UNDERSTANDING YOUR WILDERNESS

Understanding Your Wilderness
Alice Smith 
  
When we're trekking through the wilderness, we are tempted to think, The devil led me here. However, it is the pathway through the wilderness that leads to intimacy with Jesus. God told Hosea, concerning Israel: "Therefore, behold, I will allure her (Hosea's prostitute wife), and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.  And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor (trouble) for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.  And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi (my husband); and shalt call me no more Baali (my master)" (Hosea 2:14-16). 
 
The wilderness experience moves us from a master-servant relationship to a bride-and-groom relationship. The identifying marks of wilderness are personal trials, the silence of God and the absence of His felt presence. This journey can also be a place of loneliness, darkness, and yes, even desperation.  But if you remember that our journey in God is cyclical, then you can take courage from the fact that a wilderness experience always precedes divine revelation, and divine revelation always precedes breakthrough! And so the cycle goes: wilderness, then revelation, then breakthrough; wilderness . . . revelation . . . breakthrough.
 
We see this repeatedly in Scripture. Consider Elijah, who instructed the false prophets to build an altar, stack firewood on it and offer an animal sacrifice, then challenge Baal, their god, to consume it with fire. Nothing happened (see 1 Kings 18:26). Then Elijah teased them, saying, "Maybe your god has gone out of the country, or perhaps he is asleep" (see v. 27).
 
Then it was Elijah's turn. Three times he drenched the firewood and filled the trenches with water. "Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God" (1 Kings 18:38-39).
 
Wow! That would have been something to see! A moment later Elijah single-handedly killed the 400 prophets of Baal and ascended victoriously to the top of the mountain to pray. The result? Rain began to fall, ending a three-year drought! Yet one chapter later we find this same powerful prophet running from Queen Jezebel. Scripture says, "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life into the desert" (1 Kings 19:3). Elijah went from breakthrough to wilderness.
 
Jesus experienced the same kind of challenge. As John baptized Jesus, a dove descended from heaven, and God said, "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." Then one chapter later, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tested! (See Luke 4:1.)
 
Journeys through the wilderness precede breakthrough. We will all make the journey. So how can you prepare for your next wilderness experience? The prime prerequisite is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Only Spirit-filled believers can be Spirit-led. Only Spirit-led believers can live in the power of the Holy Spirit!  Jesus was led into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit (see Luke. 4:1). Forty days later, Jesus emerged from the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit after He passed the wilderness test (see Luke. 4:14).
 
The wilderness may present you with any number of tests, including financial problems, loss of a job, relational difficulties or even health problems. As Job learned, some of God's ways are more difficult to understand than others. They can include the death of a friend or family member or even the end of a marriage through divorce or death. Your wilderness journey may include the death of your life vision or ministry dream. No matter the circumstance, don't be defeated, for God is able to redeem every occurrence in your life.
 
What can you expect during a wilderness time? You will start with self-preservation and actually fight with the Lord on the natural and the spiritual level.  This is your attempt to preserve self-esteem. Your craving for legitimacy drives you to prove yourself to God, to others and to yourself. After all, American success is measured in terms of health and wealth. Aren’t these visual proofs of God’s approval? No! Health and wealth is a man-made standard, not a biblical one. By this standard, the apostle Paul and Stephen would have been certifiable failures! One was sickly, in prison and didn’t even have a coat to wear. The other had his life cut short in his youth in a death by stoning. 
 
Next, your mind will search for ways to correct the appearance that you are struggling. You will push to make things happen; but this only lengthens the fight.  When you finally stop struggling, the result will be the defeat of your flesh and victory for your spirit! Your loss of self-confidence and your acquisition of God-dependence are evidence of the work of the wilderness in you. You now have a more honest evaluation of who you are to God and who He is to you. Praise the Lord, for revelation has produced breakthrough!
When the heavenly Father draws you into the wilderness, and your circumstances become a wasteland; when everything appears to turn upside down and you experience chaos to the very core of your being, get ready! It is here that your soul awakens to new revelation about yourself and your God. As you passionately pursue the Lord and His purposes, and you stand in faith on His promises, you will experience the depths of His mysterious love. After all, the river of God's love runs deepest in the valleys.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE 1

Spiritual Warfare
By Eddie Smith
 
Warfare implies a battle, doesn’t it? But what about the battle? Who are the combatants, and why are they at odds?
Some of us see the devil primarily as our enemy—ours personally.
 
