The Watchman

Ezekiel 7 And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel. An end! Enough!....Disaster after disaster! Behold, its coming. The times has come; the day is near...The sword is without, pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword; and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devours....They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders....According to their way I will do to them; and according to their judgement I will judge them, and they shall know that I AM the Lord.

Have you watched the nightly news lately? Lies. Drugs. Murder. War. Disaster. Famine. Disease. Rape. Pornography. Scandal. And usually this is followed by the fashion world, the self indulgent lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy who seem to live their lives without consequence. Occasionally there are stories of people who make a real effort to make this world a better place to live but mostly it is all about the destruction our government, our environment, extinction of our species of wildlife, destruction our natural resources and threats to our economic well being.

Maybe we are beginning to reap what we have sown. Maybe God is saying to us as a nation, as a race, as a people, as His creation, An END!! ENOUGH!!!

How can He bear this world? Children exploited for sex and traded for drugs, murder in every city on the planet, rape of women caught on film and distributed for profit, drugs so addictive that people will do anything, risk thing for another fix, governments corrupt from the head down, greed like a beast tearing at everything and everyone, stopping at nothing to get ahead, debauchery of every variety tolerated across the board. How LONG, O Lord???

Romans 11 Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have demolished Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life. But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

Romans 12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Hebrews 4 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The Bones

Ezekiel 37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley, it was full of bones. And He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, You know.

And so He speaks to me today....Can these bones live?

When God came to me I was not "messed up". I had not "gone astray". I was not "backslidden". Even the term "lost" is not adequate. I was dead.

Dead to God's voice, to His Spirit, to heaven. My eternity was bound to have been spent in hell. If you do not know the love of God, the voice of God, the salvation and forgiveness of God; you are dead as well. It really is just that plain and simple.

God, as it were, introduced Himself to me. Can you BELIEVE that? When you read this does it resonate somewhere inside your own heart? Does it take you back to the day that you met Him for the first time?

He steps into our lives and makes us LIVE. He raises us up from the dead. He joins us bone to bone. He brings sinew to our bones and flesh to our muscles and breathes into or bodies the breath of LIFE.

Just as it was with Adam so it is with us all. From the dust....where we are....LIFE FROM DEATH!!!!!

So if we can go one step beyond this...As we were once dead, now we live. Our lives are changed. Our destiny is changed. Our eternity is changed. We are already in His presence. Day by day, moment by moment being brought into His presence and conformed to His likeness. We are BECOMING more like Him. As the seconds tick by we are leaving this place and entering into the next life. Can you feel it? Can you feel this temporary giving way to eternity? Can you feel your spirit soaring upward, climbing, reaching, longing for His touch? Can you BELIEVE this? It is happening.

Ezekiel 37 Then He said to me, Prophecy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord....I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall KNOW that I AM THE LORD.

Ephesians 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.....BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The Seeker

Psalm 32 O taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Oh fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

What an awesome promise. Even more wonderful to see it lived out in your life. Such is the life of the seeker. He is not just words in a book, He is a living, breathing, promise keeping God.

As I picked up my Bible this morning I was thinking about how grateful I am for my life and how good God has been to me, how faithful He is to his children. I am content. I am healthy. I am happy. I am at rest. And even when I am in the middle of storms, He provides....everthing.

Seek peace and persue it....

The Lord has shown us the way to peace.

Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

There is an old song that comes to mind and goes something like this...Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Are you lacking peace or contentment? Stay your mind on the source of what you are longing to find. Seek the One who provides all that is needed.

Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing....Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all...The Lord redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Isaiah 26 You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in You.

Father I am thankful for times like this when life is calm and praise is easy. Thank you for being ALL that is needed in life, for being an anchor in times of troubled winds, for being a comforter of the broken, for being light in the darkness and for being a faithful friend at all times. As we seek You, be found Lord. Reveal to us our greatest treasure....Yourself.

The Camp

Genesis 32 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that You have shown to Your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.

When I look at my life now, when I see it all laid out before me like a story, the blessings that the Lord has given to me, there is such an overwhelming rush of gratitude that I can hardly contain it.

We have been home for a couple of weeks now and it has been so sweet. Keeping Jamie's girls, going to Silverdale for Sunday worship, dinners with my family and friends, looking forward to seeing Jodie before his deployment and seeing his child growing in Cortney's little belly, camping in the mountains of North Carolina with friends from Germany, Beth's bridal shower, watering my yard, fire in the firepit late at night.....gratitude.

I remember how I got here and the circumstances that brought me to this place at this time. And those memories make me grateful, so grateful for what I have now.

The Bible says it best by saying, That for the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross. The ability, through hope, to look beyond the present, to the future. And again, the Bible says that this present suffering is not worthy to be compared to the joy that is laid up for those who love Him.

There is little suffering in my life and certainly nothing compared to the cross but I do not want to forget what is behind me. I am no longer defined by my past but I cannot deny that I am somehow shaped by it. I would not chose to change a moment of it if those changes would alter what I have.


