Food and Fear

So, this is part two of what looks like will become a three part series. In part One, I shared my opinion on the food idolatry we see so often today, and how some related healings we've seen in street ministry really testify to God's willingness to heal and forgive.

Part two will address the flipside of food idolatry. Many Christians rightly turn to clean eating after discovering the problems with our modern food system, but they do so out of fear, and not faith. In this post I will try to identify where so many go wrong.

Food for Health

I believe God gave us many therapeutic foods to keep us in good health. These foods can assist us in keeping our temples running well. God is good, and He invented beneficial plants, herbs, etc. Our bodies must be acceptable sacrifices for the Lord--this is our act of worship. There comes a time when God calls us to abstain from different things in order to worship Him distracted. For many, this means avoiding harmful foods and selectively eating solely healthy foods...The things that God has given us to keep us healthy!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17

Food can displace Faith

The problem begins when Christians, in their quest to eat clean, begin fearfully avoiding certain foods. And fear is not within faith, because faith in God allows His "perfect love casts out all fear".

Many believers forget that we do not wage war against flesh and blood. We do not wage war against GMO's, hydrogenated fat, or processed wheat. Instead, we need to wage war against the devil...he is the one who comes to kill, and destroy. Fear of harmful foods gives the enemy freedom to do his job. We cannot focus on negative things. Instead, we should think about "whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable..."

In many ways, our logical thinking can hinder our faith. Knowing that a food is inherently harmful,according to science, creates a spiritual atmosphere that gives evil forces access to manifest these harmful side effects. We cannot safely eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil without putting up the shield of faith. And this protective faith is available by the work of the Holy Spirit. Faith keeps us safe from information that might otherwise send us into fear.

Food is not the Healer

So, food is not our enemy. It is not our healer, either. God deserves all the glory for healings. He is a jealous God, and He deserves all the attention! We overcome by the "blood of the lamb and the Word of His testimony"! And our testimony ought to glorify the miraculous provisions of the Lord. Something is wrong if our testimony starts sounding like a paid advertisement of the latest nutritional product. I don't care what product this is--let's "trust in the Lord with all of [our] heart, and lean not on [our] own understanding". We should instead seek the Lord, and not "the physicians", like King Asa did. Let's allow God to supernaturaly bless our bodies and our health by going all in for Him!

Snapshot: His Rest

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In returning and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it'". Isaiah 30:15

This verse had been brought to my memory about a week ago now. It took a couple days and some events for the Lord to show me how exactly this verse applied to Me. God is so faithful, and He was preparing me for future events by bringing this promise to remembrance.

I need to rest in the validation God gives, and not in anything else. Other people do not have the power to justify or condemn. We cannot care about the thoughts of other people so much if it distracts us from God's feelings towards us. The world and it's systems are by default against God's word and His children. Conviction is His job, as is vengeance. Jesus even said we are blessed when men persecute us and speak evil of us. Our job is to turn the other cheek, withdraw from fruitless debating and return to Him. That's were we are aware of our salvation!

Our strength needs to be in the joy of the Lord. And the joy of the Lord is in "quietness and trust", not debating and arguing. The Lord was telling me this verse as a way to prepare me to turn the other cheek. It takes the Holy Spirit to become unoffendable, but praise God that in Him we can succeed. Trusting the words of men leads to deception, or, at best,someone's disappointment, but trusting in the Lord brings strength that does not fade away.

Food and Idolatry

Many times in street ministry we see people who have all sorts of back or joint problems that are apparently caused by being overweight. God heals them just like anyone else. From a natural perspective, these people put their ailments upon themselves by eating too much. But who can say that they deserved to be healed? Besides, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against unseen forces in the spiritual realm. These people who spend years harming their bodies through eating too much receive the promises of God just like any other believer can, and in Jesus' name all their pain is taken away. What grace! I often wonder where these people went wrong. I believe they fell prey to the evil nature of today's food system. But more on that later. First, let's look at what the Word says about affliction and sin.

"Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities were afflicted". Psalm 107:17

I believe that affliction is often punishment for sin. It is a way for God to turn us away from lawlessness. Sickness can be God's will, if it brings us closer to Him.

"It is good for me that I was afflicted; that I might learn your statutes". Psalm 119:71

But praise God that there is a way out! Repent and be delivered! In "returning and rest" we will be saved. We will be delivered into the care of Him who "bore all our diseases".

Back to today's food system. I believe many, many believers overlook the destruction that the enemy has done in this area. We have chemicals of all kinds being put into our food and water, and we have processed foods available everywhere we look. These 'foods' are manufactured to be so tasty that they are impossible to put down. We have produce that is genetically modified, and we have semi toxic products being sold as health food. Satan is the father of lies and deception, and I believe that he has made it nearly impossible for us as Christians to "touch no unclean thing". Is it sin to eat pop tarts, drink HFCS-filled soda, or feed your children genetically modified apples? Surely God, in His mercy, is punishing Christians for their terrible eating habits, right?

I don't think so. Based on the Word of God, and also my experience in ministering to people with weight-induced problems, I do not think that being overweight is a sin in itself. In my opinion, a lifestyle of bad eating habits is not inherently sinful. The flesh profits nothing, whether we feast or fast.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God". I Cor. 10:31

That being said, I still believe that weight-induced diseases (joint damage, diabetes, heart problems, often sleep apnea, etc.) are afflictions usually brought on by sin. What is the sin? Often one of two things--idolatry or fear. Let's look at idolatry first.

