The Identity of a Pilgrim

Dear friends,

It has been a while since I have placed an entry into this blog, and I must say that it has been an eventful time for me. As always, I am more interested in the heart of the matter instead of the matter itself. So, I invite you to take a few minutes and take a look at the heart of my journey.
Over the past week my meditations have been focused on looking back to when I first set my heart on pilgrimage. After my internship in Kansas City I understood that the Lord was leading me into the identity of a pilgrim as it is described in Psalm 84. To share my thoughts on this I will share with you an excerpt from my daily journal. This little meditation shares some of my first thoughts and steps into the identity of a pilgrim. Looking back over the past eight months I have seen that my pursuit of God has been more fruitful than any other time in my life. Therefore I invite you to share in this meditation and consider the way of the pilgrim. May you be blessed in Jesus Christ according the the abundant riches of God our Father.

7/6/07
Psalm 84
I have set my heart on a pilgrimage. Really, I know very little about this pilgrim thing. I do see that true pilgrims know who they are and they continue to be who they are wherever they are. They are ones who have set their hearts on eternity. They have truly set their hearts upon Zion. Their flesh cries out for the living God who gives them life.
A pilgrim has an experiential understanding of reconciliation to God as their Father. Their being... their strength is in the One they search for.
A pilgrim is confident that they know God, yet they truly know that they need to know Him in a more profound way. God reveals just enough about Himself to a pilgrim to make them desire to know Him more.
A pilgrim is someone with a lot of questions, of which they spend their whole lives seeking the face of the One who holds the answers.
So what is a pilgrim? Why does this identity entice me so much?
A pilgrim knows they have been adopted by a Father they have never seen with their natural eyes. "Where is He?," they ask, "Where is this uncreated One?"

We seek because we know Him. We seek because we do not know Him. It is the divine drama to search for someone you cannot see until you leave this earth. We do not belong to this world. We will never belong to this world. So grateful would I be if I were meek enough to inherit a piece of this world once God has made it completely new... but I say again,
"THIS WORLD DOES NOT OWN ME."
I do not belong to this world. My heart and my soul belong in the courts of the living God. His dwelling place is what I seek.

A pilgrim knows that God will come and meet Him.

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you for answering my prayers, my Father, my Friend. Amen.


To add to this, my reflection today is concerning our purpose in life. We are called, chosen by Jesus Christ, to be His very inheritance. When He establishes the Kingdom of God on earth we are still the reward of all of His sacrifice. One day we will see His face in a true, real, Zion. In the holy city of God we will see with our very eyes the Maker of life and we will dwell in His courts forever. Blessed are all who set their hearts on pilgrimage. Take a journey into the deep things of God. Its a journey, so don't try to do it all in a day. Call it what you will, I just like the term pilgrim. What truly matters is that we lay down the joys of this world to pursue the eternal glories of God. Day by day... step by step... knowing one day this will all make sense.

Changes!

Hello friends,

Some big changes have come my way. Writing the Prophet Song has been going well. I will likely have to take a break though. The Lord has opened up the doors for me to move to Hawaii. I will be there Monday, Feb 4th. I'll live in Kailua. My intentions are to work with the House of prayer and I will also hold a full time job as well. The opportunity came so fast but the Lord has ordered my steps and I am on a new adventure. I have to keep this update short, but as soon as I have time I will give an update on my life in Hawaii, The Prophet Song, and whatever else seems good.

Blessings,
Jerry

Writing the Prophet Song

Hello friendlies,

As most of you know, I am still in KC. As of today I officially begin writing my first edition of The Prophet Song. The Prophet Song is a journal. It is something that the Lord began in my life almost five years ago, yet it has taken this long to understand His purpose in these writings, therefore I am only now writing an edition that I plan to give to others. Some of the entries in my blog are from this work, so that will give you a taste of what's included. This edition will include approximately forty poems, lyrics to a few songs, and a parable. It will also include a few general, yet significant prophetic words to my generation. The Prophet Song has been to me an experience in growing in my identity with God. As I have learned to worship Jesus through writing poetry and music, He has revealed to me His Father's heart in a way that has transformed my life over and over again. It is my desire that this creative gift which He has given me will bless others and that He will use it to bring freedom to others as they read.

The testimony of Jesus is the most beautiful story ever told. Those who call upon His name and walk in the light of His testimony will be eternally blessed, as we inherit salvation and a kingdom built by God.

Pray for me as I am writing. Most of the entries I put into this edition are already written, as it is part of my testimony over the last five years. Still, it is my desire to include the best part so that all who may read will be blessed.

"Here am I"

here am i
displayed on a page with only one desire...
do you hear me, or do you hear the Father?
if i could speak to you mysteries and truth
would you be impressed by my wonderful knowledge?

do you see it how i see it?
i am only a man
and all i have to say will burn in the end.

my knowledge is nothing
my wisdom does lack
my profit to you is little at best.

there is only one cause
and only one truth
if i do not speak of the Christ
i am no good to you.

so why should you listen if i have nothing to say?
its because He speaks through me
for my benefit and yours.

so when you read these words that i write
hold to what's good
what speaks of the Christ.

may Jesus be known
His Father be praised
may the Holy Spirit prove the words on this page.

blessings.

