"Mushrooms grow in the dark!"

"We live our lives  
         forward
and we understand it
        backward."

FORGIVENESS

"The hornet of memory may fly,
 but forgiveness has taken out the
                   sting!"

UNBELIEF

"Unbelief is the darkroom where you develop your negatives." 

ORDERLINESS

"For God is not a God of disorder
  but of peace." (I Corinthians 14:32-33)

Paul explains what it means to be sanctified and to live an orderly life.  Therefore if our lives are characterized by disorder and confusion, we are not experiencing sanctification. 

In the creation narrative, we see the Holy Spirit bringing order out of chaos (Genesis 1). and whenever the Spirit is allowed to work, He will perform that ministry. Believers who walk in the Spirit will have orderly lives, even though to the unbelieving world their lives may seem inconsistent.  Jesus compared  the work of the Spirit in the believer to the blowing of the unpredictiable wind. (John 3:8)
~~Excerpt from "Bless You"- Receiving and Sharing the Blessings of the Lord by Warren W. Wiersbe

I write this as I am cleaning and purging "stuff".  I have been a collector of antiques and unusual eclectic stuff since I was a kid.  "Stuff" obscures my view and brings distraction from what I feel the Lord would have me focus on (away from the temporal to the eternal)  Reminds me of the verse, "For we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporary and the things that are unseen are eternal" ( 2 Corinthians 4:18) I'm thankful that He isn't finished with me yet and I am still in the process of being sanctified.  I want to be in a place where my "theology" is consistent with my "reality"; so I am taking each prompting step by step as an act of obedience and trust the Lord to have his way in me.  I realize that sanctification is a life long process and I am working out my own salvation with fear and trembling.

So here is the process to get more SPACE!
S - SORT
P - PURGE
A - ASSIGN A PLACE
C - CONTAINERIZE
E - ELIMINATE

Hallelujah and Amen!

FACEDOWN

This past weekend I spent some time with my sister, Linda.  We were discussing some of the past Beth Moore bible studies we have both done.  The subject of "facedown" came up, which was introduced in the study "Stepping Up".   She challenged me...."Are you still doing that daily?"    I confessed, No... but I sense it was a "love tap" from God.... He knows my heart and is nudging me to posture "facedown" before Him!

"Facedown...the idea is to demonstrate reverence and surrender, however you personalize it!  Getting down on our faces first thing in the morning has the tremendous advantage of setting the tone for the day.  In God's economy the way up is down!" Beth Moore

Years ago, I had a dream where I was praying "facedown"; The Lord's hand came and rested on my right shoulder and His voice (like thunder), spoke a word of direction to me. His voice so powerful, startled me in somewhat of an awestruck fear.  It is hard to explain, but I will never forget it!

So at this time and place, I am encouraged to fall FACEDOWN ( Leviticus 9:24)

I recently came across a CD entitled "Facedown" by Matt Redman and is the cover of the CD jacket I have posted as a pic!   The lyrics are as follows:

"Welcomed  in to the courts of the King

I've been ushered into your presence

Lord, I stand on your merciful ground

Yet with every step tread with reverence

And I fall facedown

As your glory shines around

Yes, I fall facedown

As your glory shines around

Who is there in the heavens like you?

And on earth, who's your equal?

You are far above, You're the highest of heights

We are bowing down to exalt you

So let your glory shine around

Let our glory shine around

King of glory, here be found

King of glory"

INSPIRED!

After spending a retreat weekend up north, I return inspired!  As Sara Groves says in her song "Just Showed Up"... and I reiterated...."I'm going to live my life inspired.  Look for the holy in the common place. Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real, until I'm truly amazed!  I'm going to feel all my emotions.  I'm going to look you in the eyes.  I am going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives!"  ( This song was inspired by John Eldridges book "Waking the Dead" - The Glory of God in a man fully alive! 

So I was inspired to start this blog by stumbling onto another blog in a google search.  A close friend of mine calls me a "Wordsmith".... as my memory bank holds a collection of quotes, sayings, and verses that have been engrafted into my soul in this journey of life.  The road we travel is not always easy... I am thankful to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is not only my Redeemer, but my Advocate.  My goal in this life is to really KNOW Him (Phil 3:10) and be conformed to the image of His Son!

PRAYER OR PILLAR OF SALT?

"A short time ago I was told by a very learned man that souls without prayer are like people whose arms and legs are paralyzed: they posess feet and hands but they cannot control them. In the same way, their souls are so infirm and so accustomed to busying themselves with outside affairs that nothing can be done for them, and it seems as though they are incapable of entering withing themselves at all. So accustomed have they grown to living all the time with the repitles and other creatures in the outer court of the castle that they have almost become like them; and although by nature they are so richly endowed as to have the power to hold converse with none other than God himself, there is nothing that can be done for them. Unless they strive to realize their miserable conditon and to remedy it, they will be turned into pillars of salt for not looking within themselves just as Lot's wife was because she looked back."

~~Teresa of Avila "Interior Castle"

I love this book and this is one of my most favorite excerpts from it! I first purchased it back in the 70's, but didn't read the whole book until just a few years ago!   Teresa compares the contemplative life to a castle with seven chambers. Tracing the passage of the soul from each successive chamber, she draws a powerful picture of the path toward spiritual perfection. The language from the 1500s is a bit different, but beautiful!  It is a "read" that one could marinate on over and over again!