Two days ago, the Lord began to speak to me while I was at work. I was in such a state of mind that I felt I could not go on; that my life had become so dark and such a burden that I wanted to lay down and give up.
As often it does, the Word began as a picture. I saw the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Moving into the book, I saw the vine-covered wall and remembered the discovery of the door hidden under the thick ivy. I also remembered that a buried key was discovered that opened this hidden door, revealing the garden that had been kept secret and hidden for many years. It was in this garden that the two children gave to one another of themselves and each helped the other to find new hope.
Foremost in this vision was the hidden door, covered with brilliant healthy green vines of ivy. The door was so well hidden that the wall around the garden appeared solid, covered with the live green ivy, and seemingly impossible to go through.
Then there was the Key, discovered in a different time and place. The key was lovely with engraving and scroll work. When this key was found, it was thought to be a great treasure. It was turned over and over, admired for its amazing beauty and workmanship. But it was said of this Key: What good is it?
I saw that we had come so close to the hidden door so many times, never suspecting that the green beauty of the ivy hid the door to something more. We thought the life growing over the wall was all we needed. We drew close, even caressing the vines growing so thick and lush. We never thought to attempt to find a way through. We thought we had found everything we needed here close to the green fragrant vines.
Somehow I knew all these things just from the vision. I did not hear words, but the language of the Spirit spoke all this to me. But now, He spoke to me this:
One will discover the door; another will find the key. It is when these two find each other and connect that the true treasure will be revealed.
What is the door? What does it represent? It is the door of sacrifice. It is hidden and we don't even look for it because we believe we have already found the life and so we settle for the outside of the garden. Even if we discover the door, we don't look for the key. Everything seems fine as it is.
The Key is the authority of the Kingdom. It is submission to the authority of the God who rules in Jacob. It is the One on David's throne who rules the Kingdom forever.
The Door of Sacrifice is opened with the Key of Submission to the King. You cannot sacrifice with love without Submission to the King. Jesus said, in the garden of Gethsemane: Not my will but Yours be done. He was submitting to the Father, which is the Key by which He was able to walk through the hidden door of Sacrifice.
The Door to the Garden is opened only with this Key and it is secreted within the abundant life of God. Even when the door is standing wide open, many will choose another way. But this Door, which is Jesus the Sacrifice, is the only way to the Garden of Hope, Peace, Rest and intimate companionship with our Lord.
I remembered the
first garden, Eden. This is the place where God planned to walk with
man, in the cool of the day, when man had finished caring for the garden
for the day. It was when man had stopped working and was ready for rest
that God came and walked with the man. It was a garden of peace, rest
and companionship with God.
The Garden is the Kingdom of God. It is where He rules in Jacob with the authority of the Throne of David where Jesus sits forever. And in this Kingdom, where we arrive through the door of sacrifice, which is opened by the key of His authority, we live by the Royal Law. We live by the Law of Love..the Law of Sacrifice. Without Sacrifice there is no rest and no peace. Sacrifice is the end of War. Sacrifice for another equals love. Be willing to walk through that door today. It is a narrow gate and most will look for another way. Be the one who finds it, opens it with the perfectly fitting Key of David, and walks through.
I was reading I Corinthians 3:9-17 today and felt the Spirit begin to speak to me. I scrambled to find my journal to get it all down, for I don't want to miss anything He says!
[1Co 3:9-17 NKJV] 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, [you are] God's building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation [with] gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on [it] endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which [temple] you are.
Here is what I felt the Lord say: We are His building, We are His temple. The Spirit of God dwells in me. We are being built together. And the vision began:
I sit here, upon this large cool stone of rest where I have been for quite some time. I have not always been patient. From time to time, I have jumped up to stare expectantly down the road. A few more oddly shaped stones have appeared around me, a few stacks of rough lumber, some nails and tools, but nothing here appears very organized, nor does it look like any of it goes together. As I watch, another stone arrives on a rickety cart. The back of the cart opens and the stone is roughly dumped right on top of another stone. I see pieces fly off of both stones. I wonder at the pain, but marvel at how they now fit together perfectly as one stone rests against another. I begin to see order forming out of chaos, rough stones being polished against one another.
My eyes move from the building materials being gathered together to the old abandoned house next to me. I see that some of the old worn out boards have been removed. Little by little the old structure is being torn down to its foundation. The parts of the house never intended to be included will not remain.
