When I was living through the darkest and loneliest days of my life, I developed an addiction. I was in the throes of depression due to years of infertility and repeated miscarriages. I sent five babies to heaven - each between 12 and 20 weeks in utero. It was a time of non-stop grief, dashed hopes and raging emotions. The addiction that I developed was not to over-the-counter drugs, alcohol, shopping or binge-eating. I became addicted to the Word of God.
We all want a deeper relationship with the Lord. We want to experience His presence in the calm and the storm. But how do you step into the presence of God when life gets busy? Whether you are a parent, grandparent, working professional, or retired traveler, you are either in a busy season or have been in one. You can get caught up in the day-to-day tasks, which have the potential to crowd out devotional time with God.
During the days of Nazi Germany, there arose a Confessing church movement that rose against the German church movement, which became the religious arm of the Fascist Nazi Socialist movement. Of the 18,000 pastors in Germany during that time (from 1933 to 1945), less than 5,000 were aligned with the Confessing church. Hence, only a remnant held fast to the biblical position, with about half of the confessing churches eventually conforming due to political and societal pressure.
God is expanding your secret place. The secret place is the place where you meet with God. It begins inside your inner being. John 7:38 says "out of your heart (belly, inner being) will flow rivers of living water." Your inner being is the hidden sanctuary of the heart where you commune with God. The secret place is also the "room" you go into to pray and talk with God. Matthew 6:6 says "Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."
As we've watched current events unfold, there is a temptation to feel powerless. The truth is, behind every negative headline and evil agenda is a redemption plan of the Lord. Recently the Lord has been highlighting five responses or postures for the church that partner with the "working all things for good" that He is doing behind the scenes. As we've watched inflation soar, the Lord has reminded me how, in the natural, inflation is caused by deviating too much from the gold standard.
To say we have no voice or say in what happens in our lives is an excuse for not surrendering to the Holy Spirit. We do have a voice, but it means we are just living by every whim we have and not by God. Galatians 5:16 (TPT) tells us, "As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life." This lets us know that our voices will be dynamically powerful or marked by continuous productive activity, and change in an energetic way when we make sure we have left behind our desires and cravings which seem to lead us down the wrong paths.
I was speaking to Jesus one time about my supernatural encounters and asking him how to explain why I am so fortunate to meet Biblical Saints and encounter so much of what heaven has to offer, including angelic encounters. He explained it to me. He said, "Imagine you have a friend in the workplace, and you really get to know them in a deep way." I said, "Yes." "Well," he continued, "You know you are really close to that person when they start o introduce you to their friends and family members."
As I waited upon the Lord, I heard His voice so closely. He began to minister to my heart and show me things to come. We are entering into a moment of inspection from the Lord. Man looks at the outward, but the Lord looks at the heart. First Samuel 16:7 says this, "....The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Man looks at the outward display of the leaves, but we are now entering an inspection time of the root.
God has a good plan for your life, and He doesn't want you to be tormented by fear or let it hold you back from your destiny. His will is for you to walk forward, confident in His love, trusting Him to take care of you all along the way. We also have an enemy, Satan, who will do everything he can to stop us from walking in God's good plan. Anytime we are making progress and moving forward in God's will for our lives, the devil will try to come against us with fear to drive us backward. This is one of the enemy's greatest tactics-to bring fear and try to prevent us from making progress. He wants us to fear our circumstances and what other people will think. He wants us to focus on the "what ifs."
First Corinthians 13 is often called the love chapter. It is sandwiched between chapter 12, which teaches on the gifts and callings of the Spirit, and chapter 14, which emphasizes the etiquette of the spoken gifts. I always looked at First Corinthians 13 as a pause to remind the Corinthians that everything is done in love. However, Paul did not write in chapter and verse. This chapter ties into recognizing the whole body of Christ. It takes every part of every ministry gift to give us an accurate picture of the realm of the Spirit.
Follow Up