Food Idolatry as Sin

God is a jealous God, but He also honors free will. Often He turns people over to their selfish desires. Many believers, often strong ones, have not put away their selfish desires, and as a result are constantly being punished by reaping the results of food idolatry. How many people live in chronic pain, how many live dependent on insulin or sleep medication, how many even die prematurely, because they are serving this food addiction alongside The Lord? Praise God that He is more gracious than I am. We need to delight in His law and His boundaries so that we do not "perish in our affliction". I feel like this is a major overlooked problem within the church . The Lord, by His Spirit, gives us a supernatural source of "power, love, and self-control"! How many are not yielding to it. These people reap what they've been sowing. Don't forget, though, that God continues to heal people from the results of such actions. He is not mocked, but what a wonderful thing Jesus did for us!

"The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace". Romans 8:6

Instead, God gives us His Spirit...if we do not ignore His leadings, we can act with the same self-discipline that Jesus had. Don't forget that Jesus fasted for forty days. Don't forget that his food was to do the will of His father. Also remember that Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, by telling Him to make bread to eat out of the rocks. How many Christians today just need to learn how to say "no" and resist the temptation of food? I'll say it again, I believe that food idolatry is a widespread, marginalized problem within the Church. The enemy is still tempting God's children with the false satisfaction of unnecessary food, and at this point in time (in modernized countries, at least), he has nearly endless resources at his disposal. How many churches serve coffee and donuts, or host giant potlucks, when they could be out on the street doing ministry, or still worshipping The Lord in the sanctuary?

Note that I'm not perfect myself. I like food more than most. Jesus is always willing to heal. He is willing to forgive, too. Just the mention of His name is enough to eliminate pain caused by bearing excess weight. His name is enough to cure diabetes. His name is enough to eliminate cancer caused by a lifetime of eating artificially colored and flavored foods. His name can and does "destroy the works of the devil".

What I want to do by writing this is not to pronounce judgement. Mercy triumphs judgement...or else these healings would not occur! I am not fit to judge others anyways. But I encourage believers to seek The Lord about the presence of food idolatry in their lives and the lives of others. Let's exhort eachother into God's truth! The problem is not wheat, it is not sugar. The problem isn't GMOs. It's not even red #40 or aspartame . The problem is idolatry.

More on this in the next post. There is another false attitude towards food that I really want to address. Many Christians go the opposite way, and in trying to eat healthy take their eyes off of the divine health offered in our savior Lord Jesus. Please remember that these posts are not condemnation. Many of the things God's shown me have been taught through my own failures. I am guilty without forgiveness and repentance just like any other. But we must be desperate to stay blameless in God's eyes!

Reaping and Sowing

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what He sows." Galatians 6:7

We can sow life or destruction based on our yieldedness to The Lord. The Holy Spirit always directs us into fruitful sowing. If you are not being led by Jesus right now, you are setting yourself up for destruction. Thankfully God's grace can cover our fruitless sowing, but I want to give an example of God's justice when people sow with evil intent.

I did street ministry in Springfield, Missouri this summer. While downtown I met a women who was bleeding black blood, sick, and smelled of rotting flesh (sorry for the details...I was a little disturbed myself). But glory to God, He reminded me that greater is He in me! My faith was uplifted so that I knew I would not get sick myself. I talked with this women for a while, and she said that she and some friends had been casting spells and putting curses on people who wronged them.

As I heard this, I knew that she was unknowingly reaping those very same things she'd tried to sow in the lives of others. God was not mocked, He delivered justice instead. When this lady invoked evil in an attempt to hurt other people, she loosed an evil spirit. I believe that God in His sovereignty then redirected this spirit back to the sower. What a daunting example of this verse! Things like witchcraft cannot escape the power of God.

"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified." Galatians 3:1

Praise God that He restricts the power of evil by limiting the damage done by evil spirits primarily to the sower. The Galatians were bewitched into believing otherwise and so are many people today. Those who sow evil do not understand the resurrection power of Jesus, nor the way that His blood covers us from receiving the curses of others. I am thankful for the hedge of protection God puts around His own. Even those who sow destruction, if they repent, can be spared from the results of their actions. God can, by His grace, subdue any power by the salvation found through His son.

Snapshot: Sacrifices

This morning the Lord gave me four pretty random visions that didn't make much sense until He had me read Exodus. I read a bit about the regulations God gave Moses about the altar of burnt offering. There were to be four horns on the Altar. It struck me that this paralleled with the four mental images God gave me. You will find that there are not many coincidences when God is relaying a message.

I knew that these four images represented things I had to offer up to the Lord. In exchange, I had to turn to pure solutions to these problems. My faithless and doubtful ways had to be burnt up, freeing me to obtain heavenly treasures.

I am still working on this. Sacrificing things to God is often difficult. But it is a critical part of counting the cost. We need to be willing to dedicate our lives to God in exchange for the gift of His tangible presence. We need to give to Him everything we have.

"...No one is to appear before Me empty handed". Exodus 23:15

Moses was instructed to place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle. We need to offer up our impure things to the Lord before we are ready to live a pure life. We must allow God to take and destroy the things that distract us from Him in preparation for worship. We need to be exposed before Him so that He can clothe us in righteousness.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints". Psalms 116:15

Precious is the giving up of our sinful desires. This collection of burnt offerings is still being gathered up today. The giving of these things pleases God and allows us to draw near to Him. This burning, this sanctification, produces an aroma that pleases the Lord and gives us permission to enter into the tabernacle. And today, the tabernacle is within us via the Spirit, but we still need to die to ourselves to get there.

