My paperback version of "On To The Prize" is available at lulu.com and e-book available on smashwords.com. Click the links below to go to the order page. Hope you enjoy.
https://www.lulu.com/…/on-t…/paperback/product-22131194.html
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/528664

On To The Prize by Renee Hibma (Paperback) - Lulu

Buy On To The Prize by Renee Hibma (Paperback) online at Lulu. Visit the Lulu Marketplace for product details, ratings, and reviews.

Well, I Declare!

Psalm 19:1-4

              The heavens DECLARE the glory of God; the skies PROCLAIM the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth SPEECH; night after night they DISPLAY KNOWLEDGE.There is no SPEECH or LANGUAGE where their VOICE is not HEARD. Their VOICE GOES OUT into ALL the earth, their WORDS to the ends of the WORLD.

   

The heavens are speaking, the sky is speaking, the day is speaking, the night is speaking. They have voices. Continually, day and night, there are words going out into the atmosphere everywhere declaring God, His handiwork, His knowledge, His Glory.

Then the verses say that where there is speech, it IS being heard. Not only that, but it is being heard through all the earth and to the end of the world.

We are spiritual beings with physical bodies.  We are created a spirit that has been sent from God, tuned into His wavelengths of communication.  He has chosen the spoken word to communicate His Glory. He has chosen the spoken word to communicate with us.  He has chosen the spoken word for us to communicate with Him. Even His non-human Creation declares! That is why, in the day of Judgment, man will be without excuse.  We are continually hearing.

God says in His Word that "death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those that love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21). Speech from our tongue causes life or death. If we love what is spoken, good or bad, we will eat the product of that speech. Our words go on for infinity and reach the ends of the earth.  

When we read about praise and worship in the Word, it's about the fruit of our lips. Not the thoughts of our minds, but the lips. That means we have to open our mouth and speak out. 

God is about us declaring and proclaiming His Word. His very Creation declares it continually. We are His Creation. We speak life when we declare His Glory. We speak life when we declare His goodness. We speak life when we declare His love. And, when we love to declare that among the people, we eat the fruit of that LIFE...His goodness, His love, His presence.

Little Foxes

Song of Solomon 2:15, "Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyards, for our vines have tender grapes".

I researched a little about foxes.  They are solitary beings, very silent, quick, clever, little, and they burrow.

It's when the tender grapes are on the vines that the foxes come and steal and destroy.  That's sounds like someone else we hear about in the Bible who comes to kill, steal, and destroy.  (John 10:10 states that "Satan has come to steal, kill, and destroy; but Christ has come to give us life abundantly".)  The fox waits until the vine starts producing some fruit, then steals it.  And, in the process, because he burrows, he destroys the root structure and the vine, the connection that gives the fruit its life and sweetness and nutrition.  His destruction prevents it from reproducing.

The verse says to catch ALL the foxes.  It only takes one to cause a lot of damage.  The more foxes, the more damage.  Now, the destruction isn't permanent, but it takes another season or two for the vine to regrow, the roots to go down deeper, and then to bear more fruit.

Now, why does that mean to us today?  If we can get delayed in our growth and not bear fruit, we won't feed as many souls.  We won't bring nourishment and refreshing to others.  We won't have the tools to carry through with our Kingdom purpose.  So, whatever the devil can do to delay any growth, he will do it. He knows the Word like we do.  In John 15, Jesus tells us to bear fruit, to bear more fruit, to bear much fruit.   The devil doesn't want us to bear any fruit, so he sends his foxes in to cause damage to stop progress.

What are your little foxes?  Is it an attitude that steals joy?  Is it unforgiveness that stops you from bearing fruit?  Is it a secret sin? Is it something that gets your focus off of God and Kingdom purpose?  Is it a relationship or job or hobby or habit that gets your focus off the right things?

What is stealing your productivity for God's Kingdom?
Psalm 139:23-24, "Search me, Oh God, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting".

Pure In Heart

Matthew 5:8 says "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

So, is that just a promise that we will see Him in Heaven?  I'm not thinking that's the case for us.  I believe it entails so much more.  As I'm walking this thing out, I believe it means for the here and now..."We shall see God".  That's a pretty exciting promise as I see it.

The "pure in heart" phrase reminds me of King David, "a man after God's own heart", "the apple of God's eye".  Even though he did get off the beam with his sins and selfishness at times, he was "pure in heart".  The bottom line is motivation.  His motivation in life was to worship God,  to love God, to seek His face, to seek His will, direction and counsel.  Since David was "pure in heart", that means his love for God was based on nothing but "pure motives". He loved God because He was God.  He desired to serve God because of Who God is, not for what God did for him.  Motive defines the pure heart.  A pure heart seeks God for Who He is, for the pure motive of love and relationship.

