The Signet Ring

  

   I was recently reading in Tim Sheet’s book, Planting the Heavens, about the concept of the signet ring:

   Tim: “In those days, the king would wear a very special ring upon his hand—a signet ring. The seal of the king’s kingdom was engraved on the face of the ring. It was a governing ring. When important documents were brought to the king, he would stamp the document with it, leaving behind the seal of his kingdom. He would press his seal on it….”

   Julie: When I read this, I immediately saw a picture of God handing me His ring and saying, “I am giving this to you so that you can represent me on the earth.” I put the huge, heavy ring on my finger, and it spun around, looking as if I was trying to wear my dad’s ring (which indeed I was). I had to hold it on with my other hand. How ridiculous it looked. I was like a kid in a costume. But my Father said, “You’ll grow into it.”

   The complex symbol extending from the top of the ring stood ready for imprinting His authority on any document or impressionable object. Even on an open heart. But I said, “You can’t entrust me with this!,” 

   “Indeed I can,” He countered. “You are to boldly represent Me not only in speaking My Words but with My heart.”

   An image from the movie of Prince Caspian (from The Chronicles of Narnia) suddenly appeared in my mind. Lucy, the youngest of the children, walks out on a bridge, which the huge enemy army is about to storm. She carries only a tiny dagger. The enemy leader stops abruptly in consternation and then in derision, rather like Goliath at the sight of the scrappy, scrawny David. What is this ridiculousness? However, slowly appearing behind Lucy is the great Lion, Aslan. Ahhh….

   Despite how insignificant Lucy first appeared, she stood on that bridge in the authority of the King, the Lion of Judah. As do we when, as ambassadors of the King of Kings, we declare and decree His Will from His Word,  from His true heart. He wants us to represent Him. He has chosen to partner with us. (See The Huddle* post.) He wants us to represent Him sincerely. Represent Him well. Represent Him in truth. 

   More from Tim:

   “The Hebrew idea is that words do the same thing. They leave impressions and they seal God’s words. God’s words are always right words. When we meditate upon God’s Word, when we roll it around and around in our minds until we are renewed by what He said, it begins to penetrate our hearts and our spirits. God’s Word leaves an impression. It leaves its seal in us. Then out of our hearts, Jesus said, our mouths speak and agree with the impression God’s Word has left there. The right words will be forcible and change situations, activating the promises of God and stamping the seal of God’s promise on the problem.”

   Julie: To the world, we may appear to be too young, too old, too simple-minded, too insignificant. We certainly don't feel dressed for the task. But Elohim begs to differ. We are just the kind through whom He loves to work. (I seem to remember a young girl, a poor carpenter, and an animal feeding trough…as well as some uneducated fishermen.) Yet we need to do what He asks of us with the confidence and authority only He can give. No wimpy, half-hearted prayers and declarations allowed. No qualified, uncertain, pathetic whimperings and whinings. Rather, bold declarations of our King’s will and intentions. We say what He says. We decree what He commands. We speak what He desires done, as an accomplished fact, as any great ambassador would. We’ve known Him well and long. We know His will.  We are growing in the knowledge of His heart. We double-check our understanding of these things against His Word, both Logos and Rhema. Then we speak it with the authority He has given us.****

Our qualifications are these:

• a belief and trust in His power and saving grace, 
• a willingness to partner with Elohim, the Creator and Sustainer of the Cosmos,
• a sincere desire to see His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, 
• a will to serve Him, 
• a continuing deep-dive knowledge of His Word
• a sincere love for Him, in all three of His Persons:  Elohim, Yeshua, and Ruah Hakodesh….Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit

   It is not arrogance in which we represent Him, but humility. We represent Him In the desire to please Him, to respond to and obey Him. To commit to taking whatever time is required to speak forth, to decree, to bring life out of dead bones, light from darkness, truth instead of deception. 

   The church on the whole has abnegated its responsibility to preach and teach a huge portion of these truths from the Bible, from testaments both new and old, for fear of stirring up controversy and in trying to keep people comfortable and happy. However, Jesus didn’t say we are meant to be comfortable, did He? He does want us to have ‘life abundant,’ but He also said He didn’t come to bring peace, but rather a sword.****

  Are we adrift** in comfort without facing challenges to grow in wisdom, word, and action? Are we ignoring Holy Spirit’s proddings to MOVE? Yes, let’s enjoy the life abundant He desires for us, but let us also examine what our Father would have us be up and doing, believing and SPEAKING in His Name.