Snapshot: Incense

Recently when praying, I have seen an aroma rising up into nostrils. It reminds me of the pleasure God takes in the prayers of the saints.

"The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel's hand". Revelation 8:4

Our prayers go up to God. They rise from earth, from amid spiritual warfare and chaos, and they reach God. Angels often deliver prayers to and from the Lord...It is their joy to carry out His ministry. And our prayers are accompanied by a pleasing smell, to mark them as precious in the sight of the Lord. What a precious thing to please God, to have His favor, and for Him to listen and be attentive to our prayer. We must be careful, though, to come before God blameless and forgiven, or else He does not hear us.

"And we know that God does not listen to sinners, but He is ready to hear those who worship Him and do His will".

He is ready, He is ready to hear. He is waiting for us to ask, and He has the Holy Spirit and armies of Angels at His disposal. "Mighty ones who do His bidding" are waiting in the wings, ready for commands. Let's be close enough to God that we can have a tangible result to our prayers.

Thoughts on God's Healing Power

God wants to take His children into the center of His will. He wants to fill us to overflowing with His presence and leave His mark on our physical bodies. Our bodies host the Holy Spirit, and we must be so yielded and strengthened by the Word that affliction cannot be with us. We need to be bold and come into a fuller knowledge of God's promises. We need to house the Holy Spirit to the extent that nothing impure can oppress our bodies. We need to trust that God's love is present to the extent that He wants to bless us and provide us with good things.

"Sacrifice and offerings you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me..." Psalm 40:6

This body is not afflicted. It is free to praise the Lord without physical distractions. Let's step into the knowledge of His promises and the fullness that the Lord Jesus gives us. Let's know the works of God and the will of God and separate them from satan's attacks.

"The son of man came for this reason, that He might destroy the works of the devil". 1 John 3:8

We need to identify those things that are not gifts of God. We cannot accept disease and need to operate in the authority that Jesus gave us. Let's act on the Holy knowledge of our Lord.

"My people perish for lack of knowledge". Hosea 4:6

Death and disease is not God's will. You will find that turnarounds occur when we come into agreement with God. We can have confidence that Jesus has overcome the world and all the other things with it. His name is above every other. His name is above this or that diagnosis. His name is higher and nothing can stand against it.

Lord, cleanse us. Let us touch no unclean thing...receive our bodies and heal us according to your Word. Give us a revelation of your might, and deliver us from sickness. Release your healing power into our bodies and restore us. In Jesus's name. Amen.

Snapshot: Fear...Why are you so Afraid?

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline". 2nd Timothy 1:7

A major reason for fear is doubting God. As long as we repent, we can be sure He is still keeping us in His WORD. We need to turn away from the voice of the enemy, and ask God for spiritual purity, so that we can focus on Him and not doubts or worries. We need to be pure in heart to receive His love, because His perfect love will cast out fear.

On Thursday we visited my Aunt. Her dogs were barking excitedly, and she explained that the dogs were "just fearful". This struck me as important, though I wasn't sure why. Just a couple minutes later I felt God prompting me to open up a devotional I had found in the house, and I opened up to a page entitled, 'Why are you so afraid?'. It hit me that I had just been hearing about the dangers of fear...

Sometimes God allows us exposure to fear so that we run back to Him. He wants us to dwell safely in His presence. We don't have to be of little faith! The response to fear is to cling to God, not to run from Him. Take faith in God and His promises...even if we are faithless, He is faithful. Pray for forgiveness and a right standing with God, then accept it by faith. Fear is a force that can and will be used for the good, if we yield our hearts to God and trust in His ability to save.

The Joy of Being God's Child

This morning I was praying, and I began to begin asking God for many different things. I got kind of fearful as I was trying to cover all my bases in prayer... as I was praying, the Lord interrupted me and said, "Don't pray for those things". This may sound harsh, but there is a reassurance in targeted prayer solely into the will of God. When I was a less mature Christian, I prayed long prayers for everything and repeated myself often. But as I've come to be closer to God, I've been taught how to be bold and specific in my prayers. It takes some discernment to pray according to His will, but I've found that God is very thematic and confirms His messages, including what to pray for, among the body of believers.

Anyways, this stopped me in tracks, and I asked Him what he would like me to pray for. He told me quite clearly, "Pray that I give you the Joy of being God's child". I felt validated by these words...and struck at the interesting wording of that phrase. We need to let the joy of the Lord be our strength, the joy that comes from being blessed and highly favored. Believe on Him, that the firstborn of many brethren has made you a co-heir and fellow son. Many things in this world have the potential to steal our joy, but we need to keep in step with the Spirit's testimony that we are truly children of God.

Confirmed: A little while after I prayed this, God had me read Nehemiah. I only read a short section, but God made sure to confirm the prayer that He directed. In this passage, Ezra pronounced to the people that the time for mourning was over. Instead, he told them that the "joy of the Lord is your strength". All we need to do is realize and know the joy that comes from His salvation.

Confirmed: In church today a lady shared a vision she'd had. The message that accompanied it was stern, but I felt so at ease because of what God told me earlier. We need the reassurance of the Word of God to counter the lies of the enemy. Anyways, the message was that God "hates it when His children are lied to". Like I said, this message went along with a vision this women had. There were some scripture readings about false prophets and such, too.

