REPOST: Repeat the SOUNDING JOY!!

I wanted to share this repost (with a few minor additions) from December 2015.  There are many times when I feel the LORD causes us to reflect on what He has said in order to gain new revelation of what He IS SAYING. There are many reasons why this repost is ministering to me at this season, it isn't simply because of the Christmas season because JOY is spiritual. It is part of the KINGDOM of God. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you and it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came to earth, He brought with Him the Kingdom...the government was upon His shoulders. Remember that JOY is spiritual, it isn't emotional...it is part of the Kingdom of God and it is our portion and inheritance in HIM. 

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Many years ago, when I was a history teacher at a Christian school, I did an activity with my class that required each of us to come up with a name for ourselves.  This name had to reflect a godly characteristic of our personality or one we desired.  If my memory serves me correctly, the purpose of the activity was to emphasize the importance of the spoken word and our names.  I chose "Mrs. Maintaining-A-Spirit-of-Joy-Wagner".  Whenever we addressed one another in class, we had to use our chosen name. It was an interesting activity!  The class and I had fun with it. At the time, I thought that was the name that most reflected my heart's desire.  Fast forward about 18 years. (Now about 20).  Even today, I want to maintain a spirit of joy. I believe joy is so important to our spiritual life. 

Yesterday, I was listening to a new DVD of Christmas music I had just received from a ministry, simply having what I call my praise and worship break.  Then the song Joy to the World came on and it was like I was hearing it in a different way. The words of the song made my eyes well up with tears and my heart overflowed with worship. Here are the lyrics...yes...I know we know them but just read them slowly....ponder them.

JOY to the WORLD
the LORD has COME
let EARTH receive her KING.
LET EVERY HEART PREPARE HIM ROOM

AND HEAVEN AND NATURE SING, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and heaven and nature sing.

JOY to the WORLD
the SAVIOR REIGNS
let men their SONGS employ
while FIELDS and FLOODS, ROCKS, HILLS AND PLAINS
REPEAT THE SOUNDING JOY, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding JOY.

NO more let SINS and SORROWS grow
nor THORNS infest the ground
He COMES to make HIS BLESSINGS FLOW
Far AS THE CURSE IS FOUND, far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with TRUTH and GRACE
and makes the NATIONS prove  
the GLORIES OF HIS RIGTHEOUSNESS
and WONDERS of HIS LOVE, and wonders of His love, and wonders, and wonders of His love. 

Selah. 

Luke 2:8-14

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the GLORY of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of GREAT JOY which will be to ALL PEOPLE.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel a MULTITUDE of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

As I was worshipping, I just keep hearing in my spirit, repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy.   It was as if I saw a picture of heaven and earth singing, praising God for the joy that had come into the earth through Christ His Son.  Real Joy. Eternal JOY.  The joy that can only come from the Source of Life.  Just think about the fact that ALL of heaven repeats the sounding joy.  All of nature, repeats the sounding joy.. the fields, the floods, the rocks, the hills, the plains...repeat the sounding joy.  This is the joy that Jesus gives us as gifts, His Joy, not just Christmas joy but eternal joy that the world can't take away. Finally, this joy has an expression. It has a sound. It is a joyful praise. It is a joy that can't be silenced. It is joy worth repeating.  Joy worth sharing. JOY JOY JOY.

JOY to the WORLD! Great joy to all people.

May the Presence of the King and His JOY touch your heart and the hearts of those you love  every day...and may we all repeat the sounding joy! 

#choosejoy

© Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles, 2013-2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Tis the Season for a Tell

The holiday season is entirely upon us. The first snow has come and gone with its wintery winds. It is a time of giving and receiving, not only of material gifts but spiritual ones as well. A few years ago, I shared about the gifts that Jesus has given to us: His love, peace, and joy.  What beautiful gifts to receive! This season the Father has been speaking to me about something I refer to as His “tell.”  You may be thinking, what are you talking about? First, since the word tell is a homonym, let me give you the definition to which I am referring. The tell I am referencing is the “tell” of a poker game.  (I know this might sound strange, but this is what the Father and I were talking about.) “A tell in poker is a change in a player’s behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to clues to that player’s assessment of their hand.” (Wikipedia.com).  I am not a poker player, so in layman’s terms, it is when a player has a behavior that gives a clue as to what is in their hand.

