Some Prophetic Encouragement for 2014

1) Come into 2014 "thirsty" like never before! Come as though you have just completed a difficult trek through the Sahara Desert. Make Father's love the only well you drink from in 2014! If you do; Father's love will trump any and everything in your life this New Year! Count on it, believe it and receive it! Present yourself to 2014 with an unquenchable thirst for the cool and refreshing love of Jesus.

"Like cold water to a person faint from thirst is good news from a distant land." (Prov. 25:25 NAS)

"For I will saturate [the] thirst of [the] weary, and every person [who] languishes I will replenish." (Jer. 31:25 LEB)

"I'm thirsty for God-alive. I wonder, "Will I ever make it - arrive and drink in God's presence?" (Ps. 42:2 Msg)

"The scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water..."(Isaiah 35:7 NAS)

"If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within."(John 7:38 NLT)

2) Having quenched your soul with the 'living water' of Father's love; spill over to all you encounter this New Year. "Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me..." The world desperately needs "Love Ambassadors" commissioned by Father in 2014! Will you allow His loving heart to beat to overflowing through your life? Love is the Royal Law that fulfills and trumps all other laws and all religiously imposed performance standards. Don't allow any other voice to drown out loves passionate cry in your heart. Present yourself to 2014 with an unquenchable thirst for the cool and refreshing love of Jesus.
"If you are thirsty, come! If you want life-giving water, come and take it. It's free." (Rev. 22:17 CEV)
"Each of us is now a part of His resurrection body, (a community of love) refreshed and sustained at one fountain--his Spirit--where we all come to drink." (1 Cor. 12:13)

3) Don't settle for anything less than Unity in 2014! "When one suffers all suffer and when one rejoices all rejoice." Consider the following story. An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the kids that whoever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each other’s hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: ''UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?'' 'UBUNTU' in the Xhosa culture means: "I am because we are."

"until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ." (Eph. 4:13 NLT)

"Christ makes the whole body grow as God wants it to, through support and unity given by the joints and ligaments." (Col. 2:19 GW)

"Do all these things; but most important, love each other. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity." (Col. 3:14 NCV)

"Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind." (1 Peter 3:8 ESV)

4) Hope will always empower the wait! Yes, you can wait in hope for Faith to make The Way Through...You don't have to return to the proverbial Egypt of your life and waste all of the Wilderness lessons of 2013. Yes, really. Three things are certain and will always remain and enable the maturing and completion that Jesus has for you in 2014...Faith, Hope and Love!  Hope allows you to experience the joy of getting to Love's destination--which is your destined end in Jesus!

"Waiting gives experience; and experience, (results in) hope..." (Rom. 5:4 BBE)

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." (Rom. 4:18 TNIV)

"Through him (Abraham) we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Rom. 5:2 ESV)

"They said many things to give strength and hope to the believers." (Acts 15:32 NIRV)

"This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us." (Rom. 5:5 GNT)

Do likewise in 2014!

Nurtured by Resolve

A dear friend and brother gave me a medallion to remind me of “tenacious resolve”. It has the words “finish strong” inscribed on it. I keep it in a place where I will see it often. I don’t know about you, but I need reminders. God is great about giving us sign-posts and reminders. There are always little, and even big reminders along life’s path---they are there to show us that he is still our strongest encourager.
Here is one of my favorite “tenacious resolve” Scriptures: “Therefore, we do not lose heart.” “So we are not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Msg)
We are prone to loosing heart and giving up without this level of regular encouragement. It’s bad enough without negative reporters, naysayers, critics, and discouragers. They seem to abound the harder circumstances become. Which am I-a spiritual cheerleader or “frump grump”? Never heard of a “frump grump”? They only prognosticate on how much worse it’s going to get.
So, what do we do with all the evidence of things seeming to fall apart around us? First, resolve not to ever give up! It’s just not an option. With “tenacious resolve” you will not lose heart. Once you lose heart-it is easy to become overwhelmed to the point of seeing only the negative and missing all the positive signs around you.
Next, focus your heart attention on the wonderful work of grace unfolding inside of you. God’s grace always unfolds before us—moving us forward to our expected end of Christ likeness. Equally his grace folds up behind us. That is to dissuade us from trying to go back to some elusive time that seemed better. Today and tomorrow are the most promising times in our life. Even if yesterday was terrific—the future in him is the best!

