Video Journal: Visions and Fruit

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls"

Jeremiah 6:16

God has given us as Christians lots of ways to receive direction from Him. He allows us to know the unknowable so that we can confidently walk along that ancient path.

The Holy Spirit's been giving increased guidance through visions recently.  There's a measure of foresight He reveals so that we can walk how He wants us to.  It's called the spirit of prophecy! (Revelations 19:10)  God's foresight--what He shows us--is always given to bring us closer to Jesus.

So, here's some recent stuff the LORD's been doing....enjoy the high quality video! (well, I thought it was uploaded in HD...oh well)

“In the last days” God said, “I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams.”

Joel 2:28

Strength in Weakness

God wants us to be strong.  He wants us to be bold, courageous, and competent in the things that He's called us to do.  He wants us to live life empowered by Him!  And yesterday, the Lord spoke to me...and He told me to be strong:

"Be strong in everything you do, and give thanks to Me always..."

Simple stuff, yet what an effect it had on me.  This wasn't an in-depth word, but it impacted me deeply. What encouragement; what direction!  God knows how to hit you where it hurts--in a good way!

First, Some Backdrop...

To tell you the truth, I have not felt that strong recently.  I wake up tired and go to bed tired.  I walk around tired, at least more often than I'd like to.  I'm in bad shape, compared to what what I was like as a cyclist years ago.  Satan tries to get a doubt in...he tries to tell me I have chronic fatigue or some immune problems.  What a lie!  Nonetheless, I feel it, and the Lord has not yet allowed me to stay in perfect health.

And enough about me.... Vanessa has been tired for eight months.  She's been very tired, with some sort of virus.  God hasn't healed her.  I've prayed for her, we've prayed for her, other healing evangelists have prayed for her.  It doesn't make a difference.  You can't escape God's will!  And God's will for her, right now, is to be a 'Job'. *

See, even with her illness, God is pleased.  Even with her fatigue, God is using her.  Many people she's prayed for in the last 8 months time have been healed.  Some have even been healed of chronic fatigue.  God is pleased, and our trials don't stop His power from flowing through us.  God is pleased,  and He's given us these treasures in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7)!

What God Meant in What He Said

Anyways, when God said "be strong", He meant spiritually strong, yes--but He also meant it physically.  The two are related!  In this case, the spiritual comes first.  We have our minds renewed.  And then we are transformed (Romans 12:2), even transformed in our physical bodies, because the joy of the Lord leads  to strength (Nehemiah 8:10)!

No matter how weak we are, if we turn to Him, we will find reserves of strength.  We will find all surpassing power.  We will find justification and empowerment to carry out His will.  With God, we can't stay weak for very long!  We may be tired for a day, we may be tired for a week, we may be tired for a year.  But deliverance will come.  We need to stay zealous, then--God's will is for us to come through!  God's will is to subject us to no more than 'momentary affliction' (2 Corinthians 4:17). We need to know that God will not test us beyond what we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).  We need to hold onto our hope--the hope He's given us.

"Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."      

2 Corinthians 12:9-10






*I know that this is a controversial topic...we'll make a blog post on it soon!  

Why Healing May not Come

I've been thinking about making this post for a while now.  In the future, I'll make more elaborate posts on barriers to healing, with explanations for each reason.  But for now, let's look at a shorter outline.

Sometimes healing doesn't come, and I feel God wants us to receive a revelation as to why.  If healing is God's will, then we need to accept that every block and obstacle to full healing has a reason and/ or root behind it.  We need to realize that healing is God's reality.  Good health is God's reality and His will for all of us--eventually.

He said, "If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you."

Here we can see many keys, or conditions, to healing. Remember that so many of God's promises are conditional.  Health and healing is conditional! Blessings and healings may not rest on us if we are not meeting God's conditions. And three conditions  are listed in the above verse:

Blockages to Healing:

1)  Not listening to God's voice

2)  Not doing what is right in God's sight

3)  Not obeying God's commands and decrees

Now, if we do not walk in obedience, healing may not come!  But God is so gracious--He allows us to come to repentance.  He allows us to allow Him to make all things new.  Repentance is the way that we close the door to sickness brought about by sin.  If our sins are forgiven, then it should follow that our diseases are healed.  As soon as God forgives us, He blots out the above three barriers.  But if we do not repent, that will also become a blockage.  The above three reasons can be summed up in one--we need to repent and be converted:

4)  We are unrepentant

Some of the other reasons that healing may not manifest are more complex.  Sometimes healing is a puzzle!  Sometimes there's a web to undo.  Like I said, I'll elaborate in a future post.  I hope this shorter outline still gives insight and keys to healing that may have been overlooked:

5)  We are harboring unforgiveness towards others

6)  We are harboring unforgiveness towards God

These two reasons above require posts of themselves.  Someday...hopefully soon!

7)  We are under a generational curse

8)  We are under a relational curse

9)  We are under an internal (inner vow) curse

These curses relate to familiar spirits and/ or the words that we ourselves--or even those close to us--speak.  Words are powerful!  The above three reasons may be grouped together as different kinds of bitter roots. Thankfully, God's Word trumps all others.  And in Jesus, any familial spirit of curse can be broken off and cast out.

10)  We have not driven out a specific (bad) spirit

11)  We have not driven out an oppressive demon

12)  We have not driven out a possessive demon 

More future posts here.  I don't have that much experience with casting out demons, though I have been used by God for that a few times.  Keep in mind that spirits and demons are different, and oppression is not the same as possession.

13)  We are not coming to knowledge of the truth

14)  God wants to teach us something

Now, the above two reasons are less serious--so they will probably lead to less serious affliction.  I trust that God won't give me cancer just because He wants me to learn trust.  That's not the god I know, nor is it a biblical portrayal of God.  Nonetheless, Christians are still perishing for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

15)  God is forming a testimony for the future

16)  God has given us a thorn in the flesh

Like I said at the start of the post, it is God's will to heal us--eventually.  He may want us to develop a testimony first.  Remember that Paul said that he was in chains for the sake of the gospel. In the same way, God may wait to come in for our healing until just the right time.  Affliction + character development + healing = Glory to God.

I want to be careful with this last reason.  I never want to assume somebody has a physical thorn. Often Christians will refer to something as their thorn, when that is not at all the reason for their affliction.   This last reason is probably the most uncommon one.  Unfortunately, it's become a scapegoat for some different reason for sickness--like unrepentance, habitual sin, and so on.  I only list it because it's in the Word.  And more often than not, I think thorns are spiritual problems, not physical ones.

17)  The person being prayed for doesn't have faith

Now, a person does not need perfect faith in order to be healed.  Many people are very surprised after they realize they are healed--if they had perfect faith, that wouldn't be the case, as they would just be expecting it!  So faith is not always a limiter.  However, the less faith a person has, the harder it is to see them immediately healed.  There are exceptions to this, but I feel that it's a good general rule.   The faith of the person praying can overcome the unbelief of the person being prayed over.  This is especially true if the one praying has the gift of faith--in that case, it's most likely the openness of the one receiving prayer that counts.