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Impressed by some scriptures in devotion this morning. Holy Spirit has been building a case FOR me…I thought I would attempt to articulate some semblance of what I hear.

Jeremiah 31:9a They shall come with weeping and with supplications I will lead them.

Sometimes the greatest need in your life is the hand by which God leads you.

Mark 3:3 And Jesus said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step Forward,” vs5 “And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

Supplication speaks of the prayer for mercy, for grace, for assistance and intervention. To entreat for mercy and be shown compassion as the object of pity and favor. Often, we would prefer to not to be in lack, but God does something amazing when weakness and need is identified in your life. He meets you right there and becomes God to you. Reminds me of the expression I’ve held on to when finding myself continually revisiting certain failures in my life.  The expression says that in each of us God has designed a God-sized whole that ONLY HE can fulfill.  There is a place in us that may never quite be satisfied throughout our life except God remain in the seat of our heart.

A couple of observations from the story of the man with the withered hand who is being led by God with his deformity (supplication). The first thing, my friend, is to step forward. Get rid of the shame and stop hiding behind the criticism and commentary of people who put your healing on some religious calendar and routine. Don’t take the back seat, step forward at the leading and voice of Christ. Don’t shrink back. In response to the Shulamite woman (symbolically the church) who bids her lover to “not look upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me…”The Beloved (symbolically Christ) replies to her (Song of Solomon 1:6;2:14)

O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, let me hear your voice (#indicator to worship). For your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.(Praise beautifies us–>Psalm 33:1)

Second thing, my friend, is to STRETCH out your hand. No, not the strong one. Stretch out on the weak one. Stretch your faith, exercise your faith in the hard places, in the face of embarrassing failures and observable shortcomings . Let yourself be exposed and revealed in the safety of His presence. What you hide (from God) cannot be healed… Stretch out that withered hand and let God lead you to the place of restoration by the very thing everyone said was reason to despise and reject you! Stretch out on the very thing you think is reason for shame. And finally, notice what I did not say: Don’t try to improve it. Just stretch it out in front of all the Pharisees and let God lead you.

Jesus and I lip-locked tonight in front of over 200+ ITFers (www.inspirethefire.org). Was the sweetest Presence amidst pain, uncertainty, and frustration that youth were giving VOICE to…Realizing that God has us in a tight, gripping, DANGEROUS embrace and if we will allow Him through every tragedy or triumph, if we let Him—He promises to never let us GO! Me& my boo and my boo lip lockin’…till the end of time (i guess yall know I’m Beyonced out! LOL)

The woman with the issue of blood, issues of life had her bowed over in the crawl space of existence. The bottom looking up at the bottom, but it’s those places where we have His attention the greatest. Who touched me He asks? The disciples respond, all these people around you. No, Jesus responds (paraphrased) they are all standing and people who are standing proud rarely get my attention, it’s the ones who are living in the crawl space that draw the greatest attention and virtue from my heart. Be careful to not rise too quickly, before you have touched the hem and received the power that comes in lowliness of life. Her posture reminds me of the posture for proposing for marriage. Jesus, I know I’m not up to snuff, my hairs a mess, my hearts a mess, no make up and barely anything comely about me…but will you, will you, will you Marry me? After all you are married to the backslider- the one who has lived life on his back, on the bottom, looking up at the bottom.

We are in a cataclysmic, head on collision, fatal obsession, passionate whirlwind pursuit with God. Like a 4 year old child pinned between a brick wall and apple sour green monte carlo…we are hemmed in by His passion and the pressure of that love and passion is only getting more intense, until He squeezes yesterday’s life out of me and I transcend into a newer, much higher state of being. He smothers us, Oh how he smothers us! I’m overwhelmed.  Can God make a rock that is even to heavy for Him to carry…apparently so since Jesus carried a love for God and a love for us that crushed his very life.  God crushed himself with the love He has for us. How heavy the weight and how sweet the relief for us, and apparently for him to carry for us…He is well aware we will never be able to love Him back the way He loves us—we’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. A love that crushes us. And what is this you ask? Ooozing out of you from the crushing? That’s lubricating, intoxicating empowering grace. A love that crushes us: It’s dangerous, it’s maniacal, it’s terrible, its unyielding and relentless—it ain’t just some skipping through the tulips kinda infatuation…It literally killed His Only…SON. UNDER the weight, UNDER the Weight. Crush me O God, under the weight of your love.

Samuel 16:2- And samuel said, “How can I go?If Saul hears it,he will killme.”But the Lord said,”Take a heifer with you and say,’I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.”

#imagine how much divine promotion and favor God has released in our sacrifice of praise and sneaked in over our haters,enemies of our soul&progress.  Some stuff only happens in the mystery of worship for which the devil is OBLIVIOUS!

The sacrifice of praise creates an atmosphere much like the water that the deer runs into when a predator is on his tracks…the devil loses tracks on true worshipper. Cuz we can go in and out of realms without ever being detected! That’s why David says as the deer pants for the water—that’s why He pants for the water. The deer is on the run from his predators and if he can get into the pool of water, his scent will be lost; similarly your enemy knows that if you get into that atmosphere, that pool of water stirred by the angel you will be completely established and immersed in the safety of His presence!

Perhaps that’s why the enemies of our soul fight us so hard…to weary us before we can run to the refreshing waters of Presence for times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. Use all your strength to run and leap into that place my friends, rather than fighting life.