A fire burns next to the house, consuming all the pieces that cannot endure. Some pieces that have been thrown in the fire glow and as the fire burns off the dirt, they rise out of the fire, clean and new. Each piece added to the old house in the past is being tested in the fire. The parts that endure are laying together in a neat stack, ready for the rebuilding.
My eyes widen as I notice idols being carried out of the old house, so many being revealed from the darkness where they were hidden! As I watch, they are thrown into the fire, which quickly blazes up and consumes them. Not even ashes remain of the things man thought he should worship alongside his God. I feel like cheering on this work! Pull it out! Pull it ALL out!, my spirit says within me. Let only that which passes the test of fire remain for building this house.
I must add that I never saw anyone moving the stones, nor who was tearing things off the old house or carrying out idols. But I know it is at the Word of the Master Builder. He is doing all this. We don't have to see Him to know this. I also know that my God is a consuming fire. [Hebrews 12:29] He is the fire and is consuming all that will not endure.
I felt the Lord say to me, My love comes from the deep. All your fountains are in Me. Psalm 87:7
From the depths of Your love comes the source of my joy, my love, my perseverance in the face of great opposition.
How wide. How long. How high. How deep. I want to grasp all of this about the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18
There is no end, no limit, no boundary for Your love. Your fountains are the source of my music that I play or sing. The source is Your boundless deep love. It is a fountain and a spring that is only found in the deep places.
In the depths of the earth we are buried. A life planted in the ground in death will spring forth with Your life; and so I die. And deep in the bowels of the earth, the place of death I find life in You, the fountain.
The boundaries of my dwelling and the appointed times are in You. Acts 17:27 You have set them in place. You don't leave me alone to navigate them. Even here in the depths, You are HERE.
Go DEEP my soul and find the Spring of Life that never runs dry.
When you die, when you die
You tap into the river
When you go lower
You find the fountain of Me
Living Waters from the depths
of sorrow and despair
from suffering and sacrifice
You discover the Spring of Life
All my fountains are in You.
The Lord has been speaking to me this: It is all about the Sacrifice.
The Royal Law says love your brother as yourself. This is sacrificial love. It is the kind of love that says yes when a person has a need. The kind of love that says yes even when it seems impossible to meet the need. It is taking it one step at a time and in faith just walking forward..not knowing how it will ever work out. It is the kind of love that when you are so tired you are pretty sure you are going to collapse, but you keep on going and He strengthens you as you continue. It is the kind of love that says, I will waste my life, I will use myself up..no holding back. I will lay down my life for my brothers and sisters.
Here is what it is not: It is not just helping those we consider to be deserving of our help. Even though I didn't deserve anything, he sacrificed Himself for me. It is not expecting anything in return..no strings attached at all.
There is a baby in my house, a little 8 month old. I got a text message, will you take him? Yes, I said simply. She could no longer take care of him. Yes. So we made bottles, changed diapers and rocked. Precious little one. It had been a very long time since mine were small. Then a few days later, another text: can I come too? Would that be too much? Of course you can. Please come we will work it out. There was no electricity any more, the bill had not been paid..The baby's father had stolen her car with her purse. She had nothing. She had been very ill....yes. come.
I did not know how this would work. I have a full time job. We have little extra. I already am caring for my sister's dogs. But little by little He is meeting the need..giving me just enough strength so I can love, like He loves..he is gently showing me that it IS possible. Walking by faith. Showing mercy rather than judgment. Love is all about the Sacrifice.
Isaiah 49:16-18 NASB
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators will depart from you. Lift up your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you. As I live," declares the Lord, "You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride.
I was reading the above verses one morning, and I noticed that the word "builders" is translated "sons" in many other versions. So I looked up the word and it means: a son as a builder of the family. The Hebrew word from which son and builder both come is ben. This is in contrast to the destroyers and devastators..those will depart as the builders come. A son is a builder. A son is a builder. I said that twice..it is important!
Awhile back the Lord told me that I am a SON to Him, not a DAUGHTER, even though I am a woman. He told me that a SON receives the inheritance and a DAUGHTER, though the apple of her Father's eye, she inherits through her husband. So a DAUGHTER is less in importance as far as a family builder and the family is ALWAYS built through the SONS.
I felt the Spirit of the Lord helping me to make the connection that the sons are the builders.