To hear them, you’d think Satan himself is entirely immersed in plotting and planning strategies against them and their concerns. That’s hardly likely, however, because Satan has limited power, limited knowledge, and can be only one place at a time. As currently there are more than six and a half billion people on earth, I doubt he has any idea who or where I am.
 
You and I aren’t Satan’s primary enemies. We arrived on the scene a few thousand years too late. He was at war with our Father eons before we came along. And here we discover the only reason he even messes with us—he hates
our Heavenly Daddy!
 
This timeless cosmic conflict into which we were born is between God and Satan. We were born on a battlefield in the midst of war; one of the warring parties is our Father, which highlights the part we play in combat. Perhaps it would help to put this in context. Rebecca Greenwood writes
in Authority to Tread:
 
"The day John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River was
the day of an invasion so great that, by comparison, it could
make D-Day of World War II seem like a mere video game.
From that day on, Jesus and His disciples began preaching
the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
 
A 'kingdom' by definition, has a government headed up by a king. Jesus was the invading King. The kingdom He was invading also had a government, and its king was Satan.
For thousands of years after the time of Adam and Eve, the
human population of the whole world, with a few exceptions
such as the people of God in Israel, was under the evil
control of the prince of the power of the air. Practically
speaking Satan could do anything he wanted to the peoples
of the earth. And what he did was not good.
 
Things radically changed when God sent His Son.
 
From the time of Jesus until now, the war has been hot and
it is getting hotter. The Kingdom of God has been advancing
as it always has advanced—namely by force (see Matthew
11:12). Satan’s fury continues to swell because he knows his
time is shorter than it ever has been.'
 
We were born sinners, and, in time, given the freedom to choose, every one of us chose sin and proved our lost condition. We once were known as children of Satan (see 1 John 3:10; yikes, that hurts!). Knowing that God’s
purposes are all wrapped up with His desire for spiritual children, don’t you imagine Satan basked in the thought that he had gained custody of even one whom God had created to be His child?
 
