The Inner Chamber

Many of you reading this will know what I am referring to when I write of the inner chamber and many will not. What I am referring to is the secret place in the spiritual plane reserved for you and your Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus, Yahshua, by way of the Holy Spirit.

You might call it the prayer closet. But prayer is only a part of our worship to the Almighty. Just when I believe I have ‘worship’ defined, He reveals more to me. I believe when I write as led by the Spirit of God that that is worship. Does it take the place of communion in the inner chamber? At this point in my life, I cannot be sure. I simply know He wants that exchange of intimacy. When I go to that trysting place seeking Him, many times writing ideas manifest. He is my inspiration. He is my guide, comforter, healer, and lover of my soul.

Not that a believer has to be in a particular physical location to experience a holy encounter. I remember the first time I saw the Lord Jesus. I had been praying for a few days asking to see Him because a friend of mine had told me that this was available—to see into the spiritual realm. I had gone to bed before my husband one night. Although my eyes were closed as I lay there, I sensed that someone had entered the room. I sat up and in the bedroom corner I saw a figure of light. “Lord, is that You?” I whispered with trembling lips. He did not speak, but I had a knowing within that it was Him and tears coursed down my face. Suddenly the door opened causing me to turn and see that it was Tom coming to bed. When I quickly turned back to look upon the Lord, He was gone.

It was the beginning of many more adventures in the spirit. Sometimes I recognized whether it was the Father (as I related in my recent blog entry titled Mental Illness--Hope and Forgiveness) or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, and sometimes I did not. My manner is to converse with the Lord throughout the day. One particular day as I was putting laundry into the washer, I was apologizing to the Holy Spirit for something and was surprised when I was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of love. Oh, there is nothing like it!

One of my favorite movies is Amazing Grace. It’s the story of William Wilberforce who was the leading abolitionist in Britain who persuaded Parliament to ban the slave trade in 1807. In one scene a servant finds this man of faith sitting in the middle of a meadow disheveled and with a silly grin on his face. Wilberforce shares with him how God has moved upon him and caused him to come undone.

Like William Wilberforce, I am thrilled, undone and truly humbled by these encounters. I simply live for those waves of love! You probably see my point in writing all this. I want to encourage you to seek His face. Whether it is by going outside, in a private room, or in your car, just do it. Go to the secret place--He is waiting for you.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe...Ephesians 1:18-19 in part

Mental Illness--Hope and Forgiveness

As is true for everyone, there are so many aspects to my life that require me to depend on the Spirit of Christ in order to endure. When I was a child and not yet born again of God's Spirit, my parents divorced due to my father suffering with mental illness. This left my mother with five children to care for--I was the eldest daughter. From time to time we would visit with our Dad. As you can imagine, I did not have a close relationship with him. I loved him, but I did not really know him. So when he died I did not know whether he was saved or not.

Several years later, I had an encounter with Father God. I was in my hidden place worshipping and I heard Him say, "Soon it will be Father's Day."

"Yes, Lord, I know." In truth I was relieved that I no longer had to go to the store to try and find the 'right' Father's Day card. Of course, my Heavenly Father knew my thoughts, but I was not prepared for what my loving God then said.

"Your Dad wants you to know that he is sorry that he could not be the father you deserved."

I broke into tears and cried out, "I forgive you, Dad. Be released! Be released in Jesus' name! I love you!" In the spirit, I could see a balloon rising up to the heavenlies as though Yahweh wanted me to see that my words went up to my Dad and were received. I received much release within myself as well. Not only did this encounter heal me of much childhood wounding, but I realized that my Dad had made Jesus Lord and was with Him in Heaven.

This experience came at a much-needed time for me, because my husband Tom and I had been taking care of one of our teenaged children who had also been diagnosed with mental illness. We have endured much hardship because of this, but our child has endured even more.

My husband and I believe mental illness can be healed through Christ Jesus, our Yahshua. Two summers ago we heard the testimony of a man who was healed from schizophrenia by the sovereign Hand of God. One morning as I was working as a temporary receptionist at a nearby firm, the Spirit of the Lord dropped hope into my spirit. He told me that my child would be healed but that it was not yet time.

I praise God for His mercies are new every day! And I praise Him for the sure hope we have in the return of Jesus Christ when the ultimate healing occurs as we are clothed with our new bodies.

How has the Lord upgirded you through a troubled time in your life? Please feel free to comment or ask me about enduring through difficulties.

James 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Singing By The Spirit

Woven into the mundane everyday chores of my life as a handmaiden of the Lord, who happens to also be a wife/mother/grandmother/homemaker/writer, is a time when I get to exercise my wings as a prophetic singer. One night a week my husband and I minister with an intercessory worship team. Tom plays the drums and percussion and I sing alongside two other women and the male worship leader who plays the keyboard.

What makes this type of worship different is that we pray and sing the scriptures as the Spirit of God leads us. This is where the prophetic comes in. As we sing, the Holy Spirit gives us other related scripture verses to sing or words of proclamation, repentance or encouragement--whatever is His desire. We become guided missiles of intercession at the hands of The Great Intercessor. (For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 1 Cor 14:31)

There is also a prayer leader who reads and prays the focal verses. This past Tuesday, as the prayer leader began, she went to the Lord with such a contrite heart that we easily entered into that same place with her. This caused the heavens to rend and the atmosphere of the Throne of Heaven invaded our earthly atmosphere. I wept with the realization of what was happening. In the Spirit I saw wings upon wings filling the room and I began to sing what I was envisioning~

Do you see them?
They are here to worship Him with us~
Their wings fill the room!
Do you see them?

