I've Seen I Am

Hello, all you Kingdom Seekers,

Today, my husband is celebrating the home-going of his father. Bob's father walked into the presence of the Holy Trinity at approximately 8:30am this morning. I long to see what his eyes are seeing right now. All I can think of is an awesome song called "I've Seen I Am." Here are the lyrics:

I looked into the eyes of a Lion
I felt the courage in His gaze
I heard Him roar my name with passion
As I buried my tears in His mane

I looked into the eyes of a Lamb
And I saw love face to face
And I felt grace destroy my sin
As mercy flowed from those Veins

I've seen I Am, now I know that I am loved
I've seen I Am, now I know who I am

I looked into the eyes of a King
I saw the beauty of Holiness
I heard the Voice of many Waters
As worship poured from my lips

I looked into the eyes of a Savior
I saw love stronger than death
I kissed the scars that bought my freedom
As I lay my head on Your chest

I've seen I Am, now I know that I am loved
I've seen I Am, now I know who I am

I am loved, I am loved, I am loved ..... I am loved by the I Am



Oh, to see the face of the 'I Am.'

We request your prayers!!!

Your K.S. Mama,



Johnathan David, The Awakening, I've Seen I Am

Alongside Us

My Dear Kingdom Seekers,

I ran across this devotional in my 'Women's Devotional Bible 2' from Anne Ortlund and it really ministered to me; so I want to share it with you:

A mother once took her little boy to hear Paderewski, the great pianist. At the beginning there was simply a bare stage with a spotlight focused on the grand piano and bench. The mother and son had come half an hour early, and eventually the little boy got restless. Somehow, the mother got absorbed in reading the program, and when she finally looked up, his seat was empty! She looked everywhere around her, and he was nowhere to be seen.

Then - her heart was in her throat - suddenly she heard the sound of "Chopsticks." There he was on stage, in the spotlight, picking away on the long concert grand!

"Get him out of there!" came voices from the crowd.

"No!" cried a European accent from the wings, and the great Paderewski strode on stage. "Boy, keep going. I'll help you."

And he sat down on the bench next to the little fellow and began adding fabulous improvisations - chords, patterns, runs and additional melodies - as the two of them entranced the packed house with "Variations on Chopsticks"!

When we pick at our pathetic little prayers - when we live our pathetic little lives - suddenly we are not alone. Someone has come alongside us - none other than the Almighty Spirit of God! - and we have moved into a duet of greatness beyond our dreams.

I hope this will help all of us understand how powerful our prayers can be when the Holy Spirit adds a super-natural, power-packed punch to them. We may not feel sometimes that our prayers have enough faith, or enough power, and sometimes don't even get above the ceiling. But, be assured, that when the Holy Spirit gets ahold of our inadequate prayers, they are more than sufficient to move the heart of God.

God bless you today my Kingdom Seekin' Sweeties,

Your K.S. Mama,




Anne Orland, Women's Devotional Bible 2 NIV, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1995, pg. 1267

Patient Endurance

Hey, all you Kingdom Seekers,

A very quick post here to talk about 'patient endurance.' This is a subject that I am preaching to myself about lately and also in my mentoring / discipling. The Bible tells us in Rom. 2:7 -

To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

The KJV calls endurance 'continuance.' The Lord through His Word is exhorting us to continue. But, continue in what? Let's look at what the Apostle Paul tells his spiritual son to continue in:

1 Tim 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Paul is telling Timothy to watch over his own soul/flesh and over the doctrine he had been taught; and continue in them. This is what we are to continue in. The word 'doctrine' in the Greek means teaching. So, we are to adhere to good, sound, biblical teaching and continue in it.

Patiently endure whatever God has in your life right now and continue in what you've been taught; knowing that everything is filtered through the hands of the Father. All the while praying for His strength, protection from the enemy, and for our own right responses to the trials and tests of life.

Be blessed today my Kingdom Seekin' Sweeties,

Your K. S. Mama,

Home Making

Happy Friday, all my Kingdom Seein' gals,

I have been recently drawn by the Master to re-evaluate my efforts at becoming the Proverbs 31 woman - UGH! But, as difficult as it may seem at times, it is what is mandated for women searching to live their lives biblically. No born-again woman of God can deny the role that she is called to as it's described in scripture. However, there is no condemnation on those gals that have to work outside the home. All of you working wives/mothers have my prayers, as you have double the responsiblity to carry - my only advise is to do all you can today and believe God for tomorrow; and do all as unto the Lord and for His glory. But, that principle apply to all of us, whether working in or out of the home.

I came across a book called 'Home Making' by J.R. Miller and I would like to leave you with a quote from this book that has inspired me to continue in my endeavor to be the Proverbs 31 woman and to make my home a place that is a sanctuary for my family and an inspiration for others:

A German sculptor occupied eight years in making a marble statue of Christ. When he had wrought two years upon it the work seemed to be finished. To test his success, he called a little child into his studio, and, showing her this statue, asked her, “Who is that?” She looked at it and replied, “A great man.” The artist was discouraged. He had hoped that his conception of the Master had been so true that the pure eye of the child would recognize it at once. He began anew, and after a year or two more had passed he invited the child again into his studio, and pointing to his new statue asked the same question as before: “Who is that?” She looked at it in silence for some time, a feeling of awe and reverence sweeping through her heart and expressing itself on her face, until with eyes full of tears she said in low and gentle tones, “Suffer little children to come unto Me.” This time his work was not a failure. He had produced a figure in which the untaught instinct of the child saw the feature of the Redeemer. His work had stood the severest test.
A somewhat similar test must be applied to all our home making. After we have done all in our power in building up a home, the husband his part, the wife hers, the parents theirs, the brothers and the sisters theirs, and when our home life is full and complete, before we can say that we have realized the ideal of a true Christian home we must prove its spirit. What impression would our home and its life make upon a pure and simple hearted child?

http://www.jr-miller.com/

Your Kingdom Seekin' MaMa,

A Quiet Heart

Here is a quote from Elizabeth Elliot's book, 'Keep a Quiet Heart.' It really ministers to me when I'm going through something I don't understand:

Jesus slept on a pillow in the midst of a raging storm. How could He? The terrified disciples, sure that the next wave would send them straight to the bottom, shook Him awake with rebuke. How could He be so careless of their fate?

