Jaque, it is your spirit that grasps My love while your mind submits by faith to truth, which means you believe without (or before) mental understanding.  The salvation of your soul is the resting of your soul.  Thus your mind and emotions relax and become still in the Spirit’s KNOWING (within you) that I am God.

Obedience (acting on my promptings) also rests your soul and causes you to experience Me. Faith without obedience is no faith at all, but faith comes to your spirit with the hearing of My word and revives you to take action.  For instance, your mind can’t comprehend unconditional love, but still, you have the mind of Christ and so love others with Agape love.

Lord what does it look like? What is the mind of Christ?

Jaque, the mind of Christ is the Spirit of Christ, and you have been joined directly to His Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17).  So what is the mind of the Spirit?  Only the Spirit knows. (1 Corinthians 2:11). But you have My Spirit in your spirit.

Lord, I am being filled with your Spirit when I rest in your Spirit.  Yes, I rest by the Spirit—or—am arrested by your Spirit.  You attach your very Self to my spirit and we are one.  As I realize and recognize your life in me I trust, surrender, and obey.  Is this correct?

Yes Jaque, and the more you relax and surrender—the more you know Me—the easier it gets to enjoy intimacy with Me—and the fuller you become.  The filling continues; I can fill you—so much so that you can even receive new languages, new gifts, instructions, directions, yes, you can receive a brand new life!

Abba, I receive Christ as my life.  He is my new and total identity now.  I identify with Him because His Spirit is joined to my spirit making us one.  This is why your thoughts are way beyond human thought…incomprehensible to human thinking.  Your mind is Spirit, human minds are matter.  We need your Spirit working within our spirits in order to know your thoughts and allow them to take over our matter.  Your thoughts affect our human minds, so much so that you arrest them with a knowing that is by the Spirit.

So the mind of Christ is not in my mental faculties; it’s in my spirit—now one with your Spirit—the inner place where I know that I know you.

Knowing you naturally rests my mind until it quits struggling to understand what it can never understand.  Aha!  This is the rest you’re calling us to enjoy!  (Hebrews 4)

Yes; now keep working out your salvation and constantly submit your mental faculties to Me.  Keep your head out of the way!  That’s when I work wonders in your natural mind to bring My purposes to pass!!!

I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].  For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him. Romans 12:1-3 (AMP)

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matt 11:30 (MSG)

D.     What is it? Yes, I see.  Communication is prayer; but it gets heavy when we think too much of ourselves and are stalled in a monologue. Man was made for a dialogue, not a monologue, and this dialogue was meant to be light, not heavy; freely shared, freely enjoyed.

Jaque, as you sacrifice your body, i.e., sit still, listen, ask Me for the question, listen, respond, listen again, ask again, listen, hear My response and know that you have the secret desires of your heart, you will continually enter deeper dialogue and enjoy a richer intimacy with Me.  My dear Jaque, our intimate dialogue will turn into intercessory prayer for others—prayer with precisely directed compassions, resulting in miracle after miracle.

A.     Abba, such communication seems hard because the flesh likes living on lazy assumptions. I assume you’re taking care of things without my prayers, because it’s easier (on the flesh) to believe that way.  Real relationship with you and others is much work!  When I want the relationships but not the work, I resort to sentimental excuses: “I have enough to deal with already!  How can I add more people or prayer time to the mix?” My ego creates endless lists; yet I know people in tougher circumstances who sacrifice a lot more for others than I do. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (sigh). What will it take for me to make communicating prayer with you and others a major priority?  Do I simply need a better strategy or contact method, or is my heart disconnected for lack of desire or focus?

Jaque, like everything else, each rewarding relationship is a choice.  Each is preceded by decisive intent, and that is preceded by a compelling vision.  Describe the relationship you want; describe the desired end.  Leave nothing out, for this is when choice gets easy and backing it with action seems no trouble at all.  Later when you forget the details of the vision, return and savor them again.  Add to them.  Redefine them.  Act on them.  If the potency starts to fade, return to the vision.  This rhythm is how transforming prayer occurs.

