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Arrr, there be treasure in these parts Matey!

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treasure-chest

Not a very spiritual title I’ll admit.  But I recently was thinking about how often the Word talks about hidden treasure.  You would have thought God was a pirate, as much as it occurs.  In the NASB, the words hidden and treasure occur 8 times, together, but I am sure cross referencing the theme “hidden” would reveal many similar verses.  This blog began for me one day with Col 3:1b-2:

“resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

So, how do we get the hidden treasure you ask?  Colossians says all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him.  Matthew tells us the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.  Proverbs instructs us to seek for wisdom as hidden treasure.  Paul is writing all the time about the mystery of the Gospel that has been entrusted to him.  Mysteries!  That’s a whole nother blog!  I have been finding myself trying to find His presence in my devotional times.  I do it by meditating on the person of Jesus, the life of Christ, the cross of Calvary and what it means to die to self.  When I focus on Him and His life, His eternal power, His nature, His word, then I am filled with His presence.  Then I find the treasure in Him.  He is the treasure.  The gold is found when we lay down our lives and take up His.  What does Col 3:3 tell us?  We have died and our life is hidden in Him.  What?!  First He hides Himself as a treasure hidden in a field.  Then, when we find Him, He hides US in Himself?  Huh?  There’s another mystery for sure!

.mystery_box

I have a burning desire to hear Jesus, the Man, the un-created, Son of God preached in the pulpits across America.  Have you ever heard a preacher and it doesn’t matter what the “subject” of the message is; it always comes back to burns in that pastor’s heart.  Perhaps he is burdened by the Lord with a message for the poor and outcast.  No matter what subject he speaks on, it always seems to come back to the poor and outcast.  Or perhaps your pastor’s message always returns to an end time theme or a political change theme.  All of these can be of the Lord.  But I find myself praying that the Father will release the message of His Son in the churches of America.  It won’t matter if the “subject” of the day is the poor or marriages or the political landscape or the pending end time revival; I am praying that regardless of where the message starts, that it will always end in the person of Jesus and the life of Christ.  I pray that the leadership of the church is consumed by the man Christ Jesus.  Beloved, I tell you, all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge are found in Him.  He is the answer to our marriages, our society, and our race issues.  The answers begin and end in Him.  We will never exhaust the depth of His understanding or cease to find new treasure in Him.  When I begin to hear the message of Christ and the Cross of Christ (another blog) resonating in the pulpits of America, then I will know that revival is at the door.  The walls of denominationalism, liturgical, mainline, independent and charismatic dissolve, as the body of Christ rallies around the person of Jesus, and we begin to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ. It’s a burning desire that is building within me; to see the life of Christ released, along with His holiness in His church.

Beloved, gaze into Mirror.  If you have accepted Christ, then Jesus is in the Mirror.  Look close.  He may be hidden.  Ask the Father to reveal Him.  Seek and the door will be open.  Wait and He will be revealed.  Acknowledge you’re hungry.  Then partake of Him.  Acknowledge you’re thirsty.  Then drink of Him.  He is the well spring of living water.  All things are from Him and through Him and to Him.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever, but yet new and fresh every morning.  Wow, another mystery.

I could keep going, because there is no end to the richness found in Him, but I’ll call this one a wrap.  That was fun.  Sorry for it has been so long from the first blog to the second.  I am human.  Pray for me that I don’t get distracted and can do the work He has called me to do.  Be sure and click “follow” so you’ll know when I add a new blog! J

Be Blessed,

Keith

Let the North Winds Blow!

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It was a typical day.  The work day had come to an end.  It had been a long day.  I was tired.  Exhausted again from the mental gymnastics my mind routinely goes through.  Thinking, re-thinking, numerous bunny trails of what if and maybe?  Don’t misunderstand.  I had no major decisions or stress.  It’s just typical.

