I Spy!

"Where can I go from Your Spirit...
Where can I flee from Your Presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there..."
Psalm 139: 7,8   NKJV

I spy.

I spy You.

I spy You spying on me.

I spy You in everything I see.

I spy You in Your heaven.

I spy You shimmering in the sun.

I spy You dancing in the stars.

I spy You sleeping in the moon.

I spy You whirling in the wind,

I spy You convicting me of sin.

I spy You shouting in the storm,

“Run to Me, run to Me, I will shelter you from harm.”

I spy You in the rainbow, I spy you in the puddle,

I spy you in the beginning, in the end and in the middle.

I spy You in the dreams I dream of all that I can be.

I spy You in the beauty of all I touch and see.

I spy You in the midnight watch,

I spy You on Your knees.

I spy You crying with me

For countless dying pleas...

I spy You weeping.

I spy You shaking and bowed down.

I spy You in the Garden, praying on Your knees.

I spy You screaming out in agony for what was yet to be.

I spy You ripped and bleeding
I spy You hanging from a cross.

I spy You severed from the Father,

I spy Your deepest loss...

I spy the never ending ways You love me still today.

I spy You running after me when I have run away.

I spy You never giving up on me, when I already have.

I spy You dreaming dreams for me that I forgot I had.

I spy You crazy loving me,

I spy You holding onto me until the very end.

I spy the One Who died for me,

I spy my Dearest Friend...

A Road in the Wilderness...

Now, it shall spring forth...

I am in awe of the move of God in my life today, to wash me all over with the living waters of His Holy Spirit. To bring me out of a spirit of fear and into a Spirit of Strength and Joy in the Presence of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. He reminded me so gently today Who it is I serve. If He calls me to a work here, in this place, He will accomplish it, not I! All I have to do is stand and bear witness to the love and the power of our God. I thank Him so deeply today for His care for me in my own weakness and struggle to follow where I believe He is leading me.

Here is just a small part of the beautiful Word of God from the incredibly powerful Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The Lord used His Word, spoken centuries ago to the nation of Israel, to speak His loving correction and encouragement to me today. Over and over again, He reminded me Who He is. It is He that redeems, He that calls, He that empowers us as witnesses to His redeeming grace.

I thank Him so much today for refreshing my spirit with that amazing truth. I hope these words encourage and refresh you as they have me today. May you and I, called to bear witness to the amazing power of God, always remember Who it is that saves, transforms and loves beyond any measure of our own strength. He is the Potter. We are but the clay...

Isaiah, Chapter 43

“But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,

And who formed you, O Israel:

'Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name;

You are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,

Nor shall the flame scorch you.

For I am the Lord, your God,

The Holy One of Israel, your Savior... vs. 1-3

Bring out the blind people who have eyes,

And the deaf who have ears.

Let all the nations be gathered together

And let the people be assembled... vs. 8-9

You are my witnesses, says the Lord,

And My servant whom I have chosen,

That you may know and believe Me,

And understand that I am He.

Before Me, there was no God formed,

Nor shall there be after Me.

I, even I, am the Lord,

And besides Me there is no savior... vs. 10-11

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

The Holy One of Israel...

I am the Lord, your Holy One,

The Creator of Israel, your King.

Thus says the Lord, Who makes a way in the sea

And a path through the mighty waters... vs. 14-16

Do not remember the former things

Nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing.

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert...” vs 18, 19

Because I give waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert.

To give drink to My people, My chosen.

This people I have formed for Myself;

They shall declare My praise.” vs. 20-21

Blessings...

"Have you considered My servant, Job," God asked Satan one day. What an incredible thing that God would say this about any human being. Yet, there He was staring Satan down, and confidently bragging on this man, Job.

I picture Satan sauntering into the throne room of heaven, walking right up to the Lord and pointing his long, boney finger right in the face of God. The mocker accuses God of having no real friends – just pretenders – hangers on who use God for what they can get from Him, period. No real affection or devotion or loyalty. Just Users, eternally manipulating God for what they can get from Him.