Back in KC

Hello Friends,

I am back at IHOP for a season. I'm here for a season of writing, building connections, and of course seeking the Lord for whatever else He has in store during this time of my life. I have been back here for about a month now so I feel like I have begun to settle in and can share about what the Lord is doing in my life.

Writing...
The Lord has gripped my heart with a burden for His justice and placed in my spirit a desire to proclaim purity and simplicity of devotion to Jesus. Over the last year I have been walking and growing in the area of prophetic revelation in a way that has completely turned my life upside down. I am using this time of my life to write down the message and search it out in the scriptures, for this is the strategy the Lord has given me.
Habakkuk 2:1-3
I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

So while I am here I will be writing down the revelation, trusting that He will use it at the appointed time for His glory.

Building connections...

I am raising prayer support while I am here. There are a few intercessors who have invested into my life and I trust that this season will give me time to share my vision and gain a strong prayer backing. Though I am not called to the life ministry of intercession, the messengers and intercessors must be closely united for God to fully use both ministries. There is so much to learn from one another in the body of Christ so that we can walk in our full purpose in unity of love and knowledge of the Son of God. Though some may not agree with me, I believe that prayer is where the government of God happens on the earth as we come into agreement with His purposes for our generation. Intimate prayer is about communion with God. It is finding a place where we can sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him, play with Him, strategies with Him, and worship Him. Both private and corporate prayer should be the backbone of our relationship with Jesus and His church.


We'll see what else the Lord does in my time here... He has provided work and a place to live, as well as new friends and a chance to walk alongside some very good people.

May the Lord bless you and give you peace and safety over Christmas and New Year's.

A poem about our Savior...

"Jesus"

I'm waiting for the Jewish King,
The greater man of a common flesh,
The man of God- Christ Jesus.
I'm waiting for the Jewish priest,
The man of burning love,
The man of sacrifice- Christ Jesus.

I will follow this perfect man;
the man of glory,
the man of greatness,
the man of God- the God of men,
Christ Jesus.

Forever priest...
Forever King...
Forever man...
Forever God, Christ Jesus.

From the pages of my daily journal

Sunday morning, 11/11/07. (6:55am) [sections in brackets are not part of my actual journal]
I asked the Lord for counsel. [I am in the process of making many changes in my life and there are a lot of question marks about the future for me right now.] He said, "earn the bread you eat." This is of course something we are to obey in the context of being laborers. [In Proverbs it tells us to work if we expect to eat, and in 1 Timothy Paul exhorts Timothy to command the believers not to be busybodies, but to earn the bread they eat.] The Lord was making reference to this, but much moreso for me right now He was referring to earning the 'spiritual' bread that I eat, meaning the bread of the word. [24 days before this] the Lord told me that He is testing me to see how I respond to the faithfulness of the Father. [This is of course an interesting statement, but in this season I have seen such a great demonstration of God's faithfulness in my life. I have also seen each of these blessings of the Lord tested and tried, for it says that 'the testing of our faith develops perseverance.'] This specific season of testing is over, I have signed my paper and handed it in to the Holy Spirit. When I asked Him for counsel this morning He gave me this exhortation, my grade so to speak: "Earn the bread you eat."

[So how do we earn the bread we eat in a spiritual sense? This is my question as I proceed into this new season. In my current understanding, it is demonstrating my faith by what I do. I have been given a rich blessing of spiritual bread through the word of God and the Spirit of God, His teachers of the word, and through godly relationships. God demonstrated His faithfulness to me by what He did and He is asking me to do the same. Demonstrate this faith by what I do. Jesus gave us a great plan on how to do this. It is called the sermon on the mount. If we want to demonstrate the faith of God through our lives and be filled with His faithfulness in our lives we will accomplish this by living a life that resembles the sermon on the mount. So what soes the sermon on the mount tell us to do? Well, read it for yourself, but for a quick summary here's what it says to me.
It says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This is the first commandment. Then it says to love your neighbor. This is the second commandment. Then Jesus expounds on this because we love the word love and we have many of our own mindsets and definitions of what that means. He describes the fulfillment of these commandments by humbly doing these five things:
1) Pray. This is spending time with God when nobody else is around, with other people, and in our minds and hearts continually. This is not just a good spiritual discipline to be religious, but it is the very necessity of our existence in a life with God. Without a life of prayer we will die spiritually, and when we get to eternity there will be nothing left because we will have replaced our eternal life with the fruit of this world (the knowledge of good and evil), and this leads to death, not eternal life.
2) Service. We must serve one another to love one another. Love, like faith is demonstrated by what we do.
3) Giving. If we hold onto anything in this natural world it will leave us with a void in things eternal. Let us bless one another with our earthly inheritance to help one another walk in this life with more unity and faith. Giving and service help us trust one another, and the mystery of Christ is fulfilled in us through unity in the love and faithfulness of Christ.
4) Fasting. God knows our flesh is like grass. Fasting helps us embrace this reality. Until we are in the next age with God in our heavenly bodies the bodies we live in are subject to every manner of burden that comes from the fallen world we live in. Of course, by faith in Christ we are free from sin, infirmity, and all the things that bind, but this world is going to remind us that the bodies we have now are not permanent. We are subject to aging, pain... the list goes on. Fasting is like a fast forward into the weakness of our flesh, but it is when we are the weakest that God can use us the most, because He loves to demonstrate His glory in our weakness and humility.
5) Forgiveness. There is no greater display of the mercy, love and humility of Jesus than forgiveness. It releases freedom in Christ and that is the most powerful force in all of creation because it is a power greater than anything created. Forgiveness unites us with a power that has always been, a power from eternity past. The grace of God has always been and it demonstrates the love of God that has always been, always is, and always will be. Mercy triumphs over judgment, and forgiveness says, "I choose mercy." There is no greater way to agree with God than by choosing to forgive. There is no greater way to say, "I choose to love the world the way Jesus loves the world," than by choosing to forgive. When we forgive we are forgiven. Jesus loves to forgive. If He didn't there would be no cross. Let us seek the heart of God and walk in His forgiveness. Forgiveness is about choice, again a demonstration by what we do. If we wait to feel like forgiving we likely will not do it. To choose Jesus is to choose forgivness. If you cannot forgive, kneel before Jesus and ask for help from the One who is able to do all things.]