This message could have been used against me to make me fearful (by the enemy), but instead it paralleled God's word and became a message of reassurance. God is jealous, and His anger is indeed fierce against those who do evil (the unsaved). The word says that He will contend with those who contend with us. This is His promise--let's rest on this and pray into His justice today! He is faithful to protect us from lies and deception as soon as we call on Him. Glory to God!

Snapshot: Walking in His Will

This morning the Lord gave me a vision of a bright orange maple leaf with 2 lines intersecting it to form a cross. I had a knowing that the intersection of the lines symbolized my current situation. I felt that God was saying, "You're right in the crosshairs", I also was shown that both lines moved--one through time, the other according to where I was relative to God's perfect will.

I was very relieved to know that I was following God's plan for my life at this point in time. So often we think that God is not satisfied with us. While it is true that He has the highest standards for us, we cannot despise the day of small things, either.

Confirmed: About an hour after receiving this vision, I was asked to spend some time raking the back yard. This surprised me, and I realized that the vision was also prophetic in a literal sense! One thing the Lord has said, two things I have heard...anyways, I spent the next few hours raking up leaves that looked just like the ones I had seen. I had a marvelous time as the Lord really filled me with His love.

"Be Bold"

Yesterday's morning the Lord spoke to me.  This is what He said:

"Thomas, receive My Words.  I will be here for for eternity, and so will you, so learn to treasure My Words.  Thomas, I adore you.  Thomas, you are a pleasing sound to Me.  Thomas, let yourself be bold for Me, to accomplish My missions for you.  Go now and magnify My rest!"

As you can see, there was a lot about receiving God in this word.  God is a giver of good gifts, and by faith in His goodness we can open open ourselves up to receive them.  We need to treasure and delight in the things He tells us...we need to "humbly accept the implanted word".  (See James 1:21).  We need to accept the grace of God that is still being given to us, and we need to move accordingly into His power.  All it takes is repentance and humility, and then by faith we can be justified by God--then we can please Him!

It only took a few hours for God to confirm these words.  You will find that He enjoys showing Himself true--His Word will not return to Him void.

Confirmed:  Quickened phrase from Richard Sigmund's book on Heaven:   'The Lord loves mission-minded people'.

Confirmed:  After I had been reading in the car for a while, the Lord prompted me to look up.  Just as I did my eyes saw a sign that read, "Die Bold'.  I have no idea what it was for, but I know what God spoke to me through it.  When we are bold for His purposes, we are called to crucify the flesh and die daily.  It is in this suffering that we can receive and partake in His Glory.  Glory to God!

Keep in mind that it is the Holy Spirit who brings things to remembrance.  And because He within is greater than he who's in the world, we can be confident that the Holy Spirit can use many means to glorify Jesus and the Word that glorifies Him.  God uses the Bible and random street signs to confirm the things He's told me.  All things are His servants.

Snapshot: Open Ears

A few mornings ago I was praying and asking the Lord to open my spiritual ears and speak to me.  I became filled with the Spirit and opened up my Bible to Mark, as I had felt instructed.  This is the first thing I read:

"And with a deep sigh Jesus looked up to heaven and said to him, ' Be opened!'"

The passage proceeds to describe how the man's ears were opened, and how he was able to speak well after that.  We need the word of the Lord to provide wise, simple speech!  As I was reading I felt so comforted that the Lord had heard my request and had granted it.

Let God speak a word of love to you today, and let the joy of His goodness be your strength!  You will find that God always validates his Word, and his Word tells us that He hears our prayers.  Not only that, but Jesus prays for us as an intercessor!  What a humbling experience to have God himself pray for you and strengthen you.

Snapshot: The True Vine

This morning the Lord gave me a vision of vines encircling and growing upwards.  I opened my Bible up and started to read John 17:26.  "...and I will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them".

How intimate!  Jesus was continually reconciling the disciples to the Father, and today the Holy Spirit within us brings us near to God through Jesus, the hope of glory.

Confirmed:  Next I read John 15, on the same page, and I took that as a confirmation of the vision of the vine I'd just had.  "I am the vine; you are the branches."  Keep in mind that I opened my Bible up to this page right away, just a few minutes after having that vision.  God is so faithful to confirm the things He gives us.  

Snapshot: Soaring

"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  Isaiah 40:31

Ever since October 4th, there has been a lot of rhema, with signs to follow, about flying and soaring.  It all started that morning when I saw a vision of His Pen blasting off.  Since then, the Lord has given me several visions of planes.

Confirmed:  I opened up Heidi Baker's book, "Always Enough, to a picture of a small jet airplane.  The Lord often directs me to open up books, and He directs me to places that confirm the rhema Words He's given me.

Confirmed:  I was reading the Quickened Word, and saw that on the 4th there was a new entry with lots of symbolism for flying.  To quote from there, "flying represents our ability to rise in faith"

Confirmed:  A few hours after reading the above on the QW,  I went out on a bike ride.  I looked up as a car was passing me and it's plate said, "UCNSOAR".  You can soar!  I thought that was pretty cool.

Lord, take us to a place of soaring with You, of living in your presence.  Bring us up to You, Lord, and shelter us from the chaos of this world.  Give us a desire to shed off worldly distractions so we can fly higher into your peace, in Jesus' name.

