I'm in the River: 07/01/2012

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Letters of Freedom #2: "New Eyes"

Excerpts from Psalm 33:18 (NIV), Ephesians 1:17-20 (The Message), and Ephesians 1:17-20 (NIV).

Little one,

I have been watching you, for My eyes are on those who hope in My unfailing love.

I have a gift for you.

Right now, what I need for you to do is to prepare yourself.

Your job is to receive.

I know that it is harder for you to receive than to give, but giving and receiving are two sides of the same coin. MY coin… MY kind of money. When you say “Yes” in your spirit to My gifts, it gives Me permission to teach you about both. If you refuse to receive, you take away someone else’s joy at giving and you tie My hands.

Child, I have been interceding for you, for your journey toward freedom. I want to give you My Spirit, who wants to give to you wisdom and revelation, so that you might know Me better.

I want to enlighten the eyes of your heart. I want to illuminate who I am and who you are.

I want to help you see and understand the hope to which I have called you, a glorious hope of a glorious life.

I want to open your eyes to the riches that already belong to you as My child.

I want you to know and experience My great and incomparable power in your life.

My power raises people from the dead and My power can bring back to life the parts of you that have died.

This is who I am and this is what I do, and I want you to know Me in this way. Like Paul after his Damascus experience, I want to take off the scales from your eyes and give you a new way to see.

Love,

Your Father

Friday, July 13, 2012

Letters of Freedom #1: "Repairing the Walls"

This series of letters is so special to me... they were were written for my sister for a special project put together by our Bookclub. Each Letter of Freedom is based on passages of Scripture but put into a format of a letter from God to us.

Child, I comfort you and have compassion on you in your suffering. Yet, sometimes you say I have deserted you;

that I’ve forgotten you.

Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?

Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?

But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!

See, I have written your name on the palms of My hands, engraved your name into My very skin. You are always in My mind: I see a picture of you with the walls of your life in ruins.

But I want to use the old rubble of your life to restore these ruins. I want you to work with Me to rebuild the foundation from out of your past.

You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls.

I know there are mountains that stand in your way. I know that you feel like you’ve been in a dark prison of your own mind and of your circumstances.

This is what I say to you: I will go before you and level the mountains. I will smash down obstacles and cut through your prison bars.

And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—
secret riches. Child, I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the One who calls you by name.

I will be your sure foundation providing you with a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. I will be your treasure.

Love,

Your Father

Excerpts from Isaiah 49:13-16 (NKJ), Isaiah 58:12 (NIV), and Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV).

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

My Resurrection

(This prayer-poem is one of my favorites... inspired by the little girl and bleeding woman in Matthew 5.)

You say to me, “Get up!”
Am I waking from the dead
Or a deep, dark sleep?

“Get up, little girl!”
You grasp my hand and lead me back—
Twelve years, twenty, so many I’ve lost count—
To when the issues began,
To when the bleeding started.
I was just a little girl.

In the places where I died,
When a little part of me
Gave up, lost hope, let go of innocence…
You restore me.

And then You turn
To the woman in me:
The one whose burden has been so heavy,
Who spent everything she had
On the wrong answers and the wrong questions,
The one who has suffered from constant bleeding,
Constant pain.

Surely, if I could just touch Your robe, or
If I could just hear You say my name,
Something would change?
You say to me,
“Your suffering is over.
Get up, I have made you whole!”

Immediately, the bleeding stops and
I feel that I’ve been healed.
Immediately, I stand up.

I have scars from the past
In my hands and side,
But my grave is empty.
Why look for the living among the dead?
I’m not there. I’m alive!

for ak
Copyright © 3/25/03 by Kendra Lane Barrow; version 4/06/10. All rights reserved.

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Water Within

Jesus,

Excavate my dried ground

That has kept this living spring small.

Break open my heart

So that this water can gush forth.

You put this living water within me;

Now I give back to You.

Take this offering.

Take as much as You want—

You said this spring of life will

Never run dry.

Refresh Yourself;

Come back for more, again and again.

It is Yours.

The only life I have within me

Is what came from You.

This life, this water,

Belongs to You,

Flows through me

Back to You:

A beautiful cycle of Spirit Water

Returning from earth to sky.

Suggestions for Going Deeper

READ - Read the Scripture verses that inspired this prayer: John 7:37-39 , Isaiah 58:11 , John 4:10-14 .

OBSERVE - Notice which words or phrases stand out to you in the prayer or Scripture; consider why they resonate with you.

TALK - Tell God the thoughts and emotions stirred in you.

LISTEN - Spend a few minutes in listening prayer so God can bring His thoughts to your attention.