I've found It!

Everyone has that place where they like to go to get away from the world, to get away from their own thoughts, to just sit quietly and think, or for believers, to commune with the Lord from the bottom of their hearts. Well, this is my place, my secret place, I have tarried on with the Lord here and as that old hymn goes:

"I come to the Garden Alone, While the dew is still on the roses and the Voice I hear falling on my ear, The Son of God Discloses...And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the Joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."

My Lord and Savior is so wonderful. There is no greater treasure than to be His own and for Him to be your all. As you know, lately I had been struggling with thinking I am missing something in my walk with God. Not knowing Him as I should. Again, last night, I had the blessed opportunity to talk to another sister in the Lord and she said "You know, I honestly think you are trying to hard, you already have it!" I believe her to be right but it still was not a reality to me. So, before I went to bed last night, I prayed and asked God to help me see His love for me, whatever it was that I was missing. Perfect love casts out all fear and if fear is something I have been dealing with then clearly it was apparent to me that I was missing something and not viewing Him the way that He intended for us, as his beloved children to view Him.

I woke up this morning and a lot of negative thoughts concerning things I had been dealing with began to press my mind. I needed to get away from it all and just get to a place where I could quiet my heart, and where everything else around me would be still, even if only for a little while. So off to the Secret Place I went, and the Lord indeed met me there.

I have finally reached a place where, from the heart I can say "I am dead to the world, and the world is dead to me." No longer is my heart mesmerized by the thought of living in a new city, or marriage, or having a family, or a career, more money, none of those things are of near significance at all. My kernel of wheat has truly fallen to the ground and died, all by God's ever flowing grace of course, there is no way any of this could be done on my own and in my own strength. It all makes sense now. My reason for living, moving and having all being is for God alone, that He may be glorified and that I may "know" Him. My heart rests in safety with the King of Kings.

There are 2 paragraphs in a book I had been reading by A.W. Tozer of which I would like to share. It says:

"The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately, and forever."

"I have said that Abraham possessed nothing. Yet was not this poor man rich? Everything he had owned before was still his to enjoy: sheep, camels, herds, and goods of every sort. He had also his wife and his friends, and best of all he had his son Isaac safe by his side. He had everything, but he possessed nothing. There is the spiritual secret. There is the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation. The books on systematic theology overlook this, but the wise will understand."

Wow, what words of richness used to describe the true blessedness of possessing nothing. Having all things yet nothing having you, not having your heart. This has finally become a reality in my heart and in my life. And what a joy this is! :) God is so wonderful, so awesome and so kind! May we continue to love Him with all of our hearts, all of our souls, all of our minds, and all of our strength. To the faithful, He shows Himself faithful. Whoever loses their life for Christs sake will indeed find it :) Have you found your life yet or are you still seeking to save it here? Let it go my dear friend, He is truly sufficient for any and all you have need of. Let us remember that with the Lord as our Shepherd, we have no desire of want, for He is our everything both now and forever more. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. No, He will not withhold Himself from us. He bids us to "Come to Him." Go away with Him in that secret place and dwell under the shadow of the Almighty! May you find all of your security, needs, and desires met there. For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."- Genesis 15:1

Do we know "Him"?

"We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we know Him?"- Oswald Chambers

"We substitute knowing the Word instead of knowing the God of the Word."- Leonard Ravenhill

This has been the burning question and revelation of my heart as of late. I was talking to a good friend and sister in the Lord a few days ago and I kept telling her "I am missing something. Yes I love God, I love the Lord but I feel like there is something I have yet to grasp." I didn't know at the time what it was but the more I seek Him, He seems to reveal little by little everyday.

Is it possible to love God, love and remain faithful to His word, obey what he says and still not know Him the way He intended for us to know Him? I am not talking about those who are content with a religion about God or a form of godliness but for those who are sincere in their hearts towards God, could it be maybe we are missing something? John 17:3 says:

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

The whole goal of Jesus dying on the cross for mankind was to save us from sin yes but also, so that we could intimately know the Father and Him. To be restored back to fellowship with Him, that is eternal life. So many times in church we are told eternal life is looking forward to the pearly gates and the streets made of gold, true and lovely all that is, but we are to experience eternal life right now, today, every single day that we have breath in our lungs. This is something I have been missing out on. What is it to truly know the Father and Christ in the way he desires us to?

"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."- Philippians 3:7-14

Paul had it right. He had not yet reached the desired place of intimacy with Christ maybe that he thought he should have but he certainly was a lot farther along than me. If knowing Christ and the Father is eternal life, if our lives have died and are now hidden in Christ, wouldn't it be wise to really seek to know and understand better what this means, to get a fuller grasp on it? Maybe some of you have attained it but I am trekking through, daily to find it, not that it is very far from me, but it is not a reality in my life as of yet. I want to reach a place of being so consumed with Christ, not just facts about Christ but knowing Him in my heart, through experience that whatever happens It will not matter because He has become so REAL to me that he truly will have become my life! If I have to suffer the loss of more things, more people, then I want to be able to sincerely say from the heart "More love to Thee." This needs to be a reality in my life, and if its not a reality in your life (dear reader) may this post stir a desire within you to want to know Christ in such a way. This is not to say one is not saved but are we truly experiencing John 10:10? "That they may have life, and have it more abundantly."

"Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.... Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled....Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

When the Lord started to show me these things it really grieved my heart. The things that I had once placed so much emphasis on believing it to be vital in my life don't seem to hold the same level of importance or need anymore. If I had to go without those things, it should be fine, and I should still be able to say sincerely from the heart "It is well with my soul". *Sigh*, the agony of knowing the wicked condition of the heart that still exists in our mortal bodies. Father, help us not to love nor desire anything more than you. If knowing Him is all we need to get us through this life then I want to wholeheartedly pursue that. It has proven worthless to place happiness and joy based on the things of this world. May it only be Christ that consumes and holds my heart and full devotion. This is indeed what I have been missing. Not to say that everything in the world is bad, but hopefully you understand what is being shared. This world is full of so many things that seek to win our love, our heart, our time, etc but as the Lord told Martha, only one thing is needed and this cannot be taken from us (Luke 10:42). If eternal life is really to be in on going communing fellowship with Christ and the Father do we really have need of anything else? And if so, won't He provide it?

As Jonathan Edwards once said "Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs!" And may He do just that. Not sure about you dear readers, but, I pray the Lord is stirring within you a desire to be consumed by Him and all that which is eternal as well. Yes it will be a fight daily but, we have Him and better yet He has us, right in the palm of His hand. Let us lose ourselves in Him. If he is leading you to shut yourself off from things in the world, do it. If He is leading you to slip away with Him, follow His leading. When you come away with Him, sometimes you will be begin to realize that even associating yourself with your circle of "Christian" friends can be a hindrance, not all are on the narrow way, and we cannot afford to be found slipping. May the Lord help us.

Father, we humbly come before you, aware of our sinful condition. Purge our hearts Father, purge us from things that seek to steal, kill and destroy us. Create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. Help us Lord, to know you the way you desire for us to know you. Become our life, become our portion. You, Father, delight in a living sacrifice, we offer ourselves wholly and fully to You, for Your use, that You alone may be glorified. Help us to truly know 
You.

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple"- Psalm 27:4

Kernel of Wheat

"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."- John 12:24-26

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