Life-Cycle

Like a human life, I think the prophetic word or promise from God, has a life cycle. Some interesting things can be seen about it in 2 Kings 4. This is the story of the prophetic word given by Elisha the Prophet to a Shunammite woman.
In verse 8, the prophet Elisha, whose name means "God is Salvation", makes a prophetic promise to a notable (great) woman from Shunem (Double resting place). We could say that this prophetic promise is like one given by Jesus to the Church. Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). The woman had made a special place for "God is Salvation" in her home, as the Church, or believer, has made a special place for Jesus in their hearts, in their spiritual home.
Because of this special relationship with the prophet, he wants to give her the desire of her heart (Ps. 20:4, 37:4). That desire has nothing to do with worldly things. She is not interested in being mentioned to the king. She says she lives with her own people. She is part of a separated body of people.

 

THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE PROPHETIC WORD

 

THE SEED:



Elisha, "God is Salvation", calls her (chosen). She stands (stand firm, hold one's ground, remain) in the door (opening, entrance, let loose, break forth). The Church also abides in Jesus, who says "I AM the Door" (Jn. 10:7-9).
The prophetic promise comes to the Shunammite woman in the form of a child (v. 16). It is a miraculous promise, because she and her husband have no children. It is such a great promise that she struggles with faith. She says to the man of God, "Do not lie to your maidservant." This prophetic word has a season of manifestation, called "the time of life", which is not immediate. We receive the prophetic promise with faith and patience. It will manifest at its appointed time.
CONCEPTION/BIRTH:
At the appointed time, "Double Resting Place" does conceive and bear the prophetic promise, her son.
GROWTH/MATURING:
Something happened when the child of prophecy was grown (become great, magnified, powerful, do great things, exceed, excellent tower). He went out to his father, who was with the reapers (be vexed, grieved, shortened, cut down, curtailed, much discouraged).
With the prophetic promise, just when we are about to see it manifest and grow to the greatness promised, it comes to a day of heavy testing. It is a time of being cut down, and even discouraged and grieved.
The boy cries out that the attack is to his head (upper part, summit, principal, height, top) in verse 19. The attack upon the prophetic promise is really an attack upon the headship of God, the authority of His living Word, Jesus. The prophetic word will be tried and challenged, and we will be tried and challenged with it. Will we continue to stand in the door, as Double Resting Place did?
DEATH:
The father tells a lad (to shake the head like a lion about to roar) to carry (lift up, exalt) the prophetic promise to his mother. A mother, of course, means a natural mother, but it is also a term to describe the relationship between a prophetess and the people. It is a spiritual relationship, as well.
When the child, or prophetic word, was brought to his mother, he sat (dwelled, remained, abided) on her knees (though weak from fear, to bless, kneel, adore, praise, thank God). She held him there until noon (double light, window, also time of unexpected attack). He died (be executed, put to death, die prematurely).
It is at this point, that many of us might erroneously give up on the prophetic word, or believe that perhaps, it was a false word. However, that is not what Double Resting Place did. She laid her prophetic promise on the bed, shut the door, and went as quickly as possible to "God of Salvation". She shut the door, perhaps, so no one would be able to enter and speak words of death over her child, so no one would look with natural eyes, and see only the outer appearance. It also means to surrender. Not surrendering it to an enemy, but surrendering that prophetic promise back into the control of the One who gave it, and no one else.
Her husband didn't understand why she would seek out "God of Salvation", when it wasn't an appointed time of worship. Some people only seek out God religiously at appointed times, or certain days of the week, but her relationship with God was not like that. Before she left to go to "God is Salvation", she told her husband, "It shall be well" (v. 23). The word used here is shalom. This word means peace, but it also means completeness, safety, quiet tranquility and contentment. The root word shalam, means to make whole, restore, to pay, to be completed, to be finished. I wonder if Jesus spoke the word "Shalom" on the cross, when He said "It is finished" (Jn. 19:30)?
RESURRECTION:
When Double Resting Place gets to "God of Salvation", she continues to say "shalom". His servant tries to discourage her from clinging to the prophet's feet, but she persists. The prophet knows the woman is vexed (bitter like myrhh), but the reason has been hidden from him by God. The woman questions "God is Salvation" about the prophetic promise that was made to her. The prophet sends his servant ahead with his staff (support, trust in God). Now was the time for trust in God, whether they understood what was going on, or not. When the staff is laid upon the child, there is not yet a response. Again, would we be discouraged from the lack of response?
When the prophet gets to the woman's home, into the room with the lad, he shut the door between himself and the mother, and began to pray. The God of Salvation is not always going to tell us, or show us how He's going to do something. Sometimes we think He has to reveal this to us. Not so. At this point, the work will be between "God of Salvation" and the prophetic promise. This is a sovereign work of God
The prophet then laid on the child. He stretched himself out ( to prostrate one's self, to cast self down), even as the LORD humbles Himself and magnifies His word above all His name (Ps. 138:2).  The prophet stretches himself out as Jesus stretched Himself out in humility on the cross. The prophet made contact with the boy at three places: the mouth, the eyes, and the palms of the hands: Pe, Ayin, Kaph.
The eyes of "God of Salvation" touched the eyes of the child, the mouth touched the child's mouth, and the palms of the hands to those of the prophetic promise. In touching, He made them the same, in agreement: the mouth, to make the speech and declaration the same, the eyes, to make the vision, understandng and experience the same, the palms of the hands, to make the work, the lifting up and casting down, the same as His. The warmth of His body created by the blood, gave living warmth to the prophetic promise.
Then He walked through the house, up and down, returned, and did the same again.
This time, the boy opened his eyes and sneezed (stranger, alien, enemy prostitute, profane, loathsome, to turn aside from God, and from the way of truth and uprightness) seven (swear, oath, vow, curse) times. A loathsome, profane enemy, estranged from God, had cursed what the LORD had sworn, or promised. The grip of that enemy had now been broken. The prophetic promise had been resurrected from death to life.
The mother was called, and when she came in to him, her son was returned to her alive. "Take up thy son."
AFFIRMATION:
Why does the prophetic promise go through this life-cycle? Perhaps so in the end, we will have experienced the truth of the word that says:
"Then said the LORD unto me, "Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten (to watch for, be alert) My word to perform it."                                      Jer. 1:12

