The Well on Whidbey (or Church done Simply)

What is an Apostle

Mary’s Song

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy, As he spoke to our fathers,to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

This hope we have as an anchor

Hebrews 6: 13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

A word for my family…. Thanks Tony P for the Word

Isaiah 54:¹⁴“In righteousness you will be established;
         You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
         And from terror, for it will not come near you.
    ¹⁵“If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
         Whoever assails you will fall because of you.
    ¹⁶“Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
         And brings out a weapon for its work;
         And I have created the destroyer to ruin.
    ¹⁷“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
         And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn
         This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
         And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

Rise and fall and redemption of a godly nation

So I am on the ferry this morning checking email from my phone and one of my emails was a daily Scripture verse that I get, unfortunately for me they are always in NIV so when I see one that grabs my attention I have to look it up in one of my preffered versions (NASB, NKJV, ESV and sometimes the Amplified).  The verse this morning fell into that category so I looked it up and read it, except the verse turned into the chapter and that turned into a burden to share.

The Scripture is Isaiah 1….  yes the whole thing (see below).  It speaks of the nation of Israel that has again turned away from God and has turned to idolatry and the things of the world, to false teachings and giving meaningless offerings.  But Abba also gives us the antidote, the way out… redemption.  But in order to get this we have to repent, we have to “consent and obey” what it is Abba tells us to do… He has provided the path for us to be purified…  but also warns of consequences for our disobedience

Coming into the weekend that we celebrate our independence we need to look at the condition of our country of this great nation that we call home.  No matter anyone tries to tell you today our country was buillt on Godly wisdom and principles, a land that was colonized by people that had a vision to break away from legalism and religion.  We as a nation need to turn our hearts back to the Father, repent and be purified.  So God can continue to bless America.

Isaiah 1:

  ²Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. ³“An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” ⁴Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. ⁵Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. ⁶From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil. ⁷Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. ⁸The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. ⁹Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah. ¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah. ¹¹“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. ¹²“When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? ¹³“Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies—  I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. ¹⁴“I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵“So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen Your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁶“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight Cease to do evil, ¹⁷Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. ¹⁸“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. ¹⁹“If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; ²⁰“But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword “ Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken. ¹How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, But now murderers. ²²Your silver has become dross, Your drink diluted with water. ²³Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe And chases after rewards They do not defend the orphan, Nor does the widow’s plea come before them. ²⁴Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts, The Mighty One of Israel, declares, “Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries And avenge Myself on My foes. ²⁵“I will also turn My hand against you, And will smelt away your dross as with lye And will remove all your alloy.  ²⁶“Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; After that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city.” ²⁷Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness. ²⁸But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, And those who forsake the LORD will come to an end. ²⁹Surely you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, And you will be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen. ³⁰For you will be like an oak whose leaf fades away Or as a garden that has no water. ³¹The strong man will become tinder, His work also a spark. Thus they shall both burn together And there will be none to quench them.

Word I got at healing rooms tonight

1Let the desert and dry region be happy; let the wilderness rejoice and bloom like a lily! 2Let it richly bloom; let it rejoice and shout with delight! It is given the grandeur of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the grandeur of the LORD, the splendor of our God. 3Strengthen the hands that have gone limp, steady the knees that shake! 4Tell those who panic, “Be strong! Do not fear! Look, your God comes to avenge! With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” 5Then blind eyes will open, deaf ears will hear. 6Then the lame will leap like a deer, the mute tongue will shout for joy; for water will flow in the desert, streams in the wilderness. 7The dry soil will become a pool of water, the parched ground springs of water. Where jackals once lived and sprawled out, grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow. 8A thoroughfare will be there - it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it; it is reserved for those authorized to use it - fools will not stray into it. 9No lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it - they will not be found there. Those delivered from bondage will travel on it, 10those whom the LORD has ransomed will return that way. They will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them; grief and suffering will disappear.

And…

11The Lord speaks; many, many women spread the good news. 12Kings leading armies run away - they run away! The lovely lady of the house divides up the loot. 13When you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver and with glittering gold. 14When the sovereign judge scatters kings, let it snow on Zalmon! 15The mountain of Bashan is a towering mountain; the mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks. 16Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks, at the mountain where God has decided to live? Indeed the LORD will live there permanently! 17God has countless chariots; they number in the thousands. The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. 18You ascend on high, you have taken many captives. You receive tribute from men, including even sinful rebels. Indeed the LORD God lives there! 19The Lord deserves praise! Day after day he carries our burden, the God who delivers us. (Selah)

Meditate or Marinate….

Meditate = To engage in, or actively seek truth in Scripture

Marinate = To soak in, become saturated, be still

Meditate = Us actively contemplating God’s Word, learning and becoming familiar with His Scripture

Marinate = Us sitting at the feet of Jesus absorbing that which He gives us, process of knowing God intimately.  Our shutting up and listening.

Meditate = Us obediently putting forth effort to learn.

Marinate = Us getting out of the way letting God do and show us what He wills.

Is one better or more important than the other? I guess that depends on who you ask.  Some would say that it is all about Scripture and learning the Word. But the Scripture says that “the letter is dead”.  Others would say it’s all about soaking in His presence and in that He will reveal His Word.  Many times this attitude leads to spiritual goofiness.

What we need is both, we are instructed to worship in Spirit and Truth.  We need to be men of the word and men of the spirit to have the balance that we need. We are called to emulate the character of Jesus in all that we do, and we need to have a deep understanding of who He is to be able to achieve that. That understanding comes from meditating on His Scripture and marinating in His presence, the truth and the glory.  This is where we can fully tap into the power and love that allows us to be over-comers and walk victoriously in His Kingdom, despite the world around us.

Disciples

Most important of all disciples of Christ are lovers. The greatest proof of our discipleship will never be our dogmatic adherence to some doctrine or the great deeds we do in Jesus’ name, but rather our love for one another. (see John 13:35) our love for each other is the only proof we have to show the world that God is real and the gospel true

Freedom

As we push forward striving for the goal, the yoke of the world comes upon us to try and make us slow, to keep us from attaining what has already been given, and then He comes…and makes a trade gives us His yoke so we no longer need to slave, for His yoke is freedom and fullness of life and though we strive we don’t have the strife…the negativity of the world that wants to hold us back has been broken off of us and now we are on the attack!!!!

found some stuff I wrote a few years ago

The Beginning

as i sit in the sunshine preparing for bed a flow of words starts to stream into my head a reminder of a gift long ago wasted a gift that was tainted with the darkness of my youth but now as the Light has burned that darkness away there’s a stirring of something I thought was buried to stay…this time will be different I hear in my sprirt becasue as the flow starts the enemy will fear it he will run he will flee he can not stand against me becasue of the power of Jesus and the dominion HE has given me…His Word is a light that illuminates my path no longer do I have to suffer from the enemy’s wrath…why??? do you ask …because I have been set free at last free from my sin and free from my past as long as my focus remains on my Lord,  I will move forward, forward to the goal He has set for me