Last week during my bible study devotions, I noticed what I am calling a “tell” from the Father. Without going into detail, it was something that let me know what the Father was doing. It could be called a confirmation, which is Christian lingo, for something that confirms God’s will. But as I pondered it and listened to the Father, I sensed He was saying,” I send out ‘tells’ all the time. Are you paying attention?” I had to ponder it. I have been pondering it.

Some of you might be thinking, it also sounds like discernment. For example, it is when someone is trying to “figure out” what is happening in a situation or the spirit behind an action. I agree that it sounds like discernment too, but I would argue that discernment can be about you or others.  As I pondered this idea of the Father sending “tells”, I thought, this is personal communication. It is something the individual will pick up that is a specifically “designed” to get their attention. Discernment is not always that way.

God is personal. Despite what you may have heard or learned elsewhere, He is very personal. He prefers one on one, close intimate communication but all too often we are going about our daily business, so He uses other means of communication to get our attention. Sometimes we call it coincidence, serendipity or synchronicity.  Sometimes it is something that just makes us go hhhhmmmm. Regardless of how we name it, I am suggesting that these are incidents or events in which God is garnering our attention-it’s a tell. He is allowing something that will get our attention so that we can look to Him and see His plan.

For me, a week ago, it was the reoccurrence of a word. It was not a heavily used word, but rather a rarely used Hebrew word.  I happened to come across it several times in one week. That is when I realized it was a tell, for me specifically. Another person probably would not react the same to hearing or noticing the word. This is why I argue that the “tells” are specific to the person. It was not a confirmation because it was not confirming anything. It got my attention and caused me to ponder the message that Father was communicating to me. It caused me to seek Him deeper and listen to what He is saying.

Now here is the million-dollar question, have you noticed any “tells” from the Father? Tis the season for a tell. How might the Father be speaking to you through unusual occurrences or circumstances? This is not superstition or anything of that nature. These are real incidents that bear witness with your spirit that whatever the “tell” may be, one thing that it is not, is random or coincidental. It is to get your attention. It is a means of the Father to get you to see what He is doing or going to do.

I started this blog out defining the word “tell. " This is not a play on words, but it is interesting to note that even the most general definition of the word encourages us to pay attention and listen up. We are living in miraculous times; honestly, anything could happen at any time. Let’s put our faith out there for the manifestation of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Be on the look-out for the “tell’ that the Father is sending to you: tis the season for a “tell”.

© Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles 2013-2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without the express and written permission of this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts may be used provided full and clear credit is given to Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Enlarge Your Tent - Poem

After spending the day watching Rise Up 2017, The Call of Women to a day of prayer in Washington DC, I decided to share this poem I wrote in May 2017.  It was part of a word that I received from the Lord at that time about enlarging my tent, increasing my capacity for Jesus, so that I could birth what He needed me to birth in the spiritual realm.  The call to prayer is about exactly that birthing in the spirit what Father God wants to manifest in the earth.

The poem is based on Isaiah 54:2

Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home and spare no expense! (NLT)

Enlarge the site of your tent (to make room of more children) stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare them lengthen your tent robes and make your pegs (stakes) firm (in the ground). (The Amplified Bible).

Sing woman sing
barren one you were called
barren you are not
rejoice again, for your fruitful lot

Enlarge your tent
strengthen your cords
children shall come
make ready His doors

Spiritual mother
nurture a soul
cultivate a spirit
no matter how old.

Dance woman dance
barren no more
birth by the spirit
make ready His doors.

Open up, open wide
gates and doors glorified
Open up, open wide
King of Glory has arrived!

© Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles 2013-2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without the express and written permission of this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts may be used provided full and clear credit is given to Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

The Revelation of Jesus

On Monday, a dear sister in the LORD sent me a FB message of a Youtube video from the Christian worship team, Housefires.  The song is entitled Jesus What A Savior. (Kably, Kirby. "Jesus What A Savior". By Kirby Kably. We Say Yes. Housefires Music. 2107. YouTube). I know this sister hears from the LORD so it wasn’t just a FB message.  I am sure she was inclined by the Spirit of the LORD to share it with me. This song has such a sweet presence of Jesus on it. I listened to it over and over.  REPEAT. I have the heart of a worshipper so very rarely do I listen to an anointed song once.  By about the third listen, I had the song in my heart and had really entered worship. Before I even knew what was happening I was on the floor crying, sobbing.  I was praying from my heart because no words could even flow.  It was just tears and sobs.  I wasn’t just sobbing. I was feeling my conversation with Jesus inwardly.  I would think something and feel it and He would respond and I would feel it.  I kept playing the song over and over because He was there with me.  I wanted him to know my heart.  Then the sobbing increased because I realized I didn’t know his heart like I should.  I knew his heart for me but not for others.

Honestly, I have never really seen myself as a compassionate person.  I know people who flow in compassion and I know that I don’t operate at that level but I was feeling something inside myself that is difficult to describe.   As I worshipped and cried, I realized how much I needed his heart.  A powerful verse in the song reveals, “Your heart it knows no borders knows no walls. Your constantly moving towards me with open arms”. (Kably, Kirby. "Jesus What A Savior". By Kirby Kably. We Say Yes. Housefires Music. 2107. YouTube).  His heart has no borders-there are no walls.  This is His love and nothing can separate us from it when we are IN HIM.   (Nothing can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus - Romans 8:39)  He is the exact image of the invisible God. You can’t know God outside of Him and yet He demonstrates His heart through the most simple and profound ways at the same time-so that we may realize our deep need for Him.  This went on for some time.

Then I realized I wanted to share the song.  I was being so impacted by this time of worship.  I shared it on social media and via private messages.  Then I went back to it again. I played it repeatedly.  I went back into prayer interceding for the President, the people of Texas, the nation, and the church.  I knew I heard Jesus speaking to me saying, “I need you to know (by experience) you are Christ (the anointed One) to someone every day.  Every time you go out to the lost world; you are Me to them.  I need your hands, your feet, your body and your heart to demonstrate our Father’s love.”  I am sobbing more as I think of how the people in Texas and all over that region are “loving” one another by serving one another through simple but profound acts that determine life and death.  SELAH. 

Then a random thought came to my mind.  I remembered when I taught history in a Christian school and we did a lesson describing a time of revival.  The textbook mentioned a novel by Charles Sheldon, In His Steps published in 1896.  It was the inspiration for the WWJD faith fad that was prevalent during that time.  Instead of just glossing over it, I decided my students and I would read his book.  The novel is about an challenge given by the pastor of a community church. He gave a sermon that turned into a movement. This  community with church members from all walks of life committed to seriously contemplate what Jesus would do with daily decisions in their lives for an entire year. During the height of the modern day movement you could find the acronym on everything. Today you can still find it in some stores or online.  I doubt that many people have heard of the novel, read it or knew roots of the phrase.  It is a simple but profound concept. It isn’t just the mental contemplation of what would Jesus do, a very westernized approach, but rather it is an action orientated experience of walking IN HIS STEPS. Jesus was talking to me about this experience of walking in his steps.  The words of the song and the images from the media coverage in Texas had stirred my heart so deeply.  I sobbed and prayed some more. 

