Matthew 6:33 King James Version (KJV) “33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Psalm 27 reminds us that we are to seek God’s face, not merely His benefits.    I stress not merely as there are many scriptures that remind us not to forget His benefits like Psalm 103, Isaiah 53, and every verse regarding the Lord’s Supper.   We are to be mindful of these as well, but foremost, our hearts must be for a relationship with our Lord and a desire for His Kingdom.

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,  3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;  7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.  10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:  11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.”

Hebrews 6 KJV “13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.  15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.  17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:  19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;  20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

There is so much here.    Perhaps most of us have seen one of those circular life donuts…  the ones you see on ships or at the beach that have a lifeline attached.   When someone is in trouble The central imagery that stands out to me is the anchor for our souls.      Jesus was able to walk as He walked as He 100% without any doubt believed every promise and word of God to be true.   He simply walked as His Father told Him to walk and therefore arrived/entered the promised destination.   He certainly had to patiently, with great forbearance endure to receive the fulfillment.    This need for patient endurance repeats itself over and over again through scripture.  No one who gained the Kingdom, did so without having to endure through a testing or wilderness time that require these two things.

Here is the imagery I see in these verses and how these images paint a picture in my mind of how we go from being “adrift” to “entering into rest” and enjoying/living fully/expressing fully the Kingdom of God.

Our destination:  The Secret place, the Abiding place, the place of constant and inimate communion with our Lord:  His Rest.    First, keen awareness and constant mindfulness that our sights are set on seeking the fullness of the Kingdom and God’s righteousness.  As 2 Peter tells us these are within the veil, and that we are to follow the forerunner, our Lord Jesus Christ, and take up residence and be seated as He is seated next to the Father, in a position rest.   

 

Hebrews 4 KJV “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.  3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter   Into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.  4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.  5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.  6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:  7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.  8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.  9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.  10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.  11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

The Steadfast Anchor:     Our faith in God’s promises is the anchor.    

The lifeline that connects us to the anchor:   The promises of God.

Aimlessly Adrift:  Our present state of being when we catch our first glimpse of the Kingdom.

Being aware of the reality of these things can change everything on our perspective and give us a tried and true path to redemption and restoration of the fullness of our lives and bodies.

The image in my own minds eye.    The Lord is really the centre of all things.  He sits on His throne, the Lord Jesus Christ by His side also on His throne….   He is surrounded by the praise of the saints and angels,  the glorious city of Zion surrounds Him, the fullness of the  Kingdom of the Son permeates every aspect and is expressed completely in every detail.  . Around all of this is a veil, completely impenetrable and impassable and imperceptible to the casual passerby.    Now even though it is in the midst of all things, is is unperceived and to the ignorant, completely undetected.    To the throne of God I can see affixed thousands of cords ( cords woven together made of unbreakable 3 unbreakable strands of God’s Word and God’s oath and the yes and amen of Christ and His blood).  Zoom out and I can see the image of a wheel… the hub is the throne of God…  these cords radiate ourwards and cross right through the veil, remember thousands of them, each one of them a precious lifeline cast into the fallen world to lead His precious ones home to the very throne room of mercy, grace and LOVE.   Each one able to pierce the darkest darkness and the most hopeless pits of despair.

When I was sick and struggling, I bumped into the one given in Proverbs 4:20-23.   Faith anchored me to that promise.   

So why the need for patient endurance?   Going back to the original image…   Picture everything within the veil as being pure/blameless/holy and 100% submitted to God’s will and purposes.    Jesus came saying repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.   It is impossible to take up residence in Zion until self-will, self-centredness, self gratification, and sin  have completely died in us and through us.     Scripture tells us that we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus.  Yes, even Jesus had to deny Himself…  “Not my will but yours” in the garden before His crucifixion.   As long as we allow any of things things to cling to us, we will remain outside the Kingdom in some measure, yes, praise God rooted to the Kingdom through His Promise and His oath, but still outside of the fullness of the Kingdom.  Galatians 5:19-23 confirms this rather starkly.

Habakkuk 1:13 King James Version (KJV) “13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?”