   If any of you are gardeners, you will especially love this book, which is full of analogies on the theme of planting and growing things. In this case, for our families, for our nation, and for the Kingdom of God. Let’s plunge our hands in the earth, wearing God’s signet ring, and become the Master Gardener’s ambassadors.

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*The Huddle: https://tennyandi.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-huddle.html

**Adrift: https://tennyandi.blogspot.com/2025/08/adrift.html

***Luke 12:51

“You will also decide and decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And the light [of God’s favor] will shine upon your ways. —Job 22:28.  AMP

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” —Proverbs 18:21

“For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. —1Corinthians 2:16

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****Jesus replied, “Have faith in God [constantly]. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart [in God’s unlimited power], but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him [in accordance with God’s will]. Mark 11:22-

   Tim: “If you are born again, this statement [above] is about you. It is also a timeless word because it is an eternal word—-it will always be true. So this verse is for you right now. Do not dispensationalize this. You are one of the “whosoevers” who can command mountains to be moved. You may not feel like it, you may not think so, you may not believe this, you may never put this promise into practice, but it is a word for all heirs and it is potential Christian living for everyone who believes it.”……. 

Later he says, “I began to see faith as a seed that could grow and meet the challenge of a mountain.”  “You move mountains by faith that is maintained, nurtured, and guarded. Faith grows to maturity and produces what is decreed. You change circumstances and situations, not by a faith that is moved by what it sees or how it feels, but by a faith that is moved by the Word of the Living God.” 

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More from Tim on Mark 11: “Jesus said it, so God definitely meant for you to know this. This was not a slip of the tongue or a divine oops. He wants you to rule and reign with Him (see Rom. 5:17). He wants you releasing authority language, you exercising your dominion as an heir, and understanding that in His name you can summon to you what does not exist yet. You can also command things to go from you that do exist. You are authorized to use authority language. Mountain, go there and go there now. Hindrance, get away from me.”

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“Tim: “In Romans 5:17, the Apostle Paul said that we are to reign in life through Jesus Christ. Clearly, God wanted the earth filled with those made in His image who would bring the earth under the influence of His Kingdom. He wanted His sons and His daughters ruling with Him, walking in right relationship with Him and exercising their delegated authority on the earth.. Earth, not some spiritual dimension only. Not something in the heavens only. It’s vital that we understand what is being said here because we are losing the soul of a nation due to lack of understanding” — Tim Sheets, Planting the Heavens

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Interested in more? 

““We can plant words filled with life—-words that when believed, decreed, and acted upon become the very thing they describe. Word seeds have the innate ability to become what they are describing. They are seeds releasing their inner codes to reproduce in the soil in which they are planted.”  “What possibilities has God given to man? What opportunities has He given us when we understand the principle that words are seeds? Plant words of life. Plant them in the heavens. Plant them on the earth. Plant them in your life, business, and children. Plant purpose-filled seeds.” —Tim Sheets

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I also found this research very interesting: 

“ Dr. Cho spoke to us on a fascinating topic. He had recently met with a neurosurgeon who was explaining to him new breakthroughs they had discovered concerning the mind and the power of words. The neurosurgeon told him that they had discovered that the speech center of the brain affects all the other parts of the body. It even helps control the nervous system of an individual. Words affect you. The doctor said that human beings can manipulate their entire bodies by simply speaking and declaring words. He gave some examples and said that if someone keeps saying, “I’m weak and insignificant,” every cell in the body receives the message, “It’s time to be weak.” The entire nervous system and all of the cells begin to prepare themselves to become weak because that is what was communicated from central control and that’s what happens. They begin to adjust their attitude for weakness and weakness actually begins to flow throughout the body. If someone says, “I’m a nobody. I just don’t have any abilities,” their entire being receives the message that they are a nobody and have no ability. So they don’t act properly; they don’t respond to situations like they could because they think they’re a nobody. When things happen in their life they say, “I can’t handle this. I’m a nobody.” Their entire being begins to submit to the words they have declared and live out wrong words.” —-Tim, ibid

Woooooh, that’s life-changing ‘scientific’ knowledge.’ 

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Adrift

   

  When I was young and my family vacationed in the Adirondacks, I used to take a book, a drink, and a snack with me and row our old wooden boat to the middle of Long Pond. It was more of a lake than a pond, whose central area was sometimes affected by winds coming from several directions at once. Other times it was quite tranquil, with barely a ripple seen on its surface. 