These words come out of conviction of what God is doing in my own life, not out of desire to teach any doctrine, but to share the light of God with others. Blessings.

Excerpt from the Prophet Song

"Sunset in the Sky"

I wrote this poem while on an airplane. It was my first time ever flying so for some this might be a common sight but for me it was completely new and amazing. I was over the ocean and above the clouds when the sun was setting. I was traveling west so it made the sunset linger a bit, which was fine for me. I was amazed at how beautiful it was and I was meditating upon the Lord and His creation. These were the words that followed.

From the other side of heaven I watch the setting of the sun,
Descending upon the clouds in burgundy and blaze...
I look upon the layers of seas asking
"Was this meant to be?"
Knowing in this place of heights the depths are seconds away.

Beauty of beauties never seen before in the richness of Your light,
It's glory illuminating the silouette of a wing in which to rest.
Becoming lavender and quickly fading...
Then suddenly burning bright,
On which take flight and by which might?
Under the shadow of which wing?
Chasing day-becoming night,
A resting solitude.

They open up the winds of change awaiting all the stars,
The hope of glory-a twinkling light,
Among the rising of a coming night.

I see and foretell the beauty and glory,
Of becoming a light among the darkness.
By which I pen with unsteady hands,
Watching the beauty of this setting sun...
~On the other side of the heavens~
A seed of light-breathtaking proclamation,
The fading brightness, a most beautiful righteousness...
~For those on the other side of heaven~

Chasing, chasing, chasing the sun...
Like a thief it rises behind you!

The clouds are my new horizon.

This is a song I wrote about two years ago. The words came into my mind today so I picked up my guitar and gave it a play. I haven't played it in quite some time so it was a bit 'rusty', but the Lord really ministered to my heart and I wanted to share it on my site. I wish I could put it on the site as audio... (if I can figure that out or get a link I will). Though it is introspective and melancholy, this is a song about beauty, hence the title of this song; Something Beautiful. I'm not sure that most people will get its true meaning, but I felt as though it might minister to some hearts as it has mine. In a world that provides plenty of opportunities to see the negative things and the brokeness that is all around, this song comes from an experience where the Lord took me from that place and has shown me beauty amongst a dying world. Even so it is dying, for this comes from the curse, Jesus will restore all things and in this we have an eternal hope. There will be a time when we will not have to cry out because of despair or affliction, but as we do now, the Lord looks upon us and sees the most beautiful thing to Him... and this is the love that is cultivated between you and Jesus even in the darkest times of your life. If there is any lesson that can come from a song like this, let it be that in all things God can bring life, restoration, and He can make all things beautiful.

'Something Beautiful'

Hope has become my obsession in a world colored gray by the blood of those already dead,
but I still see something beautiful… Life.
Like a willow tree on a river bank, sad because it strived to the top-
now reaching to the bottom, thirsty for its younger days closer to the water…
‘Yeah’ I reach for the water too. Its always low, humbled, sad,
But I still see something beautiful.

Chorus: Colors ranging from the bland to the vivid,
Paint the portrait of my dreams and my affections on a fading sky
Calling to the nighttime beauty that’s ‘black and white’,
And it opens up my heart.

This life is sometimes passionate, always beautiful.
This life will always overcome… everyday is new, we find they come and they fade away,
Calling us to live each moment- call upon the heavens, “open up to my heart”-
Leaving me a child cause they always see so pure… that’s what I want to be.

*Chorus*

Reality is a wrecking ball that tears down the walls we’ve built upon our pride-
so may it fall like rain… maybe we’ll see the dew of humility in the morning,
Giving hope to the new day that we’ll always have a second chance-
Until we’ve lived our last day under this sun with all the clouds and rain,
Praying for the beautiful to come.

*Chorus*
We are children of a casualty set free by the blood of the King on that Holy day…
There’s something beautiful about a man that gives His life for us.