R.      Abba, I see the exactness of how to enjoy a relationship (in you) with myself!   I release the mind of my flesh in exchange for the mind that willingly sacrifices self-interest for the One True Relationship.  This is Christ.  I ask and am asked, I doubt and am doubted, I repent and am repented, I believe and am believed, I state and am stated, I define and am defined, I return and am returned, I rejoice and am rejoiced, I love and am loved. Indeed—the unforced rhythms of grace.

That’s it Jaque.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. John 10:9 (NIV)

C.    Lord, what have I but you?  What want I but you?  Nothing apart from you!  Being in our relationship I want nothing but communication and prayer. I find in myself a deeper desire for fellowship among the community of saints.  Yes, I commune and am communicated, I pray and am prayed!

Jaque, you and I enjoy community—this is the easiest way to communicate, pray and “community” with others.

My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? Gal 5:16-18 (MSG)

D.        I detect: God, you chose Jesus to reveal who you are; yes, you chose. You the Sovereign Perfect God choose to dwell through Christ in vessels of imperfection. I the negative, you the Positive. I the unhealthy, you the Healthy.  Only by your life in me am I positively and perfectly healthy. I thrive only in our union; apart from you I am nothing but a weak, negative, unhealthy vessel.

A.        I admit it: I often think that after you bring healing I should be able to manifest health as myself saying; “Okay God, I’ve got it; I can take it from here, thank you very much!” I still want to be healthy apart from God.  Wrong!  This is the ego’s constant quest for healthy independence, but there is NO SUCH THING!.  My ego doesn’t get it—never has—never will. You are not only the “Health of the universe,” but you are the Person “of” the born again personality.  Not seeing you as the all in all, (I) have no hope; nothing but a negative, destructive, unhealthy sick personality.  As long as I carry about in this body the root of sinful self interest how could I not be conscious of sin?  How could I not be under the constant conviction of the Holy Spirit?  It’s not “if” I sin but “when” I am willing to admit, acknowledge and release sin in my members in exchange for Christ who lives in me as me..

However, if Christ lives in you your bodies are dead because of sin, but your spirits are alive because you have God’s approval.”  Romans 8:10 (GW)

R.         I release: Apart from you—I am nothing but a sinner; united to you I am nothing but the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  I release Satan’s lies as they arise, for in you I am no longer subject to him.  He is defeated once for all and the new Commander in Chief is in me to operate this earth suit by Christ’s own identity.  I am no longer “of” Satan but “of” the faith of Christ; yes, I am driven by Love Himself!  The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

Jaque, you can always release the lie through the ongoing revelation of Christ as you.  Thus you are spontaneous in your freedom to see as you go instead of striving to nail down the truth so you can run with it by yourself and not have to “abide in Christ.” The root of sinful self-interest in your flesh doesn’t know the meaning of the words surrender or abide, and it never will.  But there is no final understanding, seeing, realization or perfection; there is love for today; that’s it.  So you stumble.  So what!  See and admit it, then submerge yourself in mercy, grace and love.  Just keep walking Jaque, for faith grasps Christ in each and every need.  It’s in walking by faith that you are healed; it’s in walking by the faith of the Son of God that you hold Positive Vine Life in the vessel.  Purge the lie—live the life.  Christ is your solid base—your true identity and the One true King and Master of all.

C.          I communicate:  Father, I accept that I am a weak, negative, branch, vessel through which your strong, positive, vine life flows.  I surrender.  I admit every sin, not in a false humility but in honest recognition that I can release only what I am able to acknowledge.  Forgive me for thinking that former attitudes “should have” disappeared by now.  In the root of self-interest they are here to stay. All the “should’s” and “should not’s” are programmed into this stuff of flesh.  There is no “when I get it I should be able to hold onto it!” or “I’ll nail it down someday and then I’ll have it for good!” in you.   Never in thought, deed,  goodness, nor for any act of kindness is there a “me” that can hold on to some imagined pristine self apart from you.  I’ll never get it because you are all of it.  When I know you as my life I have it all.

Jaque, you have it all when I live through you as you. Never quit expecting Me to be Me.  Look for Me, see Me, receive Me, and be love that I am in you.  Your essential essence is willing surrender.  That’s who you are.  You are free to be humanly you, trusting that I’ll be perfectly Me in you; that’s when we’re One.  Amen.

