Last night, amongst our people, My Honey and I stood side by side, eyes closed, palms open, head back... and we collectively, intently slowed our thoughts by slowly breathing in deep - the whole group of us.
Fully inhaling... holding on while letting go, inviting Him to come in and spill out and to linger all around us.
We gathered to talk of how we host His Presence.
What tools we use... how we tangibly pay attention to the fact that we are carriers of His Presence and our desire is to leak Him out wherever we go.
We are a Kingdom People... a Royal Priesthood... worshipers and lovers of God... We are Community and Communion and One with Him, while being wildly for each other.
We are family, and it is glorious --even when it is messy.
This... this is who we are, because of Whose we are!
And this... this releasing His Presence and His Kingdom... this is what we were made for!
So we talked about how we use slowing our breath and breathing in God... for He is air in our lungs...
We talked about spending time in the Word, with The Word Made Flesh...
We talked about simply turning our hearts and thoughts toward Him... how He is never not consumed with thoughts and love toward us --Individually, us. As in you... and me. We are ever on His mind and in His heart and when we but turn our attention to Him - oh my how it blesses Him!
We can make it hard... we can think of hosting His Presence like hosting a party and all the To Do's and planning and cleaning out and making room can begin to feel more like carrying a burden, and we know what He has asked us to do with those!
No.
Hosting His Presence is as easy as breathing Him in and giving Him room.
We've talked about it here countless times... of breathing Him in... of how He will take 5-10 minutes, but He only needs a split second to come down... to fill us up!
We've talked about what happens when we simply hallow His name!
We have even talked often of the importance of taking every thought captive... of reigning in those run-away tangents that do nothing but tear down and rip apart.
That is not the fruit we are looking for. No. We want His Presence to feel at home in us and we desire to Speak Life... to Be Love... to Shine On, truly.
I asked Him why this Hosting comes easily for some, and seems to be hunted down and all work and no play for others.
His answer was simple and quick and caught me off guard.
It's all about Access.
Access... both freely given, and completely denied!
It's about how it's really up to us. We get to decide. We get to pick.
We have been given the Keys to the Kingdom... in Christ - all He has is ours. We have been given Total Access to the ways of the Kingdom... to the very heart of our King. He withholds no good thing. (I know that is a hard one sometimes, but I didn't say it! David did! Ps84:11)
So - when it comes to all that heaven has to offer us... we are not locked out! We have the keys that unlock every door.
And when it comes to earth... and all that the enemy throws at us... well, we have been given all authority. We have the right to deny access to him... we have the right to slam closed every open door.
We have the right, but we don't always exercise it!
I remembered a vision I had once, years ago. I saw a piece of land surrounded with a white picket fence. At several places, I saw a gate that was slightly ajar. I saw myself walking around the boundaries of that land, and at every opened gateway, I would make sure the door was latched shut, and I heard myself speaking out through the closed gate, "Access Denied!"
As children of the King, we have access AND authority.
In order to host His Presence and walk aware of being a Carrier of Him, --in order to fill up and leak out and release the Kingdom of God, we must exercise both our Access and Authority - both in heavenly and earthly realms!
We Breathe Him in... and we pray...
"Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven, Lord!"
Holley Gerth for #CoffeeforYourHeart
Meredith Bernard for #Woman2WomanWednesday
I love this thought, "how He is never not consumed with thoughts and love toward us." So powerfully encouraging.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't that thought just blow you away? He is so personal and so in love with us - of COURSE He is consumed with thoughts toward us! So thankful you stopped by! Breathe in deep, and know He is thinking of you right now at this very moment!
DeleteThanks friend. It was a rough night teaching Confirmation tonight. I needed to read this breathe of air; the breathe of God. God knows me and knows my own insecurities etc. I need to remember what a gift breathing in Gods grace is!!
ReplyDeleteHey there... so sorry to hear you had a rough night... isn't it amazing how often we actually forget to breathe? I mean - we do it automatically, of course - but... thankful for you friend and so glad you stopped by and remembered to breathe!
DeleteWow, what a powerful vision and then to have the Lord bring it back to mind as confirmation for the word He whispered to your spirit. All grace.
ReplyDeleteSuch powerful words here, Karrilee. I'm especially tucking this in my back pocket:
"Hosting His Presence is as easy as breathing Him in and giving Him room."
Breathing with you today. <3
We make it so hard, don't we? Isn't it refreshing to know that it doesn't have to be? That we can simply breathe in deep and give Him room!
DeleteI can't get over that opening scene ... the breathing in of Spirit. Thank you for that. I'm heading to bed now, and guess what I'll take with me? This image of you all in that circle.... And this breathing in and out. Really grateful for such a beautiful picture of God's provision.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty amazing... to all be in one accord, waiting on Him... breathing Him in! The thing that amazes me every time is how Peace rushes in, perspectives change, and He just always shows up! xoxo!
DeleteOn my way to an appointment on Tuesday, as I circled one of my most favorite places on earth (a huge lake surrounded by mountains), the radio played, "This is the air I breathe" I couldn't close my eyes but I gulped Him in and worshiped. It doesn't matter where we are, He is right there as Life-sustaining oxygen!
ReplyDeleteAmen and Amen, Susan! (Did you see on facebook yesterday that I was asking for song for a OneWord Playlist? Thought you may want to take a look at that! ;) #Wonder
DeleteKarrilee, oh, wow, girl, your words--these images, this invitation--is his love flowing right to me. I am so thankful for you, for how you love us here. Thank you, sister.
ReplyDeleteHello my friend! It is so nice to find you here... how have you been? I have been thinking of and praying for you and your hubby and the ministry you all started! So thankful for you, too! Love ya bunches!
DeleteI love the line about having the keys to the kingdom. Isn't that the truth?! And too often I don't fully grasp that -- probably ALL the time I don't grasp that. Sometimes I feel like the only quiet time I get with God is while I'm in the shower! I take quiet time to read scripture, but I love having the shower time to think about Him. Strange, but the honest truth. :)
ReplyDeleteNothing strange about that! I love my shower time! xoxo Here's to the access that those keys give us...and here's to using them more and more this year! Thanks so much for stopping by!
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