I asked for forgiveness for my hardness of heart.  I knew that recent current events (Charlottesville and the protests) had created hardness in my heart.  My whole heart wasn’t hard but there were areas. The amount of hate and racism that is pervading the culture is unnerving. It is tangible. Really it is, sad but true.  (And then there was a hurricane named Harvey. SELAH).  Now I  felt the need for forgiveness.  I also felt a deep need to have Jesus’ heart.  I kept crying and saying “Lord, I don’t have your heart.”  Then he reminded me of some other things that I had done in obedience.  Things that aren’t public knowledge nor my current FB status. These were things that demonstrated His heart. I felt conflicted, but grateful that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.  In some ways, I did have his heart but I heard him saying, “I am enlarging your capacity for Me.”  It was a word that I had received from Him a few months ago: enlarge your tent.  I did not fully understand what He meant then, but I understood more now.  Not all, but more. 

You might be wondering, all this happened while you were listening to a ten-minute worship song.  Well, yes because it was worship and I had entered something spiritual. I played it over and over until He came and sat down in my worship.  Then I just sat at His feet.  Ten minutes had turned into a couple of hours.  Singing, praying, crying and sobbing.  I would stop crying long enough to sing and worship and then I would feel Him moving in my heart and I would just start sobbing again. 

In all that I realized many things, some of which I don't know consciously now but I know I received a revelation of Jesus.  It was a revelation of His love and heart that I had not known. (“The Jesus I knew was handing me the Jesus I didn’t know and was saying this is Me”. Bishop T.D. Jakes- Paradigm Shift).  The experience is a bit of  something that is still difficult to describe.  It makes me think of the first scripture in the book of Revelation. In the Amplified Bible, it reads:

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries] God gave it to HIM to disclose and make known to HIS bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass in their entirety.  And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to HIS bond servant John. (Revelation 1:1 The Amplified Bible)

One day while reading this scripture, I got a revelation.  The Book of Revelation is not John’s revelation but Jesus’ revelation. He disclosed it to John.  He shared it with John to share with the rest of us.  We need Jesus’ revelation and perspective.  THE REVELATION OF JESUS. We need to see what He is seeing; what the Father is revealing. THE REVELATION OF JESUS. The revelation of all that He is, is constantly unfolding. It is perpetual. THE REVELATION OF JESUS.  A knowing of His heart and His love that compels us to act beyond ourselves and our security on behalf of someone else. THE REVELATION OF JESUS.

The Apostle Paul expressed it this way…” I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord….and be found in Him not having my own righteousness…that I might know Him and the power of his resurrection…but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” (Philippians 3:8-12 NKJV.  I could have quoted all of verses 8 through 12 but this is already longer than I thought it would be!! I encourage you to read the passage in its entirety).

THE REVELATION OF JESUS.  Jesus is the Alpha and Omega; He is the beginning and the end.  He knew what his earthly assignment would require and He choose to love through death. His death gave us life eternal. No greater love. Jesus what a Savior.



© Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles 2013-2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without the express and written permission of this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts may be used provided full and clear credit is given to Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Identity Revisited: Discovery

***I originally wrote this last year to be posted in a blog I write with three other Christian Women (pro31womenscompendium.com). I never submitted the post because I felt it was incomplete. Now it is complete. The original title was Identity.  However, I changed the title because I had to add some thoughts recently revealed. 

From the womb to the tomb and sometimes beyond that, we are given what I will call identifiers.  These identifiers are labels, names, terms, blessings and curses that become associated and connected to us as individuals.  For example:

birth

boy or girl

black or white

long or short

skinny or fat

cute or ugly

peaceful or ornery

And that short list can happen within 24 hours of your birth! So what happens when we have years of this mess just piled up on our subconscious, our spirit. 

Recently, (at the original writing) during a prayer meeting, I heard the Holy Spirit say “you don’t see yourself as God sees you…” Selah.  There is no argument there.  As believers we are to find our identity in Christ Jesus.   The book of Ephesians is full of “in Him” scriptures that testify to the spiritual reality of believers functioning as Christ’s Body in the earth.  Again, there is no argument there.  However, what if the Holy Spirit was really referencing not just spiritual origin, but original intent or maybe better said as original design. 