I am at a meeting at the intercessory prayer ministry I have been a part of for many years.  We have begun with a time of corporate worship, before intercession begins.  The song playing was Misty Edward’s “Fling Wide”.  The lyrics being sung were,

“Awake, awake, oh north wind
Awake, awake, oh south wind; blow over me
Come, oh winds of testing
Come, winds of refreshing; blow over me”

Perhaps you know the song?  It is based on Song of Solomon 4:1

“Awake, O north wind,
And come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
That its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to his garden
And eat its pleasant fruits.”  (NKJV)

The essence of the teaching and song are as follows:  The Bride (that’s us), voluntarily asks for both the north winds and the south winds in her life.  Everyone loves the south winds; blessings, favor, revelation, grace on everything our hands touch.  But the north winds!  Burr.  The north winds bring the difficult times.  The dark times.  Those seasons you walk through when you wonder if God is real, because it seems like He hasn’t heard your prayer and you have been in this dark and difficult test soooo long already.  And here the bride is asking for the north wind!  Why?  Because she knows that it takes both the north and the south wind for us to truly know Him and be transformed by Him.  Both unlock our hearts to know his faithfulness and to break the power of the flesh over our own lives!

south-seas-3

Anyway, here I sit.  Tired.  I look up and across the room and see a young man I’ll call Joel.  I have always liked Joel from the day I met him.  He seemed to remind me of myself years ago.  He has a lot of passion and zeal for the things of the Lord.  He has a wife and a couple of young children and is an intercessor in this ministry.  We are about to the part in the song where we not only ask for the north winds but declare our resolve to the Lord to allow His purging in our lives!

“Take me through the fire, take me through the rain
Take me through the testing, I’ll do anything
Test me, try me, prove me, refine me like the gold
Like the gold”

I looked at Joel.  His hands are raised, He’s leaning forward in worship, He is singing with all his heart.  His body is fully given to the Lord in worship and you can tell by the expression on his face, he means every word he is saying.  He is asking for the fire, he is asking for the testing.  He is saying I’ll do anything!  Just refine me like gold so I may be a vessel of the Lord, fit for honor and every good work.

I am just sitting in worship.  (Remember I was tired.)  I haven’t joined in.  I am just watching silently.  I see Joel, and I think…  Oh My!  Does he really know what he is asking?  Because I have been there.  I have prayed that prayer for the north winds.  I have cried out to be made fit for God’s highest purposes.  And do you know what?  God HEARS those prayers.  I observed that usually about a year and a half (God’s timing isn’t like ours) after I sincerely prayed such a prayer that I find myself under a frigid north wind.  You would have thought that I had volunteered to join Sir Ernest Shackleton on his ill-fated attempt to the South Pole; his ship was frozen in the ice, then crushed, leaving him stranded for 2 years!  I have twice been unemployed for a year; had a fire destroy the duplex we were living in; had stress and difficulty with family, etc.  You know the drill.

ernest-shackletons-ship-endurance

I see the young man Joel and think of his wife and young children.  I know he doesn’t really understand what he is asking for.  None of us ever do.  So I say a silent prayer for him.  “God, give him grace.  Help him through the journey!”  I begin to think about those seasons where I experienced the north winds.  I think of how difficult they were.  I begin to also think of what it accomplished in my faith.  I realize that slow and steady, day by day trusting in God has produced a far stronger faith in Him than if He just supernaturally one day pulled me out of my trial.  You would think it worked the other way around.  The supernatural deliverance does increase our faith; it increases our faith for supernatural deliverance the next time.  However, the day by day faithfulness of God increases our faith for endurance and strength.  Now we have something we can impart to others.  I begin to think about His faithfulness, I begin to think about HIM.  Then I remember how Good He is.  I remember how I felt His pleasure pour over me when I said, in the midst of my trial, “I trust You, I trust You!”.  All of a sudden my heart is stirred once again with His love for me and I respond back, “Abba Father, You are so Good.  There is NO ONE like you.  You are worth any price we pay!  If others could see You the way I see You now, then they would understand.”  (Song of Solomon 6:1)

The song has continued in worship.  We are still singing Misty’s “Fling Wide” and are drawing near again to the declaration part of the song.  I can see Joel tensing his body, ready to give himself to the words of the song.  The moment of decision for me has arrived.  What shall I do?  I think of Him, His faithfulness, His glory, His love.  Slowly, I rise to my feet.  I lift my hands, close my eyes.  I lean in and lift my voice in worship:

“Take me through the fire, take me through the rain
Take me through the testing, I’ll do anything
Test me, try me, prove me, refine me like the gold
Like the gold”

Is He worth it, you ask?  If you have seen Him, then you know.