comes to divide and separate, he has a reason.  The reason is we alone cannot find wisdom.  We use the same information as before but try to find enlightenment.  How many of us can admit that unless we add a new ingredient you cannot get a new recipe.  So again, we will only be making the same ole' recipe for disaster if we don't spice it up.

What spices do you choose?  Think over the season-ings of your life.  Did you add some tips from the top chef?  Did you invite him into your kitchen so you could stay in control or did you request to have an opportunity to observe, take notes and learn from the best in his Rock Star culinary kitchen???  Just some things to thing about.

I ask these silly questions to get us focused on this: 

Do you usually expect God to sit around and wait for you to be ready to speak with Him, or do you Go to Him, laying down your scheduling demands to be available for Him? 

Why do we expect God to jump because "we are too busy" to fit Him in?  Did you know that God is a jealous God and sometimes He says "you will speak and I will not hear"  "You will no longer hear my voice"  "You will request and receive not".  These were real people that He loved, cared about, cared for.  He cried out I long to gather you as a hen gathers its chicks under wing, but you refused.

Today I pray that we not refuse Him.  I am posting Oz Hillmans devotion to reflect on.  An art work "In His Presence" and you can go into the archives for the poetry "His Shadow" or "In His Presence" to reflect on .

God bless you all,
Kisses,
Candace

 

David's Source of Direction
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, March 22 2011

"Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul." - Psalm 143:8

David is the only person in the Bible whom God describes as a man after His own heart. Despite David's many setbacks he continually sought to know and do God's will in his life. Like many of us, his will got in the way of a sinless life.

In the morning hour, David sought to hear from God. I can imagine David sitting on the open deck of his palace looking over the hills of Jerusalem, listening to God. There, in his morning watch, he felt God's unfailing love. He reaffirmed his trust in God. He also understood that the key to knowing God's will lay in spending such moments alone to reflect on what God had done and was doing in his life.

"Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground" (Psalm 143:10).

Sometimes we fall prey to believing that God is not concerned, and that He does not lead us in our work life. We are tempted to think that He leads us in other areas, but not in our daily workplace. The truth is that God is in every aspect of life and desires to direct us.

Do you need direction in your life today? If so, David provides the best example of gaining direction. Set aside the morning hour to draw close to His presence. There, you will sense His unfailing love for you. His direction for your life will be a natural by-product of this time of communion with Him. Ask God to lead you by His Spirit today.

The Original "Big Fish" Tale

It is with  great joy that I open this to you today!  Although I am sorry for not having the ability to stay on course with our study of Genesis, today I truly believe I can tout that the computer is fixed!!!   What a roller coaster.  So with gusto let's dig back in . 

Genesis 1:21 (NAS)
And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:22 (NAS)
And God blessed them saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

Genesis 1:23 (NAS)
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

To understand what God was "preparing in advance" or setting in motion on this fifth day He created to support all times, we have to take a microscope to this day.  For instance what is the reality of these great "sea monsters".  To know that we would have to know the Hebrew word in which we derive it from.  Tanniyn or Tanniym is a huge fish, a marine or land monster; a dragon, a sea serpent; a water animal, a shark or a crocodile as it pertains to these scriptures.  There are other definitions but today we are only looking at these.  The others are more metaphoric in nature.  Let's look at how God has utilized those through out His creations history.

Job is considered to be among the first books ever to be written.  He made the first reference to them in a conversation he was having with God when he said, " Am I the sea or a sea monster that you have set a guard over me?"

Isaiah praised God saying "O Lord, you are my God.  I will highly honor you; I will praise your name.  You have done miraculous things.  You have been completely reliable in carrying out your plans from long ago.  He then speaks about the future for God's people saying, "On this mountain the Lord of Armies will prepare for all people a feast with the best foods, a banquet with aged wines, with the best foods and the finest wines.  On this mountain he will remove the veil of grief covering all people and the mask covering all nations.  he will swallow up death forever.  The Almighty Lord will wipe away tears from every face, and he will remove the disgrace of his people from the whole earth.  The Lord has spoken.  On that day, his people, will say "This is our God; we have waited for him, and now he will save us. - Let us rejoice and  be glad because he will save us."  A bit further down He is talking about "that day" when we are saved.  Listen to what he shares. " on that day the Lord will use his fierce and powerful sword to punish Leviathan - that slippery snake, Leviathan, that twisting snake.  He will kill that monster which lives in the sea.  On that day sing about a delightful vineyard.  I, the Lord, will watch over it.  I water it continually.  I watch over it day and night so that no one will harm it.  I am no longer angry.  If only thorn's and briar's would confront me! I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fire.  or else let them come to me for protection.  Let them make peace with me.  Yes, let them make peace with me.

Now let's move on to Jeremiah, his last prophecy was about how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had devoured the Israelites.  He had thrown them into confusion, turned them into empty jars, swallowed them like a monster filling his belly with their delicacies; then he spit them out.  They were begging for violence to be done to Babylon, for its people to be held responsible for their deaths.  Further down God told his people to leave - to run for their lives.  Not from the evil of the Babylonians but from the burning anger of the Lord.  He did not want them to be around when His vengeance was brought to fruition.  This is exactly what He was speaking of through Isaiah as He said "if only they would confront me I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fires"...or else let them come to me for protections - Let them make peace with me.

The one reference I would have thought would be obvious was Jonah and the "whale".  However, there seems to be some ambiguity about the correct translation of this "fish - really big fish".  I will look those up and get back to you tomorrow on that one. 