1. What is this? Lord, I become quite critical when my soul is not still. I feel the ache of a silent God.  Lord, here I m again compartmentalizing my life into segments. This is where I always feel like you are missing, and then I miss You terribly!  I can’t stand it when this busyness swallows the real “me,” making me wonder where I went.

Jaque, making a religion out of ordinary life, you tell yourself (the internal dialogue) “You need to finish this, then you have to make sure you accomplish that, and, oh yeah, don’t forget to email so and so, and then wash the dishes when you’re done!”  You have a lot of performance issues that are driven by the illusion of perfectionism. You are burning out on your own (form of) religion.

A          Thank you Lord.  I admit I have a strong desire to accomplish things (I think) need to be done today.  I see how this desire has taken me unaware; otherwise it could not get me running in circles with all these “to do” lists.  Aha! I see something I haven’t seen before.  Recently I determined to hone in on my life mission to “Help others understand and respond to The Message.”  Then right on the heels of that determination this “religious distraction” appeared.  Wow!  So this is religious bondage?!  Nothing less than a performance based distraction from You and Your purposes.  It doesn’t need a denominational title, for it is that in me that doesn’t want me to move forward with Your purpose.  (Romans 7:15-17) Yes, this is sin in my members using perfectionism (the Law) to hold me back from fulfilling my mission.

R.         I release this phantom image, this “wanna be” model of a “me” that no longer exists.  It does not hold the interests of Christ in and as me.  Lord, forgive me for going back to sleep!  I have been crucified with Christ; yet this specter claims me through dreams of my own slumber in an effort to maintain its distinction in my imagination.  I am not who the specter says I am; I am who You say I am—a blood bought child of the living God with a new purpose in life!   Dishes be d—-d!  I will not be a servant or a specter in your ghostly religion.

Jaque, as you release not just the list of things to do but the maker of those lists, you’ll find yourself fulfilling My purpose and getting the dishes done as well.  Return to the unforced rhythms of grace.  Live lightly as you rest in My perfection.

C.        Father, I accept that as long as I live in this body of flesh a ghost will randomly appear to haunt me with visions and patterns of a life I once knew before Christ.  Thank you that this, my nemesis, is the very agent that drives me back (over and again) to You! Had it not disturbed me to that point I might never have sought You in the first place!  I am so grateful for everything it took to get me to search, to find and to love You.  Thank you Lord.  Thank you for yesterday, today and forever!

Jaque, I love it when you communicate your heart; I’m also pleased with the way you work out your salvation in My presence.  As you keep company with Me you will attain to the ever increasing glory of Christ in you.  By understanding and responding to the Message yourself, you are doing the very best you can do for others.  I am pleased with your attention to details Jaque, and I will always bless your awareness with My presence.

I can’t wait to share some of my recent D.A.R.C.’s with you.  I generate my usual writing with a pen and paper instead of the computer.  I don’t know, but it seems the connection with my heart works better that way for me.  So now I’m going to get my “too long” fingernails filed down so I can transfer some of these for you.

The original D.A.R.C stands for  Discipline, Accountability, Relationship and Community, but the way used in my journals, it goes like this: Detect it (face whatever “it” is), Admit it (be honest and accept that it-whatever it is–is here), Release it (let it go, give it to God –the oft more difficult step–and receive forgiveness), Communicate it (thank God that it’s in Christ’s death and that once more you’re restored to intimacy with Him).

Be back soon!

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The D.A.R.C. acrostic at Visionwriters initially stands for discipline, accountability, relationship and community, but we can employ it to clear up tough issues we deal with as human beings.  With this in mind discipline detects what the issue  really is and asks, what is it?, accountability admits what it finds, relationship releases the fear of it (whatever “it” is), and community communes praise and worship to God for the light that now shines from going through this freeing process. (Community is our communion of gratitude with God and others).

PREMISE FOR WHAT FOLLOWS:
What we resist persists. What we forgive dissolves.
The issue: the following D.A.R.C. is about the fear of being and staying fat.  Light arises when truth reveals the true addiction isn’t (nor has ever been) food.   So what is it?  There were two revelations that came.  Follow along and enjoy.