   Although fit and wiry-strong as a child, I was not really the adventurous sort. I might take out the kayak on occasion, but never the large metal canoe, which frightened me by its need for such strong control. (One time I nearly ran over my older cousin when I was supposed to be watching over him as he swam across the lake. I can still see the look of shock on his face when he looked back at me, about to run him under!.)  No, the old red rowboat was just my speed. I could let it drift gently with the current while totally absorbed in my book of the moment. 

   I remember reading Leon Uris’ Exodus, a hulking but power novel of Israel’s birth, and becoming lost in its pages, only to find I had drifted far beyond what I considered a known and safe location.  Not only was I no longer in Israel in the late 1940’s, I wasn’t even in the known world of my 1965 Adirondack lake.

   I was reminded of this recently while reading on the deck of our cabin in the Oregon mountains. I ‘awakened’ from my reading, to a world of mist, the trees barely distinguishable despite their nearby location. I felt the Lord prompting me to pick up the journal lying. beside me and listen to what He had to teach me analogously in that frozen moment. It applies to so many of our various situations as believers. Let Holy Spirit, both our Dock and Mooring, unpack its relevance for you, in this particular moment in your life. I know He did so for me. Here is what I wrote down:

   “You see how quickly you can drift away. Days pass by, hours slipping away. You drift from your Mooring without even realizing it. You expect to see yourself tied securely to the Dock, but you discover you’ve drifted far out to sea in the misty waters, where it is difficult to discern the shoreline or recognize your true location. It all happened so quickly while you were absorbed in other things. The rope slipped so gradually (with a little help from your unseen Adversary). The stealthiness of his visit gave you no warning. You forbore setting your security system because the peaceful mist lulled you into a false sense of security. You expected more fanfare in his approach. Just pulling the slipknot was subtle but effective. Now you float adrift.

   It is actually somewhat pleasant there, with no conflict, no battles to fight, no action to be taken, no challenges to face. You could actually drift comfortably off to sleep in the peace of it. Maybe you’ll just curl up and take a short nap. What could be dangerous, when you are enveloped in that seemingly peaceful cloud………

….adrift in the mist?”

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“Stay sober, stay alert! Your enemy, the Adversary, stalks about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” —1 Peter 5:8

“I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to put restrictions on you — I am simply concerned that you live in a proper manner and serve the Lord with undivided devotion.” -—1 Corinthians 7:35

Misplaced Compassion

    

      “Misplaced compassion,” the Lord answered me recently. 

   “Hmmm?” I said. 

   “You asked me how so many loving, compassionate people with good hearts could get things so wrong. That’s the answer.” 

   “Would you explain more, Lord? I’m still confused.”

   Here is a summary of His response, as best I can express it. Humanistic compassion that originates with man, rather than with the Lord—-His heart, His guidance, His direction, His perspective, His wisdom—-leads people off into deception. It can seem so right yet be so wrong. There is also pride in this compassion which is tied only to human understanding and logic.

   He brought to mind an example:  a person can be horrified at the mistreatment of one of His creatures (as He is), yet support the torturous death of His children in their mothers’ wombs. Or they are righteously indignant about the treatment of someone who has committed a crime, yet remain less concerned about the criminal’s past or future victims.

   This is ‘human’ compassion without reference to His wisdom and will. In this way, we have put ourselves on His Throne, seeing ourselves as righteous residents there. We judge others who believe differently and even judge those whom He has sent to help us, without knowing the truth about them.

  Yet our hearts are responding to the situations and feelings of others, as does God’s own heart. How, then, can it lead to so much anger and virulent, vitriolic rage against others? So much deception, so many wrong attitudes, thoughts, words and actions. So much hatred, wicked speech, and even demonic doctrines.?

   Human logic (which I have heard expressed) says, for example, “This baby growing in her mother’s womb may have a very hard life or may cause the mother hardship, so let’s encourage her to kill her baby before she is born. This will protect this child (whom God created)  and her mother (whom God also loves) from a potentially difficult future.*

   Compassion, twisted. 

   It also negates any faith in the Lord to redeem and restore, to make ‘beauty from ashes, give the oil of joy for mourning, or the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.’* No looking to Him for His plans, His will, His destiny for both mother and child. No ‘graves into gardens,’ no ‘bones into armies,’ no death into resurrection. No provision where there seems none, no hope to replace despair, no mercy from those around them responding to His call. 

   “My mercy doesn’t always look like man’s,” He said. “My mercy is bigger and wider and higher than man’s mite or understanding of it.”

