Pure Praise 

by:Janice Seney   Art by: Lisamarie Carey

I recently had opportunity to offer the following insight to a dear friend of mine who is living in a painful season of life.  I believe it will also help others so I decided to share it with you. 

There are seasons in our lives when we are given a rare opportunity to offer the purest praise.   This happens in seasons that are painful and dark yet we choose to praise God for Who He is even though in our own lives there is suffering.  

Note that I did not say we praise Him for the hard place or the bad thing that is happening or has happened.  We praise Him for Who He is!!!

Pure praise offered in those seasons happens as a sheer act of the will.   That is the reason it is so pure.  By choice praise is given to God because He is worthy at all times to receive praise. 

These opportunities only come a few times in our lives and we can miss it if we focus on the problem or the pain.   Jesus offered God praise in the midst of hell itself.  Pure praise!!   

Surrender to praise.  Let the Holy Spirit flow through you and develop your ability to praise God at all times.   More is accomplished than you can imagine.   It is something that has impact on a very large scale not just on the individual level.   

Maybe you are in one of those hard painful seasons.    Don't miss the opportunity to be an instrument of pure praise.     Heaven and earth are impacted by the praise you offer in that moment.   

May the Holy Spirit give you grace to offer God praise for Who He is.

A smile is the simplest form of rejoicing in the Lord.  In the Bible there are several words that are all translated rejoice.  In the original language they mean everything from spin around with great energy, let out a loud sound, to simply brighten up.  

I recently did an experiment of simply choosing to smile even though my emotions did not feel like smiling.   I was amazed at how a simple smile changed the entire atmosphere around me.   Even when I am home alone, everything changes when I smile.  

So rejoice in the Lord today.... choose to put a smile on your face!

Individual Value

by: Janice Seney
God did not call us to conformity.  He called us to individuality that uniquely fits together making a whole. 

Gems For Thought

by Janice Seney

Art by Lisamarie Carey

If you don't fill the void with truth, identity, and vision then the void will be filled by your enemy or the world.   

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If you don't label it what it is then the enemy will mislabel it. 

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Anytime a person moves from the position that God has given them in Jesus Christ (loved and accepted) then they leave themselves open for the enemy to bombard them with accusations of failure and lack.

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If all Ben Franklin had done was show people how to stand in a lightening field and have their  kite struck by lightening then we would not have electricity today.    

Comment: God is not calling you to just experience His power, He is calling you to become a safe, ordinary conduit of His power.    Which would you rather have - volts of electricity knocking you off your feet or electricity flowing through an ordinary cord to light and power your home.      

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God is looking for modern day Ben Franklins who will seek out His power and then with wisdom and skill develop strategy for safely releasing that power to accomplish the needed task before them. 

Flying Boat Dream

This is an amazing prophetic dream given to me March 20, 2008.   

In my dream I was looking up at the sky and I saw a blue and white boat flying through the sky.  I was amazed because boats don't fly.  It was a cabin cruiser and a man and a woman were on the deck.   Off at a great distance there was a large fleet of these boats.  It reminded me of space ships waiting to invade. 

I turned my attention back to the lone boat that was closer to the earth.  It began to descend at a steep angle.  It was obvious that the people could not stay on the deck during such a steep decline.   I was afraid that the couple would fall off.   At first I thought the man and woman did fall off the boat but then I realized that they jumped off the boat.  I was startled and thought, "They are going to die."   Instead they floated down to the earth and when their feet landed on the ground they were giants.  They were like a 2 or 3 story tall building.  They walked over and sat down on a ledge overlooking the landscape. 

INTERPRETATION

As things began to descend toward destruction,  people will need to choose to take steps of faith.   There are people who by faith are stepping out of the boat to walk in the supernatural realm of God.  They will be giants in the land.  Giants of faith.   There is a coming invasion of the earth by these giants of faith.   It will be teams made up of men and women and/or husbands and wives.   From their positions they will oversee vast territory and see the overall landscape in the natural and spirit realm.   From God's perspective they will be seated in authority over the territory before them. 

Obedience

Obedience

 by: Janice Seney

Oh me!  Oh my! 

I cry.

Lord you want me to obey?

Oh Lord

Not today.

Maybe soon.  Very soon.

Obedience!

That's not in my plan.

I hope you will understand.

Now Lord,

If you will just listen,

I've got some great ideas.

But Lord,

Why?

All I want to do is please.

Obedience?

Me?

You really do expect it don't you?

Father God, 

I cry for mercy and grace

To help me obey you this day.

But Lord,

I just want you to know

Obedience is not the modern way.

Written December 23, 1992

Discovering God in the Shack

Well I am reading the Shack for the third time. What an amazing book.  It challenges so many mind sets.  

Religion vs. relationship.  That is the real issue.  Religion is safe and well defined and causes our natural being to say,  "Oh yes!  I can try to follow these guidelines and I will be able to to judge my progress and others."  

Relationship invites the heart to be real and open.  Relationship is based on love and freedom.  Religion is based on fear and control. 

Religion says,  "You can feel good about yourself because you have done all these things."   Relationship says,  "You can feel good about yourself because you are loved."    

Art by: Janice Seney

Identity

Identity - defined as "the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognized"  the condition of being one's self and not another" or "Oneness!"

Often we think identity is based on traits that have been shaped by family and society but in fact, true identity is being the original you.  

A solid oak fireplace mantle that was created by a master craftsman is a beautiful work of art.  The trends of society redefine it over the years.  After thirty years and several layers of paint, it takes on a whole new "identity" yet the truth is that under all the layers of paint and years of use and abuse there lies a beautiful work of art.   The core identity never changed. 

The "I" in identity is the key.    You can take a pig, dress it in a king's robe and call it a prince but at the very core of this new identity is "I am a pig." 

You can take a person that was designed and created by the Master and after years of living, he has been redefined by life, sin, relationships, and circumstances.  Yet at the core is the original master piece that needs to be placed back into the Master's hands so that He can start the restoration process of returning that person to their true identity.   At the core is, "I am a person created by God and loved by God. "  God demonstrated the truth of that when He sent His son Jesus to die for mankind so that we could be redeemed (rescued, reclaimed).   

God immediately begins the restoration process.   His ultimate goal is to restore us to Himself; spirit, soul, and body.    

Restore - "to bring back to a previous normal condition,"  "to put someone in possession of a prior position or office."     The word restore implies renovation, repair, and making good any dilapidation, returning to a former state of wholeness. 

Art by Janice Seney

 

Let the Journey Continue

The ball rolled across the floor with the tiny little legs in hot pursuit.  Under the bed, into a dusty, dark corner it stopped.  As her dad walked into the room, all he saw were two little legs sticky out from under the bed ruffle and he heard a muffled tiny voice say, "Ball come here."  

A ball is a simple toy that intrigues all ages.  It can be tossed around, thrown thru an empty space of air, bounced, rolled around, and sometimes lost because it can so easily roll away.  Our dreams are like that ball.   We can toss them around sharing them with others.  We can throw them up very high.  We can bounce them off our circumstances.  Or we can let them roll away while we chase them.  

Right now I feel like the little child that let her dream start rolling but it rolled right out of sight. In my search to rediscover my dream, I find myself like the little child in the opening paragraph.   My dream seems to have rolled off into a dark, dusty corner just out of my reach.   

Dream come here!!!!  Of course the smart thing to do is scoot out from under the bed and ask for help.  

Art by Janice Seney