Suppose a person, afraid of being fat and who may or may not in actuality be fat, but in the fear of being so tries various keys to unlock the secret of being thin:  Things such as Weight Watchers, Nutri-system, grapefruit with dry toast, excessive exercise, and so on. But nothing works very long, and if it does, it holds the fear in its wake.  This obsession can be so stressful that to relieve it, a person eats—and eats—and eats—thus increasing stress until they gain say, ten, twenty or even a-hundred-pounds.  So when fear is constantly fed, fat persists.  What we resist persists.

The world system tells us how “not” to be fat. But their answers never put an end to the problem because the problem has never been named for what it really is, so…

WHAT IS IT?
What is the real problem?
What is the real addiction?

D. I Detect it.

Misplaced fear is the problem; my fear is of me—not the Lord.  A felt need for control, approval, approval and independence drives my fear as stress gives it gas.  A fearful “What if?” and “If only” is the language of fear.  I’m trying to control my weight so I can gain the approval of others, feel secure in myself, and say “I did it!”

An independent self is the real addiction; my fearful self is not separate from, but synonymous with fear.  The fear of everything “but” God makes this false self feel alive. Fear is my suspicion of God.  Fear and suspicion go hand in hand. (A separate, independent self is not the true self in the eyes of God.  In His eyes the old is gone; behold, the new has come. See Is 43:18-21 AMP

Summary: Our base addiction is the fictitious self and fear is the food that feeds it.  But Christ is the key that opens the door to freedom–the key to our true self.
I admit it.

I fear being fat, so I control my diet with methods I approve.  I want answers from the world; I don’t want to go into a dark place where God is calling—a place I can’t understand or figure out.

I want to look in the sunshine of the world to find my answers; I want to do things my way.  I want to control God by telling Him how to help me—and then I will ask Him to bless the method I want to use.  I admit that the “I” that commands God through misguided wishes is not me at all, but sin dwelling in my members.  (Romans 7).  This “I” strives through me so it can stop feeling afraid, but a fearful self can never quit being afraid; it is a fearful self!  This is the “I” that claims, “with just a little more of this” or “just a little less of that;” but still it is never satisfied—it never has enough or stops demanding more from others.  It simply can’t quit its addiction to itself!

A. I admit it.

I admit that this fictitious “I” or “false self” likes to work the law and instruct others in it.

It believes that if it tries harder, doesn’t give up, and thinks long and hard it will figure everything out on its own.  It claims, “I can do it, I know I can.”  This “I” doesn’t know what it thinks it knows. This is the “I” that cannot be improved, the “I” that the real me reckons is already DEAD in Christ.

R. I release it.

I return to God for forgiveness and receive who I really am.  I acknowledge that everything, everything, yes, everything I think of as “mine” is really yours Lord, so I release the “self” I think of as “me” to you, and I release every fear. In your light I see light.  I don’t want a quick fix Lord; I want the cure.  I know You are the cure, and you are asking for my surrender; then you can live and move and be the Answer through me.

C. I communicate it.

I communicate my utmost respect and fear for You and You alone.  Help me to recognize you in the midst of everything this false self names as a problem.  Help me see You as the answer to everything. Help me recognize You in the midst of whatever I think of as answers.  I don’t know what I think I know.  You know everything.  Here is the beginning of wisdom; you deserve fear, for You are my healthy fear.  My heart worships you.  Speak Lord, I, your true servant, am listening.

Jaque, look at Me.  The addicted self is dead in Christ; your only work is to look at Jesus and believe on Him.  The old self has been ingrained in your memory and rehearsed in your habits for a very long time; you can’t forget it and it isn’t dead apart from Christ.   You release it every time you accept Christ—yes, again and again and again.  (I die daily).  Today is the day to choose Christ. Tomorrow you will choose Him again, because your reckoning for this moment is never adequate for the next.  Do it again Jaque, again and again and again; 70×7 in a day if necessary.  Pay attention to Me Jaque.  You need to hear My voice again, today.