   “The mercy of My children who are daily connected to Me, however…….those who are studying My word, spending time with Me and humbly listening to my Holy Spirit, never assuming they are always right, will more often truly reflect My heart and truth. None on earth will see things perfectly. Yet they are more likely to avoid twisted compassion. Those who say they believe in Me, yet remain disconnected from My church, My Word, and My Holy Spirit, are easy prey for the Liar who “prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”** As I have said before,*** Satan is a liar and the father of lies. He hasn’t changed his spots. He loves to “masquerade as an angel of light”****. Hence, what seems right and beautiful can actually be grotesquely ugly and lead to death.”

   If we find ourselves hating, judging, speaking fouly, and refusing to interact with others who believe differently than we about circumstances in the world today, it’s time to examine ourselves and ask the Lord, according to Psalm 139, “Search me, O God….and see if there be any wicked way in me…”  He may even show us that we need to step down from our thrones of self-righteousness.

   Let’s be continually praying for freedom from deception for all of God’s people, as well as the whole world, including ourselves. One Scripture I like to pray daily is from John 17: 17: “Your Word is Truth. Make [us] holy by Your Truth.” Lord, fill us with Your compassion, Your mercy, and Your Truth. Grant us discernment and spiritual eyes to expose twisted truths, in ourselves and in the culture around us. So be it.

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*Read Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, in which human-based compassion and logic lead to a horrific but right-sounding solution.

** 1 Peter 5:8

*** John 8:44

**** 2 Corinthians 7:14

Are you wearing your combat boots?

    

   One day when I was “putting on the whole armor of God” (as instructed in Ephesians 6:10-18), God stopped me at my 👞 shoes. (“your feet shod with the gospel of peace”). “You know, He said, “these aren’t lightweight footgear for the world’s idea of peace. This is not ‘Tiny Tim dancing through the tulips.’ [You have to be old enough to get this reference] These are combat boots you put on to fight for others to receive My Shalom.. I responded as I often do:  Huh?

   He proceeded to further confuse me: “You are a minister of reconciliation.” Wait, combat boots and reconciliation? Oh, is that like warring for peace? Hmmm. 

   2 Corinthians 5:18* declares that we as believers are ministers of reconciliation.. What does that mean? I know that Jesus was and is the Great Reconciler, reuniting us with Yahweh through His sacrificial death in our place. Holy Spirit is continually drawing all of Creation back to the Father. Separation from the Holy One Who made us brings eternal death…All life is in God. Without Him we are but dust. Yeshua laid Himself down as a Bridge across the gap so we could return to The Great and Holy I Am, of which He Himself is a part, (‘begotten not created’). I get that, but I still needed help with our role…..with the combat boots we are supposed to put on. Thankfully, He is always patient to explain:

   When we put our whole trust in the grace and love of our Lord and Savior, the Father seeds and anoints us to become more and more like Himself. Like the Holy Trinity, we are Reconcilers. We are assigned this occupation for the rest of our lives. We become more like Him, ministers of reconciliation.

   “What does this really mean?” I asked Him. “And why, again, is it that I am donning much too big combat boots instead of loafers or ballet slippers?”  

   Here’s the gist of what He expressed to me:  Encouraging, fostering, and nurturing reconciliation between humans and, more importantly, between people and Himself, is not an easy assignment. It is not for the faint of heart, so to speak. It requires courage and tough warfare in the spirit realm, as well as in the natural. Fear of man will try to outweigh our desire to fulfill our calling. For someone to experience God’s full Shalom of body, soul, and spirit, a battle usually must take place. It isn’t all sweetness and light, an absence of conflict, or “let’s all agree to make up and play fair.”

   Unforgiveness, deep-seated resentments, bitterness, trauma, abuse or neglect as children, the lies of the enemy, our own sins and selfishness, a sense of unworthiness, and all sorts of injustice, real or perceived, including anger at God Himself, can serve to block true reconciliation between people and between ourselves and our Heavenly Father. 

   We are also prone to try to take God’s place on the throne and judge others as deserving or undeserving of forgiveness. Mature Christians know this is totally irrelevant to the forgiveness to which God both calls and commands us. Are we worthy of God’s forgiveness? Yet we still find ourselves hopping up onto His cosmic judgment seat.

   “Be reconciled to one another.” Ok, we get it. We can visualize our roles as both forgivers and mediators for others. But what about serving as ministers of reconciliation between someone and God? Jesus already accomplished it, right? He suffered so much physically that he was unrecognizable as a man.****. Not to mention spiritually bearing the sins of every single human being past, present, and future on His own shoulders, in order to reconcile us to Yahweh and grant us His true Shalom of body, soul and spirit.

   The problem is: 

1) Many people have never even heard the the gospel, the Good News of His Shalom

2) Many people don’t believe it when they do..

