|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GENTLE
SPIRIT Jeanne Stewart, Oklahoma |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fabric of Your Life Written by Jeanne Stewart The Hebrew
woman sits quietly passing the shuttle back and forth through the warp
thread, manipulating the loom as she intertwines twisted fibers spun from
flax. Her willing hands stretch out to the distaff and hold the spindle, as
strands are being designed into fine linen cloth to be specially made into
ceremonial garments worn by priests who served in the Jewish Temple. Flax is a
plant that grows about three feet tall with pale blue flowers, and is
utilized for making linen cloth. When mature, the whole flax plant is pulled
out by the root and positioned in water to separate the fibers from the stem.
In ancient times, it was stretched out on housetops to dry in the sun, and
then pounded until the fibers separated. The fibers were then washed and
bleached to produce a nearly invisible fine fiber for weaving. This process
of preparing flax for this purpose took a lot of time before the finished
product was to be woven into a garment of pure white linen. In the Bible,
white linen represents purity of heart and spirit. It represents our lives
surrounded by the righteousness of Christ, making us pure before God
Almighty. The Two Sides of the Fabric ~ Let us now
observe the top side of the visible fabric formed on the loom. As you gaze
upon the top side, it gives the impression of being perfect in one piece, but
a closer examination of the underneath side reveals a different story. The
concealed raw edge of fabric exposes the tie-ins of the weaver’s new cuts of
fiber designed to carry on the weaving as one line of thread. To be specific,
the underneath side of the fabric can look rather rough, revealing the stops
and starts of hidden imperfections. How many of
us desire that our lives would appear to those around like the top side of
fabric being woven, instead of the underneath? We want to give the impression
that we are in control and moving ahead smoothly in one continuing line
outwardly, but inwardly our underneath tie-ins may be nervous raw edges of
uncertainties, disillusionment and imperfections. Let us
compare those raw edges with the places we have walked by faith where failure
and lack of expectation have cut and made a wound. Mentally we merely tie it
off and push it into that hidden place in our heart to be left as forgotten.
But the problem about this way of thinking is that the hurt from the
disappointment keeps the wound from healing and our spiritual growth from
being strong and victorious. Those raw edges cause more of a hindrance in the
unraveling of the foundation of who we are becoming in God’s purpose for us. The Hidden Back of the Fabric ~ Have you ever
been emotionally spent? You realize you were created for one purpose but you
seem to be living within another assignment. Let us look at the garment you
are wearing and see if it seems to be woven from threads corded together in
His strength and not in your own. Our emotions were woven within us by the
Master Weaver, our Heavenly Father, to enable us to worship Him. We were
created to worship God in fleshly temples of relationship and spiritual
presence. He brings us to His place of “completeness,” that is, of spiritual
authority with the ability to live victoriously over and above the invisible
powers of darkness around us in the midst of His presence. Our garment of
praise keeps the heaviness of offenses covered by the Blood of Jesus
protected within our heart. As a representative of the wayward unclean nature of fallen man,
the prophet Isaiah painted an accurate picture of our flawed character when
he cried out, “… I am undone!” (Isaiah
6:5) Isaiah sensed the hidden
imperfections underneath his fabric of failure, as the Lord called him to be
a prophet to that place of completeness in Him alone. Almighty God viewed
Isaiah from the top and not the underneath, from above and not below, for he
was the head and not the tail. Isaiah moved into that new place of greater
and deeper anointing. His old assignment was over and his new purpose was
revealed. God wanted a voice to speak clearly His Word to the people of God wants a
voice to speak clearly without hesitation today as His mantle descends upon
the Church. The urgency of preparation demands that His sons and daughters
speed up their training to come forth in prophecy and visions with His
confidence. The mature dream the dreams of warnings and directions as the
book of Joel chapter 2:28 described centuries ago. Expect God’s favor, follow
His Word and Spirit’s direction for, ‘…a
man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.’
(Proverbs 18:16) Begin instead to see the top portion of the mantle that God
sees in all its readiness to perfect the saints instead of the underneath of
the fabric as it descends. As it does, all those raw edges of disappointment
and failures will smooth out by His hands of mercy and grace, healing the
fabric of your life. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