Then Jesus said, that pure hearts "shall see God".  King David saw God in so many dimensions.  Just as we have seen Him in our own lives:  our Savior, our Father, our Healer, our Provider, our Protector, our Peace, our Husband, our Shepherd... the list goes on and on.   There is so much more to be revealed.  We will "see" Him like we've never seen Him before as we grow closer to Him.  As we fellowship more and more with Him, He reveals Himself more and more to us.

The Word also says that God will tell us His secrets as we walk closer to Him.  Psalms 25:14 says "The Lord confides in those who fear Him".  He reveals Himself through His secrets.  We "see" Him in a new light, in new revelation, in many new facets of His Glory in our lives.  As we approach Him and sit with Him in His presence with a pure heart, seek Him just because we love Him, not for any other reason, He makes His covenant known to us.  He makes Himself known to us.

God confides in us as with a close friend.  He trusts us with His secrets.  He makes His covenant known to us in deeper ways.  That's hard to wrap your mind around!  The God of this universe wants to hang with me!  He wants to tell me about His deepest self and share so much with me.  I believe this means He will reveal intimate details that before we weren't privy too. He just wants my "pure heart".  That's a heart He knows will carry out His Kingdom plan and carry His love as He intended.

God has made a covenant with us.  It's much more than a contract.  He has committed to love us no matter what and guaranteed His love will never change.  He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever". Deuteronomy 7:9 says that "He is the Faithful God Who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands".  I really like that word "lavish".  I want that kind of love from God.  I want to be so intimate with Him that I can hear Him so clearly and follow each step through my day as He intended for me.

Since God is faithful to keep His covenant, that means He is faithful to all His Word that we read and hear.  He's faithful to fulfill the Words spoken in Matthew 5:8.  He is faithful to let us "see" Him if we have a "pure heart" before Him.

I sure want Him to tell me what He's done and plans on doing through me and in my life.  I want to know His deep secrets and plans.  I want to be on the cutting edge of what God is doing on this earth and in His people.  His secrets aren't just about us.  The secrets are about what He is doing behind the scenes to get His will accomplished on this earth for His Kingdom.  We can be privy to many things as we keep our "pure heart" before Him.

I wouldn't mind hearing his secrets about others so I can encourage them in their walk with Him.  He told the prophets of the Bible days many things about others.  It was for healing, deliverance, instruction, and correction.  That's still operating today in the gifts of the Spirit:  discernment, wisdom, knowledge, prophecy.

The Holy Spirit reveals to us what God wants us to know and only what He knows will be a benefit to us, others, and will glorify Him.  I want to worship and serve God with a pure heart.  I want Him to let me "see" Him in new ways that I've never known before.  I know He has so much more to reveal to each of us, but we have to have the pure motive of love for Him.  He longs for that close communion with us and longs for us to desire the same with Him...for no other reason than we love Him and enjoy His company...His presence.

Dear Lord,
      I want to be pure in heart.  I want a deeper relationship with You and to commune with You all day, just because I love You, just because I enjoy You.
      I want to see You in Your many facets of my life.  I want to see You as the Lover of my soul.  I want to experience a new depth in You everyday of my life.
      Reminds me of some songs lyrics that I sing to You sometimes:   "You are the Love of my life.
You are the Hope that I cling to,  You are more than this world to me".

The Noisy Silence

As I sit here in the middle of the night, doing private duty care, the silence is noisy.  The man I’m caring for has a terminal illness and sleep apnea, so it’s hard to determine when he stops breathing if that’s his last breath.  A very noisy silence.

Then there’s the dog.  Not just any dog.  A stray that wandered onto their farm many years ago.  The dog won’t leave his side.  This dog is so old, she makes noises when she moves and noises when she sleeps.  She won’t leave her master.  It’s sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. 

They’ve been each other’s companion for so many years, as the man has deteriorated, the dog wouldn’t eat for the last three days.  The dog is grieving.  That almost brings me to tears more quickly than the man who is dying.  The faithful friend.  The loyal friend.  The grieving friend. The loving friend.  The unconditional love is beyond comprehension.

As the hum of the refrigerator continues, so does the hum of the lights.  Every once in a while, the furnace kicks in.  And, every once in a while, both dog and man snore in unison.  Then there’s the cat.  She has to be heard as well. It’s a very noisy silence.