3) Many people believed it at one point in their lives and then began believing lies.

4) Many people believe Jesus suffered and died for them to live in Heaven one day, but they are angry at God because of circumstances on earth they think He didn’t care enough to prevent. (If they were to really think this through and weren’t being deceived by the enemy of their souls, they would realize how ridiculous and illogical this is. So God would suffer excruciatingly in body and soul, take the weight of the world on His own shoulders out of His unfathomable love for us, but He can’t be bothered to help us out here on earth? Or He will help our neighbor but we’re chopped liver? Hmmmm.)

   Some people even believe God gave them an illness so He could make a good out of it. (See my post linked below, “Everything…) Because God makes good out of evil doesn’t mean He creates evil situations. He is absolutely and totally Good. There is no mixture of good and evil in Him, as some religions and philosophies teach. No ying yang  balancing to = good. (See my post on “Avoiding Modern Idolatry” linked below.)

   If we are going to fight for reconciliation, we must be prepared to do battle in the spiritual realm (through  praying, listening to Holy Spirit, decreeing, praising, etc., especially with other believers. We must be prepared to face rejection and ridicule and persecution. Not every minister of reconciliation will be received with joy and gladness***. Despite our best intentions, we may find ourselves the brunt of anger, judgment, criticism, and other forms of rejection. However, God calls all believers to this ministry, not just pastors, apostles, prophets, and teachers. 

   I am one of those ‘avoid conflict whenever possible’ people. I hate confrontation. I would rather be comfortable in my own little world. However, watching someone else drown because I don’t feel like swimming is not an acceptable excuse for a bond servant of the High. King. Part of my donning of combat boots 🥾 is simply to get myself to move and obey in response to His direction. To listen and be willing to be deployed to battle. To enter the huddle (see previous post) and be ready to follow the Coach’s brilliant Plan. He wants none lost, none alone, none unhealed, none unloved, none deceived, none wandering off in left field….none unreconciled to others and, most of all, none separated from Him.

   Colossians 1:27 declares we are “carriers of the King of Glory.” Let’s don those combat boots and get about His business, work the Plan, love the unloveable, draw people back together and back to Him.

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17 Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation — the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new! 18 And it is all from God, who through the Messiah has reconciled us to himself and has given us the work of that reconciliation, 19 which is that God in the Messiah was reconciling mankind to himself, not counting their sins against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation —2:Corinthians 5:17-19

*** Caveat: If we don’t follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, this may be our own error rather than our being persecuted for righteousness sake.

**** Just as there were many who were appalled at him his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being  and his form marred beyond human likeness—Isaiah 52:14 

I have an unction from the Holy one, and I know all things, — 1 John 2:20. 

I have the mind of Christ, —1 Corinthians 2:16,

I am anointed by God, —1 John 2:27, 

I was created by Him for good works, —Ephesians 2:10 

• Everything happens for a reason, but not always a good one” December 7, 2024:  https://tennyandi.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-huddle.html 
• The Huddle, July 7, 2025 https://tennyandi.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-huddle.html
• “Avoiding Modern Idolatry, January 8, 2025: https://tennyandi.blogspot.com/2025/01/avoiding-idolatry-in-current-times.html

The Huddle

   

   In the last decade, I have been reading, studying, and listening to teachings about the Lord’s desire to partner with His people to see His plans manifested on the earth. Recently, He gave me an image of a football huddle. His arms were intertwined with the shoulders of His team. Heads were lowered and ears attuned to the Coach. The players were envisioning the play as He spoke. 

   We often think of God as the One Who answers our prayers and ourselves as relatively passive petitioners who then wait for His answer. He is indeed the Source of all power, knowledge, wisdom, efficacy, and fruitfulness. However, He did not create us to be passive servants, but rather born-again, informed, active, and authoritative co-workers and friends. Jesus said, “I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [John 15:15] 

   When we put our whole trust in His grace and love, turning our lives over to Him, Holy Spirit ‘seeds’ us, endowing us with His very own spiritual DNA. We join His team to help see “His will done on earth as it is in Heaven.” 

   “For you have been born again [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] not of seed which is perishable but [from that which is] imperishable and immortal, that is, through the living and everlasting word of God” [1 Peter 1:23 AMP]

   “So,” He says in the huddle, “here’s the Plan…. John, you will sprint down field, while Larry fakes a pass but then runs down center field, instead of passing the football 🏈. Mary, you will….” Sometimes the Coach’s plays don’t make sense to His players. They don’t understand how His plans will work. If they trust the Coach and follow His directions, however, they will eventually see surprising touchdowns. Success is not accomplished by the quarterback or any star player, but by the whole team’s [Ekklesia’s] movements, orchestrated by the Coach.

