Sound of revelation

To me, this is the lyric of "I just received WORD!"

Jesus asks very poignant questions in Mark 8 that should reveal a sense of this song.

Having eyes don't you see?

Having ears don't you hear?

Do you remember when (fill in your personal miracle)?

You understand?

Who do you say I am?

For what of a profit if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?

Set your mind on things of God (mark 8:33)

Then you will sing as you feel how this song ties together that awe inspiring feeling "I just received revelation."

http://youtu.be/0FksKAytQdk

"Alive" Capital Kings

Sticks and stones

Sticks and stones may break David's bones but call His God names and he will hurt you

The ruddy boy came in from the field smelling like dew and dirt. The only shine to his appearance was the sun he toiled in. He probably forgot his sandals by some tree he stopped to talk to. 

Besides, I bet he loved the way blades of grass felt between his toes. I bet it was as soothing as the sound of a harp. It wasn't as noisy, loud and obtrusive as seven brothers were. The trees didn't poke at him or instigate any sort of touch.

Surely he heard angels sing with him. 

I bet each sheep he tended to had a name and personal story. Each one probably had a unique feel of its own matted fur. The boy probably lost so much time leading them through their daily adventure wherever the Spirit led for however long, but I bet he was quick to get there just in time to catch the sunrise every day.

His brothers probably sat back eating a hearty breakfast at the kitchen table where the boy's trail of crumbs laid. I'm sure siblings took turns to look out the window and call their youngest "aloof" or "flighty." I bet no one understood how he could talk to sheep or have a knack for what ails them. Even dad would go along with the laughter at his smallest boy sometimes.

I would venture to say the first thing they noticed about the boy was he had sensory integration issues. He only felt at home in the sheep field alone with God. Most likely the boy consumed any praise from his father and suppressed any reaction to the naysaying brothers. I would say he knew every sight, sound, smell, feel and touch of the area surrounding their home.

I love when an old Bible stories suddenly shed new light. My son has been labeled an Autism spectrum kid since age 4. This weekend I saw the warrior David in my F-branded high school student after reading 1 Samuel chapters 16 to 18 all over again.

Here are my notes that led me to believe the backdrop to this story could be what I wrote above.

1 Samuel 16:12 - David didn't have the appearance of a king or a warrior. If my son grows, it is in height so he appears to get skinnier. He's ordered by the doctor to drink two protein shakes a day. He doesn't measure up to the other teens and even jokes about being "smaller."

1 Samuel 16 - David was anointed king but went right back to the field. My son could win the greatest award or accomplish an amazing task but he will go right back to his "field." Worldly titles don't impress him. He is comfortable in his room with Legos, video games, music or his adventure trail he created in the yard. Our two dogs are his sheep and often those are the only buddies he hangs out with.

1Samuel 16:21 - David loved Saul greatly. My son loves everyone and they recognize it. He even speaks highly of the teachers who betrayed him.  Just yesterday I just watched him drop all his groceries while we were at the store so he could run and say hello to a former teacher five asiles away. His world stops for hugs.

1Samuel 17:15 - David stops on the way to battle with Saul to feed sheep. Then in verse 18 he packs lunch for the army under his father's instruction

 My son is always going his own way and he loves to give things to others. Shopping with him takes extra time because he will bring me things he thinks other people would like. Many things have left my house and I lost track of the inventory. Teachers call me often to see if I am aware of the missing items. I remind them this is the only way I know they're talking about my son, the compassionate giver. Gifting has been his signature trait since he was three-years-old initiating a game of tag with a lady in a wheelchair every Sunday at church.

1Samuel 17:29 - It doesn't matter how big of a bully you are, you can't convince David of what he knows. I have a picture of my son professing his intelligence in military warfare to a general and a retired colonel without a blink of an eye. They were a captive audience. 

1 Samuel 17:29 - David asks "what have I done now?"

My son is immune to the charges that come up against him at school and in life daily. Once again, David is misunderstood and shrugs it off just like my son does. This is spectrum kid survival tactic number one. People get angry and frustrated dealing with my son and I confess sometimes so do I but he lets none of it affect him.