This verse immediately came to mind: Romans 8:19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
I had always wondered why "creation" would long for "sons". I felt the Lord telling me that creation is what He built. So what He built (creation) is longing for the revealing of the builders (sons) of God. Creation is under the curse too! Creation longs for the day the BUILDERS are revealed...the ones that will build with the Master Builder. The builders not only BUILD, but they also REBUILD. The same word is for both. No wonder creation groans with longing for the sons of God to be revealed..for when they are revealed, the building and rebuilding are about to begin!
For this building is not of wood stone and brick, but living stones! It is the Kingdom, the very House of the Lord.. We are being built together on Jesus the Cornerstone. God is a Master Builder..to prove it, just look at the amazing creation all around that He built!
Hebrews 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
And Hebrews 11:10 says of Abraham: for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
I Peter 2:4-5: And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:9-17 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. (It's okay, no reason to be jealous!) But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Isaiah 54:11-13 O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphire. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones. All your sons (builders) will be taught of the Lord; and the well-being of your sons (builders) will be great.
That word above antimony means setting, or like cosmetics that set off the beauty of a woman's eyes. Foundations of sapphire (or lapis lazuli) is the gorgeous place the feet of the Lord stood upon when He appeared to Moses in Exodus 24 and is what His throne looked like to Ezekiel in chapters 1 and 10.
I can see a vision of the settings of the wall He, the Master Builder is working on. I see places to set each living stone; places where they are going to fit to perfection, set off in the most attractive way. The settings that I see are empty for the most part, but a few stones are set in their places here and there. But of those stones that are set, I see flames of passion darting out of one, then another. Each stone sparkles and shines in the most beautiful manner. When flames dart out of one of them, the others remain in their place, allowing that one with the passion flames to eclipse all the others. There is no jealousy, but a yielding each to another to shine and burn more, to be more prominent as it is led by the Spirit. Each stone rests, knowing that his own setting is the perfect one for him. That the Lord Himself has set him in his beautiful setting and that moving to another place is not an option because he would not fit there.
The Lord is preparing your setting, the one that will set you in your most perfectly beautiful place. He is also working on you, the living stone. There may be cutting involved. There may be some sanding off of imperfections, which may cause you some pain. Your soul will be afflicted as you walk through this place. But know this: Jesus, the Cornerstone, which we are all being built upon, went through more than we will ever be subjected to and with Him, always at our side, we will participate in the suffering, the affliction of soul, always keeping the vision of our perfect setting before us, ever pressing on. His goal is to set us as living stones yielded to Him and one another in perfect rest, in our resting place.
It is here we walk with God. It is where we dwell with God, delighting in His fellowship with us and his extravagant love for us, forever burning from our perfect setting that He has designed.
Lord, send builders (sons) to fill their place in Your wall. And let us build as one man as You show us how. Master Builder, may You help us to identify the stones You have chosen to refine and set. May we be willing to listen to Your voice, not making judgments on the aptness of the stones you have chosen. Because you see the end from the beginning, how could we ever see what You see in each rough stone unless you show us. Please allow us to partner with You in the building even as we are ourselves set there in the wall.
Revelation 21: 9-12, 14, 19 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel....And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb....The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire,; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
This is the wall we are being built together upon. This lovely wall that the Lord has laid already with the true foundation. How lovely the picture of this wall is in Revelation 21! How utterly amazing that there is a beautiful setting in this wall just waiting for the Master Builder to set me into. Oh His inheritance in His bride! Oh our inheritance in Him! I am breathless with anticipation!
This morning as I sought the Lord's presence, the song Show Me Your Glory began to play in my spirit. Kim Walker Smith sings this with passion, listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeV6EEItzB4 As I listened, I felt in my spirit that I stepped into the song..that i was living inside of it..how can I describe this experience? I am going to try..
Kim Walker Smith's words became the cry of my heart. I felt the presence of the God of Israel surround me as I stepped into the Cloud and I saw the Glory of my God as a column that surrounded me. As I looked up, I saw the Throne of God high above me and the Cloud and Light of His Glory was radiating from Him who is on the Throne. The wings of the cherubim covered the throne...and me! I was under His wings!
I was trembling with His Glory but so filled with love for Him that I did not feel afraid..but an awesome fear (respect and awe for who He is) came upon me. "I long to look upon the Face of the One that I Love.." the song goes.