Billions of people around the world suffer from satanic domination of their lives. Turn on the news anytime and it’s more murder, rape, abuse, abortion, and violence. We were miserably lost when God found us. Had He not, we might have been tonight’s featured tragedy on Headline News, and in the end we would have been cast into the hell God prepared for the devil and his angels (not for people; see Revelation 12:9).
 
~~~~~
 
Only my oldest and closest friends know that one of my hobbies once was ventriloquism. As a young evangelist I had several ventriloquist figures and used them in skits to present the gospel to children and teens. Years later,
after I stopped traveling and became a pastor, I began carving figures again. I made them with eyebrows that would rise; eyes that would look left and right; a hand that would extend. I enjoyed creating and selling them.
 
Several more years later I was driving past a garage sale when from the corner of my eye I saw something familiar. One of my figures was for sale. I stopped quickly, jumped out, and ran to purchase it before someone else did. It
was such a prize for me. After all, I’d created it myself. Now it was twice mine—I made it, and I bought it!
 
This analogy resembles our relationship with the Father. Again, we were born sinners, and soon thereafter proved our condition by submitting to sin.
 
We were lost and for sale on Satan’s auction block. But Jesus paid the price for our redemption, bought us back with great joy, and took us home with Him!
 
Today God is carefully “carving us” into the likeness of His Son (see Romans 8:29). Impossible? No, because when God saved us, Christ came to live by His Spirit in us, and Christ in us is the very hope of glory. What an indescribably amazing plan!
 
The Lord has ransomed us from our slavery to sin. He has set up His kingdom in us so He can extend His kingdom through us (see Luke 17:21). As we share the saving gospel of Christ with others, He transforms life after life, nation after nation, ultimately to fill His heavenly house with children.
 
It’s the ultimate viral experience. He who had only one begotten Son now has billions of kids! The primary purpose for everything is to satisfy the Fatherheart of God.

SATAN ACCUSING YOU TODAY!!!

Satan is Accusing You TODAY!
Alice Smith 
 
America, we are a litigious society, a greedy culture. Too many of us are out to make a buck. And the easiest way to make money, other than winning the lottery, the Publishers' Clearing House Sweepstakes, or DEAL OR NO DEAL, is to win a lawsuit. Look at the following news headlines:
Woman Awarded Millions in Settlement After Spilling Hot McDonald's Coffee in Her Lap
Millions Awarded Man Who Caught His Ear on Subway Strap
Lady Wins Huge Cash Settlement From Nike After Tripping Over Her Own Shoestring
A minister we know was sued for releasing an unfit worker from employment in his ministry. Another minister was sued for one million dollars because of an unfortunate and unavoidable bus accident on a mission trip. A dear pastor friend of ours was brought to trial, along with his church, for refusing to return a church member's past tithes. Today, churches, pastors, and counselors are being burdened with heavy insurance premiums to protect themselves from litigation.
Perhaps you have not yet been sued in court. Consider yourself fortunate! However, you have not escaped Satan's charges against you. In the court of heaven, Satan continually brings accusation against every Christian. Why? Because Satan is God’s archenemy, and he is determined to discredit God. Of course, he cannot discredit God directly regarding God's actions. So Satan attempts to discredit God indirectly, regarding our actions. That's why he tempts us to sin.
 
The writer of Hebrews wrote, "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all...because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Heb. 10:10, 14). These are complex and fascinating verses. Notice that verse 10 says that "we have been made holy." Yet verse 14 says that we "are being made holy." Which is it? Have we been made holy, or are we being made holy? The answer is...they are both true! We who are in Christ are positionally already made holy.
 
For that reason, God can and does live within us. But, experientially we are being made holy. Paul wrote, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son...And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified" (Rom. 8:29–30). From God's positional perspective, our glorification as well as our salvation and sanctification are past tense. They are future history! We are in the process of becoming who we are!
 
These things may be difficult for us to grasp, but Satan understands God's plan and purpose. After all, he has known God far longer than any of us. Satan also understands us all too well. He has coexisted and interacted with generations of God's people. He knows that although we are already positionally perfected in the heart of God, we are working out our salvation from day to day (Phil. 2:12). Satan's evil intentions are to cause us to:
Compromise our convictions
Fall into sin
Grieve the Holy Spirit
Short-cycle God's plan to conform us into Christ's image
In essence, he wants to discredit God. The moment we slip, the devil will ruthlessly accuse us as he accused Job. The name Satan means "accuser." Not surprisingly then, Satan relentlessly accuses us day and night in the court of heaven. In so doing, he is accusing God of failing to complete what He started--our salvation. (See Philippians 1:6; Revelation 12:10.)
 
Through the years we have served on many jury panels. We have seen some excellent advocates (attorneys) at work. But in some cases, we have seen some pitiful representation. Believe us, when facing trial, there are few things more comforting than having experienced, effective legal representation. When Satan accuses us in heaven's court we are fortunate to have a veteran attorney, Jesus. In 1 John 2:1, John describes the courtroom:
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
As Abraham, Moses, and others petitioned the cases of sinners in the Old Testament, Jesus, our attorney, intercedes with the Father on behalf of sinners. However, Jesus Christ (the righteous) is not only our high priest--He is also our atoning sacrifice!
 
The King James Version says, "We have an advocate with the Father." The writer, John, uses the Greek word parakletos to describe Jesus as an advocate. The same word is used in John's Gospel in chapters 15 and 16 to describe the Holy Spirit. In both passages the word parakletos means "advocate" or "attorney." Another primary meaning of the word is "intercessor." Yes, intercessor! The Holy Spirit and Jesus share the roles of attorney and intercessor for us!
 
This verse uniquely implies that when we sin, we are brought to trial before God. Jesus Christ is our defense attorney; He will be pleading our case. And what a defense attorney He is!

ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN

On Earth as In Heaven
By Eddie Smith
 
The building was filled with excited Christians from five or six local churches. They had named this event “Bringing Balance to Spiritual Warfare.” The worship band was amazing, though at one point the praise was so loud it could have peeled the paint off the walls!
 
The host pastor introduced me with “a Pentecostal flair.” I trotted up the steps of the stage, dropped my Bible on the pulpit, and yelled, “HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE THE POWER TO BIND SATAN TONIGHT, IN THE NAME OF JESUS?”
 
It seemed the entire place jumped to its feet; people were throwing both hands in the air, and many were dancing in place as they cheered and screamed, “I can! I can!” The guitar did a riff, the drums did a roll, and the sax played a run. It was holy bedlam for a moment or so.
 
“Please be seated,” I urged them quietly. Eventually they settled down.
 
Then I leaned across the pulpit and calmly asked, “Would one of you please do that? Would one of you please bind the devil right now and put an end to child abuse, abortion, murder, war, sickness, disease, and crime? Anyone? I know all of you can do it. Now I’m asking you to do it.”
 
I waited. No one moved an inch. Hardly anyone breathed.
 
I continued, “If you can bind Satan, but won’t do it, then you become his accomplice. Will someone please bind him?”
 
After an uncomfortable few seconds I said, “We have a slogan in Texas for folks like you. We’d say, ‘It’s time you either to put up, or…’” And of course they all finished the sentence for me.
 
All of our bravado is useless unless it’s backed up with a basis in fact. And the fact is, you and I cannot bind the devil unless God instructs, equips, and anoints us to do so. We see this actually happen in Revelation 20.
 
I saw an Angel descending out of Heaven. He carried the key to the Abyss and a chain—a huge chain. He grabbed the Dragon, that old Snake—the very Devil, Satan himself!—chained him up for a thousand years, dumped him into the Abyss, slammed it shut and sealed it tight. No more
trouble out of him, deceiving the nations—until the thousand years are up. After that he has to be let loose briefly. (vv. 1–3).
 
On Earth as in Heaven
 
Dr. C. Peter Wagner points out that God is synchronizing earth with heaven. We’re all familiar with the phrase from the model prayer Jesus taught His disciples, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In this one sentence we learn an important key. Our assignment as heaven’s ambassadors is about seeing the earth transformed as the kingdom of God displaces the kingdom of darkness. As Christ showed, one way this transaction occurs is through prayer. We are to ask God, perhaps daily, that His kingdom displace Satan’s rule on the earth.
 
Another way this synchronization occurs is through what spiritual warriors refer to as “binding and loosing.” Wagner writes in his book, Confronting the Powers, page 155:
 
“Our New King James translation [of Matthew 18:18], “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,” fails to convey an extremely significant nuance of the original Greek. The more literal translation would be: ‘Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven and whatever you loose will have been loosed in heaven.” This means that an essential synchronization exists between the activities on earth and activities in heaven. And it establishes the crucial sequence of: heaven first, then earth.”
 
In my travels across America and around the world, I spend a great deal of time with God’s praying people. Many intercessors feel that spiritual warfare prayer is their primary calling. However, while they understand the necessity and the practice of binding and loosing, some haven’t known about this process of synchronization. Although the intercessors’ intentions have been good, their results often have been less than satisfactory. Unfortunately, they’ve assumed that if they bind things on earth, God will then bind them in heaven.
 
If that were the case, we’d be giving God orders and instructing Him. As Wagner points out, the crucial sequence is heaven first, then earth. We can only bind here what has already been bound in heaven.
 
Christ has already defeated Satan. We simply enforce what He has accomplished. In fact, all of our prayers are based on His finished work at Calvary.
How can we know what’s been bound in heaven? As they say, "it's in the book."

THE CHOSEN VESSEL

The Chosen Vessel
Unknown

The Master was searching for a vessel to use.
Before Him were many, Which one would He choose?
"Take me," cried the gold one, "I’m shiny and bright.