And

 

"So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

                                                                                   Isa. 55:11

 

                                                                      And

 

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

 

                                                                                   Mt. 24:35, Mk. 13:31, Lk. 21:33





Our Father will watch over His prophetic promise.


"Because He Lives"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBvU7arNhQs

"One Thing Remains"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYCJ8EvkGCs

Betrayal

Psalm 55, written by David, is described as a Maschil, or Contemplation. Its purpose, according to the Hebrew meaning, is to attain prudence, to wisely understand, to have insight into something.
The Psalm opens with David describing to God that he is terrified:
"My heart is severely pained within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,
And horror has overwhelmed me.
                                                                            Ps. 55:4-5

David was so distraught and afraid, that he wished he could grow wings like a dove, and fly away into the wilderness, to escape.
However, David was not a man who easily became afraid. He fought lions and bears as a young boy. He fought giants, and enemies that numbered in the ten thousands (1 Sam. 18:7-8, 21:11). He ran from nothing. Something here, though, has brought him great terror.
He describes what he perceives are the spiritual threats against him, and against the city. I believe that these are spiritual threats he is perceiving, because David is a warrior, not fearing human enemies. David saw these things running around the top of the city wall, which a flesh and blood enemy would not be able to do. Also, he saw them carrying out their evil in wide, open places, undiscerned:
"Destroy, O LORD, and divide their tongues,
for I have seen violence (violence, cruelty, wrong, injustice, to make bare) and strife (disputes, quarrelling, complaint, controversy, adversary) in the city.
Day and night, they go around it on its walls;
Mischief (trouble, wickedness, specifically associated with idolatry) and sorrow (trouble, toil, heavy wearisome labor) are also in the midst of it (in the inner part, to draw near, brought near).
Wickedness (evil desire, chasm of destruction, engulfing ruin, greedy desire, and coveting) is in its midst;
Deceit (oppression, injury, fraud, violence, cutting to pieces) and guile (treachery, to mislead, betray) do not depart from its streets (out in the open, wide, broad places).
                                                                                 Ps. 55:9-11