1"The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the things to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. 3 But just the opposite happened. Those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their sins year after year. 4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why Christ, when he came into the world, said, "You did not want animal sacrifices and grain offerings. But you have given me a body so that I may obey you. 6 No, you were not pleased with animals burned on the altar or with other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, 'Look, I have come to do your will, O God -- just as it is written about me in the Scriptures.'" 8 Christ said, "You did not want animal sacrifices or grain offerings or animals burned on the altar or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them" (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he added, "Look, I have come to do your will." He cancels the first covenant in order to establish the second. 10 And what God wants is for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. 11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands before the altar day after day, offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as one sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down at the place of highest honor at God's right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled as a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he perfected forever all those whom he is making holy. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. First he says, 16 "This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts so they will understand them, and I will write them on their minds so they will obey them." 17 Then he adds, "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." 18 Now when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. 19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's people, 22 let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10: 1-24,NLT)

And then, always keep your spiritual compass on true north—the third heaven. Don’t ever,

for one moment, think that the coming blessing of being with “them” for all eternity is not worth every difficulty in the “now”. Everything in this life really is “small potatoes” compared to the eternal celebration that is coming! The lasting value of what he is accomplishing in the present is treasure for us to be discovering forever. We are on an exciting treasure hunt with only the most precious of jewels to be found! And he is the crowning jewel. Be nurtured by “tenacious resolve."
In the grip of Papa’s unfolding grace! Ron Ross

Overtaken by Holy Spirit

When was the last time you were absolutely overwhelmed and taken over by the Holy Spirit of Jesus? How were you impacted and changed? The very Spirit of the Resurrected, Glorified, and Enthroned Jesus lives inside of every believer!

Can we walk by the Holy Spirit moment by moment; even while we are being affected beyond personal failures, present struggles/losses, cultural norms, reason, intellect, orthodoxy, or traditions? Yes; a resounding yes must answer this question beyond any thread of doubt or question in our daily journey in Christ Jesus’ faith.

Holy Spirit leads and guides us into all truth, and then he instructs and teaches us how to walk in that truth. What’s more he comforts us in all the distress and pain of living in this world. There is not much He doesn’t do for us every moment of our faith journey!

We cannot and will not make it in this world system and earth suit (flesh) apart from a moment by moment intimate exchange with Holy Spirit! As I emphatically present these strong words, I must confess that I too am learning to walk each day in the grace and divine love that covers my discarding, distractions, and even grieving or quenching the magnificent gift of Holy Spirit in my walk with Jesus!

Allow scripture to lead you into being overtaken and filled by Him. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The Law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. 5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. 8 That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.) 10 Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you. 12 So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family -- calling him "Father, dear Father." 16 For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children.” (Rom.1: 1-16, NLT) Please tell me, what doesn’t he do for us?

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16, WEB) “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:25 ESV) Could it get any simpler? Walking by the Spirit is the pathway to the Calvary secured Grace of dwelling in Jesus and he in us.

Even our big brother Jesus was conceived by Holy Spirit overtaking his mother Mary!

“The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. It was (by being) overtaken by Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.” (Matt. 1: 18, Msg, parenthesis added)

This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason,
There'd have been no room for the child.
-Madeleine L'Engle

 “By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was appointed to be the mighty Son of God because he rose from the dead. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 1:4, NIRV) Paul was quick to instruct the believers in Rome (and everywhere else he journeyed by Holy Spirit’s leading and guiding) that the power of Holy Spirit was always in the life, and resurrection of Jesus! “And He loves to give us everything pertaining to life and Godliness! That includes the very same power that raised Him from the dead.

”Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17, NKJV) It is the awesome love of Jesus that shares with His followers the very same enlightenment and empowerment He has in all things. Overcoming victory is His; thus it is ours as well! His love trumps anything else you could possibly imagine in this world and the ages to come!

“And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.” (Rom. 5:5, NIRV) Holy Spirit continuously pours Father’s love into our hearts! I would be crazy, delusional, and stupid to not embrace this love via Holy Spirit at all times and experiences! The world is in dire straits when or because I/we do not daily offer this marvelous gift of Holy Spirit! Our very lives must continuously slosh onto all we come in contact with.