   God has given us authority* to change things on the earth and in the heavens under His direction. To speak life into death-bound situations, hope where there is despair, light where there is darkness, turn-arounds to wrong directions, transformation of lives, freedom from deception, truth to those steeped in lies, and all-around failure to the plans of our opponent, the enemy of our souls. Scripture says* angels hearken to the Word of God and work to help see it manifested on the earth. They, too, are part of the team. Yes, our actions, under the Coach’s direction, absolutely have power to effect change, but so do our words in accordance with His Word. Just as He created the cosmos with His Words, so we who contain His seeded DNA can bring life in place of death, when we agree with and say what He says. We declare and decree His Plan. “Yes, Coach, so be it! We’re with You. We trust You! We’re listening! We’re on it! 

   So be it.

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“For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].” 1Cor 2:16 AMP

“Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word”. —Psalm 103:20

“Nothing activates the Kingdom of God and the angel armies like the Word of God. Holy Spirit hovers until He hears the Word of God. God’s Word activates His power and Kingdom resources.”

Psalms 103:20 says that angels hearken to the voice of God’s Word. The entire universe is made to respond to the voice of God’s Word. The heavens and the earth are made to respond to the powerful voice of His Word. Amazingly, human beings made in His image and in His likeness are carriers of that Word when they are activated at the new birth. They are “lifed” by it when they are born again

—Tim Sheets, Planting the Heavens

“Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19 NKJV). Using the original Greek word meanings, it says this, “Whatever you at any time encounter of hell’s council or authority that I am determined My church will prevail against, you will then face the decision whether you will or will not bind it. What transpires is conditional to your response. If you do purposely and consciously involve yourself in binding the issue on earth, you will find at that future moment when you do that it has been yes’d in Heaven.” If we say yes, it’s been yes’d in Heaven, and if we say no, it’s been no’d in Heaven. In other words, the authority He has delegated to us is backed up in Heaven. —Tim Sheets, Planting the Heavens

“We do not create from nothing like God did, but we take what God has done and steward it in such a way that we can decree a creative force into the heavens and the earth. —ibid

“If we are going to plant the heavens and lay God’s Word into our culture’s foundations, we must learn, practice, and activate authority language. The King’s seed that is sown into us, the King’s DNA that has been transmitted into our spirit at the new birth, needs to manifest inside of us. We need to become who and what we really are. We are under the Lordship of King Jesus, forgiven, re-imaged, and born again into His family. We truly are in the King’s lineage. We are heirs of God and we are joint heirs with Christ. We are a part of the Kingdom of Almighty God and are expected to reign with Him right now.” Ibid

You were born anew of incorruptible seed through the Word of God. The Greek word for “seed” is spora, and it’s filled with new identity, new purpose, and new destiny (Strong, G4701). It also reveals the love of God for a son or a daughter, and it explains His combined affection and care for His new “born-gain” ones. It’s a love that is real, pure, and constant. A love that caused the apostle John to exclaim in First John 3:1 (MSG), Tim Sheets, Planting the Heavens

“Never speak negative words or unbelief. They are contrary to the seed of God that is in you.” —Tim Sheets

“The Power of life and death is in the tongue.” —

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. —Proverbs 18:21

“God’s Words are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” —Proverbs 4:22

Keep Swimming

   

   Remember Dorie from “Finding Nemo”? Such a loveable fish. The older I get, the more I am identifying with her short term memory issues. God brought her to mind this morning as He spoke to me about being free from anxiety in my daily life. 

   My sisters and I are sometimes attacked by what psychologists call “free-floating anxiety.” We all know the definition of anxiety in general, but with this type, there is no reason to be anxious, no circumstance in particular causing concern. There is just this sense that there is something wrong, that we are not doing all we should be doing, that we aren’t keeping up with needs or necessities somewhere, somehow. It’s almost as if we are reaching out and searching for what we should be concerned about.

   This, of course, is the exact opposite of how our Father wants us to live. He knows us inside out…our struggles, our vulnerabilities, our hearts’ desires. He longs for us to live in the Shalom of the abundant life He suffered and died for us to have. Anxiety, worry, and fretfulness are not part of His plan for us.

