"Philadelphia, renew your hope in the Lord. Believe the Fire burns hot enough to forge renowned steel and will not bend. Steel that will be used as pillars to complete the Father's House.
Do not entangle yourself with a yoke of bondage. Stay out of satan's synagogue and do not eat what is on her alter. Christ has made you free, you are free indeed. Come and feast on the Bread of Life and drink the Living Wine. You with Him have all that you will ever need.
God does not abandon the works of His Hands and will not leave you incomplete.. Just as you fill the holes in the Son's hands and feet, the High Priest fills the cracks in your bell allowing you the liberty to go before God with no fear."
"New Jerusalem, allow yourself to be comforted from the Comforter. He longs to gather you in His arms and speak tenderly to you. Your sin-fueled trauma provoked by the enemy is healed as you walk forward in the Light of Christ in eternal Hope. Condemnation and defilement is not from your Husband and is not found in your new name. His grace is sufficient to remove what the enemy has meant for your harm. Keep your gates open to all who will come through the Door but lock down the window hatches to keep out thieves."
I have written what I have heard.

Out of this world but still in it
Groaning for Your celestial beat
Waiting for our eyes to meet
True Love has been awakened
The longer the pause
The more I work on Your applause
Praising You has become my cause
Moments of distraction feel like a deep chasm
Between Heaven and Earth
Where the deep darkness and Your Bright Light meet
Heaven on Earth,
Your Kingdom feels closer and closer to me
The irony isn't lost on me
I want to hear the angels sing and
You want to hear my voice ring
True Love isn't one-sided-
But my love for You and Your love for me
The desires of my heart
Are the desires of Yours too
Together, it lifts us up off of our feet
Twirling together in a dance
Smiles blazing as we laugh out our story
Oh the joy, to be caught up in Your Glory

Hidden in You
So many questions
Dark and heavy
No matter what I ask
Your Light bursts through
The Answer remains
Light and easy
Jesus is Lord

The first story I ever had published arrived in the mail in its finished form. I was saddened to realize that my story had been changed. Grammatical editing or condensing it to fit would not have bothered me. The part removed was about Jesus. Without Jesus, my words had lost their power and had been rendered a mere moral lesson and who doesn't have enough of those (often contradicting each other) in their pocket?! The only reason I had a good outcome and story to tell was the part that was removed.
Jesus, the Life and the Light to the words I had written had been removed. My edited story had become a life lesson that I wasn't trying to give. The absence of Life is death. The absence of Light is darkness. I included Jesus in my story because He included me in His. Without Him, I have no finished story.
​ "...Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..."

Blessed Assurance by Fanny J. Crosby
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

The Farmer came sooner than expected. He wasn't supposed to come for 2 or 3 more weeks. I felt it in my soul that He was coming sooner. I saw the extended forecast and it wasn't conducive for gathering the Harvest. Now is the time to gather the Harvest. I tried to tell the others that the Farmer was coming. I could just feel it in my soul. I said that already, I know. It didn't matter that life was busy outside of the fields. Nothing mattered other than the Farmer declaring the Harvest is ready. Personally, I didn't think the fields could have handled two or three more weeks. The Farmer knows His fields. The grain bins were empty and only needed a good clean sweep before the new grain came in. Through this one season full of pressures that included floods, drought, extreme heat, extreme freezes, pestilence, and rough winds the Farmer still got His crop. The bins are overflowing. The Farmer declared the Harvest good.
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Growing up in an era where charm school was expected, I have a fascination with etiquette and particularly etiquette-related advice columns. Of course, since I've come to know Jesus more and more, I realize that most rules of etiquette are rendered moot in the scheme of spiritual matters and most rules of etiquette made by humans are generally an elemental force meant for organization to civilization (Babylon, anyone?).
Still, I couldn't help but notice a question yesterday in the paper about a woman who didn't know how to handle a grocery store's manager directing her to be first in line in the check out lane next to her due to her cart having more than the 10 or less item requirement. She didn't like the jeers and mocks she received from other customers who did not understand that the manager called her over to the empty line and assumed she was self righteous in her pursuit of getting out of the busy store quicker than every one else. The manager had his reasons of calling her ahead of the long line she was in to the empty line. He wanted to keep the employees working and the lines running smoothly. Nobody could use the 10 or less checkout lanes because nobody (not one!) had 10 or less. He, as the store's manager, had the authority to do what was best for his store's operation. In fact, her hesitation of acceptance of an expedited checkout actually slowed the store down even more.
God uses everything around me to explain Spiritual concepts to me and this story is no exception. He's calling many people to come up, come over, or expediting circumstances to get everyone in their place. Many are not listening because they are too worried about the jeers and mocking of the unauthorized telling them they have no right to be there. How quickly we forget that we have a personal friend in Jesus Who has authorized us to come up to heavenly places. Forget not the benefits of Salvation. Forget not the benefits of Grace. His Righteousness has placed us under the law of righteousness. Humility looks a whole lot like obedience. Obedience is proper etiquette to God and way better than sacrifice. Besides, who could pay the price of the Sacrifice that's already been paid? His Grace is sufficient. Take it. Take as much as you need to get you Face to face in this race. Go and sin no more. He knows how to run this store. 
​"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."

Our prayer for all the Calebs who serve the God of Israel wholeheartedly.
Heavenly Father, we enter Your gates with thanksgiving in our hearts. We enter Your courts with praise. You are the Lord and there is no one like You. We are Your Temple; we pray for Your Temple to reflect the stamina and strength of Your servant Caleb.  We pray that Your Temple will have no scars since You have bore them for us and by Your stripes we are healed. I bind up anything that tries to exalt itself against the knowledge of Christ trying to take up residence in Your Temple. I loosen the Fullness of Your Holy Spirit. What You have given still stands, including Caleb’s Hebron. May Your Calebs be renewed to enjoy the fruits of Your finished labor, Jesus. In Your Holy name Jesus, Amen. 

Families of pheasants. Families of rabbits. Families of squirrels. Families of chipmunks. Families of sparrows. Families of field mice. Families of snakes. Families of frogs. Families we know nothing of resting among the harvest. The corn stalks had become their home. We tried to warn them all that the harvest would be swift and great and the corn is really not a safe place.
A farmer has a right to his own fields. A farmer gracefully watched the harvest grow as each tare sprung up. Patiently waiting for the harvest to be ready, the farmer held back until the harvest was just right. 
My prayers are often the same. So many in the valley of indecision. So many standing in a temporary home. The Harvest is great! Don't be caught as undecided while the thresher threshes and the chaff gets blown away. The reapers are reaping and the fields are being cleaned. Hurry! Come! Families of the field, come! Stand by the Farmer while He prepares our Heavenly home.
Jesus, I ask for all those in the valley of indecision to make their choice. Shut the mouth of the accuser that presents lies. I bind up confusion and loosen the clarity of Your Word so that "All who call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." 
In the Powerful Name of Jesus and by Your Redeeming Blood,
​Amen.