I dont even know where I got this! I was looking through some files on my computer the other day, and I saw this one. I decided to put it in my blog as an encouragement to myself and whoever else the Lord leads to read it. It is long, but I PROMISE it is well worth the read...
Child of Mine, there are times when you forget Who I am and what I have done for you. In those times, you look at your failures and inadequacies and assume that I must be mad at you. You temporarily forget that the blood of My dear Son breaks the power of sin and death over you; it washes you clean and presents you holy and pure before Me.
When you forget these things, you begin to assume that I feel differently towards you than I really do, and you often impose periods of separation because of for fear that I am displeased with you. When you do that, you act as if the sacrifice of My dear Son is null and void on your behalf. Without meaning to, you show contempt for all that He suffered for you. Yet it is because of what He did for you on Calvary that I am able to receive you in the midst of your shortcomings and failures.
I do not want to push you away nor do I want you to separate yourself from Me. Instead I want you to run back to Me and allow Me to restore you. Yes, there will be times when you fall short. In those times, I want you to remember Who I am and what My character is.
I am a loving Father, and I am good to My own. The blood of My own dear Son has made a way for you to come to Me and stand before Me and be adopted into My family. It will not fail you and I will not push you away.
Remember what I did for My servant David. He sinned greatly before Me, committing murder and adultry. Because of that sin, he felt that he had moved far away from Me. Yet I came to him via one of My prophets, I sought him out. I did not come to destroy him, but to restore him. Look at how I speak of David in My word: I do not call him a sinner or a murderer or an adulterer, I call him My friend and a man after My own heart. That is proof to you that I did not hold his sin and shortcoming against Him when he repented before Me. And I won't hold yours against you when you run back to Me with all of your heart.
My forgiveness is complete and it breathes life and destiny back into My own. There does not need to be any periods of separation between us when you fall short. If you knew who I really was, you would know that I see the heart in the midst of the shortcomings.
I do not condemn My own, I restore them and I strengthen them so that they might sin no more. I do not push them away, I draw them closer to Myself. My truth is simple. My Son died for your sins and through Him you have eternal life and fellowship with Me. This truth does not just cover the wrongs you did before you knew Me, it covers every aspect of your life-- past, present and future.
When you sin or fall short, the devil will come in with the voice of condemnation an try to separate you from Me. Do not believe his lies. Stand in faith, remembering who I am and all that My Son has done for you. Do not allow yourself to become separated from Me, for I will not push you away. If you run from Me in the midst of your inadequacies, then they will overtake you and overcome you, and you will be bound by them. But if you run to Me, then I will help you overcome them.
Child, the separation comes when you forget Who I am and what I am really like. I am your loving heavenly Father; I have adopted you into My family and made you one of My own. I am love, and I am capable of loving you even when you fall short. I am also truth, and I will not allow you to stand in darkness, lies and deception. I am also Holy and I will not allow you to stand in sin; I will deliver you from it's power.
If you run to My love in the midst of your inadequacy, then you will surely experience My great love for you. You will know the power of the Blood of My Son to forgive you. You will know My light, for I will shine on you with My radiance and remove the darkness from you. I will empower you to overcome the areas of inadequacy in your life through My resurrection power, I will make you an overcoming one who stands victoriously by My side. So do not run from Me when you feel dirty and inadequate. Instead remember who I am and run to Me.
My Invitation To You Child of Mine, I am calling you up higher and I am inviting you to walk closer to Myself. That is something which you have longed for; it is something that you have asked Me to do for you over and over again. Dear child, your request pleases Me, it touches My heart, and I am saying 'Yes' to your request.
In fact I am at work right now in your life to answer that prayer, I am working to draw you closer to Myself. I desire to reveal more of Myself to you and to show you greater measures of My glory. I desire to flood your senses with My presence and I desire to make you even more secure in My great love for you. I want you to hear My voice clearly and I have much that I would like to speak to you about, for I want to share My passions and My heart with you. I want you to experience a deep walk with Me, and I am willing to help you get to that place.
