Wednesday’s Wisdom and the Tree of Life

Wednesday’s Wisdom and the Tree of Life

You know this verse better than you would like:  

“Hope Deferred makes the heart sick.....”  Proverbs (13:12)

The Message puts it this way:  “Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick...” 

The word for “sick” in Hebrew is:

Chalah (Strongs #2470) - and it means “to be rubbed worn, hence to be weak, sick afflicted or to grieve.”  

With each disappointment, or day of waiting, it is like your heart is being worn down, and the fabric gets weaker.   

“...But when desire comes, [when your dreams comes true] it is the Tree of Life!”  (Proverbs 13:12 continued)

 “Wisdom is a Tree of Life to those who embrace her;

      happy are those who hold her tightly.”  (Proverbs 3:18 NLV)

While we wait for the Desire to come, let’s ask the Lord for Wisdom, a Tree of Life.  As we turn to Jesus, and seek the hidden treasures of wisdom, our weakened hearts will become happy and strong!   

Declarations:  

Thank you Father God that with You ALL things are possible.  With You, there is always a “BUT”!   Thank You for giving us hope, healing, restoration, happiness, and for Your faithfulness to fulfill Your promises.  

For all of the men and women we declare Colossians 2:2-3 (NKJ): 

• that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  (Selah - Meditate and say it again.)

• We declare that our Desire is coming into our lives. 

• We declare that when we ask for Wisdom, You give Your divine Wisdom to us liberally, without holding back.

• Wisdom is the Tree of Life to those who embrace her, and we are happy because we embrace Wisdom tightly.  

• We seek You Jesus, and thank You for strengthening us, and the men with Your impartation of Wisdom today.  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2011

The Right Place at the Right Time

The right place at the right time.  

“If marriage is part of God’s plan for you, then you can trust Him to work out every detail, both for you and for the mate He has destined for you.  He will bring you together with a person who is so exactly suited to you that, together you may experience marriage as God originally designed it.  This will be on a level higher than the world has ever dreamed of!”  Derek Prince from his book, “God is a Match Maker”:

Making declarations for Kingdom marriages really began with a prayer gathering of 3 women from Denver, and one in Hong Kong via Skype.  It was a powerful time of declaring God’s will for bringing His people together in Divine Alliances, and in marriage.  One of the things we declared was that we would all be in the right place at the right time for divine arrangements, and that God would release His creative ways for men and women to meet one another.  

Do you have some opinions about how you will or will not meet the man of your dreams?  I do.  Particularly the way it wont happen.  The men I know are also stuck in their patterns of life, and they too have strong opinions about how or where they will meet the right woman.  

Lindsey met the man of her dreams in January 2011, and they were married in June.  Prior to this surprise meeting, the bride Lindsey had suffered disappointment after a man she believed was God’s husband for her, married another woman.  How would she meet a quality man of God?!    A question we all ask.  Her friends suggested eHarmony, but Lindsey was convinced that going on eHarmony was not walking in faith.  After losing a bet with her friends, which put her on eHarmony, Lindsey was in the right place at the right time.

To be positioned for divine appointments requires a heart that is filled with the Spirit of God, and led by the Spirit.  We need to hear the still small voice saying, “This is the way, walk in it...”  We need a heart that is tender to the voice of God, and expectant that He is orchestrating the details in our lives so that we can walk into His plan, and the fullness of our destinies.   

“For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land.  I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean.  I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you.  I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed.  I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands.”   (Ezekiel 36:24-28, The Message)

“And you shall dwell in the land...and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.  I will also save you from all  your uncleannesses, and I will call forth the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine on you.  And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, and you may no more suffer the reproach and disgrace of famine among the nations.”  (Ezekiel 36:28-30 Amplified)  

Declarations:  

Thank you Lord that we can put our trust in You, and Your best plan for our lives.  

• We declare Your creative hand in gathering the men and women called to Kingdom marriages, to establish us in the right place at the right time.  

• We submit our lives to You, and Your promise, to sprinkle clean and healing water on us, that we will be clean; our filth is washed away, and we will no longer worship idols. (including the idol of marriage.)

• In agreement with Your Word, we declare that the stony stubborn hearts are removed by Your hand, and we receive the new tender responsive hearts.

• Thank You Lord that You have put Your Spirit in each person called to Kingdom Marriages; that we will follow Your decrees, and be careful to obey Your regulations.  

• We declare multiplication and acceleration - from the testimonies of couples coming together suddenly, we declare the acceleration of meetings; and the multiplication of fruit in our lives.

• We declare that the famine has ended!   The season for the multiplication of fruitfulness has come.  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2011

Invest in New Wineskins!

