My Utmost for His Highest

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:24-27

We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside. Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, "Here am I! Send me" (Isaiah 6:8).

This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, "If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn't object!" But when He uses someone we dislike or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed - you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.

I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children. - Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest"

Psalm 51:3 For I know my transgressions

He’d lived in the darkness for so long he didn’t know that it was dark. Dark was normal, and since he’d never experienced light, dark didn’t seem dark to him. It wasn’t as though he woke up in the morning praying and longing for light. And it wasn’t that he had to work to accept the darkness. No, darkness was all he’d ever known. Sure, he fumbled around, bumped into things, and fell down a lot, but none of it bothered him. It was what every day was like for him. He didn’t really long to see. He didn’t long to see because he didn’t know that there was anything worth seeing. He really did think that he saw all there was to see—darkness. He didn’t have an accurate sense of size, shape, or color. He had little sense of beauty. He didn’t really know what things looked like because the darkness he lived in was so pervasive that the objects around him were but shadows, blobs, and blurs.

He had no idea what he looked like because he’d never really seen himself. He thought he knew what he looked like because he’d touched his face and run his hands down his torso, but he’d never seen himself in the light. He was actually quite content in his darkened world, and he was quite happy to do what people do when you live in a dark place. He just got up everyday and did what you do when you can’t see. Except he didn’t know that he couldn’t see, because he’d never seen, because he’d always lived in darkness.

Then it happened one day. He hadn’t longed for it. He hadn’t asked for it. It just happened. A shaft of light exploded into his world. At first it scared and confused him. He didn’t know what it was and his eyes didn’t seem able to take it in. All he really knew was that it was different from the darkness he’d always known. It was bright and beautiful and it hurt his eyes, but he couldn’t stop looking. He couldn’t keep himself from walking toward the light. The closer he got to the light, the more he began to see what was around him. There was a whole world of shapes and colors he’d never seen. But something even more profound began to happen to him. It was shocking, disturbing, and exciting all at once. The closer he got to the light, the more he saw himself! The first thing he realized was that he was naked. For the first time he felt naked. For the first time his nakedness made him uncomfortable. But he not only realized he was naked, he realized he was dirty. And not only was he dirty, he was confronted with the fact that he was lame.

He kept walking toward the light, and he felt joy as he did so, but the joy was mixed with grief. As he walked he began to weep. He’d never wept like this before. He wept at the pain he felt over his condition. He’d not known how dirty he was. He’d not known how crippled he was, and he felt overwhelmed at what he now knew. He was stunned by the fact that he’d been this way since birth and he’d never known it. He was shocked that he’d never figured out that he moved with a limp. But his shock was quickly mixed with the deepest longing he’d ever felt. It was like he was starved for something he’d never eaten but now wanted desperately. What he wanted desperately for the first time in his life was to be clean. For the first time in his life he wasn’t satisfied being crippled. He longed to be healed. And even though he didn’t understand light at all, for the first time in his life he wanted to live in it. And he couldn’t imagine ever being content to live in the darkness again.

So he started to run. He ran because he felt drawn—drawn to the light that had so radically altered his world. He wanted to be in the light because somehow he knew that if he could get in the light, he’d be washed and he’d be clean. Somehow he knew that if he could get to the light he would be healed. He’d never run before because he knew he couldn’t run because he was lame, but he did run. The light was drawing him. The light was giving him strength.

He remembers well those darkened days in that darkened place. He remembers it all with a broken and a celebratory heart. And he is very aware that not only has he been cleansed and healed, he’s been given the ability to see as well. And he’s deeply grateful that he’s been clothed with what he couldn’t purchase and that deep within him has been placed the desire to be clean.

Have mercy on me, O God,

because of your unfailing love.

Because of your great compassion,

blot out the stain of my sins.

Wash me clean from my guilt.

Purify me from my sin.