The problem is that the way I am doing it is different than what you anticipated it would be. That is because you didn't fully understand what you were asking for; you did not realize what I must do to answer your prayer. That is why I am going to explain it to you.
You see, child, the reason we are not already in closer intimacy is because your flesh and your carnal nature get in the way of our intimacy. I am a holy God and the closer you get to Me, the more the intensity of My holiness will overwhelm your senses--at times it will convict you and at times it will terrify you. I am Who I am; it is My very nature to be pure and holy, and I do not change. If you want to approach Me, you are going to have to do so on My terms, which means that you have to change to be more like Me. But fear not, for I have already put My Spirit within you to help you through that process. He is constantly at work in you to mature you and to transform you, so that you might be able to draw even closer to Me.
The problem is your own sin and carnal nature and immaturity and personal issues--they are the barriors that separate you from Me. In order for Me to move you past these barriors and draw you closer to Myself, I have to address certain issues in your life. I have to transform you and at times I make you face issues and truths about yourself that you would rather not deal with. But you have to deal with them and overcome them if you want to move closer to Me, because I cannot stop being holy and pure. Sin and woundedness cannot stand in My presence, so I must purge these things out of you. Then I can draw you even closer to Myself and shower more of My love on you.
I know it is painful and unpleasant for you when I address these things, but we must get past them if you want to walk in deeper intimacy with Me. There are offences that I must remove from your heart, there are wrong attitudes that I must remove from your thinking, there are festering hurts from your past that I must open up and heal, and there are fears that you must overcome. The process is difficult for you at times, but I do not take you through it to punish you. I do it that I might be able to give you the desire of your heart--the ability to sense a greater measure of My presence and tangible nearness in every area of your life.
There are times when you so start to move closer to Me, and then some area of woundedness or some carnal aspect of your nature rises up to prevent you. It makes you feel further away from Me than you did before. You shake your head and you wonder what happened. (In truth, you are not further away, I have My hand on you for good and I am actively drawing you closer-- but it feels that way to you.) That is why I wanted to tell you what is going on. I am at work in your heart to remove one of those barriors so that you can indeed experience a deeper intimacy with Me.
When I draw you closer, you enter into a greater measure of My holiness and issues you thought you'd already dealt with surface under the intensity of it. Don't be dismayed when that happens to you, I am just allowing them to surface so that I can remove them. I am at work in your life, and I am drawing you closer to Myself. Do not fear that I might become disgusted at you when these things surface, for I already know they are there and I already know they separate you from Me, and that is why I am at work to remove them from your life. I will not reject you, I will give you the victory and I will transform you. I am indeed issuing you an invitation to come closer to Me, and you will find that where I am bringing you is a very good place for you to be. So do not fear the process that I must take you through. Just accept My invitation and trust Me to get you there.
I Am Causing Your Faith To Grow Child of Mine, these times seem perilous to many. Problems are overtaking people on all sides and difficulties abound. There is uncertainty about many things and men's hearts are indeed failing them for fear. But that is not to be a concern of yours. I want you to simply trust in Me and know that I am both willing and able to take excellent care of you. I have the resources you need and I am willing to release them to those who are called by My name, to those who love Me, to those who are actively doing My will and to those who submit to My lordship in their lives.
Dear child, I don't want you to confuse comfort and care. I always take good care of My own, but I don't always make it comfortable for them. Look at My servant David, who I anointed and appointed as a king over Israel. My hand and My protection were on him from the time I had Samuel call him in from the fields to anoint him until the time that he finished his reign. But I did not always make his way easy and comfortable. He want back to the fields and guarded his father's flock after I sent My prophet to him. I could have set My angels around him to make his job easy, but I did not. I allowed the lion and the bear to come in and attempt to steal the flock, so that he might learn to fight and overcome. Notice that I never let the wild animals defeat or destroy him, but I did allow them to engage him. There are times when I do the same thing in your life.