Faith empowers me to grab hold of the promise and start following the Cord  (I picture hand over hand pulling) towards the hubs.   Keep in mind that every promise ends in the exact same place and every bit of energy and time I invest in following that promise draws me closer to the Promiser.     As I am faithful with the one promise, I am drawn in towards the hub of that wheel.   the tighter in I get the more promises I can grasp…  Anyone seated on the throne has access to the fulfillment of all of the promises.

Ephesians 2 Berean Study Bible “…5made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.…”

The obstacles in my path:

1. As long as I am not 100% subject to God, I will be in some measure subject to the beggarly elements of this world, the elements of self, sickness, death, sin, and every other things that thrives in the absence of total submission to God.  The lusts of the flesh and the deceitfulness of sin make all of these things seem appealing.    The moment I grasp hold of that promise, the enemy ramps up his attempts to get me to let go (see the post on exposing the deceiver)  This means it is absolutely in everyone’s interest for us to get through the veil as early as we can in our walk.

2. Doubt and unbelief.   These perpetually cause me to question both the promise and the promiser.   If I doubt either one of these, it severs compromises my anchor (faith) and often causes me to let go of God’s promise and instead grasp at the seemingly easier and more sure to my senses of human effort and human solutions.  This is why it is so hard to grasp the promise of God in one hand and the promises and methods of man in the other.    This brings us to the place of being double minded.   It may be possible, I know for me I tend to get sucked into man’s solutions very quickly and find myself having let go of God’s promises in some measure when I focus on what I can do in the natural or with human help for any length of time.   It takes two hands (hand over hand), singularity of mind, to make progress along the lifeline to happen in some cases.   There are certainly exceptions.    We have these retractable cords on certain appliances at home.  If you pull on them the right way, they go wizing back into their casing.    It is marvelous when this happens with a promise of God.   We grasp it and find ourselves sucked right into the full promise almost instantly.    Absolutely we want this every time but this would nullify the Word which says that to obtain all the promises we required of absolute necessity patience and endurance.

3.Fear.  Yes, fear will attack the character and nature of God and try to cause us to panic and start grasping vainly in the air for anything that promises us any sense of security or control.   It will have us beating at the air, spinning our wheels and in torment.   Faith is systematic, faith is fully assure, faith is pinpoint in its precision, faith is enduring, faith demands the fulfillment, faith cannot waver, faith is patient and enduring and can handle the turbulence knowing that the life line is proven and sure and cannot be broken and that the one holding the other end is 100% faithful and good.

As we get a hold of this big picture, of the thief who wants us to let go so that we are permanently trapped in his domain, and under his influence.   All the elements we have been talking about start to come into clearer focus.      These precious promises and life lines are all around us if we have the ability to perceive them and the understanding to know their fundamental value and worth.   Find your promise… find your life line and then follow it through the veil of holiness and blamelessness into the fullness of the Kingdom and of abiding in the presence of God.

Now keep in mind, that God in His infinite wisdom appointed elders (spiritually mature ones) to cover, to oversee, to minister to, to raise up, to equip etc the flock.   Healing of the sick falls into this category.  God’s best is for the elders (as biblically definined) minister healing to the sick.   Absolutely we can obtain healing through the promises…

If you haven’t yet, please read the post on why so few are healed.  This post is not intended to put any pressure on the sick.  I believe firmly that the biblical model is for the sick to be ministered to.  To put this additional burden on the sick is a crushing burden.   Ideally, the sick are ministered to and healed via those with gifts and maturity and once well are then trained and equipped for the work of the ministry so in time they too can minister to the sick with annointing and power.

https://healinganddiscipleship.com/2019/04/23/why-are-so-few-healed-today/

 

 

 

 

 

We have walked through the loss/early translation of a child in the womb to the Kingdom of God three times now.    The first time was relatively devastating, so for those who are in that place, I can absolutely still relate.  Since then I have spent many hours at the Father’s knee and in the Word, which I can report, praise God, has absolutely changed everything.   Our most recent loss happened just this past month.   I will not share details as I do not want to stir up difficult memories etc.   But I will share about my experience of God’s faithfulness through this time.

This will be more of  a testimony of my own experience, not so much as a how to or this is definitively what scripture says on the matter.   The details and situations and personalities etc involved in each individual and the preciousness and heart investment that we have in our children is so intense and yet so variable that to suggest that to suggest in any way that there is some easy way to wash away the pain and sting of loss would be callous and no doubt hurtful to many.   That is not my intention at all in sharing. My hope is to navigate through this testimony with tenderness, love and compassion.

