.... That you may come alive

Joy enveloped me and such a deep sense of well being captured all my attentions.

I have been living in two places lately..

Samaria

and

Ezekiel's Valley of Dry Bones...

The most amazing places to live....

Their terrains have taught me much these days and as I transverse their grounds my being grows and I touch His likeness, His heart and stand in awe and wonder....

Their terrains are teaching me well, healing my soul, and launching me into depths of freedom...

It is the fulfillment of the 37th chapter of Ezekiel.  In verse 5 we read, "Thus says the Lord God to these bones, Behold I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life."  The verses continue and talk about adding back to the bones; adding sinews, adding flesh, covering with skin... and putting in the breath.. so  that those will come back to life.  WHY?  WHY?   Why does He?  ...."and you will know that I am the Lord!"

AND...

When breath is added and comes back into the bones, what happens?  Those that were once dry bones, those that received the breath "stood on their feet!"

Maybe that is what has been happening in these days, in my life...

I have received breath
I am knowing the Lord
I am standing on my feet

And I, who once was a pile of dry bones, breaths and stands and knows...

I had bought into ideas and concepts of what walking the Christian life was about and some of that resulted in me becoming that pile of dryness.  In focusing on doing I withered and withered further and further away.  Once I ceased to strive I was born again into a life in the Spirit.

I could care less whether my exterior or outward behavior is pleasing and acceptable, I can "play" the wrong kind of games for a very long time.  What has captured my attention, what has set me ablaze, what has brought me to life is the flow into what Brother Lawrence speaks of ..."In these times of dryness and unclearness which bother our souls, there needs to be fidelity to Him."  In those times when I was but a pile of dry bones, a deep inner longing filled my gut... I read that quote and all I heard was "interior fidelity."  The words kept singing in my heart.  "Interior fidelity,  interior integrity."

But how...

Because this place of breath touches our deepest origins, our actual beginnings... When we were but clay and our Creator scooped dirt into His hand and breathed His Spirit .. His breathe into us.... This is the restoration...

As the words, "Interior fidelity," made their way deeper and deeper into the core of my very being, I could hear the songs of longing.. It was my very being hungering to be pulled into who I really am called to become.

These days have found me not living within an experience but living a life. A life pulled into His nature and His character.. A life breathing in and breathing out His breath...  Touching His essence and being changed from the inside out.

When it is written, Cease striving and know me as God; we are given a key to fulness. But we must have the courage to cease striving.  When it is written, Unless the Lord builds the house the laborers labor in vain, we are given another key.  It is the Lord that builds His house.. His house... We are His house... He builds us up.. He promises.. It is His promise to us to build us and complete His work.  We need not strive but receive...

A story and then this post will end.. But upon this topic we visit daily.. there are 1000s of practices to discover.. practices of rest, of silence, of joy, of delight.. Practices of breath, of creation, of song and of dance....  We will visit them all... But the grandest practice is of Freedom and of choice.. and I will get into that more and more...  You have freedom to discover which "practices" work and how they work for you.. You need not be told.. You need only to learn to listen to the song that reverberates within you...  He promises to lead us into all truth and He has placed a magnet into the depths of you and me that hungers for its matching attraction.. The song that is into the depths of the core of you, knitted within the depths of you ...

Here is my story...

I sat with my spiritual director, as I brought up the scripture of "Unless the Lord Builds the house,"  and as we talked and allowed Holy Spirit space to lead me, I saw myself as a house the Lord was building.  I am one who when falling in love with a subject wants to know all about it and so books and videos I watch and read.  Except in those most beautiful moments  I realized I was a house He was building and I could cease my striving to become more like Him and become more like Him...

What I want more then anything is for the depths of my insides to reverberate with His song. Interior fidelity isn't something to be strive after, it a life to be lived upon His breath and the joy of the Lord courses through me with such a magnificent strength.

Pause, reflect.. stand still and know... REALLY KNOW HIM as God....

More tomorrow.. and tomorrow after that.. and the tomorrow after that.. for that is the journey... it pulls us into Him if we will let it....