Ron McGatlin
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Joined: 08/23/2004 Location: United States
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Posted: 09/16/2015 at 1:40pm
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Picking
Up Sticks and Shining His Light
By Amanda Leonard
The past few weeks, I've felt this
restlessness in my spirit. It's sort of a good aching deep within, to
experience more of the real thing. Aren't you ready for ALL that He's spoken,
every promise of what's available to us as sons to actually manifest, to
transform us and others and bring glory to our Father? Aren't you ready to see
His Kingdom in our midst, to see His many sons come to glory?
Many around the world are waiting for
this manifestation, even if they don't realize it. The whole earth is groaning
for it, for Christ the hope of glory within to be unveiled. Uncovered. They are
waiting for the sons of God to reveal His light and love, to show up and
disperse the darkness and evil. I can't say that I know what this will look
like or what we will look like, but I know it will be good and it will be God!
1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now
we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but
we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as
He is."
James 1:17 "Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
If He's the Father of Lights, then I
have to believe that we are sons and daughters of light! We share the same DNA,
the same image upon the earth. We are light, as He is light. We walk in perfect
unity with Light Himself. We are a city on a hill, whose light cannot be
hidden. A lighthouse that shines on the mountaintop to bring others to His
refuge, His shelter, away from the darkness. Where His light is, darkness
cannot be.
John 1: 1-9 " In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He
was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without
Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the
light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man
came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might
believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9
That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the
world."
Let's Pick Up Sticks
I've been reminded several times
recently about a dream that I had two years ago. In the dream, my whole front
yard was full of these dead sticks and a few empty pop bottles. I knew that
these sticks needed to be picked up and put in a pile, eventually to be burned.
I was not excited about this, we have big front yard. You couldn't even see any
grass because there were so many sticks. I remember thinking that these were my
husband's sticks and I was not happy about picking up his mess. The Lord sent
my friend from Canada and heavenly reinforcement to assist in picking up these
sticks. I had such a bad attitude, while slowly picking up these sticks. My
friend and the angels that came with her, were excitingly picking up these
sticks and putting them in piles.
The Lord revealed to me that these
sticks were actually all mine. They were sticks in my heart that needed to be
picked up, put in piles and then destroyed by fire. I wasn't happy about
picking them up because they revealed how many lies I had believed. These were
lies that I had believed about the Father, lies I had believed about me and
others. They were hay, wood and stubble that was not built upon the foundation
of Christ. They were lies that I believed about His word, many, many lies, my
whole heart was full of them.
So, the past two years the Lord has
been doing some "yard work" in my heart. It's been hard but I'm
beginning to see the "Light" at the end of the tunnel. Just this
week, Holy Spirit began to show me how that His light was in me but these
sticks had been in the way. As the sticks were being piled up and moved, it
would reveal this Light within. It wasn't until the sticks were moved that this
truth was revealed. It was like I could see inside my heart and there was
light, His perfect radiant light. Yet, all these sticks were laying on the
outside and were obscuring the light from being let out. Reminds me of the
song, "This Little Light of Mine", my light was hid under a bushel
because of all these sticks. It's like these sticks had created a veil, a
covering, to where His light couldn't fully shine.
As the Lord began to remove these
sticks, little pinholes of light began to shine through. At first, it was just
a little bit of light peeking between the sticks and each day there would be
more space for the light to shine through, as these sticks were being moved. I
heard in my spirit this week, "It's almost time for the fire."
I knew that He was talking about this big huge bonfire to burn all these
sticks!! Oh what a brilliant light, not only the light from His fire but the
Light He has placed within, shining from the inside out. It's like the light
from the fire and the light glowing from within were converging to form this
most magnificent blinding white, pure light!!!
Where His light is, no darkness can
abide!! That means in you too. As we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
when He shows up, darkness must leave. Darkness is only the absence of light.
So whether it's in our own hearts, in our sphere of influence, or in the earth,
where darkness abides, it's just the absence of His light. I believe many
others are ready to shine His light, to no longer be hidden but to step out and
let your light shine! Arise, you shining ones! Let Him do His work in you, He
has much grace prepared to give you through the process. Receive all that He
has given, receive the grace He has given to pick up the sticks of wrong
thinking and let them burn to the ground as ashes, only to give rise to His
beauty.
The Light of His Face
Several years ago, a friend and I sort
of had a tandem vision. She saw in an aerial view, these lights that were all
over the world. The view began to telescope in and she saw the United States,
then closer it came and she saw the state she lived in. The view came even
closer still and she saw that one of the lights was her. There were many little
lights. She watched as the view came back out to an aerial view and she saw the
lights begin to move to form an image. She couldn't make out the image at first
because it was blurry. My friend began to think in her own mind about what this
image could be that was forming. She thought, "Maybe it's going to be the
shape of the earth, or maybe it's going to form a heart". She continued to
watch and the lights began to come together and form the shape of the face of
Jesus!
The part that I saw in the vision, was
what was happening in the in between stage, when the image was blurry. I saw
that each person that had this light within, had angelic help to get into this
formation, to be His face upon the earth. I saw as angels were trying to help
by gently nudging these lighted ones into their position. Many though wanted to
go their own way or had their own idea of what they thought Jesus looked like,
which created this fuzzy, unclear image. Then, it was as if these people had an
epiphany, and they began to cooperate with heaven and listen to what was being
said and began to get into position to form the face of Jesus upon the earth. I
then saw above the earth, as I was high above. The angels were encircling the earth
and they were clapping and rejoicing as each part of the body came together to
become His face upon the earth. The Father then smiled and raised His hands, as
He raised His hands the light from the people began to shine even more greatly
and became one with the Father of Lights!!!
