Welcome Joan Hutter

When you walk into Joan's home for 2+ hours of prayer and worship, you embrace a cloud of God's love and peace. Joan loves Jesus. Her demeanor preaches His grace. Her words are laced with His fragrance. This faithful daughter of God leads Women Abide, a gathering of women who intercede, worship and glorify the Lord. The Women Abide conferences are held in Charlottesville, Virginia. With pleasure, I introduce to you my friend, Joan.

One Thing by Joan Hutter

One thing I ask of the Lord. This will I seek: That I would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His presence. Psalm 27:4

One thing.  Just one.  To see beauty.

Not man-made, nor even His created beauty.  But to see Him.  To behold Him.  Our man in glory seated on the throne.  Our man in joy resurrected, made known.

David, the man after God’s own heart—the shepherd-boy-harpist-praying-Psalmist, anointed as king—desired only one thing.  He longed to remain in the presence of God, abiding in the shadow of His wings … that He would behold the beauty of the Lord.

He didn’t want to miss God.  He wanted to see, to delight Himself in the Lord, to contemplate His glory, majesty, wisdom, holiness, mercy. He couldn’t get enough of beholding. Seeing with the eyes of His heart.

Blessed are the pure in heart, they will see God. Matthew 5:8

When we behold Him … allowing Him to fill our entire being … we become like Him. We become the ones we were made to be.  When we see the beauty of God, desire for every other thing fades. He is altogether lovely. One taste and we see and know He is good. There is no one like Him in mercy, love, kindness, holiness and truth. He is delightful and when we delight in Him we are satisfied to the depths. He satisfies every desire. When we behold the beauty of the Lord Jesus we’re undone.

We lay everything aside. Remove all hindrances, all distractions. Fix our eyes on Jesus. Behold the Lamb on the throne. The King who is and was and is to come.

We want more of Him.  We consider His open heart, open door, living way by His blood. We marvel at His desire for us and respond with deeper pursuit, willing surrender. As a deer pants, our hearts beat for Him. We long for Him in a dry and weary land and when we behold Him there is no settling for another thing, vision, person, purpose, love.

He is all-consuming. He is all-encompassing.  He is all in all.

Pleasing is the fragrance of Your perfume, Lord Jesus. Your name is like fine oil poured forth. No wonder we love you. Song 1:3

I want to behold the beauty of the Lord, to abide in His presence all the days of my life, to gaze upon His eyes so pure, to breathe in the fragrance of His life, to know His love immeasurable, joy unspeakable, peace beyond understanding.

To gaze upon Him. To behold.

We all seek beauty. We build our lives and days after the pursuit of beauty. We were made for beauty.

But we settle for less. We are too easily satisfied.

God made us to behold Him. He created our hearts to gaze upon His glory… with our whole being.

More beautiful than glowing dawn after bitter darkness, more peaceful than quiet waters reflecting aspens and daffodils. More vibrant than flames dancing on wood, the crackle of evergreen branches folding into another manger season.

To behold life … and the flames of fire in the eyes of the son of man … to encounter meekness and a life surrendered for love … to gaze upon a heart abandoned in love and overflowing with joy … to know light upon light as he draws us near … to sense the gentle breezes of His presence walking in the garden of our hearts.

Beauty He is.

Full of grace and truth. Filling us as we behold. There is no one like Him.  And no place else I want to be.

May He fill your vision with Himself. May He fill your heart and satisfy every desire.  And may you be consumed with the pursuit of beauty. Desiring Him alone.

He first desires us. Pursues us with relentless love – unending, unfailing, undeterred, uninhibited, undaunted, undistracted … love.  Here we find our meaning. We were made to behold Beauty.

He is our One Thing.

You can read about the ministry God gave Joan here: http://womenabide.com/

To read about how the love of God was demonstrated at the 2013 Women Abide conference, click here:
http://womenabide.com/what-does-revival-look-like/

(I was there...it was totally amazing! - Tina)

Destiny

Most of us yearn to discover our destiny, the purpose of our existence, or how we are to leave our stamp on world history. Some go to college and find this in a career. Some discover this in ministry work. Yet countless others are shortchanged by circumstances and lack of vision, and end up incarcerated, controlled by life-destroying substances or simply a slave to economic systems.