At times you wonder why I did not protect you from this or that. At times you ask how I could love you so dearly and still allow you to experience harm. But child, just like I knew David's destiny, I also know yours. I knew that I would send David to fight Goliath, so it was necessary to train him to war. I also know the giants that you will one day face, and I am training and equipping you to overcome them.
I love you and My protection is still over you, even when things that you don't like happen to you. I do allow them to come against you, but I do not allow them to destroy you. I am teaching you to overcome and to learn to walk in victory when I allow you to face difficulties. They will not destroy you and they will not keep you from your destiny, if only you keep your heart fixed on Me and purpose to obey all that I ask you to do.
David's destiny was always secure in Me, but from a human perspective, it looked like it was filled with peril. After he defeated Goliath and won a great victory for Israel, the king became jealous of him. David did no wrong and no treason or unfaithfulness was found in him, but he ended up on the run from a powerful enemy bent to destroy him. He had to flee to hostile kingdoms, he had to feign insanity, he had to hide with his men in the wilderness. He was separated from his wife and he slept in caves and many times he had to go into hiding. Do you think I loved him any less when I allowed him to go through these things? Of course not.
I have called him My friend and a man after My own heart. He was precious and dear to Me, and I took care of him every step of the way. His enemy's never defeated him, his pursuers never destroyed him, he was kept safe from harm and death did not overtake him in the midst of all the challenges he faced.
While I cared for him, I also taught him how to obey Me and how to walk in faith. I caused him to grow and to mature in character and in his walk with Me. I allowed him to experience My faithfulness and to know deep down in his innermost being that I am trustworthy. I allowed him to go through discomfort so his faith might grow, but I always took good care of him. And in due time, I thrust him into the fullness of his destiny.
Child, I am the same God for you that I was for David. My nature does not change, I remain faithful. I will take care of you and I will cause you to walk in the full measure of your destiny, just as I did with him.
Child, I do not abandon you in hardships, I continue to take care of you. I am at work in your life to bring in a greater measure of My glory and I am causing your faith to grow. Put your trust in Me and you will not be disappointed, for I will take care of you.
Remember
Child of Mine, there are times when you forget Who I am and what I have done for you. In those times, you look at your failures and inadequacies and assume that I must be mad at you. You temporarily forget that the blood of My dear Son breaks the power of sin and death over you; it washes you clean and presents you holy and pure before Me.
When you forget these things, you begin to assume that I feel differently towards you than I really do, and you often impose periods of separation because of for fear that I am displeased with you. When you do that, you act as if the sacrifice of My dear Son is null and void on your behalf. Without meaning to, you show contempt for all that He suffered for you. Yet it is because of what He did for you on Calvary that I am able to receive you in the midst of your shortcomings and failures.
I do not want to push you away nor do I want you to separate yourself from Me. Instead I want you to run back to Me and allow Me to restore you. Yes, there will be times when you fall short. In those times, I want you to remember Who I am and what My character is.
I am a loving Father, and I am good to My own. The blood of My own dear Son has made a way for you to come to Me and stand before Me and be adopted into My family. It will not fail you and I will not push you away.
Remember what I did for My servant David. He sinned greatly before Me, committing murder and adultry. Because of that sin, he felt that he had moved far away from Me. Yet I came to him via one of My prophets, I sought him out. I did not come to destroy him, but to restore him. Look at how I speak of David in My word: I do not call him a sinner or a murderer or an adulterer, I call him My friend and a man after My own heart. That is proof to you that I did not hold his sin and shortcoming against Him when he repented before Me. And I won't hold yours against you when you run back to Me with all of your heart.
My forgiveness is complete and it breathes life and destiny back into My own. There does not need to be any periods of separation between us when you fall short. If you knew who I really was, you would know that I see the heart in the midst of the shortcomings.
I do not condemn My own, I restore them and I strengthen them so that they might sin no more. I do not push them away, I draw them closer to Myself. My truth is simple. My Son died for your sins and through Him you have eternal life and fellowship with Me. This truth does not just cover the wrongs you did before you knew Me, it covers every aspect of your life-- past, present and future.