Invest in New Wineskins!  

God knows what we need when we need it.  On Friday October 7, I said farewell to my beloved Labrador, Samson who had been with me for 13 years.  He was truly a gift from the Lord, who knew I needed an extraordinary, faithful, joy-filled companion during some challenging years.  I was in my mid-30s when Samson came into my life, which was past the time I had planned to get married and start a family.  Each year I expected to meet my handsome prince, and gallop into the sunset with him.... and Samson.  

The cycles of hope and disappointment enlarge and wither our hearts. It is like an expanding and shrinking wine skin.  After the wear and tear of life, that heart becomes dry and brittle, and the old wine skin cannot contain new wine.  

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”   (Mark 2:22)

The old wineskins represent our hearts in the past relationships containing the love given and received.   It might have been very fine wine that is rare and irreplaceable, or good wine, but....  

New wine is coming!  Be expectant!  

We are preparing for God’s best, and we need a fresh clean heart to contain the new love that is coming.   When new wine is poured into the wineskins, it expands, which is the reason a NEW wineskin is needed.   We need soft, supple, forgiving hearts - free from the past.  Offer your old wineskin to the Lord, and allow Him to do His transformational work, so that your heart can contain the new love that will bless and expand your life.  

“God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart.... freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul, and live, really LIVE!”  (Deuteronomy 30:6-7, The Message) 

  “ And the Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with all your being, that you may live....    And you shall return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today.    And the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, of your cattle, of your land, for good; for the Lord will again delight in prospering you, as He took delight in your fathers,” (Deuteronomy 30:6-9  Amplified)

Declarations:  

Father God, we come to You today to ask for a transformation of our hearts and the hearts of other men and women called to Kingdom marriages.  Replace the old brittle wineskins, and use your loving scalpel to do a good work on our hearts. We all have a past, full of disappointments, hope deferred, love that faded, heart-break, and images of our ideal spouse, but we place it all on your operating table, the altar.

• We agree with Isaiah 43:18, and declare the Lord is doing a new thing!

• We declare that our hearts are circumcised by Your Holy Spirit. 

• Cut away the calluses of our past; and demolish the walls of protection around our hearts.

• We declare all old wine skins of the heart, and the taste for the old wine (relationships, and the image of the ideal or idols) to be left in the past.  

• We choose “not to remember the former things; nor consider the things of old.”  

• Fill our hearts, with fresh love for You Lord, our first love; and we declare that we will love You with all of our hearts, mind and being.

• We declare LIFE over areas of the hearts that are withering. Supernaturally defibrillate our hearts today!  

• We receive the NEW wine skins!  and declare that the new, expanding LOVE is coming!  

• Thank you that Your Word promises that as we love you, and follow Your commandments, You will make us abundantly prosperous in the work of our hands, and the fruit of our bodies.  

• Thank You Lord, that you delight in prospering Your children!  

• I love You Lord, my God..... 

CHEERS TO THE NEW WINE!!!


Expecting to be amazed ~


Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2011

Diversion ENDS!

Diversion ENDS!  

At the beginning of June, God blessed me with a trip to London for the International Alpha Conference, and it was an incredible week.  The English are so polite, and even their traffic signs are dignified

This one in particular became a declaration for my travel companion, Debi Tengler and me.  “Diversion Ends!” 

We began (and have continued) to declare that the diversions in our lives must end, and the doors to distractions must close.  

Your desire for marriage is a God given desire, for a much higher purpose than you can imagine  It is a desire for the fulfillment of your destiny, as well as the destiny of the spouse God has for you.  It is a strategic alliance, so be expectant for God’s best, and do not allow diversions to take your eyes off of the high road.  

Yesterday the world said goodbye to an amazing man of courage.  This quote is a good reminder that we need to listen to the “still small voice”, and remain focused on believing for God’s best, in all areas of our lives. 

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”  - Steve Jobs

The other voices, and our man-pleasing efforts, are all diversions.  The voices:  Fear, Insecurity, Self-condemnation, Compromise, Failure, Rejection...  

God sees you at your best, walking in the fullness of all He has for you, and with the person of your Divine Alliance!  The purpose of making declarations is speak God’s Truth over the voice and noise of the accuser.  We need our ears to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to each one of us.  

You have been given the Keys to the Kingdom!   Use them!  

      “The key of the house of David 

I will lay on his shoulder; 

So he shall open, and no one shall shut; 

And he shall shut, and no one shall open.” (Isaiah 22:22 NKJV)

Declarations:  

Father we thank You that You have given us the authority to bind and loose, and to open and shut, as Your sons and daughters.  You have given us the Keys to the Kingdom because we put our trust You.  Open our ears to hear Your voice, and our eyes to see the higher way.  Give us Your heart to love the world around us.   

