AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE FATHER'S HEART

​Dear Friends, 

In a series of encounters over the past few months, Father God has taken me repeatedly into His heart, speaking of His desire for wholeness and healing in the Body of Christ. There has been a sustained emphasis on healing and restoration. For many this process is ongoing.  
​
This morning as I encountered the Father’s heart again, I saw His intense desire for union and communion with His children.

In a vision, I saw Father open the “door” of His heart wide to His children. Like a Father receiving a prodigal, He is ever ready to embrace those who want to return to Him! 

Those who return “home” to God's heart this way find hope and healing for their brokenness as a loving Father showers them with cleansing words of love and forgiveness. 

Yet the Lord also showed me His deeper desire to take the hearts of willing children FULLY into His own heart in a place of perfect union and communion with Him. This was not just for the purpose of healing or strengthening; this was a picture of the ‘hidden life” available to those who press in for more of Him:

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Colossians 3:2-4 NASB

The place of hidden union in the Father’s heart is a place of powerful energy and pervasive peace. It is God’s greatest will for you to know this kind of heart-union and complete understanding in the Spirit! It’s a place where awareness of His omniscience and omnipotence set all fears at rest, allowing His children to breathe deeply and freely again: 

“...when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:16-17 ESV

This place of absolute acceptance and freedom in His heart is open and available to you because of God’s own blood, shed on the cross.  

I saw the Father pouring love into His children’s hearts, and it looked like liquid love; the DNA of His own life filling every heart as His blood coursed through these willing vessels!

The children who found their way back to the Father’s heart did not want to leave! His love was so strong, His peace so pervasive, that their souls began crying out to abide in Him permanently; to “settle” in His love:

“A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. 

"…You shed abroad a plentiful rain, O God; You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched. Your creatures settled in it; You provided in Your goodness for the poor, O God.”
Psalm 68:5-6, 9-10 NASB

In Psalm 68 we see refreshing rains “shed abroad” (literally, “sprinkled”) over God’s children to confirm and settle them in His goodness. It points to the cleansing and sprinkling of the sacrificial blood on the altar of repentance. 

In Romans 5, love also is said to be “shed abroad” within His children’s hearts, a picture of even deeper communion and oneness with the blood of Christ abiding internally: 

“…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Romans 5;5, KJV

This “infusion” of God’s heart and His blood within the hearts of His children was meant to remain as they continued their walk with Him on earth. The truth and experience of this infilling was not temporary, but permanent so that there would be no separation from that place of perfect union!

“For the LORD will not abandon His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.”
Psalm 94:14 NASB

As I meditated on this vision I cried out to the Lord for the ones who did not know or felt alienated from the incredible love and peace available to them in His heart.
 
I saw what appeared to be a hole in the Father’s heart: a puzzle-piece shaped hole that was uniquely shaped, representing the life of each child who felt far away from that place of unity. 

I saw that there was a “direct line” in the Spirit connecting God's heart to theirs through this ‘hole,’ and I heard the Lord say that these more distant children were connected to Him ‘by words.’  

I next heard the Lord speaking, and these were His words:
 
“There is a living connection between My heart - the heart of a Father - and yours. Your spirit can still clearly hear My call to ‘come home’ and settle in My heart! 

"The choice to respond will always rest with you, but I want you to know there is no separation between Me and My children in the spirit realm! You are free to come and go with My blessing. Come up higher! Abide in Me! 

"Let your spirit soar into the hidden places of My heart that have been reserved only for you! I long to gather you in My arms again to restore the essence of who you are - your true identity in Me. You will not find this kind of life anywhere else, Dear Child. Come to Me!” 


Finally, I sensed the Lord's heart for those who feel constricted by present life circumstances. I saw that there are some who feel they have been led into an even narrower place of confinement than they ever imagined possible. I had a vision of this, as if they'd reached the inner recesses of a cave. 

I saw these children of God pushing up against the walls and ceilings of this cave, where there was nothing but a small fire and a trickle of water within.

The Lord had not left them without light, warmth, and water, but they were wondering: "How do I get out of this, Lord? Why have you brought me here?"  They were feeling alone and confused;  feelings of panic and claustrophobia were overtaking them.

In answer, the Lord reminded me of David and his men, who were at one time trapped in the "inner recesses" of a cave. King Saul, David's enemy, entered the mouth of the cave David was hiding in, to relieve himself. (See 1 Samuel 24:3.)

The Lord then brought me to David's cry in Psalm 4:1: "Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me and hear my prayer." 

The word "relieved" in Hebrew is "rachab," which literally means "to broaden." The word "distress" here is "tsar tsar," which means "narrow" or "tight." 

I heard the Lord say that the solution to this narrow confinement is expansion. As these children began to push against the walls of the "cave" (the heart) by faith, expansion would come and there would be room to spread out and breathe!

God's desire is not to confine you but to bring you to an even greater measure of freedom and expansion as you trust in Him and overcome! 

David's remedy in Psalm 4 is to "tremble and do not sin;" he continues to walk in the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord, meditating on God's goodness in his heart. As he does so, God expands his heart into that place of utter peace until he can say:

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety!" (Psalm 4:8)

This week marks the beginning of the Hebrew month of Tammuz. Tammuz is represented by the 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, "chet," which resembles an open door.

God will always provide the way of escape for those who fear Him in those narrow places of confinement. Yet the "open door" is most often internal, within your heart.

When there seems to be no way of escape, open the door of your heart to Him and allow Holy Spirit to flood your dark caves and caverns with fresh air and living water! It is life-giving communion with the Father of your spirit that empowers you to push through and overcome once again! 

God is extending an open invitation to renewed relationship with you during this time! He's ready to receive you when you reach for Him. May you find that place of union and experience freedom in the great expanse of His heart! 

Deborah