As for today - we must realize that God's plans are not only perfect they are perfectly ordered.  We simply have free will as to "if we will face Him".  The ridiculous part is when we choose to not face Him, we must turn our back on Him.  That is not a pretty sight when I picture it.  Think about how you feel when some one repeatedly ignores your efforts to have relationship with them.  We might get hurt for awhile, but then we get heated about it.  This is because we are made in the Image of God.....and that's what He does. 

Just remember in your anger - Do not sin!  Vengeance is Mine says the Lord.
With the Love of Christ,
Candace

Where There Is Christ There Is A Sign For Their Season

Today, there is way too much to break down.  So we are just going to have the verses to meditate on till tomorrow.  It is going to take us a couple of days to get through these.  From the beginning God has been working on something and He is working on completing it even as we live and breath today.  Where are you....what have you done?
I thank God for His Mercy and Grace..I pray you See, Turn from your ways and be saved.  If you have already done this, I pray you help me cover those with Christ who prayed "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!"
Love,
Candace

Genesis 1:14, 15 (NAS)
Then God said," "let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth and it was so.

Matthew Chapter 10 (select verses from NAS)

16"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

19"But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.

20"For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

21"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.

22"You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.


26"Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

27"What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.

28"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

29"Are not two sparrows sold for a [a]cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

30"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31"So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

32"Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.

33"But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

34"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

35"For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;

36and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.

37"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

38"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Deuteronomy Chapter  28

1"(A)Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God (B)will set you high above all the nations of the earth.


2"All these blessings will come upon you and (C)overtake you if you obey the LORD your God:



3"Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be (D)in the country.



4"Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.



5"Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.



6"Blessed shall you be (E)when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.



7"The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.



8"The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in (F)all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.



9"(G)The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.



10"So all the peoples of the earth will see that (H)you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.



11"(I)The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.



12"The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and (J)you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.



13"(K)The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully,



14and (L)do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.



Consequences of Disobedience

15"(M)But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16"(N)Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.



17"(O)Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.



18"(P)Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.



19"(Q)Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.



20"(R)The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and (S)rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until (T)you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.



21"(U)The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.



22"(V)The LORD will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with [a]the sword and (W)with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until (X)you perish.



23"The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.



24"(Y)The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.



25"(Z)The LORD shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will (AA)be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.



26"(AB)Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.



27"(AC)The LORD will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with (AD)tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.



28"The LORD will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart;



29and you will (AE)grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you.



30"(AF)You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; (AG)you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.



31"Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you.



32"(AH)Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them continually; but there will be nothing you can do.



33"(AI)A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually.



34"You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see.



35"(AJ)The LORD will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.



36"(AK)The LORD will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, (AL)wood and stone.



37"(AM)You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the LORD drives you.



38"(AN)You shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for (AO)the locust will consume it.



39"(AP)You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them.



40"(AQ)You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off.



41"(AR)You shall have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.



42"(AS)The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground.



43"(AT)The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower.



44"(AU)He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; (AV)he shall be the head, and you will be the tail.



45"So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you (AW)until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.



46"They shall become (AX)a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.



47"(AY)Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;



48therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, (AZ)in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He (BA)will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.



49"(BB)The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, (BC)as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand,



50a nation of fierce countenance who will (BD)have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.



51"Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish.



52"(BE)It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you.



53"(BF)Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you.



54"The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain,



55so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns.



56"(BG)The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,



57and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for (BH)she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.



58"If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to (BI)fear this honored and awesome (BJ)name, the LORD your God,



59then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.



60"(BK)He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.



61"Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you (BL)until you are destroyed.



62"Then you shall be left few in number, (BM)whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God.



63"It shall come about that as the LORD (BN)delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will (BO)delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be (BP)torn from the land where you are entering to possess it.



64"Moreover, the LORD will (BQ)scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall (BR)serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.



65"(BS)Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there (BT)the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul.



66"So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.



67"In the morning you shall say, 'Would that it were evening!' And at evening you shall say, 'Would that it were morning!' because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see.



68"The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, 'You will never see it again!' And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer."

For Every Thing....There is a Season

Time and Season
Open your eyes and see as I see,
Look where I turn, be one with my world,
Your breath is my wind: the seeds scattered, job done.
My presence in your faith will water their ground,
Be all I am… trust, do not stop,
Keep watch in the distance and know all is done,
Today has a future but was done in the past,
So time doesn’t matter… for all matter will pass.
Remember those passing and always be in prayer,
My spirit is with them, with you, and the air.
What once seemed impossible is now known through light,
So travel, my angel, come home, it’s your flight.
By Candace Huffmaster ©

There are times when I read Oswald's writings and I thank God that we are not friends or acquaintances. If we were, I would have to believe he was writing about conversations I have had with people or experiences I have gone through. If God had not told us that ALL things are common to man, I would not have the confidence to keep trusting and allowing Him to transform me into what He has desired me to be at creation.
Today, don't look at what your best moment has been....that is in the past. Don't look at what mistakes you made....they are only stepping stones to getting it right. Remember, all striving is chasing after the wind unless your sights are set as flint on the Kingdom of God. When that is what we are chasing after, He is faithful to add all else to that: in abundance, to the full....till it overflows in Glory for His name sake.
With love in Christ,
Candace

Be Ready in Season and Out of Season —2 Timothy 4:2

from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers

Many of us suffer from the unbalanced tendency to “be ready” only “out of season.” The season does not refer to time; it refers to us. This verse says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season.” In other words, we should “be ready” whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, “Now that I’ve experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God.” No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times. If you make a god out of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life, never to return until you are obedient in the work He has placed closest to you, and until you have learned not to be obsessed with those exceptional moments He has given you.