Commissions

"So go and make disciples in all countries. Baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  

Matthew 28:19

Jesus gave his people this command prior to leaving us here on earth.  Many people today call this the great commission.  I believe that all yielding believers today are directed by the Holy Spirit to spread the good news and call others to Christ.  The Holy Spirit will always magnify Jesus, and we need to be watchful and seek out the lost on Jesus' behalf.  Each of us has a crucial role to play in the command Jesus gave us here.  Some are involved in organized ministry, some are not.  But we are all called to be His body, His voice here on earth.

This morning the Lord gave me a vision of water being poured all over my head.  I felt nice and clean!  First, we need to let the Lord purify our own lives.

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'  And let the one who hears say, 'Come!' Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life."  Revelation 22:17

So we ourselves are called by the Lord, then we need to have a certain response.  We need to beckon others onwards!  We need to direct others on to His cleansing waters.

While reading the Word today the Lord directed me to 1 Chronicle 23:28.  Often God has spoken to me about my calling as a Levite.  So this was just one of many confirmations.   The Lord often gets me with a scripture like the one below, when I begin to get anxious over my future or career choices.  It is my desire to be involved in full time ministry.

"For their office is to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts and in the chambers and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God..."

Those with a levitical calling are directed to purify all holy things.  God makes us His people holy, and in our ministry we need to spur on others to allow God to purify them.  Sometimes exhortation isn't always fun.  But the way I see it, our Lord is to good to allow any sin or disobedience to hold back His favor and His love.   Let's pray that the Lord directs us into our chosen calling, whether that be organized ministry or anything else.  

Snapshot: Climbing

This morning I distinctly heard the word, "scales".  There was no accompanying message that I was aware of, so all I could do was expect some sort of insight later on.  Sometimes God works this way...I think He likes to give us puzzles to ensure that we seek after Him.

Message:  Higher levels of hearing.  Climbing, taking steps to a safer place.

Confirmed:

• 'Scaling' is a footnote in my Bible, somewhere in Luke (where I'd been reading today)... my eyes went down, almost immediately, to the bottom of the page to see this.  I saw this footnote less than an hour after hearing "scales" this morning.
• I went for a little bike ride today, and I saw a Stairmaster stationary bike right in the middle of the sidewalk.
• Reading a book, to paraphrase the message on a page: God builds on even our failures
• An older rhema Word:  "The scales have been made level."  The Lord spoke this to me when He was unveiling to me a pure view of the world.  At this time He was also teaching me to discern between His voice and the voice of the enemy.  

Confirming Scripture:

"God said to Moses, 'Climb higher up the mountain and wait there for me; I’ll give you tablets of stone, the teachings and commandments that I’ve written to instruct them.'"  Exodus 24:12

Interpretation:  We need to climb higher with God; He has already enabled us to stand on the heights, now we only need to keep going in faith!  The higher we are spiritually, the more we get to enjoy and meditate on the character of God.  God will use even our failures to build up our walk with Him, if only we repent and yield past disobedience to Him.  Lord, show us what it takes to keep climbing today.

Snapshot: More on Peace

The theme of peace continues.  Our prayer stirs itself up, which stirs up faith, which accesses and comes into agreement with the Word of God.  We need to counter the negative stirring up of chaos around us with holy boldness and greater faith!  One way to do this is to simply proclaim the word.

Message:  Peace prevails thru prayer

Confirmed:

• The Quickened Word* Today's topic was called "Release Peace in Hearing the Prophetic Words" 
• Elijahlist.  A few days ago, Dr. Alveda King released an article on how to pray against powers of evil, especially ISIS

*This is an excellent site with huge amounts of indexed rhema words, and a great online community.  I owe much of what I've learned to the generosity and hard work of the QW's main author, Sandy Warner, and many others on the website.

Snapshot: Only One Road Leads to Heaven

This post marks the start of a new kind of blog entry...the snapshot.  These entries will be pretty short, and they will document the smaller scale themes that the Lord speaks to me.  Many of these themes are not much more than simple reminders of the truth, and many of them only have a few confirmations.  If they're important enough for God, though, they're important enough for me!

When writing this kind of post, I will try to abbreviate things...expect these snapshots to evolve over time.

Message:  Only one road leads to Heaven

Confirmed:  

• Benny Hinn video I watched yesterday.  In it, He stated his frustration for pastors who do not testify to Jesus as the world's only savior.
• Gmail:  Newsletter from the Christian Post... "Harvest America: All Roads Lead to God But Only One Road Leads to Heaven, Through Jesus Christ"
• Gmail:  random inbox add..."Give rides, get cash".  This one may take a little interpretation; it came up just as I was looking at the Christian Post headline above.

Confirming Scripture:  "Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.'"  John 14:6

Teaching of a Prophet

Today the Lord gave me a vision of 2 allen bolts tightening down onto a single metal piece.  These bolts were in sockets that protruded out of the piece, almost like elephant ears.  I often get visions of tightening or loosening wrenches and usually the message behind these is very simple--I either need to get more serious or loosen up!  Today's vision was unique in that these two bolts were tightening down at once, and they were both connected to a central piece.  Like I said, these bolts looked kind of like large ears on a helmet or something.  I felt compelled by the Lord to "tighten down" on my quiet time with Him, so to speak, and to take His word seriously.