P.S.
Jaque, you wouldn’t be satisfied if Glen told you once during your marriage that he loves you, and you certainly wouldn’t be sustained if I only spoke once in a while.  Moment by moment you can hear Me Jaque; you can know Me in you, so don’t move away from Me—but when you do, make a quick return.  I am the Lord your Healer, Provider, Protector, Confidence and Hope Jaque. Give Me the strength of your days.  Offer your heart, mind and soul to Me.  I will never fail you; no, not ever.

Can you see why our confidence in knowing God and hearing His voice is imperative to our release, and why His request for a personal relationship can’t be ignored?

“We never grow closer to God when we just live life; it takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.”
Frances Chan,
Crazy Love


He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Gal 3:14 (NIV)

Yesterday I pondered this verse and thought, what is the promise of the Spirit?  Then I thought, the promise is that we would receive the Holy Spirit…the promise of the Spirit, for isn’t that what Jesus promised before He ascended?

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:12-15 (NIV)

It’s the Holy Spirit who gives Life.  I like being alive; I don’t want to just live my life rehearsing what happened in the past or memorizing Scripture; I want to live Life.  So God rewarded me with the Holy Spirit; certainly the reward is to all who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).  Hey, there is nothing more to ask for because there is nothing more to want!  The promise of the Spirit—yeah!

Lord, you said, “see, I lay before you life and death, the blessing and the curse, therefore choose Life.”  It’s your Life that we want Lord, so be our Life, okay? Okay, so when the Spirit comes what did He come to do?

Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; John 16:7-9 (NIV) (Emphasis mine)

The Holy Spirit is here to reveal God “with us” in Jesus Christ so that we will believe in Him—in other words to reveal Jesus the Christ living in us through the Spirit, by faith.  Jesus, the actual vision of God; Yes!  Jesus, the revelation of God and of the Life we live now through Him.  Jesus is the place we ground ourselves when we are interested in living Life!  No longer do we even want to try and imagine what our lives could be like; instead we want to live Life and experience it on His terms.  Jesus is not some idea about God; He is the one who keeps us attentive to how God defines Life.  Satan likes to get us excited about thinking and acting for God to the point that we detach from relational intimacy and surrender.  Anyway, he gets us to substitute our godlike egos for the Holy Spirit and to act “for” God rather than “from” Him and thus earn Satan’s applause.  Jesus offers shape, energy and vision to our lives.  He is the vision of God.  Jesus is an actual person who lived at a datable time in a land that grew flowers, vegetables and weeds; Jesus who traveled cities that had mountains, trees, and wildlife, the likes of which are still on earth today, was a solid personality who drank the water, ate the fish and brought God out into the open where we can see Him.  We no longer have to guess what God is like.  Jesus, the incarnation of God is the one making God’s word “personal” to us.  He comforts, heals, forgives, loves and causes God to come alive within us.  By shaking our irrational thinking that we can know God apart from Him, He makes us realize that apart from Jesus, God is just another concept or idea that breaks down as quickly as our egos decide to shape Him into yet another concept or idea.  Jesus saves us from wasting our lives on illusions and cheap thrills.  He enables us to take God and ourselves seriously so that we know who He is and who we are in Him.  He keeps us in God’s love so that we live our lives in our own circles of influence, talking–crying—laughing with friends and family, praying with the grocery store clerk, reading stories to our children, planting flowers, cooking meals, hiring people, training teenagers how to manage their money, touching the sick, lifting a heavy load for our neighbor and surrendering to God right here, right now.  Jesus is the one who makes us know for sure that God “IS” and that His reward is the promise of the Spirit.

Lord Jesus, your Life is manifested and made real to us by the Holy Spirit—the one who makes us know that we know Christ IS our Life! And the more real Christ becomes in us as us, the more we see and know that we are like Him! You make us know that the life we used to live and call “life” was no life at all.  You open the eyes of our understanding.  We get it!  Only through Jesus Christ do we know Life as our very own life.  Thank you for quickening our mortal eyes, bones and flesh to see it, walk it out, and live it on earth today, right here, right now.

Jesus said, “”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15 (NAB) So the first thing is “If you love me…”  It’s easy to obey if we love Him.  We don’t have to study obedience or try to conjure it up for if we love Him, we effortlessly obey. If we love Him obedience just IS.