2 Corinthians 4:6 " For God who
said, "Let light shine out of darkness", made his light shine in our
hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the
face of Christ."
As we see His face, those eyes of love,
our once, "No" or hesitant "Maybe", becomes a resounding
"YES!" As we look into His eyes we are transformed by His love, in
the intimate chambers of His heart, it's there we begin to see His love for us.
When we see what He looks like, we see what we truly look like. Then, we can
see the Light within. He spoke, "Let there be light" and there was
light. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. So, if He lives in you
and He's light, then you are light as well. Until we see that Light within, there's
darkness and misunderstanding about what He even created us for. He's showing
us what we were created for, for Him, to be light in the darkest places; for
love, to become that very Love that ran red upon the cross.
This is happening now!!! The image of
Jesus upon the earth has been fuzzy and unclear. There's been many
"sticks" in the way of being able to see Him clearly. There's been so
much confusion about the nature and character of God because of the
misunderstandings about Him and what He's doing. Holy Spirit, along with
heavenly angels are here to help bring His truth and light about His goodness.
The gospel is truly good news!!! The image of who He is upon the earth will no
longer be unclear! The angels are helping and His light within is shining as we
are seeing the Lord clearly and allowing Him to shine through us!!! He is
longing for His light to shine in the darkest places. His light and His love
are inseparable. Where His light is, His love abides also. The knowledge of His
love towards us, brings the light of His truth for us, now, unto eternity.
Religion has got us nowhere, it has
only created a fuzzy image of our precious Savior to the eyes of those who do
not know Him. Religion only brings more sticks that need to be picked up and
burned. There are many broken, pitiful, hurting people who will freely receive
this light and love. Just release what He's put inside you and the Kingdom of
God shall be in your midst. The religious ones may snub their noses at you,
don't let them stop you, love them anyway. We have pushed the sinners and the
broken away with our religious jargon and list of rules and laws. The church
has pushed scriptures down their throats, to where they are gagging at the very
mention of "Christianity". We have tried to coax people into
changing, instead of allowing Holy Spirit to do His perfect work within them.
In the word, the beggars, the sinners,
the tax collectors, the most unwanted, loved being around Jesus. Why is this
often times not true of us? These people flocked to Him because of the love
that they experienced while being with Him. It should be the same with us. If
we are walking in the light of His truth and grace, these broken ones will see
the face of Jesus as they look at you and His light will radiate from your
face. His love will radiate from your heart. They will experience that
unconditional love, if we are walking in the light. They won't see just another
religious person, they will see the beautiful face of Jesus!!
So I encourage you to receive His fire
to clean up all the wood, hay and stubble that has accumulated from our wrong
ways of thinking. I encourage you to step out in holy boldness and share His
love, His light in your workplace, in the marketplace, in EVERY place!!! His
glory is His goodness, His light is His love, they are all inseparable, for He
is ALL in ALL! Many of you will experience His glory (His goodness) in the
darkest places, as you go out and set the captives free!
Matthew 5:16 "In the same
way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven."
Our Prayer
Oh God!!! Let us form this image of
Your face, Jesus, upon the earth. Forgive us for all the false images that
we've portrayed of You. So many of the ways we had viewed You was not the
truth. Thank You Father for showing us the real You, Your true ways, Your love,
Your mercy, Your forgiveness and Your grace! We have come this far only by
these very things that You have so freely given us. We receive, we receive, we receive!
We rest in You and ALL that You are and ALL that You have accomplished! Lord,
let this truth of Your light, Your love, Your glory, explode within us. Let
there be a healthy unsettling in our spirit for the real thing, for no more
games, no more religious performance, but for the entire package of Truth
wrapped in Light to exude from within us!!! We thank You Father for Your
patience that You have so gracefully given us, as we've been learning to see
You more clearly. Lord, let those who are ready to shine Your light, who know
the goodness of Who You are, go to the darkest of places and SHINE! Forgive us
Lord for trying to change people, You do such a better job at that, we release
these precious ones to You. Help us to love the unlovable, to heal the broken
hearted, to set the captives free by the Light of Your glorious Truth! As
You've revealed this truth to us, let us give grace to those who are learning
about You and learning to walk in Your ways, and let condemnation be far from
us. Your love is like gold, shiny, liquid fire, getting into all the cracks and
mending all the broken places. We thank You for removing all our sticks and
preparing us for this fire that will remove all the wood, hay and stubble. As
we've fallen further in love with You, we see that ALL Your ways are good....so
we say, "YES!!!" Yes to the process, yes to Your love, yes to Your
light, yes to everything that is You!!! I thank You that we are becoming that
clear image of Your face, Jesus, upon this earth!!! Thank You Lord for shining
Your light in our hearts, to reveal the light of the knowledge of Your glory
displayed in the face of Jesus!
Isaiah 60:1-3 " Arise, shine,
for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See,
darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD
rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your
light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."
Let the Bonfire begin!!
Let's reveal the Light of His face,
Amanda Leonard
Edited by Ron McGatlin on 09/16/2015 at 2:50pm
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