|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

Satan risked it all to get what Jesus will give the Bride freely...partnership...oneness with God You can't take it. You give yourself to it...its the only way it works. Ezekiel 28:14-18 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. 16 "By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. 17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. 18 "You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefor

The Pharisees had the mind to serve God. They had the will to serve God. But, they didn't have the emotions of God...they didn't feel the way He felt about them, their future, or Himself. The emotions are the hardest area of the heart to surrender. I can think something...I can even will to do something....but if I don't tap into how to change my feelings, I will never sustain agreement with God....in fact, I will eventually rebel against Him. The way I surrender my emotions is to talk to God about them... honestly. I tell Him what I feel, and then find out what He feels. When those two don't match, I recognize I am wrong and ask Him to change my feeling about the matter. On the surface this sounds simple, but when you bring the unchanging truth of the Bible and the persistent conviction of the Holy Spirit into the conversation you get a very sticky situation... Jesus feels: -Patient -Forgiving -To bless those who curse and spitefully use Him -Judging of sin -Confident

Often the gap between what I have now, and what I think I will need in the future keeps me connected to God. It is common to long for that gap to be bridged, but what if that is what is really keeping me connected to God....leaning hard against Him? For 40 years Israel was supposed to trust God DAILY. That gap was continually before Israel as God made them his sanctified people. Right now, many fret day in and day out for that gap to close. They imagine happiness is in not needing God as far as they can see....that THAT is somehow His blessing. It isn't. His blessing is the breath in my lungs, the beat of my heart...the love I feel when I set aside worry and just try to see more of who He is and why He made me. God would have never put me in motion if He didn't intend to keep me in motion forever. If He intends to keep me progressing, then He intends to provide for me, as well. The gap between what I have today and what I imagine I need next week, month, or year is imaginary. T

There were no "great prophets"...or great evangelists or great apostles in their day. People loyal to Jesus get called great long after they are dead. Mostly, other people that claim to love God call those truly loyal to Him divisive, subversive, off, or crazy. The western Church (especially the charismatic and emergent varieties) has created a false category of Christian leader that somehow breaks all the boundaries Jesus laid out...a new kind of leader not in the Bible.... accepted by all, esteemed by all, and recognized for their greatness while still alive, bridging the boundaries between media and the Kingdom, business and the Kingdom, the culture and the Kingdom.... This is false. True leaders will snatch away many from the world... but not the way being sold to many. The true end time leaders will reap from the world not by being accepted by, but by being a total alternative to, the world's dying ways. Many are being led astray by leaders that value what the world