During our Gathering this week the Lord gave these words:

“There are times of shaking coming, but within the shaking is an assurance that I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind. As the shaking increases, so will My grip on you. The shaking is not to take you down, but will only serve to lift you up and you will lift up others around you. As the shaking increases, lean on Me and find the security of your God.”

As we learn to lean on Jesus, pressing in harder and closer to the “secret place of the Most High,” we glean from Him and find that God, in all His goodness, truly is the All-Sufficient One.

The word of God boldly declares and challenges us in Romans 8:

35:”Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
37: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
38: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39: Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In verse 38 above, Paul declared he was fully persuaded. The challenge comes – am I? Have I got it settled that absolutely nothing I meet in my circumstances can separate me from, or change, God’s love for me? Do I believe the word of God or do I listen to my complaining, murmuring heart when facing trials and difficulties? God’s love for me can never change. James 1:17 speaking of God’s character, assures us:”…the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” God is completely dependable and will not, and cannot change.

An unbridled tongue speaks from an unruly heart and deceives himself, (James 1:26). I limit the Holy One operating through me when my complaining heart is out of order. I may not understand the circumstances I find myself in, but there are times when I have to “take off” my understanding and bow to the Lord in my life. If I begin to blame shift my unruly heart will tell God, “You are not fair to me!”, and I judge God as being a hard taskmaster. Unless I repent and bow, a darkness begins to overshadow my life as I begin to believe the lie and God’s voice becomes silent and I lose God’s peace. Thanks be to our wonderful God and Father that He has made it clear to us how to get back on track with Him. Just humble, repent, take the blame! Jesus is the Way back to the Father heart of God’s love. Jesus said simply and clearly, Matthew 11;28-30 “Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus beckons us to come to Him in these eternal words.

When I am yoked to Jesus in humility I find that He makes the burden lighter as I “learn of Him.” Proverbs 13:15 declares “…the way of the transgressor is hard,” so if I am finding my circumstances hard, do I recognise the Lord in them? Do I need a change of my heart’s attitude and see Jesus beckoning me to come and be yoked with Him in my situation? When I invite Him in, it is then that I discover that His”yoke is easy” and my burden gets lighter. I may be praying a prayer of deliverance FROM a situation, when the Lord wants to teach me the joys of deliverance IN a situation for a season, (just like Daniel in the Lions’ den – God shut the Lions’ mouths and protected Daniel….a far greater testimony!) God often says, “Prove Me Now!”

The seat of all responsibility is my heart’s attitude and condition. It is the circumcision of the heart by the Spirit of God that determines my quality of life. I have free choice. When I do not understand God’s ways, I can take off my understanding, bow and declare, “True and righteous are all your ways, O Lord!” Let us choose to let God be true in our lives. We have no confidence in our flesh, but our confidence is in the Indwelling Christ, the Treasure God has placed within us that will produce an outward demonstration of His life, for His glory. Let us be fully persuaded that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God as the shaking comes to our lives. A man or woman can be a vessel to carry God’s peace amidst a world of turmoil and demonstrate the life of “Another” to a desperate, seeking world. We have this Treasure in our earthen vessels and He is seeking to let the world know that God is really real!