I am of great value and I do things just right.

My beauty and luster will outshine the rest,
And for someone like you, Master, gold would be best."
The Master passed on, with no word at all,
And looked at a silver urn, narrow and tall.

"I’ll serve you dear Master, I’ll pour out your wine.
I’ll be on your table, whenever you dine.
My lines are so graceful, my carvings so true,
My silver will certainly compliment you."

Unheeding,He came to the vessel of brass,
Wide-mouthed and shallow and polished like glass.
"Here, here," cried the vessel, "I know I will do.
Place me on your table for all men to view."

The Master came next to the vessel of wood,
Polished and carved, it solidly stood.
"You may use me, dear Master," the wooden bowl said,
"But I’d rather you used me for fruit, not for bread."

Then the Master looked down on a vessel of clay,
Empty and broken, it helplessly lay.
No hope had the vessel that the Master might choose
to cleanse and make whole, to fill and to use.

"Oh, this is the vessel I’ve been hoping to find.
I’ll mend it and use it and make it all mine.
I need not the vessel with the pride of itself,
Nor one that is narrow, to sit on the shelf.

Nor one that is big-mouthed and shallow and loud,
Nor one that displays its contents so proud."
Then gently He lifted the vessel of clay,
Mended and cleansed and filled it that day.

He spoke to it kindly, "There’s work you must do.
Just pour out to others what I pour in you."

CARROTS, EGGS AND COFFEE

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee
Alice Smith 
  
A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
  
A young woman went to her mother and told her about
her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
  
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
  
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."
  
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
  
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg.  Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
  
Her mother explained that each of these objects had
faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.
 
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
 
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
 
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
  
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
                   
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
 
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
  
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and
hardened heart?
  
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When
the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level?
                   
How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
  
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.
  
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. Most importantly, know that you cannot change people, but you can change the way you handle adversity...which just might encourage others to strive for change.
 
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one 
who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
  
You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you; to those who have touched your life in one way or an other; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose
friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.
 
                     May we all be COFFEE!!!
 Author Unknown

AN INTERVIEW WITH ALICE SMITH

An Interview With Alice
 
Interviewer:  Alice, your first hard cover book is about to be released, the title of which is, Spiritual Intimacy with God: Moving Joyfully into the Deeper Life. That title is intriguing. What do you mean by the term "spiritual intimacy"?
 
Alice:  Spiritual Intimacy is a heart-to-heart, spirit-to-spirit relationship with Jesus. This has nothing to do with anything sensual or sexual. At salvation, Jesus came into our heart, and at once we became his spiritual partners. He longs for us to know him at a deeper level than just as an acquaintance.
     The way of the bride and the bridegroom is analogous to our intimate journey with the Lord Jesus. At salvation, we are wed to him. We say yes to the commitment, but we don’t really know what to expect.
     As we spend time together his love changes us. We become more open and loving toward those around us. We become more like him. And as we realize that nothing can separate us from his love, trust is learned and relearned in the privacy of our hearts.
     Loss can’t separate us, ruin can’t, storms can’t, betrayal can’t—even death can’t. That love becomes a firm foundation that we can always count on. Knowing that we can always fall back on God’s love gives us the freedom and courage to take risks and do whatever he tells us to do. A love that cannot be taken from us is a love that will eventually foster enough trust to change us.
     When God refers to us as the bride—and men he’s talking to you too—he means that he is married to the idea of remaking you and me into everything we are capable of being. Saying, “I do” to him is saying that you will let him love you into change—and eventually you will be so transformed that others do not recognize the former you.
 
Interviewer:  Tell me a little about how you developed a close relationship with Jesus? How long have you been living in an intimate fellowship with Christ?
           
Alice:  I was 15-years old when my life was completely transformed by Christ. Immediately, I longed for a personal friendship with him. So each day after school I would spend 5-10 minutes just sitting in his presence. I learned some important steps that helped our friendship grow. This is how it started.
     Now after 43 years, my relationship with Jesus is so much deeper, and my life message is spiritual intimacy with God. Each Christian can experience a depth of knowing him that they never dreamed possible.
 
