it will happen.

"so keep up your courage, men, for i have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me."

-paul's words in the midst of the storm, acts 27.

falling and rising.

"if there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, i know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love."

-julian of norwich.

pay attention.

"and we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

-2 peter 1.

-----

it seems we are living in a time of prophecy. of this i have no doubt. there are things stirring under the surface, and the Spirit of God is moving in new and different ways in our time. i feel it in my heart, my breath, my bones.

which is why the above passage grabbed me and shook me up a bit this morning. because there are a lot of people saying a lot of things in our time, and not all that is being uttered is truth.

some of what is being said is merely a skewed and manipulated version of God's message, and some of what is being said is the pure and fiery will of God spoken through people carried along by the Holy Spirit.

and often it can be very difficult to discern the difference between the two.

and in the midst of it all, my heart cries out for the pure and living voice of God.

i want to be able to discern what is true.

i want to have ears that hear.

which is why i feel such an urgency to KNOW THE WORD, to root the sayings of these prophets and kings and servants and missionaries, and above all else, this Mighty God, and to learn them well.

i want to be able to hear my Shepherd's voice when my Shepherd speaks, and to follow Him when and where He leads.

i want to be able to discern truth through the knowledge of the Word of God.

i want, as our Rabbi and Messiah prayed that night on gethsemane, to be SANCTIFIED through the truth.

and so each morning i will rise early, and each night i will go to bed late, pouring over and devouring this blessed Book.

because God is moving.

and God is speaking.

and I want to be able to discern which words are His.

time and again.

"grace is doled out in generous, earth-shattering bits, just enough to overwhelm and humble us time and again."

-e vaughn do.

the water of life.

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.'

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.

Amen."

revelation 22.

held.

I am held, even though so often I do not hold.

bless God for His grace.

farsighted.

"but in the end such tired words shall rest.
the truth will reroute the narrow things they've said.
the marionette strings will lower and untie.
and out of the ashes love will be realized.

because God knows we've been naive.
and a bit nearsighted, to say the least."

-sleeping at last.

-----

"But as the heavens are high above the earth,
so are My ways high above your ways
and My plans above your plans.

For as the rain or snow drops from heaven
and returns not there,
but soaks the earth
and makes it bring forth vegetation,
yielding seed for sowing and bread for eating,

So is the word that issues from My mouth:
it does not come back to me unfulfilled,
but performs what I purpose,
achieves what I sent it to do.

Yea, you shall leave in joy and be led home
secure."

-isaiah 56.

freed.

"quickly the crouching one is freed;
he is not cut down and slain,
and he shall not want for food.
for I the Lord your God -
who stir up the sea into roaring waves,
whose name is the Lord of Hosts -
have put My words in your mouth
and sheltered you with My hand."

-isaiah 51.

(amen).

ever jubilant.

"but let all who take refuge in You rejoice,
ever jubilant as You shelter them;
and let those who love Your name exult in You.
for You surely bless the righteous man, O Lord,
encompassing him with favor like a shield."

-psalm 5.

abide.

"the world and all its desires pass away, but the one who practices the desire of God abides in eternity."

1 john 2.

loyalty.

"for the mountains may move
and the hills be shaken,
but my loyalty shall never move from you,
nor my covenant of friendship be shaken
-said the Lord, who takes you back in love."

-isaiah 54.

rejoined.

"Heavenly Muse, Spirit who brooded on
the world and raised it shapely out of nothing,
touch my lips with fire and burn away
all dross of speech, so that i keep in mind
the truth and end to which my words now move
in hope. Keep my mind within that Mind
of which it is a part, whose wholeness is
the hope of sense in what i tell. And though
i go among the scatterings of that sense,
the members of its worldly body broken,
rule my sight by vision of the parts
rejoined. And in my exile's journey far
from home, be with me, so i may return."

-wendell berry

turning.

"and then I turned again to that other world I had taught myself to know, the world that is neither past nor to come, the present world where we are alive together and love keeps us."

-wendell berry.

like latter rain.

"His appearance is as sure as daybreak,
and He will come to us like rain,
like latter rain that refreshes the earth."

-hosea 6.

the Lord's favor.

"the spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
He has sent me as a herald of joy to the
humble,
to bind up the wounded of heart,
to proclaim release to the captives,
liberation to the imprisoned;
to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor
and a day of vindication by our God;
to comfort all who mourn -
to provide for the mourners in Zion -
to give them a turban instead of ashes,
the festive ointment instead of mourning,
a garment of splendor instead of a drooping
spirit.
they shall be called terebinths of victory,
planted by the Lord for His glory."

-isaiah 61.

"today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." - Jesus, Luke 4.

a rabbi's prayers.

"may they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

-the last prayer of Jesus the night before His death, His prayer for you and you and you, and me too.

not lost.

"Listen. There is a light that includes our darkness, a day that shines down even on the clouds. A man of faith believes that the man in the well is not lost. He does not believe this easily or without pain, but he believes it. His belief is a kind of knowledge beyond any way of knowing. He believes that the child in the womb is not lost, nor is the man whose work has come to nothing, nor is the old woman forsaken in a nursing home in California. He believes that those who make their bed in Hell are not lost, or those who dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, or the lame man at Bethesda Pool, or Lazarus in the grave, or those who pray "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani."
Have mercy."

-wendell berry

great spoil.

"my heart thrills at Your word.
I rejoice over Your promise
as one who obtains great spoil."

-psalm 119.