• We declare today the end to all diversions and distractions.

• Thank you Lord, that when we ask, seek and knock, the doors will open!  

• With the Keys God has given to us, we declare doors of the Divine Alliances, relationships with God’s best, to open that no one shall shut.

• We declare over our lives, and the lives of the people chosen to be in relationship with us, that the doors that need to be shut are closed, that no one shall open.  

• LORD, show us the doors in our lives that need to be shut: Distracting and destructive relationships?  Time wasting habits? ???

• We declare that we have eyes to see, and ears to hear the voice of the Lord saying, “This is the way, walk in it...” (Isaiah 30:21 NKJV)

• We declare that Your perfect Love casts out all fear!  We declare that the men are encompassed Your Love.   “FEAR NOT!”  The door to fear is shut, that no one can open it!  

Amen!  


Expecting to be amazed ~


Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2011

Take Courage!

Take Courage!  

Freedom Sculpture by Zenos Frudakis

"The moment you can visualize being free from the things that hold you back, you have indeed begun to set yourself free."---Unknown

A ski instructors life is glamorous and exciting!  I know, because I lived that life in Aspen Colorado for 5 years.  The statistics are that 1 in 4 ski instructors will have skin cancer, and I was one of the four, at the very early age of 32.  Waiting for the surgeon during the second surgery to remove the cancerous cells around my upper lip and my eye, and waiting for another round of needles in my face, I knew I had a choice to make.  I could choose to agree with fear, or I could choose to trust God to get me through the surgery.  Fear causes more tension, and I knew if I was tense, the needles would be that much more painful, so I chose faith.  I knew that if Jesus could endure the torture of his scourging and crucifixion, for me, I could endure a few needles.   It was during that surgery, and because I chose faith over fear, that I experienced the love of Jesus in the most incredible way.  

Yesterday we talked about the promises God has given us; the land flowing with milk and honey!  

The key to receiving the promises?   COURAGE!  

I can hear the Cowardly Lion now!  “COURAGE!”  

“Do not fear!  Do not be discouraged!  Do not be dismayed!”     

“Do not fear” or “fear not” is in the bible 365 times!   (please correct me if I am wrong.) 

It takes courage to visualize FREEDOM! 

We need courage to allow God to heal the wounds of the past.

It takes courage to see a vision for the future and to believe again.  

It takes courage to hope!

We need courage to let go, and break free from the DIS-couragement. 

It takes courage to begin a new relationship.  

It takes courage for men to lead.

CHOOSE COURAGE!  Take Courage!  and SEE yourself breaking free from the things that are trying to hold you back from the fullness of God’s promises; the land flowing with milk and honey.  

Declarations: 

Thank you Lord for Your goodness, and Your promises of abundance and pleasure.  Thank you for  imparting to us the spirit of Joshua and Caleb to see the promises in the land flowing with milk and honey, and to have the courage and boldness to cross over.  Thank you Lord for your promise, that you will not leave us or forsake us!  

• We declare that the men and women of God called to Kingdom marriages will ARISE!  and step into the promises!  (Joshua 1:2)

• We open our spirits, our minds, and our hearts to receive Your command to “Be strong and of good courage!”  

• We choose to be bold and courageous.  

• We declare that Your book of the law shall not depart from our mouths, but we all will meditate in it day and night, that we will observe to do according to all that is written in it for then will make our way prosperous, and then we will have good success.  (Joshua 1:8)

• We declare over the men, “Be strong! and of good courage!  Do not be afraid!  nor be dismayed (crack under stress)  for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!” (Joshua 1:9)  

Note: (declare these words for the men and for yourself)  

“be strong” in Hebrew is chazaq (Strongs #2388)

Be strong, courageous, valiant, manly, strengthened, established, firm, fortified, obstinate, mighty.  

Generally the words “strong” or “strengthened” define chazaq, but there is a wide range of meaning for this word, which occurs nearly 300 times in the OT; for example, “to encourage” as when David encouraged himself (literally “made himself strong”) in the Lord (1 Sam 30:6).  

AMEN!  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2011

Honey and HOPE!

Honey and Hope 

This past summer I experienced the most torrential downpour of rain at my house that I have ever seen.  There were actual waves in the water flowing down the street, and I think it was as close to a hurricane as we will ever experience in Colorado. Lightning hit one of my trees, and down it went, which is very sad since it is one of 2 remaining Pink trees.  (I have a Pink Party every year to celebrate the bursting forth of pink in the spring.)  Anyway, inside of the tree I discovered a honeycomb, and busy bees working very hard after the destruction.  