For I recognize my rebellion;

it haunts me day and night.
- - - - - -

Purify me from my sins,

and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:3

Waging a War that's already Won

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth has been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth has been loosed in heaven.
Matt 16:19

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
Luke 10:19

Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
1 John 4:4

These are currently the verses that are impacting my life. Before I get into that, let me start by saying that whether or not you "believe" God's word is true....whether or not you "believe" there is a heaven and a hell....whether or not you "believe" that spiritual warfare is occurring every second of every day of your life does not negate the fact that it is true...there is a heaven and a hell...and it you are involved in a spiritual battle whether you like it or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, and whether you choose to "fight" or not.

As I was contemplating this blog entry and how to word it so that I wouldn't completely *lose* people in its complexity and my total inability to appropriately do justice to this issue, the Lord gave me a vision of how the power of God is brought to earth by intercession. I saw a bolt of lighting in the sky. Just one big flash extending from heaven to earth. Then I heard the thunder rolling in the heavens, spreading forth from the bolt of lighting. All at once, the rain began to fall to earth, showering & saturating everything it touched.

I believe this illustration shows that when we pray [intercede, meet with God] his power is released [the lightning bolt - symbolizing power, energy, light]. This causes a reaction [thundering] in the heavenlies [the spiritual realm or dimension] which leads to a breakthrough from one dimension to the next and heaven literally invades earth [rain falling from heaven to earth]. Healing rain. Glorious rain. Giving life. Changing landscapes. Changing circumstances.

As we partner with God in prayer, His power is released into our lives and into our situations, and all of heaven breaks loose as darkness gives way to light. And by the way, darkness always gives way to light. When you light a match in a dark room it doesn't take like 6 minutes for the light to finally appear, it immediately breaks through the darkness. Jesus is the light of the world....always making a way through the darkness. Always.

We are in battle, there is no doubt about that, but what we often fail to realize is that the war has already been won. Jesus was the ultimate intercessor. He completed the work on the cross at Calvary. He was crucified and died for our sins. To be born again, we too must first die to sin. Die to self. We then become resurrected in Christ and we reign with him in victory. Does Christ's victory mean that satan's power has been vanquished, no. But his authority has. Satan no longer has authority to rule in our lives...but remember he is a thief. He comes to kill steal and destroy (John 10:10). He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). He will use whatever tactics he can to attempt to steal back the authority that Jesus [God in flesh] has rightly purchased for us at the cost of his very own life.

In Old Testament times (OT) when a person touched a leper, they too became "unclean". In the New Testament (NT), Matthew 10:8 says that Jesus commissioned His disciples to go and "cleanse the lepers". when Jesus or his disciples touched a leper, the leper was healed! Another example of how Jesus conquered the powers of darkness once and for all! It is finished!

Whose Team are you on?

In this spiritual battle, everything you do, say, and think either agrees with God or it agrees with Satan. Satan gains control by our "agreement" with his lies. There is no truth in him, he is the father of all lies (John 8:44). Some of satans lies that the *old Jodi* [Oh, by the way, she doesn't exist anymore. She was crucified with Christ] was made to believe at various times of her life included that she was in bondage to fear and anxiety, she was a slave to abandonment, she was impure, she was ill, she was unworthy of love or acceptance, she was a disappointment, she had failed miserably...and on and on. As I said, once the *old Jodi* was crucified, I was born-again and no longer agree with these lies. I give them no power in my life...PRAISE GOD for deliverance!! I live by the above verses and "bring every thought into captivity of Christ" I do not agree with ANY of satans tactics or his lies. If I find myself coming in agreement with something that is not God's will, I immediately rebuke it, repent, and fix my thoughts, words, and eyes on my Father.

On Monday I was planning to go to a prayer meeting with a friend and we had intentions of doing some serious damage to the kingdom of darkness! We were planning to break down some strongholds that have been plaguing some people that we love and that we know are in desperate need of the Lord. That same morning I ended up in the ER with a very strange unexplainable neurological episode. I knew immediately what was happening...I knew that satan was trying to keep me from that prayer meeting. There was no doubt in my mind. My response was immediately to rebuke it. I spoke out my agreement with my Father's will and I began to repeat, "I will not receive this, it is not the will of my Father, I will not accept it, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, (Psalm 138:14) in the image and likeness of my Father (Gen 1:26)." Now let me explain to you, and I'm sure most of you who know the *old Jodi* could vouch for this...normally I would have been a wreck ok, seriously...at one point in my life satan's grasp on me was strong, he held me captive through perpetual and constant fear and anxiety. But now, I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me (Phil 4:13). God is my refuge and strength, my ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1) He is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? He is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1).

