Trouble

In this world you will have trouble. There is never a time when you will not encounter it. You live in a world of conflict and chaos. A world of darkness and sin. 

There is no escaping trouble but that is what many seem to spend their lives attempting; avoiding trouble, falling into trouble or getting out of trouble. 

But be of good cheer I say. I have overcome the world. A truth of prime importance for if I have not conquered you have no chance of overcoming. 

I didn’t say I avoided trouble I said I overcame it. I subdued it. I didn’t perfect the art of trouble avoidance but learned how to exit triumphant from all trouble I encountered. 

Think of trouble as a place on the path that you have been directed to walk on. 

If you are Mine and you are following Me then I will take you on a path. It’s a good path chosen by Me for you before the foundation of the world that you should walk in it, but on that path there is trouble. 

Why are you surprised? I never told you that the path would be trouble free. The path might be a good one but the world it passes through is not.

In this world your good path will run through trouble. What do you do? If you shrink back in fear My soul will have no pleasure in you. The path never goes backward only forward. 

You can’t just stand there paralyzed. I said follow Me, which means I am walking ahead of you on the path and I never stop. 

So your only option is to walk into the trouble with Me and trust that My Presence, Wisdom and Power will overcome the care and take you victoriously to the other side. 

Oh, and don’t think for a moment that you can simply take another path or a detour because narrow is the path that leads to life. Narrow meaning exclusive. I am the Way and I am walking ahead of you on this path. If you take another path, you will be in disobedience and you'll find yourself on another path with trouble and without Me. 

This is what so many of My children do. Seeking to avoid conflict and alleviate pressure, they take detours from the right path only to encounter a new distress filled place in the detour necessitating yet another adjustment until they are hopelessly lost and alone in a dark maze and overwhelmed by confusion and fear.

Never be dismayed by the trouble you encounter on your path of life for you are not an orphan but a son. Orphans spend their lives running on paths defined by trouble avoidance because they have never had anyone in their lives to walk with them through it. They are incapable of overcoming because they have never met He who has overcome.  

But you My son are learning to trust in Me, the One that lives in you and walks with you. You are taking less detours and I am pleased. You are learning to trust me, knowing that I am right here with you and willing and able to cause you to be more than an overcomer. 

You are seeing that My ability is endless in its creativity to take any trouble and make it work together for good in your life as you walk confidently with Him who overcame the world and its trouble.

Wandering Mind

Your mind does not wander because I am not here. It wanders because its accustomed to wandering.

Your mind seeks Me not, finds Me not and then, in frustration, seeks fulfillment elsewhere.

I say seek (love) Me with all your heart (spirit) but I also say seek me with your mind.

Your mind accustoms to bouncing like a ping-pong ball from desire to desire; ever focusing on the fear or thrill of the moment.

If you are to seek Me I say bring your mind along in the quest and, when you spirit finds Me, your mind will also.

Don't let your mind pull your spirit but let them both join in the relentless pursuit of Me.

From Duty to Desire

Your discovery of My Presence changes everything.

Who wants to spend time on their knees for an image, even if that images name is Jesus.

You have you achieved? Callouses on your knees, eyes that fight to stay open, and mind and body resentful of lost slumber.

I never meant your time with Me to be defined by duty and
discipline, but desire and fulfillment.

Duty to the discipline of prayer only finds its fulfillment in the actual activity of seeking. Real fulfillment is in the finding.

The thrill of hide-and-go-seek is in the finding. No one ever wins if the person hides so well that they are never discovered. Everyone just gets bored and moves on to something else.

Cast your discipline and duty aside and come seek Me with expectation. I am waiting to be found.

No Soup For You

You're always trying to get something that you feel like you need. You come to Me for need. You give to others, but because you need. It’s always about your need. Your heart seeks fulfillment. It’s willing to seek, willing to give (grudgingly) if it will lead to a fulfilling of need. 

Come to me and I will give you what you are really desire: Rest. Rest that comes from the realization of a revelation: I have given you it all. It’s yours. You never ever have to think any more about getting. You got it all when you got Me. 

Stop returning to the dry wells of temporary fleshly fulfillment. Stop selling your eternal inheritance for a daily bowl of soup. Bask in the knowledge that you have it all. Revel in the vastness of the Kingdom I have given you. Know that daily need in this world is always provided. 

Adjust your perspective. See the Real. 

I've got you and you've got Me. 

Don’t Think About It

I awoke every morning of every day without thinking about finances. I never thought about resources the same way you do. My present was so busy I had no thoughts of the future. All thoughts concerning resources require future thinking. I was a present doer.

When I was on the hill that day I didn't think about how I was going to feed all of those people. How many times, when you are teaching, do you all of sudden stop and think, “How am I going to feed all of these people?” It doesn't even enter your mind. You are thinking about the task at hand. Well I was attending to the task at hand as shown to Me by my Father.

It would have been totally understandable to send everyone home. That was the expected thing to do. It was physically impossible to feed all those people. It doesn't even say that I had enough food for myself. Also, this miracle had never been done before so there were no expectations from the disciples, the multitude or even Myself.

I was not thinking about what I was going to do next.

When the disciples asked me to send the people away, My Fathers will was revealed to Me by The Spirit. Once I knew that He wanted to feed the multitude, My expectation of provision was activated. Within the atmosphere of rest, of knowing that He always provides, I could hear The Spirit telling Me how it was to be done.

Peter didn't think about walking on the water. He walked on the water. All of the provision was at the right place at the right time. Looking around was evidence that Peter had begun to contemplate the future; how the wind and the waves might affect him. Future and Past reflections are not conducive to Present provision. Peter sank.

You can’t think about it.

Go back and read how My day unfolded. I hear the news of the death of John, I retreat, the multitudes come, I am moved with compassion, I teach, I heal, the disciples comment that the people need to go home, My Father comments that He wants to feed people, I believed Him instead of the disciples, He gives further instructions, I obey, 10-15000 people + some loaves and fishes = full stomachs for all, I send the disciples away, My Father wants to talk, I go to the mountain to talk, He says it’s time to go, I walk down the mountain to the water’s edge, He says, “Keep walking”, I walk on water.

Hear, believe, obey…stuff happens.

I didn't think about it.

For you to receive perfect present provision in whatever form that it might take, it is necessary to obey the immediate will of the Father.

Also, if you are going to believe My Word, you are going to have to believe it on its face. You are going to have to believe it without placing it into any logical context.

You are going to have to believe it without thinking about it.

When I told Peter to come to me walking on the water it was impossible to place that Word into a logical framework because walking on the water is physically impossible.

Peter was in a situation where the only two actors on the stage were My Word and Peter’s belief. He had to accept My Word as stated and understood. Come. At this point, mental speculation on the details would be lethal because it would (and did) hinder the supply of Present Provision by the Spirit. Also, speculate on what? Peter had no context within to place My Word. He was operating in unknown territory. Thus is the nature of faith.

You can’t think about it.

I speak My Word that you might believe. I reveal My thoughts that you might believe; not so that you can think about it. Bring your thoughts under subjection. Believe what I say. Obey what I say. Have what I say.