   Lately, in my retired state, I have become aware of my underlying concern that I am spending my life the way He wants me to. Am I wasting the gift of time He has given me? Am I fulfilling the destiny and meeting the divine appointments He has planned for me? Am I leaving untapped some of the. gifts He placed in me before I was born?  Are there people whose lives He wants me to touch that I am too lazy or too uncomfortable to pursue? Will He speak over me when I come Home to Him, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? Sometimes I feel like Dorie that I need to “just keep swimming,” but maybe even harder.

   He knows my heart and those of all His children. He is merciful and forgiving and full of lovingkindness. This I know. That is the very reason I want to please Him by the way I live my life. This morning, because He always reads my heart, He told me (as best I can record: “I love you. Don’t fret. I will show you (and remind you ha ha^) what to do. Flow in the river of My grace. You don’t need to do laps. Settle into My grace and float on your back. I will keep you buoyant. Your head will not go under water. It is panic and anxiety that can lead to drowning.”

   Have you ever felt that you were “not enough”? Are you, too, sometimes attacked by “free-floating” anxiety or awash in the sense that you aren’t doing enough, that you must keep swimming harder to please others…or, more, importantly, your Heavenly Father? 

   Turn over on your back and float in His grace. Keep your ear attuned to Him. He won’t allow your head to go under water. You will find the true Shalom of His abundant life. There, floating peacefully on your back, look up.

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• Here is one of my drawings for God from my journal from 2020. No fair making fun of my ‘art.’  

• For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].  —John 1:16 AMP
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• Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb —Revelation 22:1

• Ezekiel 47 also describes the river flowing from under the throne of God

• “To “drink deeply” of the Spirit is the same as receiving his power and gifts until rivers of living water flow from the inside of us. See John 3:34; 7:37.” —Brian Simmons, TPT note from 1. Corinthians p-12-13
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• ^I have difficulty, sometimes, recording the chuckle or outright laughter I hear from Him. He is also a great punster. (To remind ‘Dorie’ is worth a guffaw.)
  

Overboard: Is it fear or wisdom?

   

  A friend recently shared her dream with me. (I am deliberately keeping any identities vague.) She and a loved one were on a cruise, but the ship was traveling not in a warm climate but in a colder one, with waves fomenting around them. Somehow (as one can in dreams) they were high on the ship above these waters, almost as if in a crow’s nest of a sailing ship.  Her loved one was wearing a backpack 🎒 chocked full, which she suddenly removed from her shoulders and hurled into the churning sea. In the dream, my friend was at first totally aghast, because the backpack’s contents had included a large number of provisions. However, she then began to wonder….

   As soon as she described the dream, I knew the hurling of the backpack was a good thing, despite the provisions it carried. I knew that backpacks often represent burdens weighing us down. But provisions? How do they fit in the picture?

   Obvious candidates for burdens include: unforgiveness, hurts, offenses, financial worries, concerns about our families, health issues, anxieties about the future, unshakable guilt, old mistakes and outright sins. We could all generate a list of more backpack items which need to be thrown overboard to free us from their weight. We know the Lord does not want us carrying these things wherever we go, especially since He suffered so to deliver us from them. 

   But back to my question: why “provisions”? Aren’t they good? Doesn’t God promise to provide for us? Doesn’t He declare Himself our Yahweh Yireh?* Yes, indeed! However, suddenly it hit me that we don’t carry His provision around on our backs. He is our ongoing  Provider. Are the provisions we’re lugging around on our own shoulders jammed in there out of fear that He won’t provide? Is the rock of anxiety in our packs, for example, our reason for trying to supply our own protection from loss? Ouch, Lord. Do we ‘hedge our bets’ just in case You don’t come through? Like Sarah+, do we try with our own human solutions to make Your Word come to pass? Help You along a bit since things might not take place as You said? 

  I know He wants us to be good stewards of what He has given us++, to ‘be wise as serpents and innocent as doves’, to plan ahead and not to be spendthrifts, to refrain from wasting what He is providing for us. He wants us to work hard ‘as unto Him’ in our jobs. Yet we are to do these things not out of fear but out of heeding His Scriptural truth for us, out of our thankfulness and duty to be responsible in using His gifts. 

   When we truly examine our hearts, what motivates us to carry around our own provision on our backs, whether comprised of our own solutions, our own ‘bootstraps,’ our own righteousness, our own wealth, the filling of our own barns+++? 

   Is it fear that God will disappoint us, that His Word (Logos or Rhema) is not reliable, that it might indeed ‘come back void,’? That He may love others that way but us, not so much? Do we in our heart of hearts trust more in the non-Biblical adage that ‘God helps those who help themselves’ than we do in Jesus’ promises regarding the lilies and the sparrows or the loaves and fishes? Yes, we offer our little fishes and some paltry loaves of bread, and He does not sneer at them.. He’s delighted with our offering. But we both know it is He that feeds us, body and soul.