Since that storm, I have been pondering honey, and the spiritual significance.  One of the things that came to mind is that the promises of God, and inheritance are referred to as “the land flowing with milk and honey.”  

Honey is a symbol of pleasure....

“Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb;Honey and milk are under your tongue...”  (Song of Solomon 4:11) 

Honey is compared to godly Wisdom, which gives us hope.  

“My son [daughter], eat honey because it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.  So shall you know skillful and godly Wisdom to be thus to your life; if you find it, then shall there be a future and a reward, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.”  (Proverbs 24:13-14 Amplified)  

Honey is also a term of endearment!  And so, we are making declarations to bring the Honeys together!  

Declarations:  

Father God, thank you for Your faithfulness!  Thank you for the reminders of Your promises, the land flowing with milk and honey.  You are a GOOD God, and you give your children the very best!   

• We declare that we are NOW crossing over to the land flowing with milk and honey, and we will be united with the Honey You have chosen for us, for Kingdom Marriage!  

• Lord, You promise to give us Wisdom when we ask, and You impart it to us liberally; so we ask You for an increase of Godly Wisdom, and we declare that we, and those for whom we are praying, have the mind of Christ!   

• We declare that with your Godly Wisdom, we have a future and a reward.

• We declare that because of Wisdom, our hope and expectation will not be cut off!  

• We declare that You Lord know the plans You have for us, and You have declared them!  Plans to prosper us and not to harm us. plans to give us a HOPE and a future.... with a Honey!  

I leave you with this since we are on the topic of honey:  

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. --Christopher Robin to Pooh”  

Expecting to be amazed ~


Barbara
© Barbara Nelson – 2011

The Ark :: a picture of two becoming one

1 + 1 = One 

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united and cleave to his wife, and they shall become ONE flesh.”  (Genesis 2:24 Amplified) 

Cleave:  Strongs #1692 dabaq:  To cleave, to adhere, specially firmly as with glue, to be glued...  

One: Strongs #259 echad: One, a unit; unity, Echad comes from the root Achad, “to bring together, to unify...”  

Note: “Compare the unity of God to the unity of man made in His image.”

God formed Adam (humankind; male and female) from the dust, then God took a piece from Adam’s side, his rib, and built Eve as a separate person.  After she was presented to Adam and he recognized her as his wife (isha), then Adam left his family of origin, to cleave to Eve.  Marriage.  

What a beautiful, unfathomable mystery.  The two become one;  1 + 1 = ONE!  They are joined, and the two pieces are glued together, yet they remain individuals.  

God is the ultimate of multifaceted creativity, and He loves giving us signs and symbols.  Imagine the Ark of the Covenant, and the Mercy Seat, and look at the specifics of how Bezalel made the Ark, according to the instructions given to Moses in Exodus 25:

“Then Bezelel made the ark of acacia wood...”  (Exodus 37:1 NKJV) 

“He also made the mercy seat of pure gold...” 

“He made the two cherubim of beaten gold; he made them of ONE piece at the two ends of the mercy seat; one cherub at one end on this side and the other cherub at the other end on that side.  He made the cherubim at the two ends of one piece with the mercy seat.”   

“The cherubim spread out their wings above, and covered the mercy seat with their wings. They faced one another; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.” (Exodus 37:7-9 NKJV)

“And there I will met with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim....” (Exodus 25: 22 NKJV)

A friend shared this image with me a few years ago, and it has never left my mind.  The Ark of the Covenant represents the marriage bond and covenant, and the intimacy of man and wife, with God at the center.  The two become one (after being hammered by the Craftsman), they face one another, and in that sacred place, God shows up to speak to His people.  

The note in my bible says this:  “The ark was most sacred of all the furniture in the tabernacle.  Here the Hebrews kept a copy of the Ten Commandments, which summarized the whole covenant.”  

Declarations: 

Father God, thank You for the gift of Your symbolism. The unity of man and wife is so important to You, that you gave us a picture of the holiness of marriage in the design of the Ark of the Covenant.  Lord, I want that!  We ALL want to experience the purity of marriage, and becoming one, pure as gold, with our spouse, and with Your presence in the center.  

• We declare that marriage is a Holy covenant bond between one man and one woman, with God at the center of the relationship.  

• Thank you Lord, God for your hammering. Thank you Lord for removing the impurities from our lives, and we declare that we will come forth as gold. 

• We declare that according to Your divine design, and in Your perfect time, we will be united into one piece with the person You have chosen for us.  

• We declare a strengthening of the holy, golden unity for the existing marriages; that the two will face each other, and protect the presence of God in their midst.  

Amen!  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara 

© Barbara Nelson – 2011