Whisk

Whisk me up to the place I belong

for fresh oil, gold, and the new song.

Save my seat right next to you -

so I can burn with flame so true.

Set me apart from lesser distractions

so I'll engage th' sweet interaction.

For this cause I was formed and made -

my heart's aflame for presence delayed.

My hearts' desires you have set,

filtering purer the closer I get.

Align the thoughts of You and I

to love and know you more, that's why.

Cherished encounters don't have to end.

"Take me with", You say, "We're friends!"

---Tony Mujica © 2011

Eve Bit

Eve bit.

She chewed the intoxicating fruit. Her radiant smile beamed for a brief moment, but something was very different. I watched with sinking heart, as I saw her fiery beauty begin to fade.




Her smile was now gone. Her eyes filled up with liquid, which rolled down her cheeks. Her darkened face flushed red. I saw my love's brow wrinkling in a most peculiar way. She expressed emotion that I didn't know existed. Regret made its way into her. Abba, my father, made her from me when I was asleep. He did his finest work, when he made her. His uncreated Son assisted Him. What beautiful curves they gave her! When I first saw her my heart pounded so loudly, I thought all the animals heard it.

"You're my beautiful one!” I spoke. Just then, I 
heard that hissing serpent laugh.

I had to respond. "You're always the most beautiful in all of creation."

Now the serpent fell off his stump, to the floor with creepier laughing hiss.

"Ishy!", she moaned.

Her eyes locked into mine. Her hand extended the passioned fruit to me. I realized she had fallen to some low depth. I was at Eternity's crossing point. 

Thoughts and pictures flashed through my mind. If I pass on the fruit, I knew she would die alone with no route back to Father God. If I eat, I'll die with her. I just couldn't bear to lose her.

"Ishy, please!” she cried.

Images came to my head. Little ones that looked just like us ran to and fro. They grew in stature, and behind them, more little ones came. and they grew in stature. This continued in my mind's eye, over and over, til there were many people.

But in the distance, I saw someone who bore close a resemblance to me. He leaned on a tree. He reminded me of Abba's Son, who often walked with me in the garden.

I looked at His eyes, and then I knew.

I grabbed hold of a redeeming thought:

I am first Adam. The man in the distance is another Adam to come. I had my bride to rescue. The other Adam's eyes told me He had a bride of his own to save.

"She's lonely. Why don't you join her?", serpent said. "What are you waiting for?"

I took the fruit from her hand and brought it towards my mouth.

"No, Ishy, don't!” She interjected, suddenly realizing what would happen to me.

"There'll be a way through this, my love".

I bit.

--- Tony Mujica © 2011

By A Thread

By A Thread

Sometimes I feel like I'm holding on by strings. But when life becomes so difficult, complicated and dense, my God comes through. He reminds me that the strands that I cling to are made up of God material. They won't snap. He also tells me that He has trained me to not let go. He shows me my hands which He has transformed into channel lock pliers.  Then I remember the training: grab hold of heaven and take it violently, just like in the gospels. I start to gain confidence. Like a circus performer gracing the ropes high above rings of activity, I hold onto the strings with fresh perspective.

"Receive tenacity, grit, and endurance...", He whispers over me as I tremble on the insides. I continue gripping the thin threads.

He releases a sprinkle of trust dust over me. As it settles upon me, I sense a wave of intense light, more like a crackling flame passing through me. I find it easier to engage His trust.

"Be cleansed and trust in me. Let faith arise and run its' course through you."

My posture begins to straighten. My two postures begin to straighten, both heart and body. As the physical contour unfurls, I breathe in a purer air flow. The oxygen wakes up my brain into clearer thinking.

My heart dips to prostrate flatness, which allows the cable of my spirit (which is connected to my heart) to become taut. The cable tightens, as if to make a demand on heaven by tugging the cord of abiding. My spirit’s link changes color from warm glow to red hot intensity.  I am now more aware of my spirit connection to His vine. I once again realize my abiding in Him. I sigh in relief.

(My spirit is always connected to Him, but externals always try to cloud my understanding. External forces tend to be futilitarian in nature. But once that spirit cord gets awakened and linked into the Holy Sap, it becomes next to impossible to pull the plug. I so need to remember this!)

My Soul magnifies the joy already felt by Body and Spirit. Soul is sometimes slow to the punchline, as is Body. But Spirit is always sharp to pick up on things. He'll even lift up his two lethargic mates, by whatever means necessary, sometimes even slapping them to burst them out of stupor.

With the three mates in agreement, I become flushed into a worship rush. I am no longer bound by my externals. Now I must express.