Immediately I read Luke 22:35-38.  Two swords were enough for Jesus, and I felt Him saying that these two allen bolts I'd seen were enough for Him, too.  I have often seen swords in visions and usually they represent the sword of the Spirit.  Both swords and allen keys are among the spiritual tools that the Lord speaks symbolically to me with.  I continued to read on..."Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation"  OK, so here we have specific instructions on how to tighten down spiritually.  We need to stand strong and pray against temptation!

Next I read Isaiah 50, which is a great teaching.  I opened randomly to this scripture (except with God, it's not random at all) and my eyes went right to the second half of verse 5:  "...the Lord has opened my ears".  Immediately I knew this related to the metal 'ears' I had seen that were being tightened down.  Wow!  When becoming prophetic, the Lord really does "open our ears".  We need to earnestly seek Him in our time alone, so that we can know His voice!

I feel compelled to share a larger section of Isaiah 50 here, as it describes so well the training that God takes us through.  With the received word comes responsibility, which Isaiah was well aware of:


"The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.  He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple.
The Lord God has opened my ear; and I was not disobedient, nor did I turn back."  Isaiah 50:4-5

We see that God gave Isaiah supernatural knowledge, and a 'knowing' used for encouragement.  We see that Isaiah received the Word of the Lord as soon as he got up every morning!  We see that Isaiah had his spiritual ears opened, and that he was not offended by God's thoughts.  As Jesus said, "blessed is he who is not offended because of ME".

Being trained by God is hard.  It requires everything you have.  It requires you to die daily.  But the rewards are enormous, and by His grace He keeps us.  Through disobedience we might stumble, and that isn't fun, but He keeps us from falling.  The Lord is showing me that now is a time to return to Him with my whole heart, and a time to pray and seek Him earnestly.  Now is a time to pray against temptation and choose His will.

Confirmation:  Yesterday I read this Elijahlist article,  "Your Prophetic Word Confirmed".  Wow...so much of this parallels what the Lord has been speaking to me recently.  This article really, really built my faith.  Anyone who is child of God with prophetic gifting should seriously read this! Lord, use us bring glory to your name, and establish your Kingdom here on the earth!

Law of Liberty

"But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."  James 1:25

A few mornings ago I received a vision where the Lord gave me a spoon, which I then used as a mirror to look into my face.  He brought to mind this verse pretty quickly after that.  Then today, I really did happen to look into a spoon, and immediately was reminded of that vision!

We need to look into the liberty the Lord gives us, and respond by doing God's will.  We need to be blessed in our doing!  We need to look into the perfect look at this law and behold Jesus, and then we need to persevere.  It all starts with focusing on Jesus and the resurrection life that He offers us.

To stay in a state of remembrance, of doing, means we need to intentionally live out our worship.  Worship is a place where we recharge our spiritual batteries and really open ourselves up to the Father's all-consuming love.  Just let Him love you!  Know that it is in yielding to His jealousy that we can persevere in using His freedom for His purposes.  This is important...the freedom that God gives was bought at a price, and it shouldn't be used for selfish desires.  The Holy Spirit wants to use this freedom to magnify Jesus in us and through us.

When in worship today I saw the Lord hand me a small tablet, made of stone.  I believe it had the number '1' on it and some writing.  Immediately I was reminded of Jesus saying, "a new command I give you, that you love one another".  This is the law of liberty, this is the love of the Father giving us freedom to express Himself through us in whatever way He wants.  Old rules and regulations are gone, and in their place is freedom to act out His will!

Theme: Out of Darkness into Light

This morning I received a vision where a few lights came down from heaven and circled around, almost like moving spotlights.  I understood that these were revelations of the Word that were coming down from God.  First, though, they had to get through an atmosphere crowded with noise and lies...and atmosphere of darkness.  At that point, I understood that these rays reached people who had the Holy Spirit to guide them.

Confirmations:

This morning Rick Warren's daily devotional popped up in my email inbox.  Most of these get caught in my spam, as I feel I don't have time to read all of them...but I feel that the ones that make it though to my inbox unscathed are particularly God inspired for the situation that I'm in at that point in time.  Today's was called "Biblical Interpretation: God doesn't leave you in the dark".  I'll just list the first principle relayed in that article.  Point 1:  You need faith and the Holy Spirit to interpret scripture.  I thought this was a specific confirmation of the vision God gave me.

"No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 1 Corinthians 2:11.

So, those beams of light I saw were the thoughts of God, and His words, coming down to reveal good things to His children.  I instinctually knew this from the vision, but how cool!

His Pen: The Message of His Love

This morning I received a vision from the Lord of a giant pen blasting off, as if it were a space shuttle.  I have seen this image several times, and it always reminds me of the power behind the words that God speaks to me.  (I have an MS word document called "His Pen" where I record the things that God speaks through His still, small voice).  I usually get this vision just prior to receiving a new Word from the Lord.  Today the word was very simple, but sometimes it's the simple ones that really bring comfort against accusations of the enemy.  Here it is:

"A time is coming...I have made you righteous...and I am taking you to a place of constant justification.  I am not mad at you...trust in Me for deliverance from the enemy.  Believe in Me, Thomas, because I love you so much!"

Whenever I get a specific word, the Lord always gives me confirmations that it was from Him, and not just my own thoughts or something.  At this point, I tend to just know when it's Him, too.