David tells us that it was not a personal, nor national enemy that has created this threat. He said he could bear it if that was the case. He could even hide from it then, if he so chose. This spiritual terror and attack upon him, and the city, came because of a friend:
"But it was thou, a man mine equal,
Mine guide (gentle, intimate friend, teacher),
and mine acquaintance (intimately known).
We took sweet counsel together,
and walked unto the house of God in company.        Ps. 55:13-14

Not only did these spiritual attacks result from the betrayal by a close friend, someone gentle that David would never have expected to betray him, even a trusted advisor, but the friend was also a fellow worshipper of God, a member of the congregation.
David has revealed in this Maschil, or contemplation, that this betrayal opened the door to spiritual attack against himself, and also against the whole city, which was flooded with these destroying spirits. The LORD has revealed this to him, and consequently to us, for prudence and wisdom.
Mt. 24:10, and Mark 13:12 tells us that in the End Times, betrayal will run rampant, even among the closest family members. We know, of course, that Jesus experienced just such a betrayal. Using the illustration of Ps. 55, we can only imagine the terrors released by that betrayal. Psalm 55 may also be a prophetic insight into that betrayal. We have seen betrayal increase within the Body of Christ, against leaders, and against fellow saints. We need to be aware, as David is revealing to us, what powers of evil are loosed through betrayal in the midst.
We should guard our hearts against this wickedness of betrayal, and it should not be allowed to have any part in us. Great damage has already been done because of it.
Is there a remedy for the terrible consequences of betrayal? I believe we have been given an example:
On the night He was betrayed, Jesus offered thanks and obedience to His Father, and He offered His body broken, and His blood poured out for us (1 Cor. 11:23-26).
As we follow His example, we do the same  by offering thanksgiving and obedience to God, and offering ourselves, our bodies, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him (Lev. 22:29, Ps. 107:22, 116:17, Rom. 12:1).
Self-interest breeds betrayal. Perhaps self-sacrifice remedies the terrible fruits of it.

Our Father reveals prudence and wise understanding regarding the personal and corporate costs of betrayal.


"The Kiss-Betrayal of Jesus"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k88Y8VGs7dY