The key to loving Him is in holding the vision of Him.

…and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. Mark 12:30 (ASV)

Abandoning our attention to Him, the value and amount of concern given to others comes easily. Then any person may state his or her request or opinion and we habitually ask, “Lord, what do you think?”  We desire nothing less than God’s opinion in every matter because we love Him, and of course we know that He is not separate from us.

…keep yourselves in the love of God  Jude 1:21 (ASV)

Is my ear so keen that I easily hear the whisper of the Spirit and know His direction for my life? Do I know that I know what Love wants in this instance or that? Do I understand that in being made one with Him I am His love in action?  It is mine to listen, for the Spirit seldom if ever shouts.  His is the still small voice speaking through my conscience (we are one in love) and my soul offers the response: “Lord, I am delighted to obey you in this matter.”  And with my response, viola!  Here—right here—He is!  Knowing that He is, I love Him passionately and I attentively keep ‘me’ in His love.  I am no longer seeking but never finding as is the case with so many inside and outside the church who struggle in the illusion of separation.

It’s in loving Him that we find Him, and in finding Him we know how He first loved us.  Here in loving Him we grasp the reward.  Him—the One for whom we lay down our lives. Never again do we struggle with the word obedience, for it is His promise effortlessly enjoyed by His keeping ‘through us’ the very first command.

The difficulty I then endured to get her alone to make my confession was part of the angst in my dream.  When I wanted to confess, it seemed almost impossible to access the one necessary to do so.  I pursued and pursued and finally managed to get her alone, but yet not alone.  There was another woman by her side who I knew agreed with her suspicions, so I decided to confess to both of them.  (Two witnesses)  I confessed; “I’m wrong and you’re right.  I did it.  Do with me as you will.”  To my surprise the response of them both was grace, grace and more grace.  They forgave immediately and expressed amazing gladness at my confession.  “But,” my neighbor said, “You still need to pay for the meat and butter.”  “Gladly,” I replied, and headed for my car to retrieve my checkbook.  Arriving at my car I noticed a wad of crumpled white meat paper in the back seat—a wad of “evidence” of the crimes I had committed.  With meat blood and butter stains all over the paper it was my new most immediate concern, so instead of getting my checkbook I took the “evidence” so I could quickly dispose of it.  As I did so two (evil) men from the meat plant saw me trying to hide the evidence, and I intuitively knew they wanted to confiscate it and kill me.  I began to run as they chased.  (Don’t you just hate ‘running from the chase’ dreams?)  As I ran my feet began to lift off the ground and very soon I was flying.  Then I knew they couldn’t catch me, for they hadn’t enough Life in them to do so.  As I flew over plush and beautiful meadows God’s voice rose from within.  “Jaque, drop the evidence.”  “But” I argued back, “Lord, if I drop it, it will clutter the earth.”  Again the voice rose, “Jaque, you are completely forgiven; drop the evidence.”   I dropped it and watched as it disintegrated into thin air.  It was no more.  It was “as if” it had never existed.  I awakened with a tremendous feeling of exhilaration and freedom.

This dream is an example of how God preaches Good News in night seasons.  I who had sinned and confessed was completely forgiven “as if” I’d never sinned.  What good would it do to carry the evidence into my “high” life and allow others to accuse or threaten me with it?  When God forgives it is a complete and final work…if we but receive it that way.  No evil can catch or kill us once we’ve entered God’s kingdom, for here in His “Highlands” we rise above earthly, devilish and evil accusations. Yes, in the world but flying above it, we are not “of” it anymore.  What can man do to us? God is for us and has proven it in Christ’s atonement and forgiveness.  We are, however, responsible to pay for the meat and the butter, you know, things we use to sustain our bodies, and this is a good thing.  The fact that my checkbook was in the car is a sign that I didn’t “need” to steal the food but must have enjoyed sin for the moment just to see if I could get away with it.  Nobody gets away with sin; it may seem sweet for a moment but a vision of God causes us to take flight as nothing else can.  Well, I’m firmly planted now and headed for my checkbook!