Once again I am surprised by the rush of time, it's been over a year since my last post! I am glad to report that the rush of time has changed and though time flies, there is a flow of joy throughout, even when I experience hurt and heartbreak.
We are in another clear, sunny, and cold fall day in Olympia, WA. I am snuggled up by the fire, enjoying the last of the brilliant autumn tones, with most of the leaves now coloring the ground. For me, satisfaction reigns through the cool, rainy hours of our Washington winters. I layer up and enjoy the indoor time with a variety of projects from writing, to sewing, music, good company. In rain breaks I take long walk and prep our garden for next spring. My Washington winters are a rich and vital season sparked by creative conversations with Jesus in the midst of everything.
WORD: A few years ago the Lord told me we are entering into the last revival, that this one is from the inside out and will not end. More recently He reminded me of this word, then added: "You (believers) know The Law, it is time to learn how to LOVE. The Law will be fulfilled through LOVE." To make a point, during our worship time in The Church of Living Water, the Lord prompted a change in lyrics. During the song, Break Every Chain, when it comes to, "There is power in the name of Jesus." Jesus prompted, "There is power in the Love of Jesus . . ." I feel loved in one of my deepest places when Jesus speaks to me through music. That, though he took away my magnificent singing voice, he lets me know he honors my passion for music by connecting to me in worship.
Over the years the most consistent way he has changed lyrics is to move into the present, rather than speaking in future tense. Example: many songs speak of "I will," such as, "I will love you; I will serve you; I will bow down," etc. He speaks into me, "I am, I love you, I serve you, I bow down," putting it into present tense. My commitment in life and in relationship with Jesus is to do it now, in this present tension.
Just yesterday our Pastor, Jon Cobler, gave an exciting Sunday talk, speaking of Humility and Hustle as part of living in relationship with Jesus. It was an Aha! moment for me, giving me an energizing picture of what is like me to be, both humble and in the hustle of life and love.
Urgency, which I now call hustle, is a redeemed part of me with roots in anxiety from being hypervigilant in my childhood as a result of growing up in disorganized attachment due to alcoholism and narcissism in my parents. I can tell when damaged roots are redeemed when they become tools/skills of "power in the love of Jesus." God transformed my hypervigilance into "seeing life and people with His eyes and understanding."
As our Pastor pointed out in the same sermon, one cannot help but do good works when you have made room for God in you. By simply loving Him, his DNA catches fire in you. The more you stoke that fire by accepting his unconditional love for you, then chasing after everything he has for you, the bigger his fire grows and the more you become the fullness of who you are and were meant to be. Maturing in Spiritual Power is a right brain, unique process in every person. It defies logic being far ahead of/faster than the capacity of our thinking/compartmentalizing left brain.
In all ways His restoration gives life, grows maturity, and, when you carry his love in power it changes the atmosphere everywhere you go, in Love, now and always, even in this present tension.