I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that You shave shown to Your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.

I know where My help comes from. It comes from the Lord. So today I will say to You Lord, Thank You. Thank You. Thank You for Your goodness and mercy toward me. For my salvation, for my family, for my church, for our friends, for our freedom, for laughter, peace, contentment and happiness. Everything I am and all that I have is from You, by You, for You.

Philippians 3 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of KNOWING Christ Jesus, my Lord.

The Caress

Mark 14 And they led Jesus to the High Priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter followed Him at a distance....

And so He speaks.....

I would have you near Me, Connie. Always. Close enough to touch. Close enough to hear My whisper. To dip your bread in my plate of oil and spice. Recline at My table and engage in conversation with Me. Really live within My presence. Exist here. Dwell here. Tabernacle here. With Me.

Stare into My eyes and in doing so find the meaning of your very existence. I will reveal Myself to you. It is your highest calling, knowing Me.

This cannot be accomplished by following at a distance.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

As we grow closer, as you grow in Me, I will give to you more of Myself. More understanding. More knowledge. More joy, contentment and rest. Sometimes you will face loss or sickness or death but do not fear. I AM.

Yield to Me. Everything. Then I will fill you with My Spirit. He will awaken anew in your soul, Connie. He will be as a burning flame. An unquenchable fire. Lightning, thunder and rainbows of light.

Are you ready? Are you willing?

Then come closer. And see.

And he (Peter) broke down and wept.

The Garden

Mark 14 Abba...Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will....Abba....Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will....Abba....Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will....It is enough, the hour has come. Rise let us be going.

What will you do when faced with the most difficult struggle of life?

So much can be learned about the character of Jesus in these last few quiet moments in the garden called Gethsemane. The tender familiarity with which He addresses His Father. The recognition of the fact that His Father was able to deliver Him. The willingness to bring the most important decision of His life, of the ages, to His Father and the obedience to follow His Fathers' plan.

Abba? Father? Please....

The grace to know when God has spoken contrary to our request.

My grace is sufficient for you.

The strength of character to say, Enough. The hour is come. Let us be going. The courage it takes to align our will with His.

Are you facing your greatest fear?

I meet people in my work who are in the middle of the garden of Gethsemane. New diagnoses of cancer. Last resort drug regimens. Research therapies. Learning that there is nothing left to try. From chemo to surgery to radiation and in many cases to the end of life.

Do you find yourself in the garden pleading with the One who is able to deliver you?

Just know that you have a High Priest who is acquainted with sorrow. He endured the cross for you. He understands whatever you are facing. Fear. Loss. Pain. Disease. Death.

We can learn from His example. Let your requests be made known to God. Plead your case before Him. Then align your will with His.

It is enough. Rise, let us be going. The hour is come.

Father, Abba, life is often hard as You know. Remember us Lord for good. Be merciful to us. Be with us in our garden.

The Aroma

Mark 13 She has done what she could, she has anointed My body for burial.

My friend Margo just returned from Jerusalem and she brought me a bottle of Spikenard from Basam's spice shop in the Old City. It is a treasure. A favorite of mine.

The bottle had leaked a little inside the bag and even through the plastic its smell has permeated this prayer room; this holy fragrance, filling my house with the aroma of a Savior. I feel unworthy of its presence.

If I close my eyes I can imagine the scene....And while He was at Bethany in the house of Simon, the leper, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over His head....She has done a beautiful thing to Me.

I can imagine that the flavor and odor of the spikenard would have clung to the hair and skin of our Lord during the agony that was to come; that as His flesh was torn and beaten that the aroma would have been released from His skin and that maybe it's smell would have taken Him back to one of the last acts of kindness that He would know on this earth. One moment in time when He allowed Himself to receive a luxury. One of the only times when we see any indulgence for Himself.

The story, like the fragrance, is lingering in this room. Heavy. Thick in the air. Very costly.

Can you see Him there, reclining at the table? To me He wears linen. Oil dripping into His hair, His beard, trickling slowly to His shoulders, chest and back. Seeping into His pores. Filling the entire house with the memories of its Lord.

It is strange the way that smells take us back to memories. Pine reminding me of Christmases past. Warm bread reminding me of my mother's cooking.

Spikenard reminds me of Jerusalem. When we were there the second time my hair was very short and at night when I would shower I would rub a little of the oil into my hair. When I would turn over the smell would be released. I dreamed often of the Lord in Jerusalem and I believe it is because I wore His fragrance in the night. Thoughts of Him in my sleep stirred up images of Him.

It is a sweet thought that during His passion Jesus would have been taken back to a moment of comfort by the smell of spikenard on His skin and in His hair. One moment when a woman did what she could and offered her best to the Master.

Lord Jesus fill this house, this room and this life with Your presence. Your fragrance. Your aroma. Live here. Speak here. Linger here for You are my desire.