When you sin or fall short, the devil will come in with the voice of condemnation an try to separate you from Me. Do not believe his lies. Stand in faith, remembering who I am and all that My Son has done for you. Do not allow yourself to become separated from Me, for I will not push you away. If you run from Me in the midst of your inadequacies, then they will overtake you and overcome you, and you will be bound by them. But if you run to Me, then I will help you overcome them.
Child, the separation comes when you forget Who I am and what I am really like. I am your loving heavenly Father; I have adopted you into My family and made you one of My own. I am love, and I am capable of loving you even when you fall short. I am also truth, and I will not allow you to stand in darkness, lies and deception. I am also Holy and I will not allow you to stand in sin; I will deliver you from it's power.
If you run to My love in the midst of your inadequacy, then you will surely experience My great love for you. You will know the power of the Blood of My Son to forgive you. You will know My light, for I will shine on you with My radiance and remove the darkness from you. I will empower you to overcome the areas of inadequacy in your life through My resurrection power, I will make you an overcoming one who stands victoriously by My side. So do not run from Me when you feel dirty and inadequate. Instead remember who I am and run to Me.
My Invitation To You Child of Mine, I am calling you up higher and I am inviting you to walk closer to Myself. That is something which you have longed for; it is something that you have asked Me to do for you over and over again. Dear child, your request pleases Me, it touches My heart, and I am saying 'Yes' to your request.
In fact I am at work right now in your life to answer that prayer, I am working to draw you closer to Myself. I desire to reveal more of Myself to you and to show you greater measures of My glory. I desire to flood your senses with My presence and I desire to make you even more secure in My great love for you. I want you to hear My voice clearly and I have much that I would like to speak to you about, for I want to share My passions and My heart with you. I want you to experience a deep walk with Me, and I am willing to help you get to that place.
The problem is that the way I am doing it is different than what you anticipated it would be. That is because you didn't fully understand what you were asking for; you did not realize what I must do to answer your prayer. That is why I am going to explain it to you.
You see, child, the reason we are not already in closer intimacy is because your flesh and your carnal nature get in the way of our intimacy. I am a holy God and the closer you get to Me, the more the intensity of My holiness will overwhelm your senses--at times it will convict you and at times it will terrify you. I am Who I am; it is My very nature to be pure and holy, and I do not change. If you want to approach Me, you are going to have to do so on My terms, which means that you have to change to be more like Me. But fear not, for I have already put My Spirit within you to help you through that process. He is constantly at work in you to mature you and to transform you, so that you might be able to draw even closer to Me.
The problem is your own sin and carnal nature and immaturity and personal issues--they are the barriors that separate you from Me. In order for Me to move you past these barriors and draw you closer to Myself, I have to address certain issues in your life. I have to transform you and at times I make you face issues and truths about yourself that you would rather not deal with. But you have to deal with them and overcome them if you want to move closer to Me, because I cannot stop being holy and pure. Sin and woundedness cannot stand in My presence, so I must purge these things out of you. Then I can draw you even closer to Myself and shower more of My love on you.
I know it is painful and unpleasant for you when I address these things, but we must get past them if you want to walk in deeper intimacy with Me. There are offences that I must remove from your heart, there are wrong attitudes that I must remove from your thinking, there are festering hurts from your past that I must open up and heal, and there are fears that you must overcome. The process is difficult for you at times, but I do not take you through it to punish you. I do it that I might be able to give you the desire of your heart--the ability to sense a greater measure of My presence and tangible nearness in every area of your life.
There are times when you so start to move closer to Me, and then some area of woundedness or some carnal aspect of your nature rises up to prevent you. It makes you feel further away from Me than you did before. You shake your head and you wonder what happened. (In truth, you are not further away, I have My hand on you for good and I am actively drawing you closer-- but it feels that way to you.) That is why I wanted to tell you what is going on. I am at work in your heart to remove one of those barriors so that you can indeed experience a deeper intimacy with Me.
