Thursday 31 January 2013

Remedy the Emptiness

I felt empty this morning. Not completely empty- just not 'full' either. I felt empty of life, of supernatural patience and of His spirit. I think it came about from my lack of time spent with Jesus yesterday! Some days it just seems wiser to dive into the day and get all those mounting tasks done... but I've found that to be one of my most foolish decisions yet. After trying to figure out what to start my day with, I settled on asking Jesus what to do and He gave me the remedy to my emptiness: "Listen to music that honours me and lifts your spirit and create with me!" He didn't have to tell me twice. I grabbed some paper and oil pastels and started drawing. The first picture I was attempting was about God's Faithfulness but as I continued to draw it morphed into something inspired by Isaiah 61v3:


 Once I had finished the picture, I leaned back against my couch, closed my eyes and just focused on Jesus.  Immediately God gave me this picture. My eyes were closed but I could see this fireball coming down from heaven and just hovering above my forehead. As I was looking at it the Lord said that it was the fire of the Holy Spirit. I opened my eyes, sat up properly and tried to draw what I had seen.

  (Finally seeing it on paper was a bit of a disappointment compared to what I saw from the Lord!)

As I drew and meditated on the picture, I felt in my spirit that it was a cleansing fire, which reminded me of a small revelation I got while I was getting out of the shower last night. This revelation was the realization of how often we wash our bodies because they get dirty but I thought to myself, 'Why don't we wash & cleanse our minds even more then we do our bodies?' Just with everything that infiltrates our thoughts and view on life, why aren't we as believers washing our minds by the reading of the Word and allowing Holy Spirit to transform our thinking through His teaching? I guess this HS Fire coming straight towards my brain really made that point hit home! So I figured that if I really wanted this to happen in my life then I needed to start reading my Bible more! But where to start is always the question. I settled on John 2, mainly cause I had this really weird dream last night about this homeless guy who got his arm healed and I was sharing the gospel with this camera crew guy and John 2 was referenced in it, but I didn't know what it even talked about! As I read through the chapter the only thing that really stood out to me was verse 5, "His mother said to the servants, 'Whatever he says to you, do it'." I just love the faith that Mary had in Jesus! (I think her faith came from the knowledge of Jesus being the Messiah--- not the faith that most mothers would have that their children can do anything they put their mind to :) The faith of knowing who Jesus really is, is the kind of faith I want in my own life! To trust in him enough that whatever He says to me... I DO IT! To be obedient to Him, to have faith in Him, to trust Him with the outcome of any situation!

At the end of the book of John, in my Bible, they have this article 'Truth - In - Action'. It really inspired me to talk to Jesus and  make my spirit & will line up with His!
Here is the TRUTH aspect: PURSUING HOLINESS: Obeying Jesus is evidence that we love him and are His disciples. Our obedience is vital to holy living. The HS teaches us and gives us understanding of the Scriptures, enabling us to obey the Lord.
The ACTION part has 4 different sections:
PRACTICE instant obedience to God and His Word
FOLLOW Jesus' example in Scripture, knowing that he did only what He saw the Father doing
DETERMINE to obey the Lord. Align your will with His.
KNOW that you show your love for Jesus by obeying him. Diligently keep God's Word and steadfastly abide in His presence. (NKJV - Life in the Spirit Study Bible)

After reading that, I realized that I needed to take time to realign my will with God's Will! I had this incredible time of just sharing my heart with the Lord - especially about going to Washington DC and if it's His will for me to go then He will make a way and provide a place to stay! A little reading of my Bible, a little worship, and a little time focusing on Jesus made me so refreshed and ready to take on another crazy day! Be Blessed, ~Shelly


Tuesday 29 January 2013

This isn't normal but I would like it to be!



   Yesterday was not like today! Yesterday I spent an hour and a half just reading my bible and drinking coffee, nothing unusual about that… but I remember at one moment just enjoying myself and asking God to expand my capacity to be in his presence! I didn’t expect him to answer my prayer so quickly!
   Today when I sat down… I started the day the same way, with my coffee and my bible! I started reading at 9:30am and from there Holy Spirit just lead me into a time of worship, exalting God and singing out my desire to be in His presence.  Next thing I know… I’m weeping in the presence of God and just so overwhelmed at his goodness and love and grace towards us! Even as I write this, I can’t contain my tears at the memory of such goodness being showered down on me! Who am I that I am blessed in such a favored way? The Lord just swept me away into his presence, into the secret place where it’s just Him and I.
   In this secret place (my living room :) I had this incredible time of kneeling and prostrating myself before the throne of God. As the tears ran down my cheeks and I closed my eyes, I could see the throne of God directly in front of me. All I could do was be on my knees, hunched over with my hands lifted high to him. I was worshiping the King of Glory and being wrapped and surrounded in His Presence, His Love, and His Glory. It was too beautiful to explain – experiencing such a gentle love and grace that makes you want to adore Him and continue worshiping Him in humility. There was the absence of worthlessness even though I was in the presence of the most majestic King alive! I am in no way comparable to my Lord but I didn’t feel like a servant who is ‘less than’ and under the rule of his master. I was His child. I was coming to my Father out of joy, love,  and the anticipation of the words He wants to share with me! We had an unexplainable bond. I was able to recognize that it was out of His overwhelming love for me that I was able to love him in return and have this confidence in His presence to ask for whatever my heart desired! 
   Once I had a chance to reflect on what happened, I asked the Lord… Why me? Why did you have me experience something so unexplainably Majestic. His response to this question was, “You were available.” “You were available to spend time with me. You wanted to be in my presence and asked for it! It is my delight to have my child walk with me and understand my ways and I will gladly show them to those who ask for it! My desire is for you and to be in constant relationship with you. I search high and low for those who are hungry for my truth and for my words and who desire the same things I desire! I reward the patient, the hungry and the trustworthy who are working for my kingdom and my cause. They will be the ones to experience my presence and know me.”
   Now the time happens to be 1:49pm  and I can barely type this cause I feel myself being sucked back into the heart of worship! The day has been wasted in his presence and there’s no other way I would’ve spent it! Continue to worship the Lord as you go about your day! Be Blessed, Shelly



I'm new at this.

   I've been a missionary in southern Africa for 7 years now and I've realized that I'm not the best at communicating what I'm doing. In the last few months, I've felt like God wanted me to start a blog to share with people what I've been doing in the last few years. I've seen God doing some crazy stuff all over the world and I haven't shared with 'the Church' about what I've seen God do! My desire is that this blog is one of encouragement to other believers and for us to see that God is at work all over the world and in every area of our societies. It will mostly include reflections of my last years, months and days in missions and anything else Jesus drops into my head! :) Be Blessed, ~Shelly

P.S. My whole family is in Missions! You can check them out at their website at Missions In Africa
 
I'm the one in the middle! My parents, Randy and Karen are to the left of me and my sister, Kay, with her husband, Mark are to the right.