I twirl and move about, around the thread that I formerly feared. Holy Spirit pulls me higher by the thread, almost into the clouds. I dodge and weave around air currents, in spite of a distant, forgotten fear of heights. I continue on like a veteran performer. Below, people start to notice the odd dancing curiosity in the sky.

From the crowd, you can hear,"Look, up in the clouds, it's a bird, its a pla...a big guy floating in the air?

Maybe so, but really it's just another disciple of Jesus soaring in fresh encouragement into NORMAL CHRISTIANITY, as it should be.

Tony Mujica © 2011

The Interplay Of Higher And Lower Realities

Those of you who deal with chronic illness may relate to this. I am in an unusual place. I know that I am healed and yet there are symptoms that don't just leave. "The Problem Of Pain" is something that I am dealing with. C.S. Lewis wrote a book by the same name.


I look at scripture that tells me to call out the things that are not as though they are. I cannot go to the pitfall of calling things that are as though they are not. That would be denial.


It is possible to have two realities going on at the same time. On one hand, I am healed (the truth). Praise God for His goodness. But on the other hand, I am hurting (the facts). Praise God, His grace is sufficient for me. Acknowledging Pain does not cancel Faith.


I think Joe Friday from Dragnet had it wrong.

"Just give the Truth, Lord, just the truth." 

I have found that God loves me so much, that He gives me a special measure of grace to endure. Grace is like grease. It helps you squeeze through, when you find yourself in front of the impossible impassible.


I have noticed that a simple pattern, not a formula, but a pattern. Whenever I find myself in physical, emotional, or mental duress, My Lord, who loves every bit of me, whisks me away in encounter.


I now expect a God encounter when things go rough. I believe a ratio exists in the spiritual realm. The degree that the devil attacks you in your life is in ratio to the degree that God is about to pour blessing over you. I don't know why. Someone might say that's bad theology, but that's what I observe.


If you are in the throws of Chronic Illness, I pray that God himself would be your comforter. Jehovah Rapha, please make yourself known to all who read this.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

My Lower Reality tells me that my hands, my feet, and my knees are growling in pain. My ankles, hips, lower and middle back, neck and jaw all scream in agreement. To add to this low, dark choir — my eyes, throat, chest, and abdomen break out in similar cacophony.

Then in unison they cry out,

"When oh when, will you come visit us, Jehovah Rapha?"

If I stay at this plane and do not ascend quickly, Low Reality will attempt to descend further. From behind a long fiery hedge,  Diabetes might jump up, waving his hands in an attempt to gain attention.


He'll try to convince my members (the parts of my body),

"I am the one in charge around this place. What's all this squealing to Rapha? If this continues, I just might call my friend Art. You remember,. . . Arthritis?

With puffed up pride, he continues,

"I'll find a way to get him through the burning hedge. Rapha may have had him cast out from your midst, but the game ain't over yet. Remember what I told you years ago, before you knew who I was? Your hands and feet are mine! I'll see to it that they are hacked right off."

I had had enough. I responded with limited dialogue,

"Hear this again! You're the only one who'll be disarmed and defeated. Go away. I'm calling down a sprinkling of Holy Lamb's blood!"

And pop, like a pin-pierced balloon, he exited.

Upon my direction, the members decided to change posture. Led by Hands, who raised in familiar gesture, and Neck, who tilted Head toward the Heavens, the Membership gathered to seek out Heart's cry.

Higher Reality noticed us from above. High started to descend.

Warm amber fog began to fill my cave. I breathed in the cinnamon goodness, and eight other mountain spices made their way into my upper room.

(The reality of my room changed from cave to upper room.)

As I savored the fragrances from the Lord's hill, my senses yawned out of their lull. The Membership all embraced the strengthening.

Faithful to our friendship, Higher Reality had now fully intersected into my world. Lower Reality bowed on the floor in compliance. deep down, he really knew who was boss.

High instructed me,

"Reach out and grab my hand. Come up, because the King would like to talk to you."

I did as he asked, although my Heart began to race within, prompted by the last few words that High uttered. Heart wanted to run on ahead, but knew that that would be out of order, since he was stuck in my body.

(Hearts tend to get this way around the King of Glory. I know of two guys who were on their way to a place called Emmaus. On the way, they met the King, although they didn't recognize Him. He explained some things to them. Afterwards, their Hearts burned with passion. Hearts can be so emotional.)

When I entered High's world, I was startled by a blinding light to my right. It was an escort. Even though I reacted with stunned eyes, I had the sense that he toned down so I wouldn't freak out.