For most of the world, destiny is defined by our deeds, culture or profession. This is okay to some degree. Our mindset is, as long as we believe that we have “realized” our earthly purpose, one day we can die in contentment. The sad part is that many die in discontentment. Their physical needs may have been met, their souls may have been satisfied, but their spirits yearned for more. These folks died without discovering their eternal purpose: to intimately know God, through Jesus Christ.

I find that our reaction to that last statement depends on our view of God. Some view God as distant, stoic, and mean. Spending eternity with this God would be hell in heaven! If you are like me and my husband Doug, whose family bible study inspired my book, Before the Beginning, you see God differently.

Chapter Three introduces the reader to the God I serve. On the Cross, Jesus called Him, Abba. Here is an excerpt:

The brilliant streak flashed before the Eyes. Reflected in the Eyes of God was every quark and atom in each galaxy. Like a giant microscope and faster than the speed of light, the Eyes fastened onto the streak and glistened with recognition. Widening with joy, the Eyes warmly welcome this son with glowing tenderness. “My son…”  The Voice of God vibrated with layers of emotion… Abba engulfed Daystar in His embrace. Daystar cherished the privilege of being His child, grasping his significance, acceptance and affirmation from the One who gave him life.

I became born again because of a fear of hell. I knew God loved me, but I believed that he disapproved of my actions more than he approved of me. A prayer ministry first introduced me to this God who is mostly glad, not mostly mad. The Song of Solomon introduced me to a God who sought after His Bride for the purpose of intimacy and enjoyment. Various Psalms showed me a God who punished His enemies but protected His kids. Finally, the Gospels revealed a God who, had a rescue plan for sinful man, and implemented this plan Himself.  Jesus Christ was a Man on a mission: to seek and save the lost from the power of sin and the consequence of eternal separation from Him. 

Is there another side of this God? To those that reject Him, yes. Chapter Fourteen in my debut novel reveals the reason and the birth of God’s justice and righteous anger. However, if you are a King’s kid, if you are redeemed, you can rest with no fear in His unearned grace. Abba wants us not to hide like Adam, but to run to Him undone like David, be restored and encouraged like the Apostle Peter, and to daily encounter Him like John, who rested his head on Jesus’ breast. Abba wants us to realize that our eternal destiny, the purpose to our existence is not a deed, but a most joyous, fulfilling, and life-giving relationship with Him.

Brother vs. Brother.

The story of Cain and Abel was not the first of its kind in the chronicles of eternity.  The angelic realm experienced a familial breach before Adam was created.  When Lucifer turned against God and convinced one-third of all angels to turn against God, the crisis of “brother against brother” was introduced.

What happened in heaven?  We know that Lucifer pitted himself against God. Deluded, he thought he could be like God. He tried. He recruited one-third of his brothers to be a part of his kingdom.  What would have made these other angels agree to antagonize their brothers?

The problem of disunity is ancient; birthed before Eden. It occurs even among Christians, who, too often, listen to and agree with the accuser. Galatians 3:28 says "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free..." Historically, there has been too much division based on race and economics, among other things. We are all brothers of the same Heavenly Father. What can Christians do to rectify this crisis of brother against brother?

T. Webb, Author of Before The
Beginning

We can receive a greater understanding of Love. God is Love. Love forgives. Love chooses to forget. (Hebrews 8:12) Love extends grace and mercy to the offender. Love invests with no guarantee of a ROI (Return On Investment). The love of God is in our hearts, so we must guard our minds from thoughts that breed antagonism towards one another. Easy? Hmmm. It will take effort. But done corporately, prejudices will diminish, fighting will lessen, and broken relationships will decrease. John 13:35: By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Book Release!

http://www.amazon.com/Before-The-Beginning-ebook/dp/B00EBUKVF4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1375723718&sr=1-1&keywords=before+the+beginning.

Here's the link to my newly released book, Before The Beginning!  Woo Hoo!  (Coming soon on BN Nook too!)