THE MUSE IS MOVING!

Hey...

I have moved my musings to my own site. You can find me (and all the blogs I've written) at...

http://www.ameymuses.com

All new posts will be at the new site...
Come see me!

Amey

Worship & Intercession

When Worship and Intercession are joined together, they reproduce.

What do they reproduce?

The manifestation of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

Selah.

Jesus' Miracles

I keep hearing ministers talking about miracles and especially creative miracles.

Did Jesus do any creative miracles?

There were restorative miracles - restoration of sight, use of legs and hands - even the restoration of life - but I don't remember anything about creative miracles.

Not to imply that I don't believe in them.

In fact, I've often wondered about Jesus' statement that we would do greater works than He did after He returned to the Father. Many times that statement is explained as "greater" meaning "more in quantity" rather than "more in quality." I never bought the explanation.

I haven't done greater works yet, though. I'll keep you posted...

Amey

 

The Process

Dr. Renny McLean (www.globalglory.org) has been teaching at our church this week. One of his key points - time is eternity's child - resonates within me. The quickest way to describe what he's talking about is this: God never sees a caterpillar. He only sees butterflies. In God, who is outside of time, all things are already complete.

So I was talking to some friends the other night and Holy Spirit reminds me of Isaiah 46:10 - "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. "

The things we experience on our journey to become like Christ - our process - isn't revealed to us in advance. Only the end result is spoken - the hope set before us - to encourage us to continue in the process.

I began thinking about Joseph and his process. God revealed his end in the beginning but never spoke to him about the process. I believe his process was a result of choices he made and the people around him made. If he'd kept his dreams to himself, instead of sharing them with his brothers, the process may have been different.

Which, of course, made me think about my own life.

I have the free will (authority) to make any part of the process last as long as I choose. God won't take me beyond my obedience to Him. There are things Holy Spirit is addressing in my life but I can choose to take as long as I want to respond to His direction. I can choose to disobey. But God knows the end from the beginning and keeps enticing me with what is to come.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Daddy,

Help me to trust Your leading and choose wisely to accelerate the process. I choose today to be obedient to Your Spirit. I don't understand the process sometimes, but I thank You that You have placed a desire for the eternal in my heart and that You have made me beautiful in You.

I love You,
Amey

 

The Church & Homosexuality - CORRECTION

So I shared this post with my mentor and he corrected me on something.

It seems that I have believed something I've heard from the pulpit all my life that actually isn't true.

He asked me if Jesus ever intentionally offended people and I answered that he offended religious people but was not offensive to others.

Busted. That's just not true. Jesus intentionally offended people all the time - from his disciples down to the Gentile woman who was begging for healing ("even dogs get crumbs from the table").

So, what it comes down to, is this... we must be led by Holy Spirit in our dealings with everyone. There will be times when we may be directed to offend by confronting issues in people's lives. BUT, no matter what, there is a very important heart issue involved.

It's not about NOT offending. It's about NOT sinning. We must speak the truth in love - it's always about what's in our hearts.

Amey

The Church & Homosexuality

In a prayer meeting this morning we were praying about the vote in Congress on Wednesday... the one that will establish a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. We repented for not taking our responsbilities as Americans seriously by participating in elections and government.

As I continued to pray, Holy Spirit said to me that we have brought some of this on ourselves because of the way we've reacted to homosexuals and the wounds we've inflicted. I repented on behalf of the church and myself, but I really think that it is a key.

Most gays that I know and have met on outreaches, etc., came out of the church and have been deeply wounded. In fact, most of them suffered from rejection from fathers or betrayal from mothers and are seeking to fill those needs through their same-sex relationships.

What we are faced with is learning how to love them without accepting their sin... or how to love them while allowing Holy Spirit to deal with their sin. In my life there was a time when I was really struggling with a sin issue and went to the elders of my church for prayer and counsel. I was judged instead of helped. But God granted me favor with the Pastor and he heard the cry of my heart. He stood and cried with me openly after service one Sunday - told me how much he understood and begged me not to give up on God's grace and mercy. His love kept me from running away from God. As I learned to keep my focus on Jesus the sin in my life fell away - it lost its grip.

All I know is that I'm learning that it's never about me or my righteousness or even my attempts at holiness... it's all about Him... and if it wasn't for His constant working in my life and His abundant grace for my shortcomings... I'd be on my way to hell, too.

Daddy,

Pour Your love into my heart so that I may love those around me the way You love me... with a love that brings healing and hope and life to the brokenhearted. Let me be one who binds up the wounds.

In Jesus' name,

Your little girl