   Let’s ask Him to show us if we have in our packs things of which we may be unaware, things which need to be not just tossed but hurled overboard. These may even be  as subtle as our backup provisions, cleverly disguised as proverbial wisdom. 

   Go ahead and hurl that thing, Feel the lightness on your shoulders and the wind in your hair!

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+Genesis 16

++Matthew 25

+++Luke 12

++++Matthew 6

*Genesis 22:4 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

*Colossians 3: 23-24Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Rendered

 

   Recently, in response to one of my prayers, the Lord said the following: “I will continue to prompt you, never fear. I will also transmit, transport, and render. Tenderly render.

   “What do you mean?” I asked Him. (Not an infrequent question on my part). He responded by telling me to look it up. (LOL God never stops being a parent.) I knew the words render and rendering as related to making a model or depiction of a design, as well aa its meaning of ‘giving to.’ (“Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”+). Beyond that, i had no idea how many other meanings there were for the word. Here is what I found for render (verb):

• To make; to cause to be or become
• To do, perform
• To furnish, provide……afford, contribute, supply, give
• To exhibit or show….including obedience, attention
• To present for consideration, approval, payment, action
• To return, to make a payment, as by a tenant to a superior
• To pay as due (tax, tribute)
• To deliver formally or officially; to hand down
• To translate into another language
• To represent, to depict, as in a painting

   Immediately, the thought occurred to me: “Lord, if You are ‘tenderly rendering’ so much to and for me (and to all those who put their trust in You), what am I tenderly rendering back to You?” Am I ‘showing obedience and attention’? Am I ‘representing’ You well?

   “Explain more about what You meant by tenderly rendering me and then how I can better render what will make. you happy in return? I look at the dictionary list and  realize the distinction between formally giving you Your ‘just due,’ out of obligation, versus tenderly desiring to respond in love to what You are creating out of my life. 

   I see Your Artist’s hands at work, molding the lumpy, awkward parts of my personality, my actions, my disappointments, and my failures. Massaging them in with the happier more joyful, fruit-bearing parts.. Tenderly sculpting, scraping off bits here and there which need to be removed, smoothing out the rough places. Lovingly turning my aging struggles and my lifetime of experiences into someone who can tenderly partner with You according to Your plans in rendering others. Others who will render unto You the love and fruitfulness You deserve and who desire to see more of Your form and beauty manifested in their lives. Are there relationships for me to form, mentoring to humbly provide, mothering to do, targeted, surgical prayers to offer, unconditional love and encouragement to lavish?

  I looked again at the definitions:

Meaning 1: “To make, to cause to be or become.” 

Meaning 2: “To do, to perform.” 

Meaning 3: To supply, furnish, provide.”

   You, Lord, are the Renderer. You do the work. You provide and cause and perform. Our part is to be willing, to be surrendered. All the while You continue the sometimes painful process in us, the beauty of others is being enhanced. If we’re operating in the fruit and gifts of Your Holy Spirit, no one else knows but You. Despite how we may  sometimes feel about our lack of usefulness (including some of us in our senior years), You are never at a loss. You say, “I can work with this!” You don’t set us aside, broken. Even when we make mistakes, are too lazy to obey You, or temporarily grieve You, Your creative juices still flowto create ‘beauty from ashes.’+ You rub Your hands together with glee and declare, “My child, there is so much more to come! Give yourself to me every day for continual rendering, that I may sculpt and paint your life, as more and more of Who I Am is manifested through you: My light, My Shalom, My creativity, My joy, My forgiveness,, My Agape love.. Until one day I take My  unique rendering of you Home with Me, where your fuller, more beautiful life will truly begin. And while you’re at it, let your continually rendered self encourage as many others as possible along the way, that they will one day rejoice with you There.

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For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. — Ephesians 2:10

+Matthew 22:21

+Isaiah 61:3

If you missed my two “No Greater” posts, you might want to go back and read those: February 14 (No greater love…) and February 19 (No greater creativity…”.)

 *To find earlier posts: If you’re on a phone, click ‘see Web version’ at the bottom of the post, or open my blog on a computer or tablet. All posts since 2015 are listed on the right at Tennyandi.blogspot.com)

An ‘oldie but a goodie’ from the very early days of contemporary worship:

https://youtu.be/MneanjtBRns?si=DlrrKrtKQXd2Ev1U