Praise God that my friend marched on in battle for me that evening and along with a few other prayer warriors, defeated satan in the name of Jesus! I had an MRI which of course showed absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Coincidence, right? Ha! Not a chance!

[Some readings if you're interested in this topic: When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson, TheSupernatural Power of a Transformed Mind by Bill Johnson, Beginners Guide to Intercession by Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets]

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:10-17

Phil 4:4-8 (NLT)

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

The Amen of Faith

I believe there is only one way to all the treasures of God, and that is the way of faith.
You get to know God by an open door of grace. He has made a way. It is a beautiful way that all His saints can enter in and find rest. The way is the way of faith. There isn’t any other way.
Beloved, I see all the plan of life where God comes in and vindicates His power by making His presence felt. It is not by crying, nor groaning. It is because we believe. And yet, we have nothing to say about it. Sometimes it takes God a long time to bring us through the groaning and crying before we can believe.

—Smith Wigglesworth

Quotable Quote

You don't have a soul.

You *are* a Soul.

You have a body.

C.S. Lewis

What's Behind Door Number 122?

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is —
his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2

A few nights ago, I dreamed that I was inside of a sort of hotel, but it was really more like a dormatory - and it was very dirty and run down. The steps were rickety and broken up. After awhile of searching for my room, I finally came upon a door with room number 122 on it. I opened the door and the room was a mess! It was filthy - food on the floor, blankets and clothing thrown all over the room, chipped paint on the wall, no sheets on the stained mattress, seriously - it looked like a tornado had just gone through and dumped everything within it into that room. I stood there thinking, are you kidding me? Do I actually have to pay for this? I can't stay here! Ewwww!!! Then I woke up.

Pretty boring dream huh? Here's the thing...for the past few days I couldn't help but feel in my gut that there was something about that dream that was sort of sticking with me. As I was searching for some "meaning" to this dream - I came across Romans 12:2 (above)

This struck a chord within me as it relates exactly to my dream.

First of all: God is telling me that in order to please Him I need to give my whole life as a living sacrifice to Him. As you study the bible you will find that in Old Testament times, people sacrificed innocent animals to God as atonement for their sins. When Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, was sacrificed as atonement for our sins, and subsequently resurrected that we may have life in Him, God now asks that we make our *whole life* a living sacrifice to him...glorifying Him in ALL that we do, All that we are, All that we have. This simple offering of self is nothing in comparison to all that He blesses me with. My skills, talents, marriage, children, finances, relationships, peace, joy, health...all these things that He pours His grace out on with such undeserved abundance in my life. I am nothing without Him. I can do nothing without Him - therefore I unreservedly, eagerly, and breathlessly give my entire life as a living sacrifice to my God. I offer my whole self, my faults, my weakness, my sin, my shortcomings, my fears, my lack of faith, I offer it all to him and he takes it...he changes it...he transforms it.

I've heard it said that in dreams, a "house" or dwelling place is often symbolic of our "body" [which by the way, is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the place in which the Spirit of God has actually been placed IN US]. I believe that in my dream, God was showing me that this very messy, disgusting, run down, old room in which I did *not* want to stay was symbolizing my life...one which was shattered, one which was broken, one desparately in need of transformation and renewal.

I have been praying over the past few days to really hear God's voice in something and although I have had a revelation or two about certain aspects of the situation, I have had trouble discerning His will in other areas of the situation that I am praying about. I believe that God is telling me through my dream and through this verse Romans 12:2, that in order to hear His voice, to clearly discern His will, I need to clean up my room! I need to ask for the Spirit of God to reveal to me any unconfessed sin that I might have...maybe something that I am not even aware of, something in me that is not pleasing to the Lord. Perhaps I am holding back forgiveness from someone that I am not even aware of. Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (You likely recognize this as one of the Beatitudes.)