I unexpectedly have found myself in a place of absolute joy and peace, of wonder and awe at His Goodness and amazement of how time and time again He reveals Himself in my darkest hours and reveals how the brightness and goodness of Him and His Kingdom can prevail and consume the sorrow and grief.  I am well spiritually, mentally and physically, miraculously so.

The back story… From the moment our youngest daughter was born, I have had the sense that God has one more for us.   Every thought I had to start redistributing our baby items was immediately followed by the thought… “I have one more for you”.   My track record of hearing is not perfect, but in this matter it would be hard to miss.    In my present understanding, I believe that it is impossible to conceive a child that God has not first created in His own heart.   This works well as my husband simply loves children and would have as many as came as long as we gave ourselves some space between each, so he is delighted by the thought of another.     I simply pray and seek His will and then do my part in the natural to see what I hear fulfilled.   This simplicity is the hallmark of what I wish my whole walk with the Lord could be.

Also for the last 2 years, I have felt directed to read Psalm 87 over and over again.    I have been puzzled and baffled by why the Lord would direct me there so I kind of just chuckled each time and committed it to Him and asked Him to reveal to me why this Psalm.

So it was with great joy that we received the news of another pregnancy confirmed.   And on the morning we discovered the pregnancy was threatened, it was this verse that came to mind instantly.   I have meditated on this verse and rolled it through my mind so many times since.    And in it I have discovered the fullness of joy and peace for all three of my Zion babies.    I have 7 children….  3 of them got to skip the pains and suffering of this present world and were able to go right from the warmth and nurture of the womb to the city of our God.   I have spent time and plan to spend even more pondering that even the gates of this holy city are more beloved by God than all of the dwellings of Jacob… There is simply no place on earth that is comparable to the glory, splendour, perfection, peace and love that permeate Zion.     Three precious children who will never experience the sting of my shortfalls and sin, never have to deal with pain and sickness and who will never have to question the Father’s love for them.    I am in AWE of His goodness.

On that morning, three giants loomed up in front of me.    Fear, doubt and shame.   The first two did not surprise me.  The third took me totally off guard.     Fear of death was undone by the revelation of the “alternative” birth location awaiting my precious child.  To think of that birth certificate (record of birth more rightly) recording that this one was born in Zion, the city of our God makes me laugh out loud for joy.      The realizaion that the worst case scenario was not in fact death, as truly death has lost it’s sting and power and has been reduced in capacity to merely expedite the translation process from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of the Son.     As this reality sunk in, doubt had no leg to stand on….

So what remained was shame….   What would “they” say?    There was a chorus of different they’s bombarding my thoughts endlessly.    So thankful that we had just talked about the verse in the Bible that shares that Jesus simply “pushed aside” the shame of what He was walking through and refused to receive it’s assignments and pain.    I found my heart drawn continually to the revelation that my audience was One only, and for Him I am to live and breath and praise.

And so I praised and thanked Him.   I thanked Him that in a fallen world, my body is so incredible that it knows what to do to carry a child to term and then birth them but also is wired and designed to handle when this is not possible.  I thanked Him for His goodness in giving me the verses that brought back joy and hope and peace.  I thanked Him for Jesus.  For the wonder of His creation.  I took a walk and stared at the sky and the trees and every bit of His handiwork I could set my eyes on and thanked Him for the magnificent details.    I thanked Him for the dear and precious friends He has surrounded me with.  For the financial provision to seek out whatever help we need through this season etc…

Perhaps you have heard the song “I’ll Raise and Hallelujiah” by Bethel…   This song came flooding into my life during this season.   It was and is the song track to this chapter in my life.

Psalm 87 Kvving James Version (KJV)  “87 His foundation is in the holy mountains.  2 The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.  3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.  4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.  5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.  6 The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.7 As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.”

I am personally blessed beyond measure and in awe of God’s faithfulness and grace, and overwhelmed with His joy in this area of our lives.  I felt led to Psalm 87 when we found out that this pregnancy was being threatened and the reality of Zion’s Babies sunk in so deep that now there is great joy at the knowledge of three precious ones dwelling with the Father in a place that far exceeds in beauty and wonder every possible home on earth.

