It is the God in Us.

I have been thinking about my encounter of seeing Jesus in the tree.

The other day I shared with my sister about my encounter with Jesus in the tree as I read what the Spirit of the Lord lead me to. Isaiah 41:11-20 said, "I will plant trees- cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir and pine- on the barren land. Everyone will see this miracle and understand that is the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, who did it."

The Holy One of Israel is Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 61:3 "To all who mourn in Israel, he will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the LORD has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory."

Then one of my favorite psalms came to mind. Psalm 1: "Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners or join in with scoffers. But they delight in doing everything the LORD wants; day and night they think about his law. They are like trees planted along the riverbank bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper."

King David spoke about this joy and how this joy gave him strength. Psalm 73:24 "You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever."

We are trees planted by the Lord and because he has planted us we trust in Him. Though the storms come, the winds blow strong, the conditions of the weather of the situation may change drastically but we are kept upright by the Lord's Spirit which is in us. For the Lord's Spirit is in us and He gives us joy in the midst of diversity. For in diversity we turn to God and because he loves us he turns to us.

He cares for those he has planted and "those mountains" are soon torn apart into dust and tossed up and carried away in the wind for we know this can not happen unless we turn to the LORD, our GOD.

And when people happen to ask, why don't you settle, why you believe, you don't try to get even... you can say, "It is the God in me".

Vision of Jesus In a Tree- Joy

Last night I just spent some time in the presence of the Lord because I have been feeling this mixture of negative feelings lately. I was more or less feeling misunderstood, undesired and even resented and hated and this caused me to rebuke and wrestle sinful and dark thoughts and suggestions.

I thought, " This is how the Lord must feel when we don't desire him." He must feel hurt, hated, misunderstood and taken for granted."

I continued to stand my ground but it was HARD. So what did I do...? I turned to God for I know how great a friend He is to me. (He is also probably the only one who understands me.) I turned on some Hillsong music, put in my ear phones and let the Spirit of the Lord take hold and there I saw Jesus in a tree. He wasn't surrounded by some mystical light but it was just him.

He wasn't in the top of this tree but I kind of felt like he climbed down this tree so I could see him - not so he could see me. He smiled at me and when he did I felt this unexplainable joy as I smiled back and even chuckled.

I wanted to continue to stay in his presence of unexplainable joy but then the Spirit of the Lord had me lay down (though I was sitting the entire time in this reality) and as I did I began to weep. And as the Spirit of the Lord comforted me, I started to be drained of these negative feelings and burdens.

I got to see Jesus again as the Spirit raised my head and once again his smile made me smile and chuckle again and then the Spirit of the Lord lay me down again and I started to weep again until I was drained of all this negative feelings and burdens, Exhausted I then went to bed in peace.

How wonderful to feel the joyful presence of the Lord.... who takes our burdens and smiles upon us.

Numbers 6:22-27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Instruct Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: `May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.' This is how Aaron and his sons will designate the Israelites as my people, and I myself will bless them."

The End of The Road

I think at some point in our Christian walk we come to the end of this road of ourselves. We may try to jump back on that road from time to time but we get off because we remember nothing in this world satisfies as God does. All your earthly goals have been deemed useless in your new and growing perspective God has given you.

And when we get to that place where we seem to slide towards this ramp that seems to lead nowhere- it can be scary. You feel like and see no plan in front of you but that is when you have to slowly reach to the things in life that God has given you an interest in.

You may say I don’t have a talent or you may say I am talented at many things. Don’t let what you think you have talent in or not talent in define what God wants to do in your life but know the very things God has given you a love or interest in- maybe used in a way you didn’t expect.

God has many canvases he wants to paint in our lives and they stay blank because we limited ourselves and when we choose to do that - we limit God. We may even say, “God this is what I am good at but I don’t want to live my life doing those things. I don’t want them to get tired and boring. And will “they” even be useful in the end?”

You may say, “I don’t have the money! I don’t have the time! I am not as young as I was! I got responsibilities! Look at my background!