1 Samuel 17:34 - David speaks to elders with a "matter of fact" attitude that the same tactics against Goliath arethe same tactics you use to fight wild animals who chased after his sheep. My son's teachers would assess he was off topic during a classroom discussion.

I imagine my son giving a 30 minute discourse on a specific animal behavior, mostly repeated verbatim from Animal Planet but own it as his own "matter of fact" knowledge. No one will get a word in edgewise and he will not come up for air until he is done.

I assume the army gives in to David's testimony because they won't win trying to convince David otherwise. Others have done that to my son, myself included. So maybe as a sarcastic suggestion the army lets David go into battle to prove the boy's rambling a farce.

1 Samuel 17:39 - David doesn't fit into their armor. My son doesn't fit in the box either. You can't make him look like everyone else. He never will. You can put kids in a circle for reading time and he will be in the corner with Legos but will be able to answer more questions correctly than others can. This was how they discovered his special needs in preschool and it continues today. My son is confident of the things he knows (and he is also quite the rock collector.)

1 Samuel 17:45 - David lets Goliath know he doesn't like the way he talks about God.

My son's former Christian school called one time during summer camp. Once again there was an incident on the bus. A public school kid boarded the bus and wanted to share his scientific knowledge of evolution. My son initiated a debate without knowing it. He provided the story of creation and insisted no one defy the one true God. It was tough teaching social etiquette on that on as it is many other times. His world has no grey areas.

1 Samuel 17:48 - David ran toward the enemy with his slingshot. Nothing will fear my son or get in his determined way. Sometimes this means walking off to school before I'm awake. On such days, in the evening, he will just look at me wondering why I was so concerned when he was just going to school.

He doesn't have a slingshot but he does weild together Nerf gun parts to make the baddest Nerf gun in the land.

1 Samuel 17:54 - David takes Goliath's head to Saul. I am guessing the gross factor never came in. David just delivered the item like my son had to take the spider to show and tell in elementary school and the take the bone my dog dug up in the yard to his science teacher in middle school. I imagine David just focused on carrying this human remain like a sheep. He would make sure he didn't get distracted or lose it on the way.

1 Samuel 18:3 - David makes a covenant with Jonathan and loved him as his own soul. My son has that one loyal best friend he will never let go of. In fact his best friend has to be pried away from him every day they get together and play time is up. That friend is such a "like soul" I love him as if he's my own and even hang out with him myself.

Maybe Jonathan was a spectrum kid too. Who knows?

I do know this. There are positive traits to being on the Autism spectrum I wish the world would embrace. I wish schools would nurture these children's gifts. I wish these kids never had to face bullies and be assured, in the end, they are warriors. They have something to give to this world beyond our imagination if we just let them do it outside our box and embrace their creativity. No matter what they will still be confident and loving - we should praise that attitude!

He's ALIVE

No my son is not Frankenstein and I'm not the mad scientist who just got him to rise up and be a man. Although I am crazy mad, passionate and begging GOD to have this child finally snap out of teen insanity, I am left with the silent voice.

"He's alive."

"The child is not dead but asleep," Jesus said in Mark 5 as people were mocking him for believing a synagogue's daughter was alive when they just proclaimed her dead.

"Don't be afraid; she will be healed," Jesus tells this leader, Jairus, in Luke 8:50.

My son literally looks like a zombie in the mornings. I've taken photos of him with his head hanging low, eyes closed and mouth welcoming flies.  He'll say he is awake if you question him. 

Doctors have diagnosed him a "spectrum" kid as early as age 4 but now he is a teen in full blown hormone insanity. As much as I want to believe rebellion, cluelessness and inability to make decisions is a natural part of adolescence, I know this is the kid who was ALIVE in faith. He would meditate for hours at an adoration session and encourage adults with words from the Bible.