Hope only comes to the world by the reality of our light and saltiness! We must show them the light and satiation of our saltiness via Holy Spirit! They will not see the grandeur of Jesus apart from the work of Holy Spirit! The following scriptures provide a glimpse into the breath-taking comfort, leading, guidance, instruction and sobering privilege that is ours because of the matchless gift of Holy Spirit! Let me remind you of the awesome ways he works in and through us!

“But your sinful nature does not control you. The Holy Spirit controls you. The Spirit of God lives in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.” (Rom. 8:9, NIRV)

“For if (any of us) you keep on following (the lies of the world, religion and our own flesh), (we) you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live.” (Rom. 8:13 NLT, parentheses added)

“You didn't receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear once again. Instead you received the Holy Spirit, who makes you God's child. By the Spirit's power we call God ""Abba."" "Abba" means Father. “(Rom. 8:15, NIRV)

“For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children.” (Rom. 8:16, NLT)

“And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.” (Rom. 8:23 NLT)

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” (Rom. 8:26, NLT)

“He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit's mind, because he makes intercession for the holy ones according to God.” (Rom. 8:27 HNV)

Finally, let’s consider this revelatory truth offered by A. W. Tozer. Warning! It might rock your world!

“Everywhere among conservatives we find persons who are Bible-taught but not Spirit-taught. They conceive truth to be something which they can grasp with the mind. If a man holds to the fundamentals of the Christian faith, he is thought to possess divine truth. But it does not follow. There is no truth apart from the Spirit. The most brilliant intellect may be imbecilic when confronted with the mysteries of God. For a man to understand revealed truth requires an act of God equal to the original act which inspired the text. ... "Now we have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things which are freely given us of God.”

An unblessed soul filled with the letter of truth may actually be worse off than a pagan kneeling before a fetish. We are saved only when our intellects are indwelt by the loving fire that came at Pentecost. For the Holy Spirit is not a luxury, not something added now and again to produce a deluxe type of Christian once in a generation. No. He is for every child of God a vital necessity, and that He fills and indwells His people is more than a languid hope. It is rather an inescapable imperative.
Now the Bible teaches that there is something in God which is like emotion. ... God has said certain things about Himself, and these furnish all the grounds we require. “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. 3:17). This is but one verse among thousands which serve to form our rational picture of what God is like, and tell us plainly that God feels something like our love, like our joy, and what He feels makes Him act very much as we would in a similar situation; He rejoices over His loved ones with joy and singing.
Here is emotion on as high a plain as it can ever be seen, emotion flowing out of the heart of God Himself. Feeling, then, is not the degenerate son of unbelief that is often painted by some of our Bible teachers. Our ability to feel is one of the marks of our divine origin. We need not be ashamed of either tears or laughter.
The Christian stoic who has crushed his feelings is only two-thirds of a man; an important third part has been repudiated. Holy feeling had an important place in the life of our Lord. “For the joy that was set before Him” He endured the cross and despised its shame. He pictured Himself crying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.”
The work of the Holy Spirit is, among other things, to rescue the redeemed man’s emotions, to restring his harp and open again the wells of sacred joy which have been stopped up by sin.”
Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897–May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, preacher, author, magazine editor and spiritual mentor.
Reprinted from God's Pursuit of Man by A.W. Tozer, copyright © 1950, 1978 by Lowell Tozer. Previously titled The Divine Conquest and The Pursuit of Man. Used by permission of WingSpread Publishers, a division of Zur Ltd.
Much more could be revealed and embraced considering Holy Spirit’s major part in our walk as followers of Jesus! Will you daily, intentionally, open the door of your heart to the magnificent Spirit of God? Do not relegate Him (Holy Spirit) to a “bit” part in the unfolding of your life in Jesus. The cry of my heart is that “we be filled and keep on being filled with Holy Spirit.”
Filled by Holy Spirit, Ron Ross
http://youtu.be/VVy1V0EdNj8

The Buddy Beagle Song

This is the absolutely true story of Buddy the Beagle. It was originally written as lyrics to a spoken song, in the style of Johnny Cash. When you read it to the children at Christmas time, try to use your very best Southern accent. Christmas Blessings to you and yours from Hagen's Holler, NC.  -Linda Hagen

I was drivin' on Vashti Road one night, in the cold and blowin' snow. It was Christmas time and I was tryin' to git home. I come 'round the curve, and what's that I see? A little bitty pup, a shiverin' in the cold, just a settin' on the double yeller line. Right there in the middle of Vashti Road.

