OUR DAY BEGINS AT MIDNIGHT

AND THERE WAS EVENING AND THEN THERE WAS MORNING; ONE DAY.(see Genesis 1:5).

So I am learning that the day begins with the evening and darkness come before the dawn.  The word says, "Joy comes in the morning." meaning that joy comes after the darkness.  It's getting through to the morning that is the hard part. Some night seasons are long indeed!

The dark-night-of-the-soul is a term used when we go through the greatest darkness and testing of our lives.
I remember my mother saying, "It gets the darkest just before the sun comes up".  I had no idea what on earth she was talking about. It sounded pretty dumb to me when I was young, but now that I have gone through a dark season in my life and suddenly it made sense to me.  It did get extremely dark before I saw a glimer of hope.  We had lost everything, from a home to belongings and now I was evicted from an old farm house we were renting.  Now I had to move again. My husband [now ex] walked out on me, my sister suddenly died; my mother got alzhiemers and she had no idea I was her daughter. I lost my job and had to part my way with some dear friends.  Everything was messed up in my life and it really was a dark time.  I had never felt so lost, abandoned and I felt all alone. This began in December 1996 and ended about the end of March 1997- It was a rough three or four months and it felt like a lifetime. When I came out of that season it was like a new start in my life; everything was different and it took some getting use to.  It was like getting use to light after being in a dark dungeon for months.  I felt so tested and tried in all my core values and beliefs.  I was surprised and relieved I did not walk away from my faith in the Lord  - there were days when I thought I would.  Everything was just too hard and too much to handle.  Now, everything was new.  A new day, a new life, a new vision, new hope and even my faith was made new and alive.  I made it through!

Our Day Starts At Midnight!

God gave me a word and spoke to me this week in my devotions that 'I' was now in a NEW DAY and that is was TIME to go forth into my destiny.

Time is what was needed in order to test my faith and purify my heart.  It could not happen easy or quickly. There was lots I had to understand and process in the midst of all that darkness.

 

The darkness needed to be sorted out and I had to assess what was important in life. I had some major decisions to make.  I was desperate for the light. I have had enough darkness. The wilderness that I came out of seemed so void of His presence but looking back now I realize He was with me the whole time. I remember the days where it felt I was groping in the darkness - feeling my way through and looking for meaning and purpose in everything in my life; so much had changed.  Now I needed meaning as I was so dry and baren.  I needed refreshment and water - the wilderness is a dry place.  The wilderness I learned was to keep me thirsty for Him.  I had pain that I had never experienced  before in my life. The emotional pain left a huge hole in me and it was like a void waiting to be filled.  Yes, it was dark - a very, very dark place that I was in and I had never felt so abandoned, rejected and lonely as I did then. The soul pain was great. God birthed a lot of compassion and wisdom in me during those years; I didn't know it then, but I see it now, and see it manifested in my life. My faith was indeed tested and tried. I had a friend, a spiritual mother, who prayed me through it as she was so concerned that I would return to Egypt, it was that painful.  The trial was producing 'endurance' in me to finish the course and lean on Him and not my flesh and my understanding.  Only He could get
me through the wilderness.  I didn't find my way out, but I found HIM in right in the middle of the darkness!  I collapsed in His arms and He led me out of the deep wilderness that I was lost in. 

The trials in my life are used to conform me to the image of Christ and to produce the fruit of His spirit.  What you like about me is what the Lord has done in my life; what you don't like about me?  --- well--- God is still working on me!  The trials in my life also bring me into a place of maturity where He can trust me with more authority to do the works that He did. That authority is to be used along with the Gifts of the Spirit.  Trust was another trial.  The testing of my own authority was another test to take.  And the  Dark-Night-Of-My-Soul?  Well, it led me to the Dawn's Light. 

1 Corinthians 10:13


Carried out of the Darkness



He comes into the darkness and carries us through!

It doesn't matter how dark it gets, the light will come.

it's a new day and it begins at midnight!

WHAT NEEDS TO BE SEPARATED ?

And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

(Genesis 1:4-5).

God is separating me from the darkness so I can truly walk in the light.  We cannot abide in Him and in darkness too!  What does darkness have to do with light! They won't blend, mix or mingle.  Light wins everytime.   When I am counselling a person, the Holy Spirit will separate the light from the darkness in their life. The light represents truth and darkness the lies.  

God shed light on the dark areas and reveals the truth.  Jesus is the light and God begins to separate the light from the darkness in our lives. The light will manifest everything that is hiding in the dark places.  The light reveals sin in our hearts.  We are changed from light to light..  truth to truth.. glory to glory. If we want more of God we need to allow God to separate light and darkness in us.

Corinthians 3:18: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.

We must see our sin - see the darkness in order to repent but when we see His love for us we want to repent... We want to please Him because we love Him. The dark areas can be the critical thoughts in my mind- dark thoughts.  The mind is a powerful thing just as powerful as that little tongue of ours.  Darkness can be in the words that come from ours tongues, or the darkness that sometimes comes up from my heart.  It does not have to be the blatent ten commandments but even finer things like attitudes.  When I spend time with Jesus-the-light, it chases the darkness way.  When I don't spent that time with Jesus-the-light, darkness creeps in.. slowly at first and then.. there it is fully manifested in one of those areas.