Now he is wandering the neighborhood like Night of the Living Dead running on impulse. You never know if he is going to get on the bus coming home. High school brings such freedom like friends who drive, friends who walk and after school clubs. No one goes home anymore but I'm the parent crazy enough to call cops, search the neighborhood and panic.

I'm on my knees, like Jairus, fallen at Jesus feet, pleading for Him to come to my house. No wonder this leader's story is at the same time another woman physically does just that. She has been a bleeding outcast for 12 years but finds herself in one of the crowds waiting to see Jesus.

I imagine me like her, low crawling like the best soldier out there. My face is trampled and body is bruised by the fast-paced feet of bodies towering over me who full of their concerns they want to address to the Healer. Sand is inadvertently kicked into my eyes. I can't see in the whirlwind around me but I know if I just get to Jesus I can be free. Finally one dirt and blood crusted finger nail reaches His hem.

Two things happen; Jesus knows power went out of him and the woman was healed immediately.

A "suddenly" will come to my son and calm this storm. Meantime, I'm stretching out my arms in praise desperately holding on to promises God will redeem. I must have an eternal perspective of this storm or I can lose my footing in this fast-moving train around me.
Although it is loud, I hear God whisper over my son.

"Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Eph 5:14)

I'm sure I'll be clapping like thunder that accompanies God's lightning mad with joyful noise the day I see my son slowly drift up into a firm stance as a man of GOD.

http://youtu.be/PKZZ9xZXD1A

Women are a secret weapon

Have you watched a movie about Moses and saw the thousands he bravely moved out of Egypt through a parted river? How many people who watched this movie saw any credit to the women who gave birth to such a large population when it was against the orders of the Pharaoh? 

Once again the women are the underdog hero in a historical event as they are in many biblical texts. I believe it was TD Jakes that once said women are the secret weapon in God's arsenal. I don't doubt it. The Bible said God created women in a dark secret place while man was so sound asleep he didn't move when his rib was being ripped out. 

Look at these Hebrew mothers in Exodus  chapter 1! Midwives are ordered to kill their male children but they never can follow those orders because the Hebrew women are so determined they give birth without a midwife. Pharaoh plots revenge but the women see strength in God. They grow in numbers.

"The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. (Exodus 1:19, 20 ESV)"

There is an enemy of our soul and one of the first things we learn about him is his enmity with women. There's an enemy ruling this world and for some odd reason women don't bond together like they could. There is an enemy among the many divisions of family I'm sure.

Churches are striving to grow their women's ministries and many churches see the power of God at work when their women share their prayer needs.

Girl power is evident in the Bible! Own it sisters. Let's go out there encouraging eachother instead of gossip. Let's not listen to the worlds ways of putting down families. Let's put aside any differences and unify to glorify God. 

...Besides it may be fun on those moody days to make the enemy's bruise a little more deep purple.

What she said

Ever receive revelation from God so profound it transforms your life but after five years you still can't seem to pen the exact words to explain it to others?

Today I can sum up my 2008 mind-blowing God intervention with "what she said." 

Lisa Bevere nailed it, especially in the profound 30 minute audio attached to the article link below. It tackles the life changing fast we all have to take from any temptation in order to be free from its restlessness to rest in God. Let Him transform you and teach you to walk in Spirit! 

How? Embrace His love, surrender to His  work in you, listen to every lesson He gives even if it hurts, praise always and witness peace within.

 http://messengerinternational.org/blog/devotional/fasting-purity/#comment-3422

Not a single mom

Not a single mom.

Not a widow.

Not a divorcee.

Not a slut or mistress.

Not alone.

Not unwanted.

Not unloved.

Not burdened.

Not ugly.

Not a loser.

Not abused.

The woman you see with kids and/or who wears no wedding ring and/or has no obvious kid father around is NOT any of these things.

She is a surrogate mother of Jesus Christ. Why? Because she chose life in a culture of death. No matter what 

circumstances brought her to her status, she is not defined by the world's definition of her situation.

Mans categories and labels above demand a sense of shame that God clearly calls a "reproach" she should not let weigh her down.

