What is Real

 

What is Real

I am looking for tethers whose ties are not there

And in the process tethers come that tie me down

I am praying for chains to be broken that do not exist

And in the process I become even further bound

I am looking outside for God when He lives within

And in the process He becomes so much harder to see

I am praying for things He has already done

I am enslaving myself when I’m already free

I look to a world of illusion and shame to find what I think is real

All the while I turn off that which is true by ignoring the Truth that I feel

Is there an answer to this circumstance?  Is there ever a bird that can fly?

The answer is to sit at the feet of the Truth, and there is where you can let out your sigh

For where the sigh is released in spirit and truth, it is there that the true God we meet

It is there where we love, it is there where we live; we are changed as we sit at His feet

K, Duane Carter   5-27-10

I don’t normally explain my poems, but I feel like this one is something from the heart of God and I want to make sure people get it.  I am learning that most of the heartache and hurt and disappointment I have had with God in my life is because of the lies I believed about Him in my head.  For years I have attempted to grasp God with purely my rational mind, and that will only lead to heartache and disappointment and hurt because one ends up with a god no bigger than his/her brain when one tries to comprehend Him that way.  As I go even deeper with Him I have begun to realize that this world I see with my two natural eyes is not the greatest reality in the universe.  The spiritual reality where He dwells, what we would call “heaven”, is the greatest reality and it isn’t the place that defines that, it is the God Who dwells there that defines it.  Heaven is heaven because God dwells there.  Wherever He dwells is heaven.  Now all of a sudden verses like what one reads in Ephesians of how we dwell RIGHT NOW in heavenly places are becoming alive to me because He dwells within me.  Even our little children can understand that He lives within us, but why can’t we understand that we carry heaven with us wherever we go?  When we fail to understand such a truth, we become bound to a lesser reality.  Why can’t we understand that because we dwell with God that we live ABOVE our circumstances, and therefore the enemy CANNOT touch us?  In fact it implies (and there are verses that state it more plainly) that God puts us where we are seen by the enemy but not touched, and this is a torment to our enemy because he sees us receiving the very thing he wants:  authority from our Father.  We are here to PUNISH our enemy by living out a loving relationship with our Father and with our King and our Husband.  “But Duane, what about illness and poverty and disease and death?”  Yeah, what about them?  Jesus kicked their butt on the cross, and took back all the authority over them, and in the resurrection showed us the true power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and then He gave all that authority back to us with the understanding that this world was created for human beings to co-labor with God and take back what was stolen, but we believe we can’t do it so we chain ourselves right back up again.  Can you see this??  Do we really believe what we say we believe??  NO, we don’t and that is why people stand around asking questions and moaning and complaining instead of delivering the Answer.  That’s why we stand around wondering about all the problems and we don’t deliver the Answer.  It’s time to believe and exercise real faith.  It’s time to simply sit at His feet and release these sighs, and then let Him release those awesome words that He sends to heal us, free us, and empower us.  I am sick of powerlessness.  The greatest power in the universe, and the greatest reality is Love.  It is time to release that.  I’m not kidding.  It is time RIGHT NOW to release it.

Greatness from the Mist

Greatness from the Mist

There is a greatness coming out of the mist

From the unseen realm is coming an ocean

An ocean of Goodness, Love, and Strength

Such as the world has not seen

But it will want to see it again and again

It will suddenly appear

A rumbling roar will pierce the air

And no darkness will ever stand it there

It will be heard before it is seen

It will turn the desert into green

And make rivers out of dry land

It will restore the salt to the people of earth

It will bring new life and bring new birth

And nothing and no one will be able to stop it

It will be deep, deep, and deeper

And the climb to the mountaintop will not be steeper

For the way will be smooth and flat

Wine in the skins, oil in the vats

It is coming, I tell you it is coming

I tell you it is here

He is here

K, Duane Carter 5-3-10

The Ocean Often Speaks

The ocean often speaks

But are we still enough to listen?

So also speak the moon and stars

And the morning dew that glistens

Deep within God speaks His sound

In mystery not contained in books or shelves

And what determines if we hear or not

Is our focus on our selves

A mind that dwells on self alone

Will not see Light nor hear it speak

A life that dwells on God and love

Will rise up to the highest peak

The ocean often speaks…

Are we still enough to listen

And allow God’s tender early morning dew

On our hearts to gently glisten?

K, Duane Carter 5-2-10

The Shadow

I was going through a darkness,
A darkness so thick, it was so hard to see
I could not see my face, I did not even know me
But then there was another darkness
That was quiet and warm and awesome and firm
And it completely drowned out the other, a mist of passionate dew
And then I felt the feathers and then and there I knew
It was the shadow of the Most High

I was walking through the wilderness
Nothing but the wild beasts and the dark ones
Waiting for their opportunity to pounce
I then felt goodness with every ounce
And the fear of nothing but the Lord came upon me
It was the shadow of the Most High

I came upon one with cancer
One with affliction, heartache and disease
I felt the oppression laughing
Thinking it could do whatever it pleased
And then I heard it shriek, I saw it vanish,
And I watched it melt before my eyes
My heart by the Presence was mesmerized
It was the shadow of the Most High

So you may be walking through a darkness
Where suddenly it seems darker still
But don’t be discouraged just open your heart
And trust Him, just trust Him until
You can sense Him too, knowing whatever you do
You are covered, protected, and warmed
By the shadow of the Most High

It’s the brightest place on earth…

K, Duane Carter 4-27-10

Waiting

I am waiting for the roar of the water

I am waiting for the form and the flow

I am waiting for someone to tell me that I am alive

I’m waiting for the One I’m to know

I hear stories of past jubilations

I hear rumors that the Lion’s on the move

I hear of dead people raised up in a heartbeat

When their heart discovered the Source of all love

I still wait for the roar of the water

My heart feels now as if it will explode

I long for the face of the Glorious One

The One I am created to know

I want to live in His dream of my story

I want to ride as I hold on to the mane

I long to feel the pound of His hearbeat

Knowing that no moment is ever the same

I sit here and stare out this window

The same window I look out every day

And wait to hear, to see, to feel, to know

The One that I long for and pray

I hear Him running…

K, Duane Carter 4-22-10

Water Drops on the Window

I am a drop of water
Upon the window screen
And something, somewhere
Is drawing me
Toward what this life does mean

There are many drops of water
And I am only one
But as I’m drawn to where I belong
I first stutter, and then I run

Some drops cling quite tightly
To the metal protective screen
But I must move on to where I know not
For there is destiny

I move in erratic motions
Sometimes stopping to turn aside
But then the rain comes down from clouds above
And gives me quite the ride

I move now in a flowing motion
My direction is swift and sure
And all the other drops are joining in
To the place where we all are pure

I am but one drop of water
Upon the window screen
And with the help of the rain I fall
And land upon a seed

And life begins….

K, Duane Carter 3-3-10

Snowflakes

Snowflakes
The snow is falling looking like so many angels
Drifting white beauties announcing God’s goodness

The world in silent stillness waits
For the announcement to be
As the snow drifts on the tree
We all long to see something real
No more talk about kingdoms surreal
Only a walking with the snowflakes lighting on my face
Only a dancing, rejoicing, and breathing in grace
Though in silence they fall, they release out a roar
That changes our world, our spirits to soar
And in the quietness of the falling, we rise to the sun
Hidden behind the gray clouds is the Glorious One
I see the snow drifting, shifting, dancing
And Jesus is calling us to His romancing
He makes my heart pure, He calls it forthright
And just like the snow I become gentle and white

Yet a force that takes earth and makes it beautiful

K, Duane Carter 2-15-10