WORD TO PONDER:  DONT LET YOUR FAILURES BE YOUR MIRROR  2/05/07

Dear one, you must get past the memories of old mirrors.  Do not let your past failures be your mirror or reflection of who I say you are.  It is important to get past the past and find a new reflection and perception of who you are becoming.  You have to believe your infinite worth to Me and through Me, so that you can live in that place. 

If you also allow another’s negative feedback to formulate the mirror of your self image, then it will be warped and untrue.  I BUILD you up into My image.  If ever I tear down and do surgery to take something out of you, I give you the knowledge of My love, and the hope of a brighter future without the entanglements that do not become you.  I tear out death, but only to give you abundant life. 

You consider Me altogether lovely.  Then look into the pool of My eyes and You will see your own reflection through My ravished, enraptured love for you.

Song 5:6  NKJV 

THE SHULAMITE

Do not look upon me, because I am dark, Because the sun has tanned me. My mother's sons were angry with me; They made me the keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard I have not kept.

Song 4:15  NKJV

THE KING

Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove's eyes behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, Going down from Mount Gilead. 2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep Which have come up from the washing, Every one of which bears twins, And none is barren among them. 3 Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, And your mouth is lovely .Your temples behind your veil Are like a piece of pomegranate. 4 Your neck is like the tower of David, Built for an armory, On which hang a thousand bucklers, All shields of mighty men. 5 Your two breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle, Which feed among the lilies. 6 Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh And to the hill of frankincense.

7 You are all fair, my love, And there is no spot in you. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, With me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions' dens, From the mountains of the leopards. 

9 You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse; You have ravished my heart With one look of your eyes, With one link of your necklace. 10 How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices! 11 Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue; And the fragrance of your garments Is like the fragrance of Lebanon. 12 A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed. 13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates With pleasant fruits, Fragrant henna with spikenard, 14 Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, With all the chief spices —  15 A fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And streams from Lebanon.

PONDERINGS: LOOKING IN THE WRONG MIRROR 2/05/07
Recently I was “reflecting” on a past failure that made me feel really sad. I knew the Lord allowed what I walked through to help me grow up and let go of childish things. As I “reflect” back upon it, I did everything I was supposed to do, but the results did not end up the way I had hoped. I have made some good changes in my life as a result of this, but I dont like the memory of my old mirror staring me in the face. I could see that as long as I stayed on the same “reflection” of the past, it was keeping me in that place and destroying my self image and the image the Lord wanted to build inside of me.

When I shared this, saying I needed my mirror to change, a friend wrote back and said that I should not feel punished or spanked from the results. And the mirror that I see myself should never have do to with how others respond or with what circumstances say.

UPDATE CONFIRMATION
The same day Tao emailed me a link to the Word to Ponder that brought him to the Quickened Word ministry 3 years ago. The link was at Elijah List, and my eyes popped out as I read what Steve said, and then read the Word to Ponder that the Lord had given me back then:

IMPORTANT Note by Steve Shultz, regarding:

"WHAT YOU DEEM AS DEFEAT, I CALL ' TRIUMPHANT OVERCOMING"

For those newer to the ELIJAH LIST, Sander Warner, author of this word, is also the author of the very first book the Elijah List EVER carried.

Sandy's book is entirely FULL of ways in which God speaks to people today. In fact it's called, "101+ Ways God Speaks And How to Hear Him."

Below is a great word that applies to actually MOST readers on the Elijah List. The Lord is telling you what HE sees in you and what you've gone through in your life.

Take special note how it contrasts or seems OPPOSITE of how you see YOURSELF, as you look into the mirror of your life.

I hope you'll get her book, "101+ Ways God Speaks And How to Hear Him."

I also do not feel it is coincidental that her book was the first one in our store. God wanted to communicate many concepts of hearing God speak ---in PLAIN ENGLISH to His Body. At that, Sandy excels.

Be blessed as you read this word and as you read her book.

Merry Christmas,

Steve Shultz (and Derene too!)
Publisher, THE ELIJAH LIST
www.elijahlist.com

WHAT YOU DEEM AS DEFEAT, I CALL 'TRIUMPHANT OVERCOMING'"
swauthor777@usa.net
www.thequickenedword.com

Dec 22, 2003
Precious one, what a courageous journey you have taken and how proud I AM of you to have trusted Me in sharing My Words. This has been a journey of faith. While you were yet a youth in My Spirit, I called you and gave you many signs of confirmation upon your life. You were so insecure that the mere thought of it made you tremble! How I love challenges! (Smile, dear one!) I had special assignments in mind just for you. You were perfect for the job.

I began by giving you My Words, but I called you to pray them instead of sharing them. You were My intercessor, partnering with Me in matters of importance to My heart. All along the way, I continued to give you confirmations, My signs that you really were hearing Me, and growing along the way. This was a journey of faith, for you had no person to give these Words to, or no one to give you a direct confirmation. I taught you to fly on the wings of faith as you held onto My confirmed Words.

"What a Story of Overcoming!"
I gave you the promise that one day we would be married as one, as happens to others of My fold. I said I would give you My Word as a two-edged weapon to soften the hearts of men, and to pierce the demonic spirits. This weapon would never run dry, for it is dipped in My eternal fountain of blood. This weapon would bow so low as to touch the ground in humility, then grow up as a pure white mantle, softly caressing your shoulders in governmental authority. This weapon would be like tall angelic wings covering you from behind.

You have accepted My Words of promise over your life. And what a story of overcoming! Against all odds, against every demonic current and onslaught, you continue to travel upward and press into Me. Whenever you come to the end of your rope, you lie spent before My feet, even as a salmon who has come home to spawn.

"What You Deem Defeat, I Call Triumphant"
My bride! What you deem as defeat, I call triumphant overcoming. You may feel beat up and dented having stood against all odds, but what you do not know is I that I plant mysteries in many of My children for them to discover. I have planted one inside your own spiritual womb.

I have planted many children in your own particular womb who are following the same path as you, My beloved. Your journey will be multiplied over and over again, as I plant My Words of promise within the insecure ones, and they also will take the courage to trust Me and follow My promises into fulfillment. These are My triumphant ones who so love Me, that they will reach beyond the limits of their own insecurities to go wherever I send them. They will fly on the wings of faith, built through one loving confirmation at a time. When My Words come to pass within their own lives, they will become My signs to a broken and crippled world.

"I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles." (Isaiah 66:19 NKJV)


-Sandy Warner
swauthor777@usa.net
www.thequickenedword.com