Today’s Readings:
Ephesians 5
Psalm 61-62
Isaiah 51
61 O God, hear my prayer. Listen to my heart’s cry.
Psalm 61:1-4
2 For no matter where I am, even when I’m far from home,
I will cry out to you for a father’s help.
When I’m feeble and overwhelmed by life,
guide me into your glory, where I am safe and sheltered.
3 Lord, you are a paradise of protection to me.
You lift me high above the fray.
None of my foes can touch me
when I’m held firmly in your wraparound presence!
4 Keep me in this glory.
Let me live continually under your splendor-shadow,
hiding my life in you forever.
Pause in his presence
The Lord says,
Dwell in peace. Dwell with a recognition of My holiness. Stir up joy and expectation in your heart. The days are hard, but you don’t have to be hardened by them. The days are long, but you don’t have to live in defeat and exhaustion. Stir up joy. Stir up hope. Stir up expectation, and live from up higher. Come up higher and refuse to live from below, from the low road. If you live on the plain that you are operating, you have no advantages. You can’t see ahead, you can’t see beyond the moment to moment.
But if you live from up higher, from up here seated with Me in Heavenly Places, you can see the panorama. You can see that this is but a moment. You can see and move from a place of confidence — less attached to and moved by the momentary troubles and difficulties — because you can perceive that they are fleeting. You live from an understanding of your identity as a child of the Most High King when you are living from up higher. Live above the corn maze, and you can see how to maneuver successfully to get out. You can more clearly see the obstacles and the right way forward. This is what up higher living does for you. It clarifies, and it takes the moment by moment pressure off.
5 Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as his beloved sons and daughters. 2 And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for he surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God, like an aroma of adoration—a sweet healing fragrance.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Choose love. Choose to operate and connect with people from a place of love. Choose to handle those difficult moments and difficult conversations from a place of love. Love is not always sweet and gentle. Sometimes love calls for fierceness and protective measures, boundaries and firmness.
62 I stand silently to listen for the one I love,
Psalm 62:1-2
waiting as long as it takes for the Lord to rescue me.
For God alone has become my Savior.
2 He alone is my safe place;
his wraparound presence always protects me.
For he is my champion defender;
there’s no risk of failure with God.
So why would I let worry paralyze me,
even when troubles multiply around me?
Choose trust. It is much easier to trust Me with your future when you are seated next to Me up here. Leave the ground warfare and the hand to hand combat, and come up here. Come up higher and sit next to me. Trust will be the natural response when you are here with Me, looking from above.
13 Now may God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!
Romans 15:13
Choose peace. My peace I give, My peace I leave with you. You have access to all the peace in the world through Holy Spirit who lives within you. Choose to access His peace. Choose to dwell and operate surrounded by His perfect peace that passes all understanding. Peace is a birthright and a promise and a gift that I have left for you. You have unfettered access to the peace I planted inside of you when you were baptized with Holy Spirit.
15–16 So be very careful how you live, not being like those with no understanding, but live honorably with true wisdom, for we are living in evil times. Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes. 17 And don’t live foolishly for then you will have discernment to fully understand God’s will.
Ephesians 5:15-16
You are looking for structure. You are looking for routine, for rhythms, for a new normal. We are not there yet, so you will be disappointed and frustrated if you keep striving to find it. Instead, get into the rhythm of My grace for this hour, for this in-between season. Ask Me to prioritize your days for you. Ask Me to pour out My favor on your engagements and interactions and dealings. This is not a time to be looking to settle in, to be looking for a new normal, for a routine. This is a time to move with the Spirit and accept and live in My grace for each day.
14 Those who are suffering will soon be released.
Isaiah 51:14-16
They will not die in their dark dungeon,
nor will they go hungry.
15 For I am Yahweh, your faithful God,
who split the sea with its roaring waves.
My name is Lord Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies!
16 “I have placed my words in your mouth
and have hidden you in the hollow of my hand
to establish the heavens and make the earth rock solid.
You will say to Zion, ‘You are my people!’”
Give yourself room to rest and recover. The days are hard. The change is hard. Give yourself room to recover and get re-grounded, to get your footing here in this rocky place. Don’t push yourself too hard. This in- between season will soon pass into the next. Be found faithful in this in- between time. You are learning how to thrive in uncertainty and difficulties and hardships. You are learning to walk through dark times hand in hand with Me. This all has a purpose, so don’t try to rush through and make it end. You cannot dictate the span of a season. Lean on Me. Rest in My graces. Choose joy. Walk confidently hand in hand with the Lord your God, your Maker.
How to Respond
- Sing spiritual songs and read and sing the Psalms to encourage yourself in the Lord.
- Take the rest you need.
- Give yourself grace to be unsettled in the uncertainty of this in- between season.
- Speak words of hope, life and trust as you interact with others. They will build up your own spirit as you do.
- Ask the Lord to prioritize your day and to give you favor in all that you put your hands to.
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