“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. (Isaiah 54:4 NIV)

Remember no more sisters what the world has called you and how they judge you while you are carrying your children on your own with God's mighty strength.

"because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:1 NIV)

In this passage of Isaiah God is speaking of a woman who has no other family with her but her son. She is called a "widow" which was the homeless status of her day. 

Have we shut similar women of today out or refused to lend a helping hand or hear their cries for understanding in similar ways? Have we misjudged them? Have we missed an opportunity to praise them for choosing life?

How they have been served by others and how deserving they are to be put in a positive light is not a factor in how we should speak life to them and about them. Imagine if we spoke to them the way God did this widow:

"For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God. (Isaiah 54:5, 6 NIV)

To the Women who have been given the slanderous titles above,

Stand up, hold your head high and claim that you are not those things because you can have confidence in this truth! 

As the wife of the Lord this is what you've inherited when you said "I do":

"All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you. (Isaiah 54:13, 14 NIV)

God, our protector and provider, is there for everyone.  Even in the Old Testament where the words "adulterous" and "widow" are used to show nation Israel sometimes chose to break the marriage covenants God offered, God never stopped pursuing them and never divorced them or left them alone. Never ever does he stop loving you or take his ring off.

He doesn't leave women in today's circumstances alone either. And he doesn't expect her "I do" to mean to go off and "do" perfectly. It means "I do" believe in His promise. Sing the vows out loud, no matter if in sickness or in health. The angels will join you and His Spirit will empower you. 

"no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17 NIV)

Focus NOT on what the world calls you but the ABUNDANT LIFE God gave you. So much in this chapter promises a great inheritance no threat of shame can steal. 

God had eyes in the back of His head too

As a parent I can understand the fear of leaving your child alone. You don't want toddlers to go unwatched because you don't know what they will get into. Same goes for teenagers. It's why they say we have "eyes in the back of our head."

I can't imagine what stress God must've had watching His children run around Earth, living up to 900-some-odd years old in Genesis 5-6. They didn't behave very well!

I'm sure he wanted to run down here to protect us with safety first toddler items like plastic covers for the outlet, lock anything that can be weapons in cabinets, stow away alcohol/anything poisoness and everything else we know kids get in to those two crucial seasons of childhood. 

I couldn't help but notice what happened in Genesis 6 when they started to notice each other's beauty and began to sought after each other. It was the start of a slow fade.

"When the human race began to increase, with more and more daughters being born, the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful. They looked them over and picked out wives for themselves. Then God said, “I’m not going to breathe life into men and women endlessly. Eventually they’re going to die; from now on they can expect a life span of 120 years.” (Genesis 6:1-3 MSG)

God just couldn't leave us alone down here more than 120 years. 

He had enough and seen enough by that point I guess. He no longer needed us to be up to 1K years old. I don't blame him one bit! 

Sometimes it's hard to watch my son more than one minute and 20 seconds do something crazy or act out, especially if it's impulsive and can lead him to some danger he is unaware of.

Genesis 6 started with an impulse and ended with this:

"As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core. God said to Noah, “It’s all over. It’s the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I’m making a clean sweep. (Genesis 6:11-13 MSG)"

Of course later, like most of us parents, God rejected his impulsive response to His children's impulsive behavior. He had every reason to be worried and angered. But what would bother him most was needing so badly for them to see how much He loved them was not recognized in the mess. They were so far lost they couldn't hear his voice. 

We pray our children never stop hearing our voice even in the moments where they are not with us. May our moral guidance be there to speak to every decision. Most of all, may God's word be so deep in their heart they can pull it up and use it impulsively in response to something. And may they never forget we will always be there for them like the rainbow in the sky God gave Noah.

In the meantime, I pray for the strength to watch this teenage season in my son's life. I pray, in the middle of all the mess, I notice at least one, true, good thing daily that gives hope for the rest of my concerns. For God this was Noah at that moment.

"But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Genesis 6:8-10 MSG)"

Thank you God for giving us Jesus to be that "Noah" in our daily walk with you.