How about you take one step forward at a time and let God take care of what needs to come next. We can look too far into the future and before we know it we have more fictional happenings on our plate then non-fictional ones that will actually happen.

Don’t worry about tomorrow focus on today.

We need to slowly reach into those areas and have God guide our way. We need to listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say to us about those areas in our life and grab a hold to the different aspects of those things and ask God to help us put those pieces together so they can lead us to a satisfying and lasting goal and growing purpose.

Recipe in life.... Imagine… if you will… a cupboard that is filled with different “aspects” of the different “subjects” that interest you. These “aspects” are represented by spices, sugars, flours, eggs, butter, cheese, oils, herbs, sauces, vinegars, flavors, meats, veggies, and yeasts but in order to make the perfect satisfying recipe for you and your guests- you have to listen to the Holy Spirit and have him guide you in each step.

In some parts of the recipe you have simmer.

In some parts of the recipe you have sauté.

In some parts of the recipe you have to rub down and tenderize.

In some parts of the recipe you have to marinate.

In some parts you will have mix.

In some parts you will have to knead.

In some parts you will have to let rise.

In some parts you will have to pray, pour, break, cut, boil, cook, maybe even barbecue.

And as proceed you will will see, taste, smell, feel, hear and others around you will also see, taste, smell, and hear as you proceed in this meal/ (these purposes) God has for you and when all is complete, you and your guests won’t be unsatisfied because you have done everything in how the Holy Spirit has directed.

God uses our experiences before we come to Him and after we have come to Him.

I have always appreciated music since I was a child. I have always wanted to be a musician to play on a stage. (I would sing into the hairbrush and play the air guitar and the invisible drum set when I was a kid with the radio on.) I appreciated movies and film. (We as kids made many movies using an old 8mm camera and VHS camcorder.) I appreciate art and photography. (I majored in art and teaching art.) I appreciate writing. (I write these blogs and stories in my free time.) I feel it is reward to teach and it is a privilege. (I now teach young adults what God wants them to learn from the Bible)

Today the scope of my artwork is growing and being transformed into other things such as visual movies and illustrations that God uses for teaching others about God and now I play in a praise and worship band in the church I fellowship in.

Through the Spirit of God I have become sensitive about certain things within those areas that God has given me an interest in. I have experienced many different emotions and experiences, some of them Godly some of them not but God uses them all.

God is continually incorporating things in life that touch me to guide me to a growing and maturing route of possibilities within Him. I may not see the entire picture but I am learning to just take one day at a time knowing there is a plan I cannot see in front of me. Jeremiah 29:11:-13

“For we walk by faith not by sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7

We may just see a sea of nothingness in front of us and storms that rage around us but holding Jesus' hand we may slowly see the plans God has prepared and wants to bless us with. Every person wants to be satisfied but no lasting satisfaction can occur without God’s help.

For he makes us a vessel that is capable of holding what he pours in and what he pours in is never useless or ends up being worthless in the end.

Remember what Paul said about deeming everything useless? I think that is true but God still used the knowledge he learned and his experiences to make him a great apostle for Christ. God used those things from his past to season, build and mature him. He knew he didn’t want to go back to his past and he knew why he didn’t want to go back and those reasons only made him want to persevere and persist more in the faith of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said what about the path? It is narrow. The same is true with living a satisfying life.

I remember summers being a kid. We would go to the beach on vacation. To get to the beach we would have to cross several acres of sand dunes and it was easy to lose track of the narrow path if we were in a hurry. And it seemed once we lost the path it took more time to get to beach then if we had taken the time to look for that narrow path that led directly to the beach.

In this life, we don’t race against others but ourselves. And the narrow path we cannot find or stay on without God’s help.

I conclude with this as a reminder to you and me: Read your bible. Know that God has a plan and purpose for your life. Know He have given you promises that you can count on and listen to the Holy Spirit direct you through those subtle/ settle turns in your life.