When I see my wrongs/faults I can't change myself into Ms Perfection, nor can I strive to be better and try harder like 'work' on it.. I will fail every time. I can, however run and spend time with Him and get in His Word and then Light enters back in to chases all that dark junk out..  It really does!  It works!  I dive in His word and find out He loves me and wants to shed His light in my heart. The more I understand how loved I am the less that darkness creeps in..  So we must abide in that love.. just stay there!

We are not changed by seeing our sin, but by turning to the Lord and by experiencing His glory. Our goal is not to become perfect people, but to abide in the One who is perfect.

Our goal must always be to keep our attention on the light, and let the light expose whatever darkness is in our lives.

As we follow the light, much of the darkness will separate from us automatically and as we grow in the light of God's love, the darkness will be exposed and separate from us.

Follow the light .. and be separated from all dark thoughts, deeds and actions.

Shine you light in me Lord - I want your glory to be found in me.

GOD SHED SOME LIGHT!

Early one morning, (this week) I was doing my devotions, in my hotel room, while we were attending a conference- a study on creation and my morning began this way ...

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (Genesis 1:3)  Okay,  I remember that scripture but I always wondered what it meant.  God had not yet created the sun or the moon so what light is that He is talking about I kept wondering.  We have the sun to light our day, the moon to light our night, but God created that light on the fourth day BEFORE He created the sun, moon and planets..  huh?  Help me to understand this Lord!! 

Light was created before the sun that was to manifest light.  Light was created before light. I had to wrap my head around this or I was not leaving my room!!
And then...God give me understanding!

Yes, all things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the LIGHT of men.   Hmmmmm
There can be no manifestation without that light.  We don't even know things are in the darkness, hiding, until the light sheds upon it.  Light represents truth.  He is the light right?


"The light was created before the sun, moon, and stars as an eternal testimony that He must be given first place in everything." Rick Joyner
 The Light--Jesus is the Light of God..  Jesus is the Glory of God!


Now, 1 John 1:7 reminds us to walk in the light because He is the light then we can have fellowship with each other in truth. When we remove ourselves from hanging out with others who have the light we fade and grow dim.  Together we impart and charge each other to stay bright as we know we can't get to our destination in Christ all by ourselves.

As I was studying the account of Creation - specifically day four - You know, when God created light before He created light ... and I pondered.. and I pondered until a scripture was dropped into my spirit and GOD shed some light on it! 

(Hang on a minute, I have heard this somewhere before where was that now..  hmmm) 

Revelation 21:23

New American Standard Bible

Glory -- it was his Glory!

wow .. that is all can say.. wow

And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the GLORY of God has illumined it,

and its lamp is the Lamb!

THE SPIRIT MOVED

 ...And the Spirit of God was over the face of the waters...

Did you know that the Spirit of God is ever moving, and it is God's Spirit that did all the work in the account of creation?
Yes, the Spirit of God like a mighty river is ever moving and always working and creating - His spirit never stops. 

We have heard the call and we know there is a destination and a work to accomplish through the Spirit of God.  And when we found ourselves being pulled towards that destination we learned very quickly that we had to be in the River of God or it could not happen otherwise. The river, like the Holy Spirit is always going somewhere.  And the river will continue to grow [and so will we] until it reaches it's destination.  It grows with power, and is teaming with life.  Each of us is a drop of water in that river; we can't survive alone we will dry up and evaporate.  When we stay in the river, our stream can join the streams of others that are joining in. 'Together' we grow into a mighty river -

Ecclesiastes 3:14   --I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

Okay --- we are getting into the River of God now - first, by sticking our toes in, to test the waters, and then slowly easing - testing - trusting - easing in some more, and suddenly we find ourselves waist deep.  Once we get past the intimacy and private parts it is easy to allow His river into our spirits..  and yet we know part of us is still holding back-
Our shoulders are up and elbows raised high, we know we must make the plunge - it is all or nothing - total submersion.  Our feet however, are still planted on the river bed and we still have some control as to where we stand but the force of the river makes it hard to stay where we want to stay so the next test is to lift up our feet and allow the river of God to take us wherever it wants to take us.  So here we go....unsure of where the river will take us but trusting God's Spirit the whole way ...  Get ready to let go of that last bit of control ..  Ready?  One... two.. three.. 

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

Ezekiel 47

Water from the Temple

1Then he brought me back to the (A)door of the house; and behold, (B)water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.

2He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.

3When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.

4Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins.

5Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a (C)river that could not be forded.

6He said to me, "Son of man, have you (D)seen this?" Then he brought me back to the bank of the river.

7Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many (E)trees on the one side and on the other.

8Then he said to me, "These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the (F)Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the (G)sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh.

9"It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so (H)everything will live where the river goes.

10"And it will come about that (I)fishermen will stand beside it; from (J)Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the (K)spreading of nets Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the (L)Great Sea, (M)very many.

11"But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for (N)salt.

12"(O)By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of (P)trees for food Their (Q)leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their (R)leaves for healing."