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Gravity pulling, pulling, pulling the body straight down. At a swift pace, free fall ensues and the body plunges deeper, deeper and deeper into the black abyss. Never scared. In fact, quite freeing. Liberating.

 

I was about eight then. It was a recurring dream of mine for years to come. Almost nightly I’d fall free into inky oblivion.

 

But those are the things of dreams. Fast forward to the adult who becomes rigid, somewhat inflexible and seemingly thrives in order. The adult who manages her life in 15-minute increments and leaves no room for spontaneity. No freedom to coast, even in dreams. Control is the order of the day.

 

But in comes a new dream. A dream of flying. While the free fall is but a wisp of a memory, the flying dreams are fresh, new, invigorating, and exciting. What a stark contrast to the rigid one in real life. In the dreams she is FREE. Soaring on wings as eagles, she glides gracefully over valley and deep crevasses. From the ground she begins to pump her arms then as if propelled by rocket boots, she shoots straight into the air. Dip, twist, turn, and pivot. Slicing through the air. And it all feels so real.

 

Then the Lord calls to her. He says, “Come out of the box you’ve been hiding in. I see you daughter”. Slightly cautious and somewhat afraid she unfurls her contorted limbs and stretches out of the box.

 

But life has her feeling on edge. The pressures and demands of fullfilling so many roles, being so many things to so many people. Called to a higher calling in the Lord. Feeling, Lord if you ask for one more thing, I’ll fall. Lord, I’m right on the edge. I’m at the precipice and I don’t want to fall into the craggy rocks below.

 

But the Lord says, “Trust Me! Fall.”

 

She is usually one to obey. But this time fear and apprehension keep her locked it in place. Free fall? Umm…no thank you. Like the Flying Wallendas sailing through the air with no safety net? No, that won’t be me.  Where’s the harness? Where’s the safety net?  Where are my spotters? What’s the likelihood of an accident? I need the details. I need concrete information.  Again he whispers, “Have Faith.”

 

Oh how faithful is HE. She has a vision, a waking one this time. So akin to the flying dreams yet different. This time the Lord takes her to a HIGH place. He tells her to free fall. He takes her back to the time when she came out of the box and He revealed a new element in the scene. When she comes out of the box, from her back unfurls gigantic, iridescent wings. At full height they are nearly 10 feet tall with a massive wingspan.

 

Now back to that precipice. Together we step off the ledge…..AND

 

I do it again.

 

I smother the vision before I give it permission to unfold.

 

Afraid to use what I’ve been given. Afraid even though I’ve clearly seen that I’ve been endowed to take flight. Then the message continues to track me down.

 

[bctt tweet=”Unless you’re willing to fall, you risk not fulfilling your potential.”]

 

free falling

 

I read it in a book.

I read it over and over in the word.

He brings the vision back into my mind.

I see it on a sign I drive past.

 

fall into God

 

I get new revelation on what the wings are for (Looking forward to sharing more on that in a future post).

 

Earlier this year He was calling me deeper.

 

Now He’s calling me higher.

 

Until I give my own wings an opportunity to get some practice, He’s carrying me on His.

 

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Exodus 19:4

 

But soon, very soon, I’ll take the bold step. From that precarious perch, high in the sky, I’ll step off the ledge and take flight.

 

Free Falling

 

But confident because I KNOW I have wings.

 

But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

 

Feature Image Photo Credit

Free To Be {A Spoken Word Poem}

 

Authentic.

 

Real.

 

Transparent.

 

What’s apparent is that we can’t recognize real. Buried in Sheol like the “Los 33”. Trapped under layers and layers of fraudulent fabrication. Self-adorned, one dimensional, wash and shrink flea market finds.

 

New realities created.

 

New identities established.

 

Fake ID by way of your Gravatar, your avatar has become the new you. This carefully guarded new persona is shallow at best and when put to the test will prove defective. That plastic armor does not guard but suffocates. Check the warning label on your grocery store plastic bag.

 

Choking out your gifts, snuffing out what makes you uniquely you.

 

While your spirit smothers, your souls smolders and the soot and ash render you unrecognizable.

 

But when you KNOW that your identity cannot be shaped by:

LIKES

COMMENTS

SHARES

FOLLOWS

FRIENDING

UNFRIENDING

THUMBS UP

THUMBS DOWN

HEARTS

 

You are unrestricted and unshackled. Like the grotesque beings removing their outer casings at the dawn of A Brand New Day, you are free to give rise to your true self. No longer caged, the bird sings and I know why.

 

Delivered from confinement, mind, body and spirit come into alignment. With jet propulsion, rocket boosters thrust, power ignites and takes flight.

 

The course is set. Charting to free.

