by Pastor Marie
Sunday, March 5, 2023
A memorial stone of remembrance.
We need to be aware that there are points of focus in our lives that need to be marked with a stone of remembrance.
It is a stone to mark in your journey a specific experience or encounter with the Holy Spirit that powerfully impacted your life. A reminder of what God has said or done in your life at a particular point in your walk with Jesus.
ZOE – the very life of God is what cleanses us and sets us apart for Him.
There is a time when we sit with God, and He brings together parts of our lives and casts light on the fragmentations of our life to bring cleansing and healing into our souls, emotions, remembrances, and thoughts.
Purify our hearts, O Lord. Cleanse us and heal us, O God.
The garden: You can try to slowly remove the weeds and dead branches in your life without success or let Him do it.
Time in His Presence can efficiently work in you, His new creation—more of Him and less of you. We want to move in wholeness and the fullness of Christ.
Let Him blow away the dead branches in the garden.
As we walk the highway of holiness with the Holy Spirit, there are moments when He reveals Jesus in a way that changes us. We then carry a weight of glory that the Lord has implanted in us, whether it was at a time of great sorrow and disappointment or ecstatic joy over a triumphant victory which helps us build an inner home of Truth. We need to stay focused on Him at the time.
The imprint of His Presence deep within our inner man [our being with Someone] will last for eternity and give us tools to navigate situations in the future. We must continue cultivating a deep inner knowing and hearing of His Voice to live well in our outer lives. Inwardly attentive to His divine whisper.
Times of soaking and contemplation are disciplines of our faith that are the most significant and direct journey to greater intimacy with the Lord. Consider if that is what you really want.
The prophetic words we receive at these times will propel us forward into the next leg of our journey, EMPOWERED by His revelation.
Our testimony, our stones of remembrance, are authentic and influential in the kingdom of God.
The areas of soaking will become prophetic areas. We can move in what God has shown us when we are soaking in His Presence and have godly wisdom to navigate through any situation we encounter. He sends His Word and heals us. The more deeply we watch and wait, calming the inner chaos and noisy distractions, the deeper our insight will become, and our prayer life will take on an entirely new dimension of grace as we walk in greater intimacy with God.
A moment focusing on the Lord carries weight in the kingdom that we desire to invade this life that we live here.
The Truths we receive in the secret place are alive in His Presence and can change the course of our life. His heart beats with a rhythm of everlasting life.
“Now, therefore, O sons and daughters, listen to ME, for blessed are those who keep My ways. Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to Me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death.” Proverbs 8:32-36
Verse 34 contains three principles: listening, watching, and waiting.
These verbs are in the continuous passive tense in Hebrew, meaning they are ongoing rather than momentary.
LISTEN – DO NOT SPEAK
WATCH – BE ALERT AND WAKEFUL
WAIT – STAND BY TO HEAR
Hebrews 5:14 – “But solid food is for the [spiritually] mature, whose senses [or powers of discernment] are trained by constant practice to distinguish between what is morally good and what is evil.”
Ephesians 4:13(NIV) “…until we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
“Spiritual maturity is responsive dependence on God.” –Jack Hayford
God’s kingdom operates according to the principle of a continuous increase (Isaiah 9:6-7), not diminishing power. His kingdom come, His will be done. There is always more, deeper, and higher. Are you interested in that?
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Madame Jeanne Guyon [an early Christian contemplative] writes: “It is Jesus Christ Himself, the real and essential Word, Who is in the center of the soul that is disposed of for receiving Him. Never one moment ceases from His living fruitful and divine operation.”
“Christ within the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 the Mystery.
Stones, biblically, are monuments to what God has done. We each have monumental stones in our journey that need to be remembered.
Consider the reality of when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan written about in Joshua 3. The priests entered, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, and stood. After the entirety of all the tribes followed, twelve leaders went into the Jordan and got a memorial stone to make a monument to the Crossing Over. Then the priest returned to the Jordan where they had stood with the Ark, and they made a stone monument in the middle of the Jordan.
The book of Joshua marks the doorstep of Israel’s entrance into Canaan. They were at the threshold of experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promises – to become a great nation and receive Canaan as a homeland. It would happen as they obeyed God.
Blessings of victory, inheritance, abundant provision, peace, and rest come from faithful meditation on His word and obedience to His commands. These are key to blessings and abundance. Joshua 1:8
Consider that Joshua waited outside the tent when Moses prayed throughout the Israelites’ journey through the desert. He experienced firsthand the glory of the Lord, watched, and stayed there at the door to the tent of meeting. Then he remained there and had his own experience with the Holy Spirit. Joshua heard God call him to step into Moses’ shoes. And he did. Places, encounters, and experiences are marked with stones of remembrance.
Joshua had an encounter with the triune God recorded in Joshua 5:13-15 when God appeared to him as the Commander of the army of the Lord. It changed his life there again. He had a place to mark with a stone of remembrance.
Our foundation Stone is Jesus the Cornerstone. Our inner life builds from there. We have a home in our hearts for God to dwell. The inner life prepares us for the outer life. So, we have stones of remembrance in our lives, and we want more.
We are presently at a crossroads. Are we ready to receive the continuous revelation of Jesus and make a mark on the world?