Interviewer:  Why do you find that so many Christians struggle with understanding or experiencing this kind of relationship?
 
Alice:  Christians struggle with intimacy because of many reasons, of which several might be a wrong association of God to an earthly father or male figure. Or religious teaching that insisted that God is distant and uninvolved in their lives. Fear of God in a way of punishment. I write about many others in the book. 
 
Interviewer:  In your new book Spiritual Intimacy, you talk about four seasons of our Christian life that we all will experience. Can you tell us more about this?
 
Alice:  We will walk through “Seasons of Disclosure”, where the Lord is revealing prophetic promises, future benefits, and it’s the springtime of your Christian life.
     Then just as we enjoy this season, it will change to “Seasons of Passion.” This is a season where the summer of answered prayers, open doors, influence and favor surround us. We are ready to take on the devil, until we find that “the devil in the mirror” is our own independent spirit. Part of our independence comes from seeing the power of our spiritual gifts at work and the favor of God resting on us. The temptation is to transfer our reliance from the Lord of the work to the work of the Lord. When that happens, humility is insidiously replaced by pride.
     Next are the “Seasons of Stripping” and none of us like this season in life. Still experiencing success, we don’t want to change our stride. We’ve finally acquired some confidence, some wisdom, and some maturity. The works planted in spring are now robust and ready to be harvested, but we forget that harvesting means stripping the vines until they are bowed and barren.
     Most of us enter times of stripping, satisfied from the past harvests our works have produced. Suddenly, a distinct shift occurs in our ability to make things jive. Sifting through the rubble of our works to find another task to complete for God, results in disappointment. We struggle to find satisfaction in past accomplishments and who we once were, but the way is not there.
     The last is “Seasons of Cave Dwelling.” Winter kills! Surface things, selfish things, must die; only the root endures. Life goes underground. Even the animals go into hiding. The sounds of silence pierce the atmosphere with cruel isolation. Living waters turn to icy lakes. Everything is damned up: halted. Winter is heart surgery without anesthesia. This is the “where are you God” time in our Christian walk. But these seasons are a glorious part of learning God’s ways.
 
Interviewer:  In your book, you write about intimacy killers. What are some?
 
Alice:  There can be many intimacy killers. In my book, Spiritual Intimacy, I talk about how performance (trying to measure up), unforgiveness, prayerlessness, and self-hatred are a few of the killers of a close relationship with Jesus Christ. There are many others I write about too.
 
Interviewer:  In Spiritual Intimacy, you suggest that prayer and intimacy go hand in hand. What is your reason for saying this?
     You can’t love someone you hardly know. I love my husband, Eddie, and I spend time with him. I know what he likes to drink and eat. What his hobbies are, and what brings him joy. The reason I know is because I spend time with him. Often Christians want an intimate relationship with Jesus, but they aren’t willing to spend time in prayer to know and learn what is on his heart.
     You know the old adage: “I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off.” Well, it’s true! When a chicken’s head is chopped off, it will race frantically about for a while, but eventually it will simply collapse. Frankly, nothing could more accurately describe the prayerless Christian. We were born to stay connected to the Lord through prayer, and without his headship, our frantic efforts to look effective will drop lifelessly to the ground.           
 
Interviewer:  Alice, you discuss the many rewards of spiritual intimacy. Can you give us some?
           
Alice:  Favor is one reward. We referred to them as the “teacher’s pet.” The teacher appeared to like those students more than the others and would give them extra privileges and attention. In the same way, even though God loves all of us, the Lord’s intimates have so earned his trust that they receive extra privileges and attention too.
     When you are experiencing God’s favor, you are singled out for a blessing because you have been close and dependable in his sight. People with God’s favor carry his influence and become magnets for attracting others to help them accomplish God’s purposes and plans.
     Wisdom is another reward. It’s easy to identify wisdom in an intimate’s life. It shows up in an ability to understand the things of God. It is also evidenced in right responses and accurate answers.
     Of course, one of the most amazing rewards for being an intimate is the anointing, which is the presence of God flowing through you with his power, strength, wisdom, counsel, or anything else you need. The anointing has been described as God putting his super on your natural, and then letting him move supernaturally through you.
 
Interviewer:  If you would, share with us the essence of your book. What would your closing statements be?
           
Alice:  Jesus longs to have an intimate relationship with his bride. It was God’s idea to call us this intimate term—his bride. It’s all about family. We are the bride of Christ, Jesus is our bridegroom. God is our father, and we are part of the family of God. Scriptures says we are the children of God, and even sons of God. It’s true that God doesn’t have favorites, but he does have intimates. And Jesus wants us to