Jul | 04 | Independence Day!

Dream Word – RESCUE

Genesis 3:22-24 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” -- therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. NKJV

Independence Day!

My, oh my! What fireworks we can launch into our skies! What flashes of thunder, what bright dripping rainbows, what crackling, whizzing, popping, whistling colours can we momentarily spread above our heads like a neon lit, dancing Indian war bonnet, thrown up in rejoicing, into the slowly rotating skies! However, beyond this faint and passing flicker of manufactured and expensive, deeply unsatisfying joy, yes, light years beyond the spitting sparkle of earthly celebrations, out there amongst unnamed galaxies, beyond Andromeda, beyond Ambartsumian's Knot, beyond The Bear’s Paw even, God’s fireworks still flash forever greater, and burn forever brighter in the cosmic confidence of an eternal wonder that pleases Him alone.

For thousands of years we have not been allowed to attend this singing show of seraphic sentinels, all bursting and blasting glory across His universe. No, not since we took our independence on that forever fateful day. For since that fall, since that day of independent tragedy, an angel with a flashing, flaming sword, for our protection, has in constance, stood before the gates of the everlasting pleasure park and shouted ‘Stand well back now! Stand well back, for now you will be hurt!”

The sense of loss that lies within us regarding this eternal exclusion is unspeakably profound, for despite our prized and boasted independence, we are so very, very lonely. So much so, that we have tried to reproduce the pleasures of His park in our own fires sexual, our own fires financial and in our own fires successful, only to have found them to be under fueled, burning ever low, always flickering to ember and to ash, in the ever coming cold light of our days.

All forced independence day celebrations from a faithful and loving Father, will leave us feeling forever lonely. A testimony to this is that we rarely, oh so rarely, ever lift our heads to His fireworks forever in the sky, for when we do, we remember, yes we remember our pain. Let me ask you, apart from today my American friends, when was the last time you gazed into His firework-filled heavens? When was the last time you looked up and over, all the fenced out wonders of His fun-filled fields, of His sealed and gated parks of pleasures? When was the last time you allowed the sound of giggling seraphs, the whooping cries of angel glee, of rushing roller coasters filled with chanting cherubim, all shouting 'GLORY!' and then were moved in anticipated excitement when the music of waiting, whizzing Wurlitzers and the hum of hidden, pumping and powerful living engines, all generating light, landed eagerly upon your ears? When was the last time such a looking brought the smell of toffee apples and cotton candy, hot-dogged mustard and buttered pop corn, and allowed them to creep up your nostrils and tickle the taste buds on the back of your tongue making your mouth wet in watered longing?

Tonight, on this much celebrated, but ever lonely independence day of ours, let us turn off the light, draw back the curtains and lie still under our cool cotton sheets. Then, gazing out of the window and up and over the gates of God into His dark night sky, always lit with the wonders of the fireworks of the Father, always proclaiming an eternal Sunday, an everlasting fun day, to those holding a ticket to ride, a ticket to hide, a ticket to ever and always live and abide, in Jesus.....well, as we gaze in wonder, let us open our senses, to the sights and sounds, the smells and light touches of the world beyond us, the world to come, our heavenly home of eternal rejoicing.

If you have your ticket, then you have great cause to look and listen with expectant longing into all the pleasures of God wrapped up in Christ Jesus for you.

LOOK! Gaze beyond the passing thunder flashes of man’s celebrations and peer beyond them into deeper heavens, and allow the lover of expectant hope, to walk hand in hand with your longing and desire, home with you to bed.

Listen:- For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Rom 8:22-25 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, please forgive us of our days of independence and have mercy on our long lost nights of loneliness. Lord tonight, let me listen to the music of Your spinning spheres. Lord tonight, in my dreams let me look upon Your fantastic fun factory, yes, O my Father, let me gaze again upon Your waiting joys for me, for us, together. Lord tonight, please fill my sleeping senses, with pleasure beyond measure. Lord tonight, take me through Your gates, take me hungry to Your table and give me candied apples, all Your toffee apples of delight. Lord tonight, in Your grace and in Your mercy, for all of us I pray, make the bitter bitten apple, ever sweeter in Your day. In Jesus name I ask it, Amen.