So, right after hearing this, I open up a book by my Mom's friend Kay, (called Doing Time with Charlie"), and immediately read the statement, "...Because of the overwhelming love".  This is a good example of how steps 1 and 2 from yesterday's post, Ways to Hear God's Voice, typically work.  And now I'm in the process of step 3 by writing down the rhema word!  

Confirming scripture:

"Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all."  Psalm 34:19

It's easy for us to underestimate the love of God, or even forget about it altogether.  That reminds me...I did a prophetic exercise in a church group early this year, when I was first beginning to really hear God's voice.  Each person had to ask the Lord what He thought about them, especially regarding His love.  So, I tried as best as I could to hear and receive whatever God had to say about how much He loved me.  The first thing I heard, and I won't ever forget this, was "you hypocrite".

That stunned me, and I got pretty scared!  God made His point, though, and continued on:

"You hypocrite, you believe that I love them, but not that I always love you.  You hypocrite, you believe in My mercy for them, but not for you..."  And similar messages continued.  Call it tough love, but the Lord called me a hypocrite as means of getting a point across to me!  In hindsight I see His wisdom in speaking to me this way.  Many believers get into a spot where the enemy has sold them the lie that they have somehow fallen too far, and that God's grace can't reach them any longer.  Whenever I get into a place like this, I find that God's love always manages to bring me back into the fold.  Praise Jesus for a loving savior, who will always go out to find His lost sheep.

Confirming scripture:


"...neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:39

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for he cannot disown Himself."  2 Timothy 2:13.

This implies a measure of God the father himself in us!  His promises became flesh through Jesus, and now, through the Holy Spirit, they are made manifest within us.  To disown someone who has the Spirit is never something God does!  Praise God that He keeps us with so much grace.

Recent Theme: Peace

Today there has been so much about peace.

This morning, I was thinking about the word peace, and I felt confident in the Lord that today would be peaceful.  And it was!

"Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."  Luke 6:28

Here we have some clear instructions for how to maintain peace.  As the body, we need to bless and not curse.  We need to be receiving God's love in our own lives, to the extent that we can love unconditionally, just as He does.  We need to pray for God to touch the lives of those who curse us and mistreat us.

Honestly, I feel like we need to pray for peace in other areas of the world, also.  It takes discernment to know if God is including war and chaos into His own plans...in other words, it takes discernment to know what to pray for.   Here is some good general advice from 2nd Timothy.  

 "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.  This is good and pleases God our Savior."  2 Timothy 2:1-3

As we get close to doing only what the Father tells us, as He expands our knowledge, we can then pray more specifically.   But God extends His grace to us when we pray, too!  That being said, I've been told by God a few times, "Don't pray that".  So we need to ask for wisdom and insight when we pray, and if we have specific knowledge, we need to use it to pray more specific prayers.

There was a nice article on the Elijahlist today that really confirmed the recent theme of peace.

Like the article says, we need to be stirred up in our praying.  Stirring up our faith, stirring up the passion of other believers...God listens to our prayers, and we should make every effort to pray in accordance with His will.

Ways to hear God's Voice

Ever since I was saved, I've been keeping a "God journal" with themes, lessons, prayers, testimonies...the list goes on.  Anyways, I just switched over to a new journal for the fall, as I had used up my old one.  In the front of this journal, I wrote down three simple steps that I'd been taught, which help me hear and discern the will of God.  (Getting these steps in such a way itself was a good listening exercise), but anyways, here is what I wrote down:

Step 1.  Then came the Word of the Lord 

Step 2.  Therefore the Lord will give you a sign

Step 3.  Write down this vision 

All three of these steps are based on bible verses.  I've found that these three steps, in this order, usually establish and validate the things that God is speaking to me.  Let's look at them in more detail.

Step 1.  Then came the Word of the Lord.  This is based on Haggai 1:3.  The personal things God speaks to us--I'll call this rhema or the rhema word from now on--often have to be waited for!  I find that God sometimes makes us wait on Him longer than we'd like in order to get a pure revelation or message.  As seen in that section of Haggai, the Word of the Lord is often contrary to our own thought patterns.  It can often be against our own desires and human will, too.

 

The Lord often speaks to me in His still small voice, as mentioned in the book of Elijah.  It's pretty rare for me to hear Him audibly.  Another way to hear the Word is through visions.  Just look at 1 Samuel 3:1.  This verse clearly relates hearing from God and visuals that the Lord often gives.  God's rhema word can come through specific passages of scripture, also--especially the ones that the Holy Spirit bears witness to.  To summarize, step 1 involves receiving a clear directive from God.  Don't worry if these statements are simple...they often are.  God's word will bear witness with His Spirit inside of you, and steps 2 and 3 will also validate it.

Step 2.   Therefore the Lord will give you a sign.  This is based on Isaiah 7:14.  2,000 years ago the Lord gave His people a powerful sign in the birth of Jesus, and He continues giving His people signs to this day.  I find God confirms His rhema word in a variety of ways, and I'll list them in their order of significance for me.  Just know that God will speak to you in a way that your heart and mind can understand, so your list might be different than mine.  I find that the Holy Spirit brings to life the things that validate the rhema God's given, to confirm it for me and to build my faith.  I like to call this quickening.  (Note:  I did not coin this term by any means!  Fellow Christians have really paved the way for listening to God...I first heard this word used when reading Smith Wigglesworth, then learned more about it on an awesome website called Thequickendword).  Anyways, here's a short list of things that God often quickens to me personally, as a way to confirm a message or revelation:

-Confirming bible verses

-Prayers of fellow believers

-Conversations of fellow believers

-Church sermons

-Christian community.  For me this includes a few prophetic websites.