A cacophany of praise and worship erupted. The sound was loud and full and I knew the angels were singing with us for there was only a handful of saints gathered with us.

THIS is what I live for. To experientially KNOW HIM~The Lover of My Soul. I seek to encounter Him in my prayer closet and I seek to encounter Him corporately with the Body of Believers. Hallelu-Jah!

How Can Marriages Survive?

As my manner is, I checked my email before going to my blog site. This led to me signing yet another petition in the defense of marriage to be emailed to my representatives. One of our spiritual enemy's main attacks is on marriage, so today I am fighting back.

How can marriages survive this attack? The answer is simple, but not easy. Our Heavenly Father designed marriage to be a COVENANT NOT A CONTRACT. Webster's Dictionary uses the term 'covenant' to define what a contract is, but a covenant is a much more solemn compact than a mere contract.

When my husband and I were married over 31 years ago, we chose to share in the covenant of salt as part of our ceremony. We each partook of the salt by licking our finger and dipping it in a small dish of salt to signify that our words were salted (see Col. 4:6). Salt is rich in natural and spiritual significance. The biblical lore of salt begins in Leviticus 2:13 where Yahweh instructed the Israelites that every sacrifice was to be seasoned with salt and in Numbers 18:19 it became part of Yahweh's covenant with humanity. Entering into a covenant of salt means binding oneself to another in utmost loyalty and truthfulness, even suffering death rather than breaking the covenant.

Have we ever been tempted to break this solemn promise? Every couple has arguments, but the first time either one of us spoke 'divorce' also became our last time. That word hits the spirit and soul like a ton of bricks, so my husband and I agreed many years ago that we would never use the 'D' word. And I am so grateful to God that we have kept that promise. What I am sharing is NOT to slap a judgment on anyone who is divorced. I want to exhort those who are married to do spiritual battle against the enemy of our souls--by standing together. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone... (Gen. 2:18). We live in a place and time where we need one another more than ever. After the Lord, our spouses should be our best friends.

And so, Beloved, don't let finances, children, relatives, or well-meaning so-called friends cause you to give up on your marriage. Fight spiritual darkness the way Jesus, our Y'shua, taught us--LOVE ONE ANOTHER--and let your speech be seasoned with salt~

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Col. 4:6

Have you an edifying story for those struggling in their marriages? Please write a comment so that we may encourage one another.

To Eat or NOT to Eat

Have you ever done a fast? I know it is tempting at this point to ask me, "Ever done a fast what? A fast walk? A fast drive to the store?" But I am talking about not eating anything for a period of time with the purpose being to seek God's face.

First, let me explain that I like to eat. I don't particularly like to cook, although I have been told I am a good cook. I do enjoy baking, especially when the peach trees and later the apple trees begin providing fresh fruit for pies. At my last physical I asked the doctor if I was overweight. "You're borderline," was her reply. That answer was given to me a year and several baking episodes ago!

I believe we are to be good stewards and that includes our physical health. I had to re-learn this the hard way, however, the year I turned 41. I awoke in the middle of the night because electrical charges were surging through my entire body. I was paralyzed and could hardly speak as I struggled to get my husband's attention. "Tom, pray for me!" I managed to eke out. I was feeling better after he prayed but felt claustrophobic under the heavy blankets, so I slept in my winter bathrobe the rest of the night.

In the morning I was still so shaken that I crawled--not walked--but crawled my way into the bathroom. As I slowly made my way along the carpet, I cried out to the Lord to help me. He spoke so clearly to me that even today I remember what He said. "Daughter, I will carry you through this phase of your life to the other side. Read Leviticus 17:11. Remember to eat a green salad every day and call Becky.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood...the first part of Leviticus 17:11 read. I was homeschooling my daughter at this time and had studied and learned much about the human body. We are only as healthy as our blood is and what we eat greatly affects our blood. When I contacted my friend Becky, a nutritionist, I learned that almost all diseases (something like 98%) stem from poor nutrition. I reached out to other brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for me and I realized a couple of things--1) We are called the Body because we need every member; and 2) My body was entering what is called 'peri-menopause' (the bumpy ride before you hit menopause).

It was during this period of concentrating on my health that I decided to give fasting a whirl. I had heard that fasting helped believers strip away the physical realm so that they can experience the spiritual realm more deeply. I already had known times of wonderful intimacy while communing with the Lord, but I felt the tug of the Holy Spirit to go deeper through fasting. So I told the Lord that I would do it for Him. After going without food and allowing myself to drink only water for a day, I arose early the next morning to seek His face. As I entered the small library room I used as my prayer closet, I saw the Lord. It was not that He had physically manifested, but I saw Him with my spiritual eyes as He stood there apparently waiting for me. It is difficult to put into words that type of encounter. I believe He always is ready to meet with us. Somehow fasting stripped away the veil of the flesh so that I could see Him more clearly.

It has been many years since that euphoric experience and I have not ever fasted (from food that is) since then. Well, there was a couple of times I had to refrain from food because of some blood work, but that doesn't count. Anyway, you can see that I mean what I say (er, write). I do enjoy discussing many subjects and have gone from early marriage and parenting to the other end of the spectrum with peri-menopause in just two postings--HA! So do feel free to jump in and drop me a line.