You all know how very quiet it has been. Here we are separated by the will of God into this walk of following our Lord Jesus outside the camp and bearing the reproach of many. There was for a time much activity among us and many were communicating with each other and our spirits were kept high in expectation even though we felt isolated. Then everything began to get quiet like some strange thing. People began to get quiet and the work load that many were under made the day even shorter than usual and it was hard to get things done. Communication slowed up and we found our selves loaded down with the burden of just keeping our heads above water. Many of us were wondering why the Lord was so quiet and as for me the Lord stopped writing through me and I was wondering if I made the Lord angry about something and my body seems to be falling apart and the Lord is QUIET. Doesn't He know I'm dying here for even the quietness itself is killing me!

There is a story the Lord wants you to think about. It is something that happened when Jesus was still on the earth and He was in a boat with His people and just before that He told them who were following Him to get in the boat and said "LET US CROSS OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE."

Dearly beloved, I am writing to you that know the scriptures and you have been doing the very best you know to follow Jesus where ever He leads you and I know you all want to obey Him in everything pertaining to this walk our Father has called us to do. But there are times the Lord is going to be quiet and He is expecting us to carry on in this way of crossing over to the other side. It is a part of our training to hold fast and not be moved. Let us not be among those who want to jump ship.

You all know the story how Jesus went to sleep and from Him, for the moment, it went quiet. As for the people, they were working there heads off to make some sort of progress; and we are being swamped and we feel like we are dying way out here in the middle of nowhere. They wake Jesus up and the silence is broken with rebuke, "WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?"

I am guilty myself of doing this very thing and it is not that the Lord was not with us He was just quiet for what I thought was too long. We all have to learn and there is not a one among us who will not suffer one thing or another and feel the enemy trying to swamp us either through a person we love or a person that is a complete stranger; perhaps our health or how about just plain circumstances we find ourselves in.

The time is coming when our faith and patience is what will preserve our souls. I now know that our Lord does these things on purpose to prepare us for what is ahead. We need to remind ourselves of the promises of God that are given to us who believe, least we should let them slip or come short of them.

I am so reminded of the book called HINDS FEET ON HIGH PLACES by Hannah Hurnard. It's about an invitation from the Lord to go with Him to the high places. It's a story about a person called MUCH-AFRAID escaping from her fearing relatives and her walk with the chief shepherd. There was a great deal she went through on her way to the high places and so it is with us also. We need to remind ourselves and each other; though we are counted on to suffer in this world as we follow our Lord with our cross ... we will get there if we don't faint in the way; for the promises of God are a sure thing. Let us continually pray for each other for we are of the same body and if one is crying; we will cry too or laugh and rejoice we with you. This is a sure thing that if the Lord said "LETS CROSS OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE," you had better believe He is able to get us there. That boat would not have sunk even though it would be full of water. I believe that boat would have stayed afloat in the same way the boat of Noah stayed afloat.

Let us stir up the faith that the Lord desires for us to have and the living hope that is before us to enter into that perfect rest. There is a rest for us and the Lord desires for us to press on and enter into it. We need to believe in the Word of God and not be in disbelief nor be ignorant of this knowledge, because of this were we taken away from our leaders who lost this light; for the candle light has gone out and they are not even aware of it. The soul is the candle of the Lord and He has by Himself put a fire on our candle that we may see where we are going. They do not seek to enter through this door and they will try to keep you form it if they can get you to follow them. They have no knowledge of this hope. There are those who only wish to get to heaven some day and then there are those who see a hope that pertains to us still living here on this side. The living hope that is before us to enter in is the door of rest. The Lord doesn't want you to think that the only way you can enter into rest is to die and go to be with the Lord in heaven. This door is for you now as He calls you out to be with Him in High Places which is a high calling of God and a refuge indeed.

This door is that same door that was shown to the church of Philadelphia. This church was a born again, Spirit filled church and had been established for a long time before the Lord showed them this door. A place of rest in the Lord which is able to keep us from the temptations that is to try the whole world. I pray we will all keep this living hope alive and to encourage each other so much the more as we see that day approaching.