Bulletproof Declaration

"When Jacob awoke from his sleep he thought, surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it".

I have a new prayer. Well, it's more like a declaration. This declaration is for every minute, every second of the day.  I've implanted this declaration in the forefront of my mind. I've taken a spiritual megaphone and shouted this declaration into my soul!  I go to bed with it. I wake up with it. I'm going to write it on post-it notes and decorate my house and my car with it.  I'm going to wrap myself up in the thought of it, relish in the sheer delight of it, and breathe very, very peacefully because of it.

What is it?

The Lord is in this place and I AM aware of it!

The Lord is in this place and I AM aware of it!!!

Let that soak in a bit.

I love it, and I quietly whisper it all the time now.  The Lord is in this place and I am aware of it. Try it.  Declare it, speak it, shout it and whisper it.  Everywhere this life takes you...as you make your way through this sin-ridden, upside down, corrupted world, make the declaration that He is in this place and you are aware of it.  In your most elated moments of joy and satisfaction, make this declaration. In your most frustrating, painful moments, make this declaration that He is in this place and you are aware of it.

Jacob awoke that morning to an epiphany.  Love those. Wish they happened every day. But they don't. Sometimes I just sit and stare at the air.  I wish I had command over it because I would just rip it wide open and run to see the face of the one that was ripped wide open for me.  Jesus...holy and anointed one.  How I love thee!  Jacob awoke to such a powerful presence of God that he trembled as he realized..."this is none other than the house of God...the gate of heaven."  And here we are on common soil with Jacob; with angels cascading stairways all around us...but even better!  We have Christ in us...the incarnate Son of God!  The psalmist declares "the earth is the Lord's and everything therein" but "our citizenship is in heaven", our inheritance is in His eternal kingdom.  Physically we are here.  Positionally we are there, “seated in heavenly places with Christ”.  We share and we inhabit both.  We temporarily walk this earth but our names are written there!

When life brings the severest of trials, I whisper…the Lord is in this place and I am aware of it…because the Lord himself is the author and grantor of my tribulation. Every joy and trial is from God, the hymn says and it is my choice to cleave to every fear and deceptive growling from the enemy or hold unswervingly to the hope I profess and attack the lies of doubt and unbelief with this declaration of truth.

It's as though it's a bulletproof declaration shielding us from every flaming arrow and lie from the enemy of our souls. This declaration doesn't just bounce darts off of us.  It takes in every lying arrow, exposes it for what it is, and brings forth and celebrates the truth of each matter.  It invites heaven into every...every...every situation you might find yourself in and helps discover a God who has NOT stopped "working everything in conformity with His purpose and will" and "works all things to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose".

A couple of days ago I was driving along unnecessarily worried and fretting about the future...the future of my family, my job, my health...everything basically.  I began to whisper these words…the Lord is in this place and I am aware of it...the whisper grew to a shout as I realized that God is the CEO of this planet and NOTHING gets passed Him!  Every joy and every tribulation flows from our Master.  The shout grew to ever-flowing praises and prayers that seem to well up within me...finding no end.  He is in this place and He has assigned this moment for me!

Our minds, our flesh may declare that He is a million miles away but our minds and our hearts are no match for the truth of God's word.

Are you longing for Jacob's epiphany?  Has it been some time since you sensed His tangible presence and recognized the company of heaven in your midst?  Do you need Jesus to come nearer?  I do.  I need Him to come alongside of me, put his arm over my shoulder, take me for a walk, look around with me and point to all the fun and mysterious things He created and tell me about each one of them.  I need Him to reassure me that He's still CEO and though things seem terribly crazy down here, it's all as it should be.  He is author and He is perfector...

Jacob was in a mundane, no big deal place...or so he thought..."a certain place"...He laid his head on a rock...not too comfortable...

What kind of place are you in?

Try it.  Whisper the words.  See what happens...