Artwork at top of page- "The Kiss of Judas" (carving) by Francisco Salzillo

Guard

In 2 Kings 17, after warning them to change their ways, the LORD removed His people of the northern kingdom of Israel from the land, and sent them into exile in the hands of their captors and conquerors, the Assyrians, because they mixed the worship of idols with their worship of Him. They stiffened their necks and rejected the LORD's warning to turn from these ways, and they continued to follow idols. Israel chose to follow the ways of the nations around them. They rejected His covenant (v. 13-15).
The conquering Assyrians filled the now empty land of Samaria (meaning Watch mountain-to guard, protect, to keep watch, to preserve), in Israel, with foreign inhabitants from various cities under their rule. They did this so the land would not be empty and uninhabited (v. 24).
These various peoples brought by the Assyrians into the land of Samaria came with their gods and pagan practices.
The Assyrians brought people from Babylon (Confusion, to mingle by mixing) into the land. These Babylonians brought with them the practice of making Succothbenoth, a demonic version of a tabernacle, where booths are established as brothels to worship idols with promiscuous and perverse sexual activity.
The Assyrians brought in people from Cuttah (Crushing), who worshipped Nergal (Hero), the planet Mars.
People from Ava (Ruin, distortion, overthrow, twisted, perverted) were also brought to the land. They worshipped Nibhaz, an idol in the shape of a dog, representing the lord of darkness.
Foreigners from Hamath (Fortress, walls of defense) came. They brought with them the worship of Ashima (Guiltiness: "I will make desolate") and Tartak (prince of darkness in the form of an ass).
The Assyrians also brought in people from Sepharvaim (Enumeration), who practiced the burning of their children in fire to the gods of Adrammelech (glorious, majestic prince), and Anammelech (idolatrous image of the king).
So the territory, Samaria, that was meant to guard, preserve, keep watch over, and protect the ways of the LORD, became a land filled with idol and demon worshipping foreigners because Samaria did not fulfill their God-given purpose, and went after other gods themselves. They mixed the profane things of this world with the holy things of God. They mixed His truth with the lies of demons.
The foreign people who had been brought into the land of Samaria, began being attacked and killed by lions (v. 25). The king of Assyria was told that this was happening because the new-comers did not know the God of the land, the God of Israel. A priest was brought back to teach them about the LORD God. The foreigners learned the knowledge of the LORD, but also continued to practice their idolatry as well (v. 26-29). These practices continued generation after generation for many years (v. 41).
Like Samaria, we believers are equipped by God to be a watch mountain, a preserver, a protector of the truth of God's word, and His covenant. Even worse comes upon the land as the people of God forget their covenant truths, and mix the commandments of men and the world, with the word of God (Mt. 15:9, Col. 2:20-22). The land becomes filled with ungodly beliefs and practices that affect not only the present generation, but generations to come.
The responsibility for preserving the truth of God, lies not with the ignorant, but with the people of God. It was the Samarians who broke covenant and followed ungodliness, even after warnings, when they were the ones who should have been watching, guarding, protecting and preserving, according to the meaning of their name. Strangers to God, brought in by the enemy, who are only nominally knowledgeable in the ways of God, are not going to do this for us, though we blame them. We are to preserve the truth and covenant in our own lives as living epistles, as the Apostle Paul wrote about us. The word is to be preserved in us, and lived through us:
"Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God."             2 Cor. 3:3-4

It is the covenant people of God who are to be faithful in our own lives to keeping and guarding the pure relationship with our Father that Jesus provided with His blood. 
The Book of Proverbs tells us the value of keeping the word that is written in our hearts:
"My son, give attention to My words; Incline your ear to My sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life...Do not turn to the right or the left, remove your foot from evil."
                                                                                 Prov. 4:20-27

King David, mourning over the violence of the wicked, talks about how the LORD tests the righteous:
"When the foundations are destroyed, what hath the righteous wrought?"
                                                                                  Ps. 11:3, JPS Tanakh


Our Father has called us to be a "watch mountain", to guard, preserve, keep and protect.


"Find Us Faithful"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eERKnxzNzwg

Grace

The first mention of "grace" in scripture is found in the story of Noah. The LORD had seen that  "...the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  (Gen. 6:5). So thoroughly evil were not only the actions of men, but even their thoughts, that the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth. This evil condition of man grieved God in His heart. It was through men that the whole earth was filled with violence (v. 6, 13). This is also the first mention of "violence" in scripture, which means to tear away the covering from someone in order to do them harm.
As the LORD began to plan the destruction of man, Noah "found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (v. 8). The word "grace" is from the root word chanan, meaning to show favor, to pity, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior. However, included in the meaning is the fact that grace has a causation by an imploring or beseeching. From this meaning, we can understand that Noah, seeing the condition of man around him, beseeched and implored God for grace. Noah found that grace because he implored God for it. The word "found" in v. 8 above, is the word matsa: to find, to find out, to come, to meet. In the Passover Seder, the matsa is covered, and part is even hidden, and it is an object that is to be sought and found. The person who finds the hidden matsa, which to Christians represents Jesus' burial and resurrection, receives a reward.
Noah "found" grace because he was seeking it in God.
Because Noah found the grace hidden in the eyes of God, the LORD called Noah just (to have a just cause), righteous, and perfect, meaning complete, whole, unimpaired (v. 9). Because he beseeched God for grace and found it, Noah walked with God. To walk with God can mean many things according to the definition of the Hebrew word. "Walked" can mean "to be conversant, to follow, to be led, to be carried, to be brought, and also, very importantly, to vanish".
Why was Noah's imploring God for grace so precious in God's eyes? Because, when Noah cried out for grace, he was prophetically crying out for God's precious Son, Jesus:

