Love Notes

Based on Psalm 120:1-7, Hebrews 4:1-16, Proverbs 268:15, Ezekiel 7:1-8-18

I soak like a teabag in warm water, brewing in goodness, and I thank You, LORD, for this sweetness -- such sweet quiet, such complete comfort, such a pervading sense of calm. It is Your, LORD Christ -- Your consolations that have increased in me: from head knowledge to heart knowledge; from data to information; from information to wisdom. Thanks to You, I now know the paradox of powerlessness: that, in You, I can do all things but only by Your Strength which increases as I crucify myself daily. 

Thank You for teaching me that resurrection follows crucifixion. Crucifixion comes first! And so I come before You daily, a living sacrifice by death to self. And so I surrender this earthen vessel to Your mercy and grace. Spirit of GOD, arise we pray,that we may enter a rest that belongs to the people of GOD. Let us be diligent to enter that rest, refusing to harden our hearts or fall to disobedience through unbelief. 

Deliver us from lying lips, O LORD, for our souls have dwelt too long with ones who hate peace. We are for peace, but when we speak, they are for war. Therefore You will act in fury, for pride has budded. You will cause the pomp of the strong to cease and their holy places shall be defiled. The law will perish from the priest and counsel from the elders, and the people shall mourn, clothed with desolation.

Thank You, LORD, for bringing us to a hole in the wall through which we see the idols being worshipped by men. We can clearly hear them saying, "The LORD does see us." They sincerely believe You do not mind. But You do! And You proclaim for them disaster -- a singular disaster --  to repay for all the abominations that they call by other names. No one who lives in iniquity will strengthen himself; their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them. You have blown the trumpet, but no one will come to battle. Therefore the time has come; the king draws near. In the day of the Your wrath, O LORD, every hand will be feeble and every knee will be as weak as water. Shame will be on every face and baldness on all their heads.

Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. Your promise remains for those who enter Your rest, for we have heard and received Your Word deep in our hearts. We are diligent to enter that rest, O GOD Most High, obtaining each day Your mercy and grace in our time of need. For today. Today, and every day for the rest of life, we hear Your voice saying "Do not harden your hearts." Therefore I make the choice to believe You in order that: between the years of my birth and my physical death, I am Wise, not Wicked;

between my death and resurrection, I have Rest, not Torment; and between my resurrection and eternity, I have Life not Loss forever and ever amen.

These choices are only seen because You revealed to me Your mountain of mercy. Before You imparted to me spiritual sight and hearing and mind and heart, I had no idea about those choices. By Your grace, I have been born again, not of water but of Your Spirit. Now I see! Now I hear! Now I know: there is one GOD over all gods, and You are He: male and female,God of gods, Light of lights, Very God of very gods, GOD Most High! I am Yours, and You are mine!