My heart is in so many places at one time it seems.  Compassion for this man.  Compassion for his family.  Compassion for the dog.  Fresh feelings of having lived this myself not too many months ago.  They are all overwhelmed.  They haven’t walked this path before.

Our family and friends stood vigil with my mom all twenty-four hours a day.  We were with her, loving on her, caressing her cheek, her arm, holding her hand, kissing her.  We were talking to her, reading her Bible to her, singing to her, playing the piano for her, and just sitting there with her, touching her.  The outpouring of love was precious to behold.  There are no words for the loving atmosphere my mom was surrounded by her last days on earth.  I am more grateful for God’s love to us and in turn, it causes me to love others deeper.

They stood vigil much longer than we did.  They were exhausted.  There are no friends here now.  Just a few family members come and go.  They were so grateful to have extra hands to help them.  They were very loving when they were with him.  They were hurting, but loving and kind.  His wife of 67 years was so precious to watch as she said goodnight to him each night.  She was weary.  Her heart was broken.  My heart ached for her and their children.  Their silence was noisy.  Their hearts and faces spoke loudly in silence. 

In Isaiah 26:3, it tells us to “Be still and know that I am God”.  He is speaking about our inner man.  It’s not what’s going on around us on the outside.  We are experts at blocking out that noise.  It’s what’s going on in the inside, the real pain, the real discouragement, the real lack of understanding.  It’s all real.  That noisy place that needs to be silenced to KNOW that He IS God.  That noisy silence that blocks out that “still, small voice”.  God knows we are flesh and weak.  He knows our spirits are willing to hear from Him.  He calls to us continually to “Be still and know that I am God”.  He calls to us to silence our noisy heart, to let Him handle it all.  Surrender the noise to Him.  Take your thoughts captive and surrender them to Him.  Let Him show you Who He Is in your circumstance.  When my heart is noisy in my silence, I cry, “be still my heart, and KNOW that HE IS GOD”.

Different Rhythm

I'm experiencing quite a different kind of relationship with the Father right now.  It seems I have less outside distractions, but more internal ones.  My emotions have been on a teeter-totter the last month. I've experienced many different kind of losses.  I've heard from the Father, but not in the same ways as before.  I'm in a place where I'm needing to sit on His lap and be held and comforted and loved in a different way than ever before.

I'm having the opportunity to spend much more time with Him than I ever have because of how my schedule works right now.  I'm journaling more than ever, "pouring my complaint out" before Him as it says in Psalms, and, in the midst of it all, it seems I'm not hearing as clearly as before.  So, that appears to be the bad part.  However, because of my emotions responding to the grief, confusion, and heartache, I'm walking one step at a time into my days without thinking of the next move.

I'm praying that God leads me because my heart is too crippled right now to pay close attention.  I ask that He lets me be a blessing to those I come in contact with and to give me wisdom to handle what comes my way.  So, I guess you can say I'm feeling rather robot-like these days.  As in anything, "this too shall pass"....but it's the "when" that is the bugger.  So, in the midst of all this emotional upheaval in life right now, I'm actually walking more by faith than before.  Every step is taken blindly in total surrender, or should I say, total meltdown in His arms.  He knows I don't have the strength on my own to motivate to even plan what to do next.  So, I go to my responsibilities as a robot, asking for His guidance and His love to pour from me....and, somehow, in spite of me, it happens.  God is so amazing.

My love for Him grows deeper in this sadness.  It's not upheaval.  It's not chaos.  It's not busyness. It's sadness that I'm in the midst of right now.  He's with me in this sadness in a much deeper way.  He is more of Everything to me now.  So, although, I feel like I'm just out of normal rhythm with Him, I'm actually functioning more in rhythm.  It's just a different rhythm.  I sit back and see the results of all my encounters and think, how am I functioning?  I truly stand in AWE of Him this day....and everyday as I walk in and out of typical rhythm.  I'm pretty sure I'm His JAZZY RHYTHM girl these days.  God is good....all the time.

My paperback version of "On To The Prize" is now available at lulu.com and e-book available on smashwords.com. Click the links below to go to the order page. Hope you enjoy.
https://www.lulu.com/…/on-t…/paperback/product-22131194.html
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/528664

On To The Prize by Renee Hibma (Paperback) - Lulu

Buy On To The Prize by Renee Hibma (Paperback) online at Lulu. Visit the Lulu Marketplace for product details, ratings, and reviews.

LULU.COM