"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
                                                                             Jn. 1:17
                                                                 And
"...God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began."                                                                  2 Tim. 1:8-9

God's hand of grace in answer to Noah's imploring, or seeking, was the construction of the ark. 2 Pet. 2:5 tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness to the people of his generation. His generation did not receive his preaching, nor the testament of God's grace represented by the ark and, except for Noah's own household consisting of eight people, all  other people were lost in the judgment flood of the LORD. According to Jesus, the others, though warned, did not understand, nor expect, the suddenness and scope of the utter destruction that took them all (Mt. 24:39). The ark was shouting, "Grace, Grace," but no one took heed.
The story of Noah is also important in our time. All indications are that these are the last days before we see the return of Jesus. Jesus said that right before His coming, the times, conditions and circumstances would be very much like Noah's days (Mt. 24:36-39). Like Noah's generation, the warnings and preaching would be disregarded by that generation until the moment of the Son of Man's sudden coming.
A powerful testimony to the spiritual stature of Noah, who beseeched and found the grace of God, is told in 1 Pet. 3:18-20:
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also, He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water."
In remembrance of Noah's cry for grace, even thousands of years later, the Holy Spirit led Christ after His death to preach to those who, through their own disobedience, were judged in the flood, and their souls condemned to prison. The Holy Spirit sent the personification of Grace to them, the same living and eternal Grace that Noah had beseeched of God. It is the same Grace who had put Himself into the violent hands of men. The same Grace that had laid down on the cross, and was lifted up. The same Grace that preached in Sheol, and was raised to life again, so this gift could come to each one of us from the Father.
The cry to God for grace is a powerful thing. He receives those cries, and as with Noah, He counts it unto us as justice, righteousness and perfection. As the above scripture teaches us, our cries for grace never die, but they live forever in the eyes, ears, and will of the Father. Considering the times in which we live, we would do well to remember the example of the just, righteous, and perfect Noah, who, because of his beseeching for His grace, walked with God.

Our Father answers our imploring cries for His grace.

"I Know Something About God's Grace"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgvfPk_eXPk


"Your Grace Finds Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amTCngr487o