So for the past couple of days, I've been *cleaning my room*. I'm purifying my body as a sacrifice to the Lord that I might hear His voice more clearly. I have asked the Holy Spirit to reveal to me anything in my life, in my thoughts, in my deeds that is not pleasing to the Lord. I'm also spending more time in deep prayer asking him to reveal His will in this situation. And I believe that I will be blessed by His glorious presence and that He will answer. He is faithful and He is truth. Is there anything in your *room* that needs to be cleaned up today? Anything in your words, in your thoughts that is hindering you from hearing God's voice? From seeing His face? Ask Him to reveal it to you...and when He does, be quick to repent and make it right....blessed are the pure in heart, for they WILL see God!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If you wish to further study Romans (which is one of my favorite books of the bible) I will share with you that in Romans 12 - in the event that something here will speak to your circumstances...The apostle Paul goes on to say:

"Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads." Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Dear friend, listen well to my words;
tune your ears to my voice.

Keep my message in plain view at all times.
Concentrate! Learn it by heart!

Those who discover these words live, really live;
body and soul, they're bursting with health.

Proverbs 4:20-22

A word of encouragement for today...

Trust Me With All Of Your Heart - Teresa Seputus

Little one, you tell Me that you trust Me with all your heart--but the truth is that you don't really trust Me as much as you think you do. If you trusted Me with all of your heart, then you would not be afraid that I might disqualify you every time that you fall short. If you trusted Me with all of your heart, rejection would have absolutely no power over you, and the words of condemnation that the enemy speaks to you would roll off of your back like water off of a duck's back. You would never have to worry about being passed by or left out. You would know with absolute assuredness that I am for you and that I am good and that I will do good things on your behalf. You would not worry about finances because you would know that I have placed the resources of Heaven at your disposal, and that I am actively at work on your behalf.

I love you dearly, little one, and I am glad that you have put your faith in Me. But your faith still needs to grow and increase. I want to bring you to new levels of hope, faith, and trust; where you are 100% secure in My great love for you. I want to transform your heart so that you do not feel anxious when the circumstances around you appear to go poorly; because you know with absolute certainty that I will move in on your behalf and take care of you. Yes, dear one, there are times when I will put you into a difficult circumstance, so that I might glorify My name through your situation, but I am still at work behind the scenes for your good. I did this with Moses and the children of Israel when the Egyptians pursued them to the shore of the Red Sea. It looked hopeless in the natural, but I always had a plan--I was not caught by surprise. I did allow them to come into what looked like a scary place, but I always intended to rescue them and to glorify My name in the process. So when the time was right, I parted the Red Sea and let them pass through on dry land. I sent My angels to confound the enemy army so that they could not overtake them. I brought My people through safely, and then I closed the Sea over their enemies, completely removing the threat from them.

It is true that this was very frightening for those who followed Moses out of Egypt. But the only reason that this was so scary for them was because they had not learned to trust Me. They should have known, deep down in their innermost being, that I was going to take care of them in a spectacular way that glorified My name. If they had fully trusted Me, then the armies of Egypt would have never caused them any fear or alarm.I want you to learn to live in a place of trust, where you know with absolute certainty that I am taking care of you.

I want you to be able to sleep in the boat in the midst of the fiercest storm, just like My Son Jesus did. The disciples feared the storm greatly, and woke Him so that He might rebuke the storm. But He knew that storm had no power to harm Him because He had placed Himself in My hand. He trusted Me completely, and fear had no power over Him. That is why He could sleep in the midst of the storm--He knew that I am faithful and that He was safe in My hands. Dear one, I want you to have that same assuredness. I want you to learn what it means to truly trust Me, for I am faithful to take good care of My own. When you learn to fully trust Me like My Son did, then you won't be afraid or anxious--no matter what circumstances may come at you. Come to Me dear one, and let Me reveal Myself to you that I might teach you how to walk in that level of trust.