We will not be jumping through any hoops to make things happen but we are both praying about and listening to the Lord about how to better care for ourselves.    As a family, we are so thankful for your gracious responses, loving care and ongoing prayer support.

I believe that we will have our “handful” yet and that a precious, vigorous, little blessing will come on the scene sometime in the near future.  I don’t think those promptings to not purge the baby things was for naught.   For the moment we are taking a small pause to build up the storehouses both spiritually and naturally.

One of the hardest things has been knowing who to share the details of our journey with simply because it is a road rarely travelled.    The moment a pregnancy is confirmed of course, our own hearts have fallen completely in love with our child.    Culturally, we tend to encourage silence and for family’s who experience the loss of a child in early pregnancy to mourn silently and to carry the burden and fears of early pregnancy privately.   Many have open heart wounds from these kinds of losses and have lost hope that even these can be healed.   I believe that Christ came to heal the broken hearted and that there must therefore be someway of removing these elements that force those suffering into silent and persisting pain.    I question if this really lines up with the scriptural mandate to pray for those who are at risk and walking through challenging times.

Psalm 87 has blessed me immensely.    It has come to the place where it just pops to my heart and joy overwhelms me of the knowing that even the consolation promise is beyond wonderful for a mama’s heart to imagine.     There is no death, therefore no sting of death, only total pre-translation to the Kingdom.  It is from overflow not effort that I can sing praises to the Lord.  I personally receive great joy in simply doing the best I can to do all I am prompted to do.   from a Kingdom perspective, the promise 100% sure.

There are losses to grieve of course.  The facts that God’s purposes and plans for each child will not be fulfilled and of course the personal delight and joy I would feel in holding and raising these children  would be foremost on my own heart.  But I do not linger on these things as they are beyond my ability to change.  It reminds me so much of when David prayed and fasted earnestly so long as his child lived but then immediately cleaned up and went right to praising God when the matter was established and beyond his capacity to change.

One of my children that is here was conceived two months after the Zion birth of another.    I know 100% had the one who was born there had been full term here, my precious child here would simply not exist.    I strongly doubt that I would ever have taken on the task for raising and caring for 7 and yet 7 now exist, eternal souls, 3 safely settled with the Father…   God’s goodness defies all my understanding every single time.

Philippians 3:13-14 King James Version (KJV)  “13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Whenever and wherever there is a promise from God, there is a thief who is desperate to derail and neutralize it’s fulfillment.    Thank God that He who is in us is far greater than He who is in the world.     For every family willing to have the support, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have whole communities praying for these precious ones the moment we learn of a family who is expecting to be expecting?

AND  we are in no way discouraged or derailed from believing what God’s Word says about pregnancy and childbirth.    We have each  been having many talks with God on this subject.   His Promises on this are 100%.  Exodus 23 says plainly that none shall miscarry.  Scripture says nothing shall by any means harm us and that great shalom is poured out on our children.  That God watches over the vineyard and keeps it from all harm etc… We are delivered from the Kingdom of darkness, from the beggarly elements of this world and death has truly lost its power here.  The truth is the promises have gotten so big in my our hearts that anything else is beyond possibility.   So we will keep our eyes fixed there and walk as He leads us to walk knowing that He who has promised is as has always been faithful.   We believe  God’s report.

I will create another separate post with the promises I know  and to serve as a signpost and encouragement for those who are expecting to be expecting or are expecting presently.

Do let me know if I have failed to communicate any part of this post with sensitivity and love.

With much love and in Christ,

Lisa

Colossians 3:2-4 King James Version (KJV)  “2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.  ”

Hebrews 11:5 King James Version (KJV) “5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

Philippians 1:22-24 King James Version (KJV)” 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

2 Peter 1:13-15 New International Version (NIV) “13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.”

2 Corinthians 5:7-9 King James Version (KJV) “7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)  8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.  9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.”

The central thing is to live to please Him.   Which for those of us here means living for His glory in spite of and in the midst of and overcoming all things in Christ for his glory.    The more I meditate on these verses, the more I can understand how the disciples out of obedience served out the full number of their days here but also longed for their home coming and putting off the tent (their physical bodies) to be fully present with the Lord.

Philippians 3:20-21 New Living Translation (NLT) “20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”