God’s Word
After reading Ezekiel 37, Jeremiah chapters 23, 24, 32, 33
Susan, I speak and the word I speak becomes its own fulfillment. My Word is one with My action. When I speak, it is for the purpose of that word’s completion. My will is established in the moment of My speaking. What I have spoken, I have done.
Only My Word can boast the power of such unification. That is why it is ‘your life’ to simply be still and know that I am God. What I say, occurs. To hear me is to see me. My word takes physical form. Spirit becomes tangible, breath brings life, and dry bones live. Hear what I say about you and you will see it come to pass. My words are not for you to perform. My words are for you to hear and to observe. I perform My own Word and prove the glory of My existence in you thereby.
I need you to trust, rest, watch, and to be awed at the fullness of My will and intent to do it all, to be the All in all. I never tire, never grow weary, never give up. My word declares, it commands, it creates. There is no request in my word. My word is an eternal covenant. I have said you would serve Me with your whole heart and it is so. Just as My covenant with the day sky and the night remains fixed so are My promises to you. Every word I speak is a promise and guarantee. I love you, Susan…and you love me with everlasting clarity…I have spoken, rest in the reality of My word spoken.
My reply to the Lord (from the book of Habakkuk)
Lord, I do not want to fall prey to false idols, like “guilty men whose strength is their god.” You, Sovereign Lord, are my strength. You make my feet like the deer and You enable me to run on high places. Your strength is far greater, why would I ever make inferior strength my false idol?
Lord, You stand still, and the earth shakes. You look, and it trembles. You speak not, and the earth still knows that you are God.
Be Who You are in my midst. Procur reverence from the irreverent and subdue the restless and rebellious. Every knee bows, every tongue confesses. You, Lord, conform the unwilling and unmotivated places within me. Freedom of heart and motion are mine only as I rest in You. Your sovereignty is my strength. I glorify You in my weakness and You glorify me in Your strength. So be it, Lord, I would have it no other way. Take me wholly into You.
Expansive Boundaries
The more I recognize myself in union with Christ the more comfortable I am with myself. I tap His expression in me and it incites me to be who I am. When identity is at rest then personal boundaries emerge to safeguard false identifications with other people, causes, or roles. Definition comes to the foreground as the branch draws life from the Vine.
People perish for lack of vision. Vision is more than a goal to lose weight, run a marathon, write a book, or to organize clutter. Vision is about seeing who I am. As His image in me takes shape I find a worthy reason to be myself. Apart from that vision, there is nothing worth fighting for. With the vision comes the desire to carve out the space for incubating clearer vision. It is the vision that calls for the boundaries.
A boundary does not limit size or space; it actually creates the space for privacy in Christ. Privacy with Him expands my capacity for others. He transforms self-focus into generosity. Setting the boundary is a generous step. It clears the path so the transformation can be authentic (uncontrived, unfeigned). He makes Himself clear in me so that what He has to say can set my standards. He is not divided. When it comes to His will for my life He makes it known to me first and foremost. This establishes my confidence in His voice above all others.
In general, a lack of personal boundaries clouds personal clarity. To find, apply, and respect my own boundaries is healthy love and self-respect which precedes healthy love and respect for others. A boundary keeps me from crossing the line when condemnation and judgment join allegiance. It keeps me “on my side” by creating the space for continual recognition of Christ in me, as me.
In 2004 the Lord spoke to me of boundaries and said, “Susan, where there are no boundaries there will eventually be barriers. Boundaries support relationships, barriers do not. Barriers are walls that separate; boundaries are simply lines that denote restriction; barriers divide, boundaries protect; barriers offend, boundaries command respect.”
Years later, I have an even greater appreciation! Experience is a great teacher. I love the learning process and the natural form that faith takes as lessons are inherently implemented in my daily walk. Life holds joy when I move in accordance with His word and will in me, showing honor to myself and others thereby. I am who I really am as I rest easy in who He is in me. I live trusting the “us” that He is forming. His unique perspective in and through me is what makes me who I am.
I ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him — endless energy, boundless strength! Ephesians 1:17-19 The Message
Receiving
Where there is unbelief, there is no rest. Unbelief keeps me working in the hope that one day “I” will accomplish enough to feel worthy of rest. But rest is not the result of work, it is the result of faith.
Rest occurs when I trust that all the work is already done even though I wasn’t the one to do it. Natural behavior reflects my inner posture. Can I rest in the quality of the work done by someone else? How often do I feel the need to follow up behind them to make sure the job was done and done correctly? True rest comes to me when I do not think of myself more highly than I ought!
I am not the only one who can do a job right. That kind of arrogance will keep me from experiencing the rest that comes to me in the form of another person. Rest occurs when I can let someone else do the work for me. Peace occurs when I don’t heed the false need to improve upon the work they did.
It is important to receive a gift for what and how it is. A gift is not necessarily what I thought I needed, wanted or even asked for. A gift is given at the whim of the giver. To receive the nakedness of the gift that was given means I won’t try to exchange if for something else. Only when a gift is fully received can it be fully revealed and thus appreciated.
God gives the gift of people. Appreciation opens the gift, and its meaning and purpose is then cultivated over time. People are fragile (yet flexible) gifts and God intends careful handling. His are good and perfect gifts to be engaged lovingly and respectfully at all times. As I look with wonderment at the differences between gifts I gain appreciation for His discernment of which gifts most compliment my being.
His gifts aren’t always an obvious pairing. The seeming mismatch may be difficult to appreciate but the unique perspectives are not without reason. There is much to glean from each others point of reference before trying to rush toward the agreement that may come later. I am encouraged to enjoy the differences instead of trying to coerce conformity.
There is no real work left to be done. The only thing left is the rest. There is a strong contrast between rest and work, love and law, desire and obligation. Obligation feels hard, like work. Desire feels easy, like rest. That’s how I am meant to live – being myself and living in agreement with who I am. From the place of true desire I accomplish many things. I may look busy but I live rested.
Rest is the satisfaction that comes at the end of a day well spent (not well earned). To spend a good day is to draw generously from the bounty of eternal days within me. I spend them freely because of my sense of abundance and belonging. Trying to earn a sense of satisfaction holds the limitations of a false sense of self and separation – self-made good days come few and far between.
A day filled with rest and peace is drawn from the awareness of inner faith, that place within me that knows that the Father has made all things well within me, that there is nothing in me that is not already fully returning to Him. This is rest, this is peace, this is the atmosphere of grace that allows me to grow unhindered by the resistance of judgment and criticism. I am finished.