Road

One of the great memories of my life is when I took my Dad, Big Ed, who was visiting from New York, on a little day trip into the mountains around Prescott, Arizona, where I was living.
Prescott is a beautiful town at a mile in elevation, that is surrounded by the Prescott National Forest, and a mountain range that was mined for gold many years ago. Arizona, in general, is one of the few places left in the continental U.S., where you can find adventures that cannot be found elsewhere.
As my Dad and I drove up the mountain road into the National Forest that day in his rented car, we began to see the marvelous sites. Crossing the road, following the path of the sun, would march an army of tarantulas. If you were there at the end of the afternoon, you would see them marching back again the way that they had come. You could see the entrances to the old gold mines carved into the side of the mountain, and what was left of the tracks that brought the miners in, and took the gold out of those mines. Some of the mine shafts were dug straight down. You could walk over to them, but you couldn't get too close, because the edges were unstable. Below was Lynx Creek, where people were still able to pan for gold, and they could be seen out there with their families, especially on weekends, sitting in the creek with their panning tins. The aroma of the pines and balsams was incredible, and the sky was a deep blue. You could hear a continual "woosh" sound of a wind that blew through the tops of those endless pine trees.
Eventually, we turned off the forest road onto a very narrow rutted road, like the one in the photo above. It was called the Old Walker Road. It was very narrow, and deeply rutted, and uneven. It clung to the side of the mountain, and sections of it had even fallen away. As we began onto this old road, I wasn't sure if my Dad wanted to continue. When I asked, he said, "Why not-the car's a rental." After quite a distance, the road would eventually widen, and circle around and down to Lynx Lake, and finally out onto a highway.
(The use of the word "lynx" is interesting. In the Native American understanding, the lynx animal is associated with the spiritual ability to know the truth, to see into the soul, to see the thoughts and intents of the heart, although they may be unspoken. It is connected to the Great Spirit because of these characteristics. The Hebrew word connected to the lynx means "white like the moon, light, to make white, become white, to be purified, cleansed, purged.")
Back to the story-So we continued our very slow progress along this old mountain road. It was so narrow, that if you met a car coming from the opposite direction, which was very unlikely, someone would have to back up until the road widened out at certain spots, and the other car could pass. This was not a road that you wanted to drive in reverse, so you prayed that you wouldn't meet another car.
As the road deteriorated, I had to get out of the car and take large stones from the sides of the road to "build up" the sections that were rutted too deeply to drive over, or had fallen completely away. Big Ed, behind the wheel, would inch forward, as I re-built the road in front of the car. I would have to kneel down on hands and knees to look under the car as it drove forward to make sure the bottom wouldn't scrape.
We eventually completed our trip over the Old Walker Road, got down to Lynx Lake and the place where the road widened, but it took us hours. After we finally came out onto the open highway, we stopped at a cowboy joint called The Reata Pass, where Big Ed could get a much needed beer.
When we got back to the house, my Mom asked us if everything was alright, because we had been gone for so long. My Dad told her that everything was fine, and he had had the best time ever.
Spiritually speaking, it would be a much easier, and smoother ride if we could always travel on wide open highways. However, sometimes our Father sends us onto the ancient roads. These roads are narrow, and uneven, broken down, and forgotten (Jer. 18:15). He sends us that way so we can re-build those ancient roads, building and leveling them with stones of His name and truth (Isa. 58:12, 61:4). You won't meet many people on these roads, and you may have to progress in inches, rather than miles. However, each stone that you lay to re-build the ancient road are stones that slay giants (1 Sam. 17:49-50), stones that spring forth with the spiritual water of life for those in the desert (Num. 20:8), stones that cry out in praises when humans are silent (Lk. 19:40), stones of revelation upon which Jesus builds and edifies His Church (Mt. 16:18), stones upon which are written new spiritual names (Rev. 2:17), and stones of the foundation of the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 3:10-11). Along the Way on your spiritual trip, you will see, hear, smell, and experience wonderful things-things you never would have experienced travelling on the easy, open highway.
Though the process and the progress seems painfully slow, the Father, Big Ed (Edward means "Blessed Protector"), is with you driving that car as you re-build the Way ahead of Him (Isa. 40:3-4, 62:10). Eventually, He will bring you out to the wider place, where the still waters lay. He will bring you out onto the paved road, and then onto the smooth highway, where you can find those places of refreshing after that tough journey, and then speed your way home.
That little adventure with my dad happened many years ago, and Big Ed passed away back in 2000, but I remember it very well. The journey we took that day was not easy at all, but it was "the best time ever."

Our Father asks us to take the narrow way, the road less travelled (Mt. 7:13-14).

 

*Photo above-old forest road in the area of Prescott, Arizona.

"The Road Less Travelled"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk03EACfpAc

"If I Do Not Sing...the Rocks Will Cry Out"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3NOwpb70lY
 

About JW Player 6.12.4956...

 

 

   

Humbled

There are many instances in scripture when men ask God to look upon them, or upon their situation. For instance:
"Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine."                                                             Psalm 80:14
"Look upon me, and be merciful unto me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name."                                                           Psalm 119:132
"Look down from heaven and see from Your habitation, holy and glorious, where are Your zeal and Your strength, the yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?"                                                   Isa. 63:15
"My eyes flow and do not cease without interruption, till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees....I called on Your name, O LORD, from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice: Do not hide Your ear from my sighing, from my cry for help. You drew near on the day I called on You, and said, "Do not fear."          Lam. 3:49-57
"Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, that my prosecutor (accuser) had written a book!        Job 31:35
The psalmist at one point even orders the LORD to come down:
"Bow down Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke."                                                     Psalm 144:5

