"Is it a light thing that a nation calls itself by My name yet honors Me not? 

Is it a small thing that a people declare My glory and My power yet believe it not?

How can I continue to stand by while you dishonor (me) and speak lies in My name?

And teach the ways and the words of the wicked one as My ways and My very words?

Yea  - I shall indeed visit you  - I shall recompense you for the evil you have called good  -

And I will show Myself strong on behalf of those who are Mine.

I will avenge the blood of the innocents   - I will speak but a word and the earth will tremble  at the sound of My voice and the rocks will cry out and the trees will bow  - yet even My people will not humble themselves that I might heal their land."

"My desire is for you but your desire is not for Me, saith The Lord, but I have a pure bride who has not given herself to another but she has saved herself for Me and My passion for her has no end. She will shine as the stars in the heavens and she will never disappoint Me, as so many, who call out My name, have done, saith The Lord."

 And He said to me,

"You cannot bewail the sins of others, or the sins of a nation, till you grieve over the sins of your own heart"

  - I spend a lot of time bewailing sins people commit against me, but also, I grieve over the sins of the nation I'm currently called to serve  - but much less time grieving over my own sins, well, that's changing   - I've wept before The Lord these last six months more than I have in the last thirty.

"Just when the caterpillar thought his world was over, it became a butterfly"

I've had a song echoing around in the back of my spirit for a few days now.  It's "MEET ME HALFWAY" by Kenny Loggins. Even now, I can hear him belting out the chorus. 

I finally just now realized  - God is speaking to me, through the words of this song. So I looked them up  - eagerly anticipating my Father to speak to me  - they didn't disappoint! What a beautiful word from God to me, very encouraging...

MEET ME HALFWAY 

In a lifetime 

made of memories 

I believe in destiny

Every moment returns again in time

When I've got the future on my mind

Know that you'll be the only one

Meet me halfway 

Across the sky (reminds me of the rapture)

Out where the world belongs

To only you and i (new heaven and new earth)

Meet me halfway 

Across the sky

Make this a new beginning (behold, i make all things new)

of another life (the glorious eternal life to come...the promise of the Father)

In a lifetime 

There is only love reaching for the lonely one

We are stronger when we are given love

When we put emotions on the line,

know that we are the timeless ones

Meet me halfway 

Across the sky

Out where the world belongs

To only you and I

Meet me halfway 

Across the sky

Make this a new beginning 

of another life

Oh how this song ministers to me!

I'd heard it before but always thought it was from a guy to his lover, but now i think it's the cry of God's heart to me, to meet Him in the sky now, not just at the rapture...and oh how i need a new beginning,  a new life, here in 2024. I am the "lonely one" who needs to be given love  - and i am one of God's "timeless ones" praise God! 

"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness (are) as the stars for ever and ever"

 "And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey, and preached"

John's food is a prophetic lesson for those of us who endeavor to speak for God today  - for the locusts and honey were WILD  - untouched,  unspoiled, unblemished by man. He ate a steady diet that was provided by God himself   - and so must we today.  We must eat only that spiritual meat and drink that God provides for us  -  for man's words and ways are tainted, poisonous,  deadly to our faith and our call from God for they are full of unbelief. 

Indeed, in the wilderness we learn to rely on God completely to sustain us, so in times of famine or feasting we are well fed by The Lord's right hand.

Wild Honey

Wild honey, come and sweeten my lips

For you are only found in the wilderness. 

To partake of you I must forsake the ways of man

and journey deep into God's hinterland. 

But oh, the views!

that fill me with such delight! 

They alone are worth every sacrifice!

Oh wild honey!

You tastevso much better than

any food given by man!

Only the food that God provides 

can ever truly satisfy 

the deepest hunger i have inside  -

My hunger is for You, my God, and You alone

I long to be naked before You and whole  -

not just redeemed but restored 

to the abundant life You createdme for,

the life you modeled for me

OH GOD GIVE ME MY WILD HONEY!

    "Oh you that take comfort in your religion instead of Me, saith The Lord,  shall find yourselves naked and ashamed in the day of My visitation  - You shall indeed weep and gnash your teeth for you trusted in man and not in the One who made you.

 

You exalted man's words over Mine and made Me the servant of the corrupt one. You belittled My name among the lost sheep of My pasture and you trusted in your own strength and wisdom to save you. 

Know you not that I, The Lord, see all who transgress My ways? Know you not that you shall be weighed in the balances, and found wanting? Can you stand in the Day of My Judgment? You cannot. 

You shall drink the cup of My wrath in the Day of My Visitation   - yet even now, if you will repent, and turn from your wicked ways, I will receive you.

Hear O wicked and perverse generation,  who twist My words, who delight in that which is right in their own eyes  - HEAR I SAY  - your religion which you trusted in will not save you. Man cannot save you. You cannot save yourselves. 

Fall on the rock of your Salvation.  Cry out to Me now with your hearts  -  for I see the character of your hearts  - I see the truth or lack of it in the inward parts. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE OF! Cry out to ME and do not cease till I have answered your cries."

Selah. 

 The Word of the Lord came to me. He reminded me of 2 Kings 6:16  - He said "this scripture is for My people in this hour" - "And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they which be with them".

Then the Lord told me to pray for my brethren, my fellow servants   -   " Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see"

Together,  we should now pray  that our enemy, our common foe, the spirits of darkness arrayed against us would become blind, even as our sight is restored.  "Smite this people,  I pray Thee, with blindness.  And He smote them with blindness according to the word of Elijah"

I want this to now read "and He smote them with blindness according to the word of Chris"  I want my words to carry as much authority as Elijah's, that the Lord will respond to me the same way.

 Have you ever heard the phrase "as if your life depended on it"? Well, becoming intimate with God, drawing near to Him, is no joke because YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! Not only are those He is close to the ones who will inherit eternal life but our reward once we get there is determined by our proximity to Him here on earth  - and our level of obedience.  For the greatest reward in eternity is being invited to be near Him  - His throne  - where we can gaze upon His face forever. Absolutely no greater reward.  You can have your mansion and your streets of gold  - I want His Face.  Selah.

Don't follow the script,

follow the Scriptures. 

Don't try to be hip,

you won't always fit.

Of this you can be sure  -

If you only do

what man tells you to,

You'll fall far short

of where God wants to take you.....

 If His mercies are renewed every morning  - so too should our gratefullness for those mercies be renewed every morning. 

If His desire for us is new every morning, so too should our desire for Him be renewed every morning.

My wife wants to hear me say "I love you" every day we're together   - shouldn't we say this to God every day? Every time we're together?

Love is proactive.  Love notices our needs and moves to fulfill them before they arise   - our need for His mercies, our need for His love, is never-ending  - every morning of every day we need Him  - so every morning we should seek Him anew, for He is seeking us. I know He is with us always, He never leaves or forsakes us  - but, though I'm with my wife daily, she still wants me to pursue her, she wants to feel desired  - to show her with words and deeds, daily, that I love her. If I chose to meet with her once a week for a few hours, she'd probably divorce me. 

 I'm gonna soar high

 higher than I've ever been before -

 all the way to Heaven's door.

 I know just where I'm going

 when I spread my wings wide

 One wing is Faith, the other Love,

 with them I'll soar high

 above all that is of man -

 to where the air is clear  -

 Sight and thought are pure,  here.

 Clarity is my portion,  my gift

 when the Spirit gives me a lift,

 like an Eagle floating effortlessly  -

 only having to extend his wings

 There's so much to see!

 Such breathtaking beauty!

And

           it's much easier to spot the enemy.