He could because He slept in the calm assurance that His Father was in control. His was a quiet heart. We see Him move serenely through all the events of His life - when He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He know that He would suffer many things and be killed in Jerusalem, He never deviated from His course. He had set His face like flint. He sat at supper with one who would deny Him and another who would betray Him, yet He was able to eat with them, willing even to wash their feet. Jesus in the unbroken intimacy of His Father's love, kept a quiet heart.

None of us possesses a heart so perfectly at rest, for none lives in such divine unity, but we can learn a little more each day of what Jesus knew - what one writer called the negligence of that trust which carries God with it. Who would think of using the word negligence in regard to our Lord Jesus? The be negligent is to omit to do what a reasonable man would do. Would Jesus omit that? Yes, on occasion, when faith pierced beyond reason.

This "negligent" trust - is it careless, inattentive, indolent? No, not in His case. Jesus, because His will was one with His Father's, could be free from care. He had the blessed assurance of knowing that His Father would do the caring, would be attentive to His Son's need. Was Jesus indolent? No, never lazy, sluggish, or slothful, but He knew when to take action and when to leave things up to His Father. He taught us to work and watch but never to worry, to do gladly whatever we are given to do, and to leave all else with God.

Purity of heart, said Kierkegaard, is to will one thing. The Son willed only one thing: the will of His Father. That's what He came to earth to do. Nothing else. One whose aim is as pure as that can have a completely quiet heart, knowing what the psalmist knew: "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup, and have made my lot secure" (Ps. 16:5 NIV). I know of no greater simplifier for all of life. Whatever happens is assigned. Does the intellect balk at that? Can we say that there are things which happen to us which do not belong to our lovingly assigned "portion" ("This belongs to it, that does")? Are some things, then, out of the control of the Almighty.

Every assignment is measured and controlled for my eternal good. As I accept the given portion other options are cancelled. Decisions become much easier, directions clearer, and hence my heart becomes inexpressibly quieter.

What do we really want in life? Sometimes I have the chance to ask this question of high school or college students. I am surprised at how few have a ready answer. Oh, they could come up with quite a long list of things, but is there one thing above all others that they desire? "One thing have I desired of the Lord," said David, "this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life..." (Ps. 27:4 KJV). To the rich young man who wanted eternal life Jesus said, "One thing you lack. Go, sell everything" (Mk. 10:21 NIV). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells us that the seed which is choked by thorns has fallen into a heart full of the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things. The apostle Paul said, "One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14 NIV).

A quiet hear is content with what God gives. It is enough. All is grace. One morning my computer simply would not obey me. What a nuisance. I had my work laid out, my timing figured, my mind all set. My work was delayed, my timing thrown off, my thinking interrupted. Then I remembered. It was not for nothing. This was part of the Plan (not mine, His). "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup."

Now if the interruption had been a human being instead of an infuriating mechanism, it would not have been so hard to see it as the most important part of the work of the day. But all is under my Father's control: yes, recalcitrant computers, faulty transmissions, drawbridges which happen to be up when one is in a hurry. My portion. My cup. My lot is secure. My heart can be at peace. My Father is in charge. How simple!

My assignment entails my willing acceptance of my portion - in matters far beyond comparison with the trivialities just mentioned, such as the death of a precious baby. A mother wrote to me of losing her son when he was just one month old. A widow writes of the long agony of watching her husband die. The number of years given them in marriage seemed too few. We can only know that Eternal Love is wiser than we, and we bow in adoration of that loving wisdom.

Response is what matters. Remember that our forefathers were all guided by the pillar of cloud, all passed through the sea, all ate and drank the same spiritual food and drink, but God was not pleased with most of them. Their response was all wrong. Bitter about the portions allotted they indulged in idolatry, gluttony, and sexual sin. And God killed them by snakes and by a destroying angel.

The same almighty God apportioned their experience. All events serve His will. some responded in faith. Most did not.

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. but when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1 Cor. 10:13 NIV).

Think of that promise and keep a quiet heart! Our enemy delights in disquieting us. Our Savior and Helper delights in quieting us. "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you" is His promise (Is. 66:13 NIV). The choice is ours. It depends on our willingness to see everything in God, receive all from His hand, accept with gratitude just the portion and the cup He offers. Shall I charge Him with a mistake in His measurements or with misjudging the sphere in which I can best learn to trust Him? Has He misplaced me? Is He ignorant of things or people which, in my view, hinder my doing His will?

God came down and lived in this same world as a man. He showed us how to live in this world, subject to its vicissitudes and necessities, that we might be changed - not into an angel or a storybook princess, not wafted into another world, but changed into saints in this world. The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Lina Sandell, Swedish

(Elizabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart, Revel Books, Grand Rapids, 1995)

I pray this encourages you,

Your Kingdom Seekin' Mama,