Even as men throughout the ages have called upon the LORD to look, see, hear, move, and intervene on behalf of His people, the LORD has done so. He has spoken, seen, and yes, even come down, in answer to the cries and dire straits of His people. Everyday, our own voices join with the voices of the generations that have gone before, calling upon, and crying to the LORD, asking Him to look at our condition or circumstance. However, about this, I read a very interesting verse that caused me to stop, think, and marvel:
"The LORD is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth? He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes- with the princes of His people."
                                                                        Psalm 113:4-8

We have an idea of the meaning of the term "humbles Himself", but to spell it out clearly, the Hebrew word shaphel means, "to become low, sink, be abased, to bring low, make low, to humiliate, to cast down from a high rank, to sit down in a low place".
In order for the LORD to see, hear, answer, move, lift, raise, and seat us, He must humble Himself first. He is so highly exalted, that to even see or hear us, He must humble His majesty. Yet, He loves to see and hear us, even though it costs Him to do so.
When I consider this, I am a little better able to understand the amazement of the psalmist who wrote:
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit  (give attention to) him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels (Elohim), and You have crowned him with glory and honor."     Psalm 8:3-5

How touching it is to me to know how He humbles His great Being in order to hear me, in order to see me, and the things that concern me. In a way, this humbling that God chooses for Himself is like a very tall man, who must sit, lean down, squat, or kneel in order to listen to, and speak to a small child. Only in this case, this is a Being of such huge spiritual stature, that He must make Himself spiritually smaller, or less, in order to receive our communications. It boggles the mind.
God Almighty humbles Himself to see, hear, and speak to us, and to look into the things of the earth. Through the blood of Jesus, we understand the privilege of being able to approach the Most High directly and boldly, and to enter into His very presence (Heb. 4:16, 10:19), even into the Most Holy Place. Jesus has reconciled us, and made us one with Himself and the Father. The Holy Spirit, which we have received through Christ, has made the way for that connection between our small spirit, and the infinite and immense Spirit who is our God: 
"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."  Rom. 8:26-27

Now, I understand a little more about the hugeness of the spiritual disparity that exists between God and man that is bridged by the Holy Spirit in each believer. This disparity is so great that Paul, speaking to and about believers, writes that we don't even know what to pray. What really needs to be prayed between man and God cannot even be expressed within the limits of human language!  This scripture is saying to me that we need the Holy Spirit to pray according to His knowledge of the will of God, therefore our understanding of God's will must be sorely lacking. Thanks be to God who has foreseen this, and provided the spiritual connection to Him that we need in order to make up the gap in our understanding and language. The scripture above says that we need the intercession of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, because They do know and understand the entirety of the will of God as it applies to us individually, and as it applies at the same time, to the whole of creation, and eternity.
We daily bring our petitions directly to God, but we do not consider how He must humble Himself to hear them. It is an awesome thought. It is difficult to wrap my mind around this kind of spiritual stature.
Yet, He calls us, as a body together, to the same measure of the spiritual stature of the fullness of His Son, Christ (Eph. 4:11-13). Our purpose and ultimate destiny is to walk in the same spiritual stature of Christ, but it takes every brother and sister, every member of the faith out of every nation, kindred, tongue and tribe together, even every member from past and future generations, to grow as a unity into this great stature. Yet even this great stature of Christ is not comparable to the spiritual stature of God, for Jesus said, "...My Father is greater than I." (Jn. 14:28). 
It is beyond my imagination, but even this small glimpse into His immensity and power makes me wonder in my heart, "Is there anything too great for our God?", and the answer must be "No, nothing exists that could be as great as He is."
Thank You, Father, for humbling Yourself in order to hear and see the things concerning me.

Our Father humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens, and in the earth.