I am walking in the cloud today, surrounded by Your Love, Power and Glory. I am so amazed at how you care for me.
Then I saw this verse: Isaiah 4:4-6 NKJV
When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.
There is coming His Cloud and Fire of His Glory to surround His people who will dwell TOGETHER IN UNITY (TABERNACLES) For shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. Have you wondered how He will preserve us in the days ahead..those days of trouble? Well, this is it! Cloud by day, Fire by night and a covering for us who are His True Church, His Bride! Show me Your Glory, Lord, for we must see Your beautiful face! "Oh how We Love You"
I have been reading the Old Testament and repeatedly, I've come across references to the LAND. I have been asking the Lord, what does this mean? He even says in Isaiah that He will be married to the land! So..what is the meaning of this?
I felt that He answered me some time ago, saying that the LAND is a picture of your LIFE. So..in other words we were brought out of "Egypt", the land of bondage (to sin and death) to the Promised Land, the land of surrender. (the Exodus is where this happened in the natural)
Let's go back to the beginning, to Genesis, where Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden, unashamed, untouched by sin. They had fellowship with the Lord and both they and the Lord enjoyed their companionship together. This is what He desired for our relationship with Him to be..unashamed and free to walk with Him and He with us. Of course, the Fall took us into the bondage of sin and death.
The promised LAND is our life in surrender to the Lord, made possible by the sacrifice of the Cross by our Lord. It is where we dwell in fellowship with God and other people who have also entered the LAND. There are boundaries on the outside of the LAND..blessings for obeying Him (inside the boundaries) and curses for disobeying Him (outside the boundaries) just like the Promised Land in the Old Testament.
This is where we dwell in UNITY with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And where we dwell TOGETHER with our Lord. In the Spirit, we are in the Promised Land here, no matter where we physically dwell. The word DWELL in Psalms 133 means inhabited, MARRIED to, is the opposite of DESOLATE or FORSAKEN, which means uninhabited and a reproach.
So what is the GARDEN and how does it differ from the LAND? It isn't separate from the LAND, it is a part of it! The GARDEN is the secret place where we have intimate relationship with our Lord, just me and Him alone. We each have a GARDEN within the LAND. This GARDEN excludes anyone else besides the two of us. And as in the Song of Solomon, we must each tend our GARDEN to make our Lord welcome. To drive out anything or anyone who would intrude upon this most intimate place.
The Lord wants to be married to our Promised Land, which He gave to us for a place to dwell. Isaiah 62:4 It will no longer be said to you, "Forsaken," Nor to your land will it any longer be said,"Desolate"; But you will be called, "My Delight is in Her," And your land, "Married"; For the Lord delights in you, And to Him your land will be married.
So do you see why our lives (land) must be undefiled? How can the Holy God marry a defiled life (land)? He isn't just married to us as a single person apart from the life we live, but he will marry our whole life in unity with our brethren. This is why our land (life) must be constantly attended to. We MUST not build fences around areas of our lives where we don't invite Him in. Where He never told us to go. We MUST cultivate unity with our brethren in Him so we can live in the land as He intends. And THIS is where the Church as His Bride is called to dwell.
He is calling us to root Babylon out of us. Babylon mixes devotion with another in the harlotry of idolatry. He cannot marry our land when we give our devotion to another. We are to dwell in that secret place of the Garden, which is in the Promised Land where we dwell in unity in Him with our brethren.
The biggest most horrifying sin for our land is idolatry, which is pictured over and over by prostitution and harlotry. It is giving the precious intimacy of our Garden to another that is not the Lord. It is the thing that is called in the Old Testament an ABOMINATION to the Lord. It is what leaves the land DESOLATE and uninhabited. It leaves our LIFE without the presence of our Lord.
And while I have been looking into these things, I have also come to see that REST is part of the promised land. It means to STOP working. To REST, waiting for His direction is very hard, but the only way. If the land (our life) doesn't receive its sabbath rest, it will be worn out and unfruitful. We must not proceed until the land (our life) has rested and waited upon the Lord. Stop, Rest and listen for His voice this day. Meditate upon His Word and Wisdom today. Rest in the Garden within the Promised Land and learn of His heart..know Him deeply and dearly. Then come out and dwell in the Promised Land in unity with the others He has called.