(Angels are a curious breed. The Ancient of Days, His kingly son, and Ruach, together, fashioned them like polished mirrors. They reflect the glory of the Godhead. The closest ones are the brightest ones. I shudder to think about what might happen if I found myself before the Ancient of Days.)

My escort directed me on path to the King's courtyard. He sensed the fear rising within me. Heart now had second thoughts as his anticipation turned into panic. The escort smiled and spoke words designed to comfort me.

"You know, we angels look at the great enigma built into man. We watch over you in amazement."

The wrinkled folds of puzzlement appeared on my forehead.


I responded with a simple "duh" expression.

"What?"

My host friend continued,

"We live in the presence of the Godhead. We pray and praise, sing and dance, worship and work right in the midst of the High King, the uncreated God who became a man. But you are of a different order. The great enigma is this — your eyes are dulled so you can't see this existence from the other side, as are all of your other senses. And yet, you and the others befriended by the King, praise Him as if He were right in front of you."

Heart and I finally began to relax.

(To be continued)

Sound Vignettes

Recently, after sound toots on my trumpet, I had another "whisk away" experience (not a whiskey experience. I mean, let's just set the record straight!). Before I get to that, let me talk about the sound toots. These sound toots are little vignettes, descriptions of short songs that I hear Ruach singing to me. I have gotten out of the habit of "practicing" my trumpet. Time is too short. I warm up, and I play every day, but I don't "practice", in the normal sense of the word because I am always in worship. This really is just a paradigm shift. I have adopted this in everything I do. I look at every endeavor as opportunity to engage God. But when I bring the horn to my lips, my worship escalates. No noodling or dilly-dallying, just simple, pure worship.


(I was trained in something very similar in the professional music world. When I would arrive on the set to play a gig, I learned to not play a note until the gig started with the first downbeat of the night. The idea here was that warming up or "noodling" on my instrument was a distraction to the atmosphere. It was considered very unprofessional. This helped to develop me into a leaner approach, whenever I played, it was as if I was being recorded for posterity's sake. No practicing on the job, I was in performance mode. For the sake of this discussion this helped me understand that as I worship unto Jesus, it was as if I were directly serenading Him. I was playing to an audience of one. I wanted to pour out only my best, all the time, under all circumstances. He deserved my best. This consistency approach changed my mindset.)


This is a route towards "practicing or pulling the presence of God". When you worship continuously this way, you are making a series of demands, a constant flow, on the abiding vine. God loves these gentle tugs. This can be applied whether you lift up the brush, dip pen in inkwell, hopscotch a sidewalk, or wash the dishes.


If one desires to walk in the spirit, they must pull on the presence. When you are on the road to practicing the presence, it may seem like a series of starts and stops. You may start, then get sidelined into distraction, and then restart. Notice I don't say quit. We must think differently. As you grow in The Practice, there will be less pauses or breaks. You will start to see it is possible to walk the way God intends you to. At some point, God turns up the dial and you find yourself dancing through life rather than walking. This twirl dance becomes so pulling that you don't know where you end and He continues. This goes into your heart attitude, and you find yourself lifted out of the mundane and into the momentous. You start to become equipped to deal with life's opposition.


Now back to the toots. These expressions start with His whisper of words to my heart (the whispered words may come after my stillness before Him preceding my music offering, as one phase flows into the next), followed by a song phrase that He sings to me. I play the song back to Him, while thinking about the words He spoke to me. It becomes a dialogue between us. When I do this, the atmosphere in my room changes.

Here are two dialogue seeds:

#1) "Pneuma Rhema"

When I heard this whisper, it was after I started my clarion serenade. There are no formulas here. It was my first sound this morning. The tone was airy, like, what a musician might refer to as "sub-tone". When I play with sub-tone, Holy Spirit may sometimes move with surprises. It's as if He gets a cue from the breathy tone, and responds an answer as the Breath of Life.


Years ago, I used to minister as a minstrel, with a prophetess (often at women's conferences). Once she prayed over a woman for deliverance. The demons were stubborn and didn't want to leave. Kathy, the prophetess, motioned to me and I knew what she wanted me to do. I came up close to them. I heard Ruach's (Holy Spirit's) song and played it on my Fluegelhorn with breathy sound, mostly air, directly at the woman's abdomen. The demons twisted her body as if to pull her away. I continued with the airy, sub-tones - a loud silence. She fell to the ground. The demons left. I continued now with more airy sounds over her. I played a soft "Ruachian" lullaby and she fell asleep, delivered, but with a smile. God will sometimes move in the airy tones.