"Hear My Cry, O God"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CRTY1xb0NE

"God, I Look to You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR5IoWH9OiI

Spring

Springtime- after a long, cold winter, the sights and sounds of spring are a joyful thing to us. The quality of light changes, the birds start singing enthusiastically, and the rest of nature begins awakening from the darkness of the weeks past. However, in the spirit realm, the sights and sounds of this season are very different. Scripture says that spring is the time that kings go to war (2 Sam. 11:1), and our God, and His Son, are Kings.
Spring is not just the season for the renewal of nature, but it is the season of God's victorious warfare, and the fulfillment of His promises in Passover, Purim, and Resurrection.
Whenever we enter into this season, I remind myself to get very quiet, listen and watch, and go on high alert. This is the season when God fulfilled His greatest promises to mankind. This is the season when He shook kings and empires, displaced nations and, in general, turned the world upside down, in order to keep His prophetic word.
No human effort could have brought about these events.
What was the promise that God was keeping in the case of Passover? It was a quiet promise made to Abraham. He made some great promises to His friend, Abraham, but this promise was a quiet one:
"Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them 400 years. And also, the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions."
                                                                                   Gen. 15:13-14
This two verse prophetic promise was like an atomic bomb dropped right into the middle of scripture. Once activated, that bomb had a 400 year countdown fuse. When that last second of time ticked off, all heaven broke loose. Generations after the promise was given, the LORD would introduce Himself to Moses, and tell him that the time had come to keep His promise to Abraham:
"Therefore, say to the children of Israel: "I AM the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob..."                                  Ex. 6:6-8a
That announcement must have brought a great celebration to the children of Israel when they heard it, right? Well, no. When Moses delivered the word of deliverance to the people, it was not heeded because of "anguish of spirit, and cruel bondage." (v. 9)
Spiritually, Egypt is a place of double straits (narrow), a place of being under siege, entrenchment, enclosure, at the seeming mercy of an adversary, or enemy. It is a place of dire straits, where the individual has been beaten down into an almost hopeless condition. Such was the condition of the children of Israel, that they couldn't even begin to lift up their heads to receive the word of deliverance being brought to them by Moses. It also didn't help that after this word was delivered to them, conditions that couldn't have gotten any worse, actually did get worse.
In like manner, as also happened during a spring season, as the disciples of Jesus saw His tortured body on the cross, they weren't thinking "resurrection". It turned out though, that what looked like the death of all deaths, was really the birth of life forevermore. It was the moment of the destruction of death, hell, and the grave as the Father fulfilled His great promise to all of us:
"I will ransom them from the power (hand) of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
O Death, I will be your plagues!
O Grave (Sheol), I will be your destruction!
Pity is hidden from My eyes."
                 and
"O Death where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?"
                                                             Hos. 13:14, 1 Cor. 15:55
The passion, the crucifixion, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was about fighting and winning a brutal war. It was a war for the souls of men, to liberate them from the strongholds of darkness, sin and death. We needed Jesus to win that victory for us, because we certainly couldn't win it for ourselves.
This time of year also sees the celebration of Purim, when a vicious enemy of the people of God was exposed and destroyed. The root meaning of "Purim" is to break, to crush, to bring to naught. Haman intended to see all the Jews, including Mordecai, the man he most hated, destroyed under the king's order. Unknown to Haman, the beautiful new queen, Esther, was a Jew, and she had the favor of the king. God exposed the evil plot, and the king judged Haman with the same judgment as Haman had prepared for those whom he had hated and plotted against.
Now is the season when we watch and wait. Now is the season when God's most awesome promises for us are fulfilled. Now is the season when the last seconds are ticking down on the prophetic timer of our God regarding His promises to us. If you are in a time of oppression, burden, and darkness, wait, watch and listen, because the season of God's greatest deliverance is about to begin.
Now is the season when we wait to hear Him shout, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, ye shall see them again, no more, forever."   Ex. 14:13
If you listen carefully, in addition to the spring sound of chirping birds, you will also hear the sounds of warfare.

It is spring, and our Father makes war in the heavenlies to keep His promises to us.

*Artwork at the top of the page: "How Empires Are Undone", Scarlet Letter Bible

"Go Down, Moses"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_p_WRgVDNU

"You Have Won the Victory/The Anthem"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x6PEmTNCw8