Response from Ruth after hearing about all the cases of birdcage bondage.
Ruth wrote: "Here are my added thoughts to what we talked about yesterday...how to get out of your birdcage bondage. YOU must first find the opening of the door."
My response: "Sometimes I want others to open the door for me, but it is up to me. Quit blaming others for your birdcage bondage, Billie"
She wrote: "Knock on that door, cry out in prayer. Keep on until the Lord hears you based on your faith in knowing he has heard you. "
My response: "As I understand this, it is not a panic attack but a prayer attack you are talking about. My peace from all those panic attacks comes from knowing the one who loves me and knows what is best for me."
She wrote: ” He may decide you are not quite ready to come out. So, you may have to learn to sing and be happy where you are."
My response: "Okay now I'm getting it. I turn from Birdcage Panic to Birdcage Praying to Birdcage Praise. One great old hymn comes to mind immediately..."All that thrills my soul is Jesus."
She wrote: ” If you are afraid of the unknown and do not cry out in earnest, It may take a lot longer to get His attention."
My response: "Did I ever get that backwards. I must confess all my fuss was to get other's attention and not my Lord's attention. One thing I know about my unknown journeys is he has always gone with me down those roads when I whisper in his ear, 'I need you, Lord.' "
She ended her email: "This may not be verbatim, but maybe close to what I was saying today. What do your think about these thoughts? Let me know. Ruth."
My response: "Not only was it close but I think it is very close to discerning the mind of God over this. Thank you for reminding me he did not make those birdcages. He made birds to be free. One final question, Ruth...will God get in those dark birdcage with us? What do you think?
Moving your Birdcage Mindset from “You got to be Kidding” to “Now I got It.”
There is a scripture in John 8:28 that reads, “As my Father taught me, I speak these things.” This and this alone, is my purpose for writing and speaking and teaching.
I share with you what he has taught and shared with me personally through his Word and the Holy Spirit. Other sources have been the classic writers of long ago: Oswald Chambers, Andrew Murray, C.S. Lewis, E. M. Bonds, S.D. Gordon, etc. I give them credit up front for being used by God to enrich my mind, enlarge my heart, and encourage me to move with him to higher ground.
Also, through the years, he has taught me never to make a principle out of my own experiences, but let him be as original with others as he is with me. So, how do we move from you got to be kidding to now I got it? There are three steps we have to take. I have taken them for years and years
. Do you remember those childhood races of long ago? I do. Drive down to Laurel, MS with me. Let’s find First Ave. Now we have to look for 1924 First Ave. That’s where my races took place. On a hot summer day you would find me, (Billie Jean) Paul JR., Ouida, Bo, and Mamie Rea, all barefooted and lined up for the race.
One of us would be It and call out: ON YOUR MARK!…GET SET!…GO! We took off, never feeling the stickers hidden in our front yard-racing track. We took off with energy and the joy of the race. Strange, but I do not remember who was the fastest runner. It wasn’t important to us. We simply ran for the fun of it.
Today with that same energy and joy I want us to move, to race from “You got to be Kidding, Lord” to “Now I got it, Father.” I realize, if I am speaking to you, I probably have less than 30 minutes to share with you a lifetime of learning from being in His presence. May we pray? “Father, I am here to tell your story. I am not the author but simply your errand person. Help me not to mess up your story. Amen..So be it.”
Free from Birdcage Bondage
How to Move from “You got to be kidding!” to “Now I got it!”
First Step…On your mark…Spend time in the Word plundering and scratching around in God’smind and heart. This is also your figuring it out time and stretching time. In Ephesians 3:9 we are told, “Figure out what will please God, and then do it.” Be sure this is a time when you just enjoy your God. He will enjoy you back. One hour before God is worth more than a whole lifetime of listening to sermons and reading what other folks think or think they know about Him. In this quiet pondering time, never will you see posted at the bottom of the screen, No New Message or Junk Mail.
This time is also when you come to realize God made birds and not birdcages. We created the cramped birdcages. At times we are like that bird in a cage, standing on one leg chirping, chirping, chirping. (Now that’s one sure way to annoy folks around us.) We stand there waiting for someone to feed us, water us, fix us, and clean up after us. A dear friend emailed me, “I’m ‘fixin’ to go ponder how to get out of this birdcage.” Let’s join her today as she experiences her new freedom from birdcage bondage.
Second Step…Get set…This is the step allowing the Word of God to walk out of the Bible and talk to you. The Spirit of God has the habit of taking the words of Jesus out of their scriptural setting and putting them into the setting or circumstances of our lives. The validation of this comes from John15: 7, “My words abide in you.” But if you don’t read it you can’t heed it. It is good to know as we read his word, we must hear him say to us, “Just trust Me, I’ll open the door of your birdcage for you. It’s up to you to burn the birdcage. The ashes will be a reminder of your total burning of the boats to escape, or the bridges to cross back over into the safety of your bondage. Then you offer these ashes as a sacrifice of praise to me for who you now are in Christ Jesus.”
Again my email friend wrote, “Okay, this is how I see it… through our ‘pondering experiences’ we have a clear message from His Word by the Holy Spirit. As we listen to His word walking out of the Bible, we can use them to walk through the doors of our birdcages.”
Third Step…Go! Did I hear you mutter, “But I’d rather stay in my safe cage? Here I won’t be afraid, or discouraged, or disappointed, or unsure about what will happen next. I am comfortable with the darkness of this birdcage.” This dark mindset is where I found my first you got to be kidding. He gave me eight and I share them with you as he gave them to me. They are:
