this is a good thing

After years of chasing wholeness, the Word has explained to me why it can never come from foods, strength or flexibility in the body, religious forms and habits, tidiness. What they call "holistic" lifestyle is really quite the opposite since the pursuit of it (of itself) separates a person from their Source--the only way we can truly be healed, nourished, complete. Because PEACE is an inheritance. eiréné: Oneness. Soundness of body, mind and spirit. Health and welfare. Not lacking or fearful, because complete . "That they may be ONE as we are ONE" I heard the word GRIT in integrity yesterday. I asked the Word to explain why He was capitalizing those four letters in the midst of the English word inteGRITy. This morning He also offered that Integrity isn't just a willingness to work hard and do good. It is a willingness to receive grace to do it WHOLE. Attempts at integrity without Christ cause stress. This is not of Abba. This is going from slavery (self

Yesterday in the midst of the "education" side of integral discipleship, my 6 year old declared he did not have any "interesting" books. I'd asked them to choose from their library stash, a book regarding what people call "science", the living nature of the Word, in the realm of the visible. The Word offered me eyes to see the Substance of this particular problem, and words to offer Thayer insight as to why he would be disappointed in the books that he himself had checked out on his library card. It went something like this: I remember asking you several times to go look and find books that are interesting to you in each category. What I kept seeing was you spending your attention on the children and toys about you. We stayed for enough time for you to make choices that you were happy with, but that isn't how you spent your attention. There was no lack of things that are fascinating to learn about. The problem wasn't the resources being dr

These are a shadow of the things to come, the Substance is Christ. The word glory means weight. Substance. If the eye is bad you can't tell the difference between what is real and what is false. There is a generic lack of discernment involving  what is an idol. Children of light. Phos. Without light, you can't see a shadow. Without substance, there are no shadows. But grasping for shadows themselves ends with jammed fingers and empty hands. If you have not been reliable with the use of "things" --(shadows), who will entrust you with the reality--what is OF Truth--emphasizing the connection between what is True and it's Origin. alethinos, SUBSTANTIALLY true. Essentially true. Connecting visible facts to its underlying reality. This then emphasizes the integrity of what is true, down to the inner makeup--REALITY inside and out. The Word. Logos. John 1. The Word became flesh. Logos gives physical form, a body, to an idea, giving it a body. If The Word is Li

I heard the phrase "thrives on routine" a few days ago. I know it's a commonly accepted virtue nowadays. For most people it carries a virtue in it, or simply describes the way one is designed. Do we do this because we only have so much attention? We must make things happen in a way that doesn't require the mind to complete what has to be done? That we can "get away" with mindless work or use "spare time" in a way that pleases us? Does forcing a routine simply mean I am trying to manage multiple yokes: motherhood, generosity, diligence, learning, relationships, disciple-making, money-making/keeping? Even with expertly managed routines, multiple yokes are exhausting. This is not The Life. I believe discipline is very, very different than religion. Being a disciple requires attention...when Christ appointed the apostles and they were writing letters and spending energy and time on people they loved, with their attention and gifts, they were called

I enjoy the thesaurus because I enjoy words. I get this from my Father. Words are a Good Thing. I think I was made to contemplate and ruminate them in a special way. A while back I contemplated that the word yield both means to produce and to give way, and also to bear--but also bear means carry, as a load. This morning I found out the word treasure  in Matthew 6:19 is the same Greek word that thesaurus is from, literally meaning storehouse of words! Never knew this before today. You just never know what you'll find out when you dig. Philemon 1:6 has been ruminating in me. I think the NLT version gets closest to what I gather from the original Greek text, but I do love assimilating the Word in the unique language that the Spirit offers to me...I love the freedom of letting the Word speak for Himself: I pray that the through your participation of confidence (given to you by God) may morph into productive, energetic action, through the knowledge (gained by first-hand experienc

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God.  Hebrews 6:7 Maybe a month ago I asked the Father why He never speaks words of approval and affirmation to me. Just like me to assume I know the way it is... But it had to be quiet. To stop clamoring for attention and affirmation is to finally experience it. Yesterday, I heard the answer so plainly, and so fresh that I knew it was Rhema. There is some great bread in my bread box, and when my heart is hungry I find myself there, seeking, too often. But when the taste of the Word lands in my spirit, there's no earthly thing that can attract my attention. This week has been a series of fruitful days. I think one of the main complaints I hear from other mothers is the lack of recognition of a job well done. I suspect this is why we numb out on instagram--here we can #humblebrag (I competed for the worst), get comme

