The Lenten season keeps marching forward….
I continue to pray, “Search my heart, O God & reveal to me what You see…”
He is!
I also continue to pray, “Awaken my spirit, that I might draw near…”
And, in keeping with my pursuit of the Almighty, and looking for Him to show up in all sorts of ordinary places, well….
…He’s answering these prayers, too!
Today’s blog is along these lines…
You can breathe a sigh of relief – it is NOT Coronavirus related! (smile)
A week or two, before I turned the calendar to March, I learned a new word (once again I prove to you I am a verifiable WORD-NERD!).
Hypnagogia.
You may not have ever heard it before, but you have, undoubtedly, experienced it a time or two.
It’s a Greek word that either means “being led into sleep” or “being led out of sleep.”
Psychologists have researched Hypnagogia, and strongly believe that in this state there is a strong correlation between realistic fact and creativity…
…and, many right-brained folk seem to find the key to their expanding imaginations in this world between consciousness and unconsciousness.
(Side note: Artist, Salvador Dali did. He called this state “slumber with a key” and used it as inspiration for much of his art – I know, his art was strange, but, as a surrealist his work was unprecedented…and, it sold…for a LOT of $).
In this particular place where my mind wanders aimlessly along unfamiliar trails, I have, a time or two, heard the Lord’s voice very clearly.
Whilst I must use caution here, I am fairly certain it’s His voice…
It sounds like Him.
And, I only know that it’s Him, when I take the time to match the words I hear with His Word – truth!
I always check what I think is His whispered-word against HIS WORD!
(Side note: if my husband were listening, he would probably be humming some strange music to indicate the weirdness of his wife’s mentality… If that’s how you feel, just know you’re not alone, and I take no offense.)
Why do I tell you this nonsense?
This happened one time years ago quite clearly…but, after it happened again I looked on google to see if there were a label for this strange phenomenon that occurs between sleep and wakefulness…
I was assured there is….but, didn’t allow it to discount what seemed to be the Lord “awakening my spirit” to His voice first thing that particular morning.
These were the words I heard, exactly as I heard them (I wrote them down as soon as I got up, and have pondered them, now, for weeks)…
The key phrase was “fruits of your love,” and, as I pondered, realized the fruits of my love, my earthly love, are my children…
In all actuality, this, then, is a message for us all as parents (and yes, grand-parents).
There is NO QUESTION, that at my salvation, the Lord instilled His righteousness within me.
It’s an undeniable identity truth….just as “I AM DEEPLY LOVED,” is also an identity truth.
Fact is I sometimes struggle to live-loved, and, I also struggle to live righteously:
To walk as Jesus walked.
To live-out “blameless and without reproach.”
To be “virtuous and noble.”
To follow the Lord’s admonitions.
To be “one whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is desirous of being conformed to the will of God (from the ESV Study Bible, Strong’s Lexicon).”
However, if I treasure my children as I say I do, those fruits of my earthly love, I will live my identity.
I teach often on spiritual identity.
I’ve never thought of the necessity of living it out in this way, as my WHY…
Perhaps, narcissistically, it has always been for my own benefit…
Especially, if I want them to live their best life!*
As I finished up reading Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, weeks back, this teaching comes frequently from God’s mouth through Moses’ lips.
I am reminded how the sins of parents are passed on from generation to generation; but, so is righteousness (to the thousandth generation, in fact)…
Here, then, is the message from God’s mouth to my heart:
Within this post, there are two lessons to ponder:
1) Are you doing this before your children and grand-children? Living out of your identity for their spiritual-sakes?
2) Are you watching, listening, paying attention to where the Lord may show up in your ordinary world? Because He might even show up in the midst of hypnagogia!!!!
*Obviously, there is no guarantee, as we can not know what motivates our children’s hearts, and to see them walk a different path is not a “shame on me!” However, this guideline is a help in pointing our children to the right path, if and when they are ready to make that choice. We can know for certain, we have done all we can to point them in God’s direction.