Rev. 4:8,11

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.”  (Rev. 4:8,11)

Do not seek to usurp My power and My authority over you, but know that by humble obedience, and gracious respect for My power and authority, you shall exchange the cross for the crown. In the wakeful hours last night the words of “The Old Rugged Cross” came to you over and over. I spoke to you in these words. Learn to love the crosses in your life because you recognize them as My works to perfect you as My image. They are the means of your growing into maturity, forming your character, your thoughts, your words, and your deeds as accurate reflections of My character, My thoughts, My words, My deeds. This knowledge and this acceptance of My intended will for you is the living of your life in the world simultaneously as you live your life in the kingdom. As a prisoner can serve “concurrent” sentences, so you can serve concurrent lives; you actually live in two dimensions in the same time span.

 As an indoor swimming pool may have water flowing into a connected outdoor pool, so I remove the barrier of sin that would separate the interchange. You were created to span the inside and outside: the spiritual and the physical. If sin divides the two, then the physical is confined, retaining all of the debris that lights on its surface as it is the “outside” part of the water. But if through prayer and obedience you seek Me to remove that sin barrier, then the pure, protected spirit-water rushes in, tossing the debris over the edge of the pool, removing it from the whole body of water. Neither pool should be isolated, but always they should be interconnected that both areas may be refreshing to all who come in contact with the water.

This analogy is not perfectly clear to you at this point, but trust that your searching for the truth of all of life, both spiritual and physical, shall result in greater understanding which in turn is the tool that transforms the shape of the cross into the shape of a crown.