Says Satan to God: "You have to be kidding! There is not one of them that loves you – not one. I can prove it. Watch me...” Knowing the truth and speaking it to Satan, God responds with the amazing and heart rending statement – "Have you considered My servant, Job?"

Poor Job had no idea what was happening in the spiritual realm. He wasn't part of the conversation that took place that day that was destined to be a life changing marker for Job and his family. Neither did Job know the tender pride that God held in His heart for His servant, Job. Job would endure countless hours of heartache and loss, even coming to the brink of despair, at the hands of His tormentor, Satan, the liar, the thief, the destroyer, the mocker of God. Job did not know that, while God had allowed the testing of Job, God Himself was counting on, confident of, and pulling for, the overcoming strength of Job's love for Him. God, in an incredible switching of the tables with his creation, put His money on Job. He believed in Job. He knew that the depth of Job's love for Him would be tested to the brink.

Job loses everything. Beloved children, all of his wealth and livelihood, his health and his reputation. His best friends, coming to comfort him in his pain, turn on him and decide he must be a great sinner to have brought all of this on himself. You can hear the tempter's voice as Job's wife advises him to 'curse God and die.' The beautiful, loving testimony of Job to his wife is heartbreaking - “But, he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we not indeed accept good from God, and shall we not also accept adversity​? In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:10

What an incredible testimony to Job's relationship with His God. He is miserable, hanging on by a thread, abandoned by everyone he might have turned to for help, and yet he stands fast in his devotion to His God. Even later in the story, when Job cries out to God, demanding an explanation of it all, God comes to him and soundly rebukes Job. What does Job do? He repents! He falls on his knees and declares that he didn't know what he was talking about. He had “heard about God,” but, now, he had seen him and he was undone. God receives Job's repentance and restores all he has lost many times over. He turns his wrath on Job's friends, telling them that He is not pleased with them for “You have not spoken right of me, as did My servant, Job.”Job 42:7  God humbles Job's friends, ordering them to seek Job's prayers, which find favor with God because of his unfailing love for His Redeemer, again referring to Job as “My servant, Job”. How incredible this is to me. I wonder how God refers to me? Is He certain of my love for Him? Does He call me 'His servant'?

Do you sometimes wonder, as I do, would God hold me up to brag upon in front of Satan? Does He have confidence in the depth of my love for Him? I wonder, would He have to make excuses to Satan for me? Would He tell Satan, “Well, yes she loves Me, but, you know it's Christmas. Don't mess with her now - She's shopping!” Or, “Well, yes, she loves Me, but, she lives in America. We have to make allowances for them. They're just not very good at this suffering thing..."

When I'm going through a trial, am I closer to Job's wife, or to Job in his all out love for His God? When the 'good things' that God has given me are withdrawn – family, health, the trappings of wealth in our culture, I am so often tempted to 'curse God' for what He has done to me.

How revealing are our prayers sometimes! So often, in America, we look at life through the lens of material things. Our prayers are often, Lord, please keep me healthy, my children safe and happy, be sure to give me a good job, a good home and money for a nice vacation. I so much NEED all of this, Lord. Oh, yes, and thank you for Jesus. Amen! Sometimes, God must wonder if we have him mixed up with Santa Claus.

What happens if I lose my job, my house, my loved one develops a terminal illness – or worse, yet, I do? Do I wonder, in the pain of my loss, why has God withdrawn His favor from my life? If we could peel back the curtain of heaven, what would we find? Is God watching, pointing to us with obvious pride and confidently telling Satan, "Have you considered My servant ….?"  What if He has a blessing in store for us at the end of the trial that can only come to us by going through the fire? Why do we judge God's blessings to only come in soft, pretty packages? What if the real blessing is in the trial?

Scripture Reference: Job 19:25, 26

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And He shall stand at last on the earth;

And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,

That in my flesh, I shall see God...”