#2) "Dance Skips of a Happy King for His Beloved"

As I dialogued with God in the Pneuma Rhema phrase, it transitioned in key and I heard "dance skips of a happy King for His beloved". Now the song became a bit livelier, kinda' waltzy and very light. The prayer dialogue continued. I was reminded of King David's uninhibited dance.


Ruach told me: "When King David danced the street without clothes, it was a shadow picture of the coming Jesus, dancing with joy, without inhibition, before His beloved. 


As you engage me in our walks, we will break into dance. I will twirl you. As you spin with closed eyes, you will open them and see that Jesus has cut in."

Dear reader, God wants to cut in. Allow Him to have the next dance.

--- Tony Mujica © 2011


Suggested next read: The Monk's Monastery (on my other blog)

Holy GhostWriter

Holy GhostWriter

He woke me up, midpoint, one night.

"Up! Up! Up! Take pen, let's write"

A novice poet, but a scribe, more like it.

Can't take credit, it's His words describ'n it.

His words, not mine - I'm cheating for sure.

He makes me look good, His tome, so pure.

He knows just what the readers need.

From His mouth, the bits of life proceed.

But if, by chance, the rhyme should fail.

Not His fault and my face goes pale.

Tony Mujica © 2011

The Shower Of Gold Coins

The following was experienced on June 14th, 2011 as I woke up. My body was wracked in pain from ongoing illness. The only way I know of to do deal with this is to fall into God's presence by worshiping Him. As I entered into worship, God poured out His grace. He is so faithful. He has me enrolled in His "Heavenly Pain Management Program". He's such a good, good God.


================================

Ruach, God's Holy Spirit, whisked me away in the spirit. We flew as eagles, high above the Earth, soaring through the air currents, crossing hills and valleys, even oceans and continents. Ruach pointed out His children of light. As He said this, I could see these objects of His affection. Although I was far above, I now had the eyes of an eagle.

I saw people wandering around, emaciated, beaten down, walking as if without purpose. I could smell the air that rose above them. When it reached the nostrils on my beak, I sensed an odor of great discouragement and disillusion.

The great revealer Eagle told me, "Many of My people do not realize the condition that they are in. Some have poured themselves out to make Jesus known, but have been repeatedly bruised by the world system. They have almost given up. Some have even stopped talking to Me. I brought them into this wilderness crucible for a purpose. The Earth is about to go through changes that they are not ready for right now. The passion fire of my love will transform them, but right now, morale is low. They need a token. I will shower them now."

Ruach snapped His wings in midflight. A tinkling rhythm of metallic sound burst from His flapping wings, marking a steady deluge of cascading amber gold coins. The shower sprayed right through a dark cloud below us. The wind spread out the concentrated, sparkly flow much in the same fashion that a chef might sprinkle salt over a casserole from a little higher up, to evenly cover the dish.

Ruach continued, "I love them so. They must know that Heaven is listening."

With that, the sky was filled with swooping, angelic troops, as if they were shower number two, after the gold rain. The host hovered above their targets, breezing them with warm currents to awaken them from the lull. I could see the dots of people, who were scurrying about in random anti-pattern, snap with life into springing stride.

I heard joyful shouts. One said, "My Lord still hears me. I haven't lost Him."

Another overlapped her praise, "I found my token. My prayers are being answered. I can go on!"

And another, "I didn't lose my way. He hasn't given up on me!"

Like popcorn in a microwave, the praises trickled in, increasing in frequency and volume. I looked over to my Holy tour guide, who now was joyfully rotating through the cirrus clouds, twirling, even flying upside down. This is catchy. I had to join Him in the wind dance.

"I love them! I love them! I love them!", He cried out.

Then He did something most unusual. He descended from the clouds with bristling speed. I tried to follow but could not keep up. He moved into lightning speed, then flew right through the abdomens of the kingdom folk - men, women, and children. He continued around the globe.

From my aerial view, I saw a golden thread follow Ruach's trailblaze. He was knitting.

"Ah, oil running down Aaron's beard", I thought.

I understood now, another aspect of what the garment of Christ is, as I observed Holy Spirit masterfully weaving through the bridal fabric. When He was done, I became undone. What was, just moments before, a chaotic mess, now took my breathe away. A huge bolt of Heavenly cloth, shimmering in iridescence and splenderous glory sparkle, now covered this select body of believers. Cloaked and closely knit in holy tapestry, now they would move and act as one.

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To the side, through my peripheral, I saw a huge, brawny, buff angel look toward heaven.

Lifting his sword up, he declared in booming voice, "Let the training continue!"
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞


Next stop on the blog tour: An Intercessor's Dilemma

Tony Mujica © 2011