YOM KIPPUR

This has been a strange day! What does the Day of Atonement mean in a country where there are fewer boundaries by the day, men are their own gods, and everything is relative? You dont have to repent of anything if everything is ok if it feels ok! I begin to understand why the Desert Fathers left the combination of church and politics, and the various philosophies of this world behind and headed out to live alone in the wilderness.

Even as I write this, I know that it also takes a different kind of maturity and understanding to live without all of the above - all that we would leave behind - because we have not yet learned to live completely without them. Long term they have influenced society and thinking, but in the short term there was probably just solitude, sand, and a whole lot of struggles!

What does it mean to completely live a life in Jesus Christ, totally led by the Holy Spirit, working it out in our day to day existence. How can this be done? Today I tried to spend time just contemplating the nature of this day and all it means between me and God, and really came to the end feeling like I didnt get very far at all - imagine a lifetime of such days, such struggling and grappling with ourselves, to make a meaning out of so little.

So, tomorrow is new, and everything in it, and I intend to make the most of that. Tomorrow I will meet with Him again, and reach into the depths of His wonderful heart of love, forgiveness, tenderness and compassion for me - the one who didnt do so well yesterday - and I will walk on with my hand in His. He will hold me when I would let go. He will keep walking when I would fall down. He will bring me water to drink when I find the desert too dry to bear. He will continue to be my all in all, my everything.

STORMY WEATHER

The weather we are experiencing right now in Auckland, NZ, is wild and stormy. Heavy rain, high winds, even hail at times - and this is supposed to be Spring!

Right now in the heavenly realms, there is pretty similar kind of weather. There are dark clouds and storms, and we can feel the effect of that around our lives. The unease, pressure, sometimes even downright gloom.

Last night I had a picture of the darkness that we face, and yet that is precisely what we are to do - FACE the storm, even walk right toward and into it.

It looks as if there is not even a small glimmer of light to show the way, and yet as I looked at the picture, suddenly great bolts of lightning began to flash, each one brightly illluminating the path.

As we are willing to face the storms of life, and especially the current one. As we have the faith/trust to walk forward and not shrink or run from the challenges. There will be periodic and very timely releases of amazing revelation which will light the way for us, and give us the courage to pursue the way we have been called to walk in.

Keep walking and look for the revelation that will surely come. I am reminded of the beautiful poem by Minnie Louise Haskins:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, that shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!' So I went forth and finding the Hand of God trod gladly into the night. He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east. So heart be still! What need our human life to know if God hath comprehension? In all the dizzy strife of things both high and low, God hideth his intention."

WINTER IS OVER

"The winter is over and past and gone..."
Tonight the clocks go forward and we will have more daylight for a time. Guess that is a little like our lives - there are times of greater light than others.

How reliable the seasons are and it makes me wonder why we ever despair! Just as the seasons come and go, so do the dark and light seasons of our lives.

Let's make the most of the season of greater light, drawing everything possible from it - every joy, every glorious encounter with others and with God. When there is a little less light, we can look back and continue to draw joy and encouragement from what was before, knowing that it will come round again.

Why in our human frailty do we always think this moment is our "all" and take what it gives us as being all we will ever have. How quickly we forget the joys, sorrows, blessings, of other such moments in time.

Lord, give us the wisdom to look a little wider;

give us hearts that expand and hold a little more;

give us hope in the darkness;

give us memory of the light;

Help us to remember that just as yesterday came and went;

so tomorrow is just as likely to do the same.

Hold us in Your great heart that is so much bigger than ours

and help us to hold on to that in order that we might have

something precious to share with another as the moments come and go.

CLIPPED WINGS!

This old eagle has had her wings clipped a bit recently. The friend from Africa lived, and has come to visit to be restored in the 'clean green' of New Zealand. Time for our very frequent rain to wash away some of the African dust! However, all people things take time, and there is a little less for contemplation and winging away into the places that are so enjoyable in prayer.

Things are changing, even though I dont feel so right on the button with them. It was a delight to read there are others like me. There are others out there who dont fit the mould called 'church' any more, and are exploring the possiblities of something new, and much more in touch with the communities in which we live. How can salt have any effect if it never touches anything? Somehow we lost our flavour along the way, and the light was dimmed a little. All that clips the wings too.

So here we are, a little band of us, wanting to be more in touch with those around us who need a touch that is kind, and a heart that shows warmth, and perhaps a little light shone upon their path. May we learn daily how to be more effective in this, and in loving one another in the process.

PERSPECTIVES

My friend is sick, and my heart is troubled that he is in Africa, serving God, and has become so desperately ill. My friends' home was broken into - violation of their private space - and some possessions taken, and my heart is troubled that they have been upset in this way. My young friends are battling for their marriage, and my heart is troubled that this is taking place, even though I know that coming through this will make them stronger.

It is good that my heart is so troubled for them. I do not feel an absence of God in all these circumstances, but the quiet reassurance that He is here, knows and is involved in each of these circumstances. It is good that my own heart is stirred to be constantly remembering them and reminding the Lord that I also care what happens.

It is this higher perspective that gives us hope and life. It is not a place of desperately grappling with and for something in the midst of the trees, unable to see anything but the problems. No, my heart is at peace in His love and yet stirred for the plight of others. Is this not the mission of prayer. I know that God 'looks on the heart of a man' and knows that it is feeling the distress of another. I believe this makes a way for His love and compassion to flow into their circumstances, and for help and change to come swiftly to them.

So, my heart remains troubled for my friends, but it also remains at peace and knows that help is on its way!

FLYING FREE IN A HIGHER PLACE

This is where the name came from as I begin putting the things I see on this blog - it was a wide-awake vision of an eagle flying, and with it came a strong sense of new things ahead for those who are willing to pay a price and be extended beyond their present comfort zone - lost in the trees, never quite finding their way, or finding that there are constantly obstacles in their way!

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I can feel the raw newness of what is ahead. It is raw, fresh, and edgy in a way we haven’t felt for quite some time. It looks like bush/forest, wet from rain, when the sun comes out. You know it is beautiful but not comfortable. It is beautiful but still being viewed from a distance and not yet engaged.

I see the eagle swooping and dipping in the clear blue sky above all of this, seeing it’s surface but not knowing what is hidden below the shining, glittering, surface. No space to land has appeared.

As the eagle swoops over the forest many smaller birds begin to emerge and also fly around above the trees, as if they are being awakened to their ability to do so. Their numbers increase until there is much activity. “Cannot see the wood for the trees” comes to mind.
It seems something new has begun but it is not visible in the midst of our current life and circumstances. I see a very strong prophetic call being released to call people up higher. As they rise to this call and seek all that heaven offers them, they will move into a clear space and begin to see and move in the purposes of God in a fresh and new way. There is a clear distinction here – the call is to the purposes of God, not of man, and this will not be found by man’s direction, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Felt to read Psalm 139 as is seems to give good direction for this journey which is INTO the Lord.

As I watch the flying eagle, smaller birds, and glistening treetops, the sun appears to shine continually brighter, and the sky becomes filled with golden light.

The scripture that seemed to cover what I was looking at is found in Ezekiel 43 v 2:
…and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with His glory.

Eagleswings

First blog!

This is the first go - so it is an accomplishment in itself! Guess you could call it 'take off'! :)