-Conversations...of just about anyone!  Psalm 119:91...all things are your servants

-Street signs

-License plates

-Randomized email or Kindle advertisements

And the list goes on!  Like I said, all things are His servants, and throughout the day, God uses many different things to confirm the messages He's given me.  A WORD OF CAUTION:  Note that this is step 2...I recommend that you use signs only to confirm the things that God has already spoken to you in step 1.  Digging into signs by itself is dangerous stuff, because there is always spiritual warfare going on.  But praise Jesus that greater is He that is in us, than he who is in the world!  We need to be walking in the Spirit to receive unadulterated messages from our Lord, and you will find that God gives you many confirming signs when you're right in the center of His will.  I like to think of step 2 as icing on the cake.

Step 3.  Write down the vision.  This is the simple one.  Based on Habakkuk 2:2, this calls for writing down the specific things God's telling you through steps 1 and 2 (ie, the vision), and making it plain for yourself.  By keeping a journal of Gods rhema word, you can document the works of God in your own life and the lives of others.  Over time, your journals are an excellent tool to build your own faith, and they can also be a great testimony to others.  Consistent journaling is important...that is, if you want your life to be guided by the One who has all wisdom, power and love!  

So, these are the three steps that the Lord has given to me to receive, confirm, and document His rhema word.  There are so many ways God can speak, so ask God to speak to you in a way you can perceive, and look for the Holy Spirit to confirm to you the things of our Lord Jesus.

Satisfaction with God

This morning I felt God say, "Be satisfied with Me".

He was impressing on me the value of waiting on Him for revelation, and more than that, being content in His presence.  David was satisfied with God's presence as with the "richest of foods" and asked the Lord, "where can I go from your Spirit".  God wants to take us all to that place.

When we get distracted by worldly things, we lose our desperation for God and His power and love in our lives.  I always feel the need to dig deeper into the miracle of salvation, in order to understand just what our Lord has done for us in His goodness.

Why I started this Blog

I started this blog to tell of God's love.

I'd like to share with fellow believers the things that the Lord has shared with me.

I want to share about His desire for us, His calling for our lives, and the many ways He communicates with us.

I want people to understand the revelation of Christ in us, the hope of glory.

So, I'm devoting this blog to His purposes, and to revealing the truths that He's sharing with me.  I hope the things I write will be edifying and uplifting to the body.

With that in mind, I'll be posting at least once each day, Lord willing.  I hope to capture the themes that God is showing me, and I hope these messages encourage everyone who reads them.  I also want to include testimonies from everyday life, whether they include miracles, encouragement, or even a demonstration of God's grace in the midst of struggles.

Most posts will probably follow a set pattern, based on the ways God speaks to me.  That's a post for another day, but in that post I'll describe the intricacies of His voice and how I follow Him.   The Lord typically gives me a short "Word" each morning, which is then confirmed by bible verses, the words of others, and apparently coincidental happenings.  Like I said, I'll cover this in more deeply in a future post.

With these things said, I hope you're blessed by My blog.  If you have any advice or encouragement for me, I would love to here it.  I owe much of my spiritual progress to the wisdom of older and more seasoned Christians.  

Elevated Foundations

Today the Lord spoke to me in the morning, saying,

"I am dismantling the old creations and bringing in new, elevated foundations."

He gave me a vision of a wooden ladder being cut down, and a newer and larger metal ladder being set up in its place.  Both ladders were placed on a rock slab, like something out of a quarry.  This, to me, symbolizes my foundation in Christ, and the birthplace of my faith.  A few days ago I read Isaiah 51:1...

"Listen to me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the LORD: look to the rock from where you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from where you are dig." (AKJV)

I believe the Lord wants to show us how to be constantly uplifted, a place where we can fully obey Jesus when he says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled".  Rather, we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  This is something that I know I can struggle with.  

There are spiritual tools, spiritual weapons, that He's been prompting me to use recently.  Of course, The Bible tells us to put on the full armor of God.  But a recurring warfare theme for me personally in the past few months has been to continually praise Him.  The farther along you get with the Lord, the more at risk you become to opposing forces...but praise Him that He provides weaponry that truly allows us to be more than conquerors!  

So, how to stay uplifted, how to best dwell in the shelter of the Most High? Here are a few strategies that have helped me out:

-Above all, praise Him!  Make time for this...as you progress, you'll find that even raising your hands and thanking Jesus for a few seconds takes your right into the Spirit!  It's a wonderful place to be.

-Sing and verbally worship.  Surround yourself with worshipful music, and sing along.  Pray in the Spirit, sing in the Spirit.

-Intentional discussion with other believers.  Confess your sins to one another, so that you may be healed...

-Prayer, dependent prayer.  Lean on Him, and intentionally ask Him to allow you to stay in His presence.  I remember a while ago, the Lord told me quite clearly, "If you can't feel me, something's up."  It takes time, but with humility, you can come to a place where all you want to do is clings to His presence.  It takes a pure heart and pure actions to stay in this place, but praise God that His grace enables us to remain there!

That's it for today.  I'm committing to a post each day, on whatever theme the Lord directs me to.  My goal is to provide fellow Christians inspiration to go deeper into the Glory of God.  Stay tuned for more posts, if you feel compelled!