 

You are free to BE.

At the grocery store checkout through a pack of gum?!

It’s amazing the ways God chooses to speak to His people. So yes, God did communicated a powerful truth through a pack of gum. And it’s not the 1st time He’s spoken to me in an unusual fashion. He’s spoken to me by vigorously waving tree branches on a still windless day. I’ve even heard His booming voice from heaven audibly call my name. And that happened while I was new in the faith so it was quite unnerving.

 

On my weekly trip to the grocery store, as I stood in the checkout line I glanced over at the gum, My eyes landed right on Mentos Pure Fresh. Mentos Pure Fresh Gum has three layers.   A hard candy outer shell, a chewy, gummy layers then a cool liquid center. And you and I are like the Mentos gum. We are three layered persons. Our hard shell represents our outer most physical body, the gum layer being our mind, will and emotions and the center our spirit. To release the liquid center of the gum, we must get through two tough layers. And the same can be said for releasing our spirit. Let’s journey through the layers.

 

HARD SHELL

Oh how we long to satisfy the desires of the flesh.

 

When angry, we want to holler or play the power move of being passive aggressive.

 

When hurt or sad we may turn to food or other external sources for comfort.

 

That hard outer shell of the gum, the tough, rebellious outer layer of our person, the flesh, MUST crucify its longings to get to the next layer. That outer shell like the outer shell of an M&M can be cracked. Will we embrace being cracked? Do we see the value and benefit of being broken before God?

 

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24

 

CHEWY GUM

When the flesh and its longings have been bought under subjection, we can then reach the next layer of ourselves and that is our mind, will and emotions. And like chewing gum, they are malleable. Just like our teeth and tongue crush, squeeze, fold and turn gum, God takes our mind, will and emotions and turns and squeezes them so that are bought to the obedience of Christ.

 

Therefore do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

 

While there are many well meaning, good intentions we may have, unless they are in alignment with the will of the Lord, they are for naught. It is not OUR will but HIS will that must be done.

 

LIQUID CENTER

Now I find there are three camps people fall into when eating layered candies like M&M’s and this gum. Some lick each layer. Some nibble each layer. And the last just bite through the whole thing. Whatever the strategy, each layer is enjoyed yet the center holds the promise, like getting to the center of a Tootsie Pop lollipop.

 

It behooves us to remain aware and sensitive so that we don’t miss Him. Now every time I SEE the Mentos gum, think about the Mentos gum, or even smell minty gum, I am reminded that Jesus is the center and I have to remain centered in Him.

 

In the case of the Mentos, the outer layer seems to hold the most intense flavor. The mint is strong and fills the nostrils. The mint is cool yet fiery. And when eating the gum, one wants that minty outer layer to last forever. And we can be like that, wanting to satisfy our desires forever. But do you not know there is even more intense flavor inside waiting to be released? For the liquid center inside the gum is even more intense, even more pungent. And the same can be said for your spirit. Your spirit man is capable of producing MORE fruit than your flesh ever could.

 

And this is the work of the Lord. Day by day He puts us in situations where we will be challenged to crack the hard outer shell of our bodily desires, where we will have to stretch and squeeze the longings of our will so that our spirit man will be released to flow freely and fly right in line with the Lord.

 

This is His desire for you. This is His desire for me, that we would be broken before Him so that our spirits can commune with Him and with other like-minded spirits to expedite the work of building the Kingdom here on earth. This is truly living. Doing the work that we were purposed and placed here for from the beginning of time.

 

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63

 

Last year I asked the Lord to move my relationship with Him from my head to my heart. My head knows plenty about the Lord; I have memorized His word, I have seen His work, I have heard and continue to hear Him speak. The first two layers of ME know plenty about Him. Oh but I desire more than just head knowledge about Him. I long to know Him intimately. I long to commune with Him. I pine for the opportunity to hang out with Him and learn from Him. So He simply beckoned me to “COME!” And when I walked toward Him, the desires of my first two layers, my body and my will HAD to fall away. To sit with Him and hear from Him required me to respond. And to respond appropriately, obediently required me to deny myself so that my spirit could receive and act accordingly.

 

In his book The Release Of The Spirit, Watchman Nee says, “Our spirit is released according to the degree of our brokenness. The one who has accepted the most discipline is the one who can best serve. The more one is broken, the more sensitive he can be.” He goes on to say it is, “Through the Spirit’s discipline, that the outer man is broken. And, through the Spirit’s revelation, the powers of the outer man are completely divided from the spirit.”

 

Therefore, through disciplining ourselves and by divine revelation of the Holy Spirit, our inner man, our spirit man is released and is FREE.

 

In what ways are you being broken?

Can you see blessing in brokenness?

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
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