It was Christmastime. What else could I do? I parked my pickup on the double yeller, got out and knelt down, and tried to coax him near. Well that was one scared pup-he backed away. It was then I heard, comin' round the curve, a big semi truck just a bearin' down on us. "That driver cain't see!" I said to the pup."This is your last chance! You better come with me, or we'll both be mashed on this double yeller line! Right here in the middle of Vashti Road."

Well, I guess that pup understood my meanin'. He jumped in my arms, I jumped in my truck, the big rig drove past, and we were on our way home. Me and the Beagle. Buddy Beagle.

Have dead from the cold, he wouldn't eat, so I wrapped in a blanket and put him by the heat, and I asked the Lord to keep him through the night. And then I said, "Little Buddy-you're in His hands now."

Come next mornin', I didn't know what I'd find. I unwrapped that blanket and I had to smile. There were two little Beagle eyes a lookin' back at me.

Well, Buddy grew strong. He became my friend! The best little dog I ever did have. We walk, and talk, and play together. Sometimes we sing! (He likes to be tenor.)       He never chews stuff up nor pees on the rug. Oh, once in awhile he smells a little bad, but so do we all. So I forgive him, 'cause he's my buddy. Buddy Beagle.

Now the funny thing 'bout this story is- the night before I found Buddy, I made a Christmas wish list, just for fun. And on the top o' that list, #1, I wrote down - PUPPY!

Now a beagle is not what I had in mind. I wanted a dog more elegant in kind. One with tall long legs and a matchin' pedigree. But that ain't what was settin' on the double yeller line.  Right there in the middle of Vashti Rd.

There's a lesson here, I learned from Buddy. I'll tell it to you, if you're ready, and you got ears to hear. Are you ready?

When you pray and God gives you a Beagle, don't pass it by 'cause you want somethin' better. The Lord knows you, and what you need right then. So be thankful! Be greatful! And keep your eyes open! You never know what you might find just a settin' on the double yeller line. Right there in the middle of Vashti Road.

Qualified by Grace

There is no pain quite like the sting left in the wake of self rejection. Yet, our own failures open the door to the possibilities discovered in the feeling and knowing of regret and guilt. It is bravery of the highest degree to plumb the depths of our secret war with our self. "To thine own self be true."

Freedom is sweetest once we are released from the dark dungeons of denial and depression. It begins while allowing pain to push us toward the light found only in the brutal, honest, fearless, inventory of our‑self. Beyond that veil we begin to discover the boundless realities of Grace! And after such glorious discovery we begin to move toward the bright light of who we truly are in Jesus!

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, BUT shouts to us in our pain." C. S. Lewis

God shouts Grace, Grace to us in our pain! Only the shouts of Grace drown out all the other voices. Beginning to listen more to the shouts of Grace, "we find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand‑‑out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise."

We discover in the midst of all these shouts of grace that "He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway...God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him." (Romans 5, Msg.)

Christ’s unconditional love and acceptance arrives right on time, in the midst of our failure and deepest denial.  "And that's not all. We throw open our door to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us." And in the open door of Grace, we are flooded for the first time with the light of true self‑discovery!

What follows is almost too good to be true. This constant Grace awakening reveals our authentic identity in Christ. We really are Sons and Daughters of Heavenly Father and that adoptive position is tethered only to His righteousness—not our performance!

1Cor 15:10 While my own doing completely disqualified me; his doing now defines me. I am what I am by the grace of God. I am because he is! His grace was not wasted on me; instead I am inspired to labor beyond the point of exhaustion, more than anything I ever did under the law of performance; whatever it is that I accomplish now has grace written all over it. I take no credit for it. (Mirror Bible www.mirrorfriends.com)

"In Jesus Christ you individually discover 'who' you are." (Romans 1:6, The Mirror)

"Through him (Jesus) we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ!" (The Message) Here we also discover our true meaning and purpose.

There's something bigger going on...but; that is the rest of our story! Ron Ross

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyA9I_w1p54&feature=youtube_gdata_player