Hear, O Israel. To be holy, chosen, the one the Lord has set His love upon, is to be an heir. Who would want a selfish, self-indulgent heir? What we do with the inheritance we have here on earth is how we are trained for full eternal inheritance. Children are an inheritance from the Lord. The single thing we have is attention, the mind. Everything else is stuff. Setting the mind to stuff is the path to destruction. "but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful". Man, it's easy to get tangled up with stuff. It's understandable--we can see it. What is unseen  though is the real treasure. Listening to Deuteronomy 6 & 7 this morning, it lands again that these handmade gods aren't at all what we are dealing with, yet in order to get to the bottom of fear, we have to acknowledge that while we aren't carving and plating wood, we get tangled up with stuff faste

I woke this morning with the words "to obey is better than sacrifice" on repeat in my mind. I had to hear the full word, my soul was hungry. 1 Samuel--Saul is devoting the enemy spoil to destruction and decides to go ahead and keep the best livestock for sacrifices. "...and to listen, than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry." 1 Samuel 15:22-23 I've been sitting when he said to rise. Probably because no one wants to hear what He's been saying, and I know it. "but if salt loses its saltiness, it's not even useful to be cast into the manure pile" "how can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me."  1 Samuel 16:2 Ah, Samuel. To know that hearing is  the treasure that pleases the Lord , but obedience is vulnerable! After David's anointing: " But David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem...  Eliab:  'Why have you

The flesh. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.  I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say -1 cor 10:14-15 I don't know if I'm the only one, but for some reason, I've always had the idea that there are two separate definitions of  flesh . I thought one was the muscle of the body  and one was the "natural man" or "old nature". This faulty mindset has been reconciled to God by the Spirit, and whoa, it is helpful in letting the Spirit crucify the flesh. Through the physical appetite, Satan convinced Eve she could receive God's full wisdom. When she ate of the fruit, the flesh became the enemy, giving her orders to defy God and instead, become her own authority. There is something vulnerable about the sense of taste, and the need of the  belly,  and the snake knew it. Last post, I wrote about submitting to the authority of Jesus. For as long as I've been around, my physical appetite and tastes have been fully

Cause I got changed by what I've been shown More glory than the world has known Keeps me ramblin' on Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall I'm free to love once and for all And even when I fall I'll get back up For the joy that overflows my cup Heaven fills me with more than enough Broke down my levee and my bluff Let the flood wash me And one day when the sky rolls back on us Some rejoice and the others fuss Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess That the Son of God is forever blessed His is the kingdom, we're the guests So put your voice up to the test Sing Lord, come soon Farther Along-Josh Garrels βασιλεία - Kingdom. Authority. Soveriegnty. Royal power. He teaches me how to let go of what I thought living was. "The one who trusts in Him will not be put to shame." He opened my eyes to the truth that I wasn't receiving full benefits of an heir because I wasn't really rendering full authority. Because of this lack, I built king

Mothering must be one of the most enlightening of ways to exult  under the light and easy yoke of the discipline of Jesus. Yuck, Kaede. That's ugh. Rocks are yuck. Spit it out. No demanding. No grabbing. No fear. No informational lectures. I have something wonderful for you. That right there is nothing. PTHHHH. Spit it out. Come. Lets have lunch.

❃But you have upheld me because of my integrity , and set me in your presence forever.  Psalms 41:12  ❃The righteous who walks in his integrity — blessed are his children after him!  Proverbs 20:7  ❃Vindicate me, O Lord , for I have walked in my integrity , and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.  Psalms 26:1  ❃He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity ,  Proverbs 2:7  ❃I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.  Psalms 101:2‭-‬3 My understanding of integrity  was flawed. I thought it just meant honest, true, keeping your word. It's actually being in agreement, unity of the Spirit, with God. Mind. Body. Spirit.  Everything a person does flows from this. I went to yoga teacher training. I believe that God orchestrated

Here again, sowing words.  He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. -eccl. 11:4-7 My fascination with authentic  bread is no secret. What I have just now come to understand is the gift of the Spirit  for perceiving authenticity, driven by a passion for integrity. Getting to the root. ζύμη ἄρτος Here is good news. Bread is a Good Thing. "As often as you do this." These words came as I was nursing my baby to sleep last night. Being always ready to eat a Word, I pursued it but the Spirit wanted it to soak in while I slept I guess because I coul