I am so excited today as I seek His face.  Our God is truly an amazing God.  When we seek Him, He desires to be found – He delights to share and to reveal Himself to His children.  As I sat this morning asking the Lord to reveal Himself to Me, to show me who He is that I might know Him – the One, True, God – my mind sought it’s own answers.  On my own I could come with various aspects of the character of God.  However as quickly as they came to mind, I had to discard them for with them came the voice, tongue and thoughts of man.  Then, as if in response, from within my spirit the Truth was spoken.  Truth rose up from my spirit and I could hear the Spirit of the Lord say, “I AM God and there is no other.”  I knew in that moment that I had heard the Truth of God, willing to reveal Himself to me if I would but seek Him and Him alone.  As I sit here now and reflect upon Him I realize that it is the Spirit of God which desires to reveal Himself.  It was integral to this process of learning today for me to discard other thoughts and teachings of the character of God.  In doing so, it did not make the truth of His character in any of the areas any less truthful however, what was happening was a test to see who I would listen to – myself, man or the revelation of the Spirit of God.  It is often far too easy to slip comfortably into an old tape which runs through our minds of a teaching we have received rather than waiting on and pursuing what the Holy Spirit desires to reveal.  My personal experience has been that what comes about through the revelation of the Holy Spirit is transforming.  For what is spoken into one’s spirit through the Spirit of the Living God brings life to the soul while washing over the mind and all of it’s trappings.  Even so, as I have since sought out scriptures to confirm this aspect of God, I am amazed at His faithfulness to reveal and confirm.  Only yesterday I had been asking the Lord to show me a specific passage of scripture which had previously stirred the waters of my soul.  Rather than performing a concordance check I had felt I was to trust and wait on the Lord to lead me to the passages I wanted to locate.  Here, this morning, contained in the midst of the confirming scriptures of “I AM God and there is no other” I found the passage I had asked from the Lord only yesterday – but I will get to that in a moment as I now see that it is all significant and fits together.  First the confirming scriptures in this set of passages given not once, not twice but four times. “I AM the Lord and there is no other.”  Isaiah 45:5 “I AM the Lord and there is no other.”  Isaiah 45:6 “I AM the Lord and there is none else.”  Isaiah 45:18 “I AM God and there is no other.”  Isaiah 45:22   KNOW this  – He is Lord and there is no other. HEAR this – He is the Lord and there is no other. Are you listening? – He is the Lord and there is none else. Did you hear?  - He is God and there is no other. This is not a secret.  It is not hidden or spoken of in private.  It is not revealed only before packed congregation houses or to preachers of righteousness.  The WHOLE WORLD declares His glory.  ALL of creation reveals God.  No created thing is god but God.  KNOW this God says, “I AM God and there is no other.” God is calling out His people to ‘come draw near, know Him in this, hear Him in this.  He will not hide himself from you if you prepare to come, He is already prepared to receive you, to redeem you and to pour righteousness upon you but first you must discard your many idols, your many thoughts, your many ideas, your reliance on outside forms of God that He might come and rain down righteousness upon you.’ The passage I had been searching for the other day which I had asked the Lord to show me is this:  “Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness, let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it.  I, the Lord, have created it.”  (Isaiah 45:8) The Lord desires to pour down the righteous rain (reign!!!) of His Spirit.  The heavens declare the Glory of the Lord, they drip down with the Glory of God – they declare His righteousness – they declare His sovereignty.  Let righteousness be your covering!  May the earth and her inhabitants prepare to receive His rain.  May the earth’s soil be tilled and made ready that the mighty rain of the Spirit draws forth salvation.  May the salvation that comes forth bear fruit – fruit of the spirit – fruit that is not hidden – fruit that is available to all for the Lord Himself has said, “I have not spoken in secret in some dark land.  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in a waste place’.  NO!  The Lord has said His salvation is available to all.  It is not hidden, it cannot be contained.  His salvation is to be for ALL the earth and with the bearing of fruit, righteousness will spring up. Where there is salvation there must be fruit.  Where there is salvation there must be fruit.  Where there is salvation there must be fruit.  For it is from the fruit that righteousness springs forth. Where is the fruit that you will bring Him?  Where is the ground which your salvation has worked?  Where are the sprouts of righteousness which the Lord has brought forth?  For He has created all things, has He not?  Are you not His created thing?  Has He not worked His salvation out in you? Drip down O heavens from above.  Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit and righteousness spring up with it.  I, the Lord, have created it. Where is the fruit that you will bring Him?  Where is the righteousness that springs forth?   Pursue righteousness.  Draw near to God.  Do not claim only the great and mighty promises and yet deny the very God who made you.  Till the ground of your salvation that fruit of righteousness springs forth.  Go out and reveal the righteousness of God in ALL the earth that ALL might turn to Him and be saved.  The Lord has declared that ‘every knee will bow before Him, every tongue in all the earth will swear allegiance, everyone will say of Him, It is only in the Lord that there is righteousness and strength for He is God and there is no other.’ No other god.  No other structure.  No other form.  No other man.  No other thought.  No other name. In Him is ALL the glory!  For the Lord says, “I AM God and there is no other”. Bless you, Deborah Ritz – December 7, 2005 Scripture for your personal study and reflection. Isaiah 45 John 15:1-17 James 1:17-27 James 2:12-26