When I draw you closer, you enter into a greater measure of My holiness and issues you thought you'd already dealt with surface under the intensity of it. Don't be dismayed when that happens to you, I am just allowing them to surface so that I can remove them. I am at work in your life, and I am drawing you closer to Myself. Do not fear that I might become disgusted at you when these things surface, for I already know they are there and I already know they separate you from Me, and that is why I am at work to remove them from your life. I will not reject you, I will give you the victory and I will transform you. I am indeed issuing you an invitation to come closer to Me, and you will find that where I am bringing you is a very good place for you to be. So do not fear the process that I must take you through. Just accept My invitation and trust Me to get you there.
I Am Causing Your Faith To Grow Child of Mine, these times seem perilous to many. Problems are overtaking people on all sides and difficulties abound. There is uncertainty about many things and men's hearts are indeed failing them for fear. But that is not to be a concern of yours. I want you to simply trust in Me and know that I am both willing and able to take excellent care of you. I have the resources you need and I am willing to release them to those who are called by My name, to those who love Me, to those who are actively doing My will and to those who submit to My lordship in their lives.
Dear child, I don't want you to confuse comfort and care. I always take good care of My own, but I don't always make it comfortable for them. Look at My servant David, who I anointed and appointed as a king over Israel. My hand and My protection were on him from the time I had Samuel call him in from the fields to anoint him until the time that he finished his reign. But I did not always make his way easy and comfortable. He want back to the fields and guarded his father's flock after I sent My prophet to him. I could have set My angels around him to make his job easy, but I did not. I allowed the lion and the bear to come in and attempt to steal the flock, so that he might learn to fight and overcome. Notice that I never let the wild animals defeat or destroy him, but I did allow them to engage him. There are times when I do the same thing in your life.
At times you wonder why I did not protect you from this or that. At times you ask how I could love you so dearly and still allow you to experience harm. But child, just like I knew David's destiny, I also know yours. I knew that I would send David to fight Goliath, so it was necessary to train him to war. I also know the giants that you will one day face, and I am training and equipping you to overcome them.
I love you and My protection is still over you, even when things that you don't like happen to you. I do allow them to come against you, but I do not allow them to destroy you. I am teaching you to overcome and to learn to walk in victory when I allow you to face difficulties. They will not destroy you and they will not keep you from your destiny, if only you keep your heart fixed on Me and purpose to obey all that I ask you to do.
David's destiny was always secure in Me, but from a human perspective, it looked like it was filled with peril. After he defeated Goliath and won a great victory for Israel, the king became jealous of him. David did no wrong and no treason or unfaithfulness was found in him, but he ended up on the run from a powerful enemy bent to destroy him. He had to flee to hostile kingdoms, he had to feign insanity, he had to hide with his men in the wilderness. He was separated from his wife and he slept in caves and many times he had to go into hiding. Do you think I loved him any less when I allowed him to go through these things? Of course not.
I have called him My friend and a man after My own heart. He was precious and dear to Me, and I took care of him every step of the way. His enemy's never defeated him, his pursuers never destroyed him, he was kept safe from harm and death did not overtake him in the midst of all the challenges he faced.
While I cared for him, I also taught him how to obey Me and how to walk in faith. I caused him to grow and to mature in character and in his walk with Me. I allowed him to experience My faithfulness and to know deep down in his innermost being that I am trustworthy. I allowed him to go through discomfort so his faith might grow, but I always took good care of him. And in due time, I thrust him into the fullness of his destiny.
Child, I am the same God for you that I was for David. My nature does not change, I remain faithful. I will take care of you and I will cause you to walk in the full measure of your destiny, just as I did with him.
Child, I do not abandon you in hardships, I continue to take care of you. I am at work in your life to bring in a greater measure of My glory and I am causing your faith to grow. Put your trust in Me and you will not be disappointed, for I will take care of you.