Our lives are full of concepts that are so far from the original intent of the Father; remember we are living in a fallen world in need of restoration & redemption. Honestly, for some of us, by the time we are awakened to the gift of salvation, we have been through so much of life that salvation is literally a new birth.  It is not only a birthing of our spirit but I want to suggest it is a new birth of our soul as well.  Our spirit becomes alive to God and yet our mind, emotions and will have to be transformed.  This is the part of salvation and redemption that can get folks sitting on opposite sides of a fence.  Once we receive our gift of salvation, I earnestly believe we begin this journey of discovering who Father created us to be…and this identity goes beyond simply our function as part of the body of Christ.  This identity goes all the way back to the very breath of God…the original design and intent of the Creator.

Job 33: 4

            “ The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

In our culture so much of our identity is wrapped up in the accumulation of these identifiers.  The list just grows and grows.  Add-ons come from our education, our career, our community affiliation, our social status, our ethnicity …even our computer usernames!  If I have to create another personal ID…seriously!  Really what does it all mean?  In my humble opinion, it means that we are so easily distracted by what is truly unimportant that there is a lack of sensitivity and discernment to see what truly is important.  At the end of the day, we are created beings of a benevolent Creator.  Father is the Creator and we are the created. He knows far more about who we are then we do or any given day.  We must discover who it is that He created us to be.  That is not an easy task.  It is full of falsehood and deceptions planted by an enemy of our soul.  Only through the power of the Spirit of God and a seed of faith do we stumble into the truth that can set our soul free.  It is called a faith walk. A walk is a simple step at a time.

At the original time of this writing, I was struggling with who I believed God had “called” me to be. 

(Side bar- revelation: I am not a calling, I am a creation) Reflecting back, I can now see how the Father was working out the things in my soul that where not in alignment with who He had “created” me to be.  Several years ago the Father revealed that I was His Beloved.  I thought WOW, I need to Be-Loved.  Then later He revealed that I was His daughter. Again WOW, I needed to be Fathered.  Throughout this journey, I have realized that it has been a process of Him awakening me to the essence of who I am in HIM.  It has been a removing of layers of false identities found in my achievements, careers and life roles.  None of those false identities were even close to what He has wanted to reveal in me.  I received who He called me to be as His Beloved. I am continuing to walk in what it means to be-loved unconditionally. Love is eternal, therefore this revelation is never-ending.  I recently discovered why He revealed that I was His daughter.  As his daughter, He was fathering my soul.  He was healing the wounded areas of my heart. Wounds not simply from the lack of a father role in my life, but a much broader healing that encompassed any wound that was keeping me bound and captive.  

Recently, I heard a favorite minister of mine reveal that our soul is characteristically feminine but our spirit is characteristically masculine.  I won’t even try to explain. I pray you catch it in the Spirit. However, if you look into scripture you will see a slight delineation.  Adam was created with Eve inside of Him. She was taken out of him.  That means there was a part of Adam that was characteristically feminine. It’s deep, I know,  but I kept meditating on this.  After a few days, I sensed the Spirit wanting to open up my understanding to the process the Father was working IN me. 

In a moments of reflection, I saw all the different identities I had attached myself to in order to find acceptance, love and validation. (No need to list them. I hope you are getting the picture.) All to no avail.  It wasn’t until the Father started to reveal to me His thoughts that I began to unmask and walk away from the falsehoods.  Finally, I have come to realize that as the daughter of God, He fathers my soul to keep it free of bondage, but the time has come for me to walk in my sonship. What kind of son? A son of the Spirit. 

Romans 8:14

For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God.

John 1:12

But to as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

I am a Daughter of God and a Son of the Spirit. IDENTITY DISCOVERED!!!

© Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles 2013-2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without the express and written permission of this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts may be used provided full and clear credit is given to Ronda Wagner and Kelbey Chronicles with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.