The Gift of Faith in Prayer, Part Four

How do we walk in the gift of faith? Well...

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"                          Romans 10:17

"...Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise."                John 5:19

"For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak."                                                 John 12:49

In order to operate in the gift of faith, we need to draw closer to the Lord.  We need to hear His will and act only based on that.  This is a trust thing!

God wants us to operate in the creative gift of faith.  This is a place of prophetic inspiration and declaration.  We pray according to His will on heaven, in order to see His will happen on earth!

Video Journal: Interceding by Faith

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up"  Luke 18:1

"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints"                                      Ephesians 6:18

When we pray in the Spirit, we will have the spiritual realm in view.  God will give us insight and show us how to pray.  The insight God gives will make us on the alert.  The insight God gives will be exciting.

God will give you the mind of Christ.  He'll show you how to pray and intercede by faith, so you can partner with Him on behalf of others.

Realize that everything God says can be accepted by faith.  Everything God does needs to be accepted by faith! You can think of faith as the force that opens the door to the next thing God has for you.

If intercession isn't a privilege, then you're not doing it from a heavenly perspective, nor by faith.  It wasn't fun for me for the longest time.  Intercession becomes a joy when you're praying for others and feeling God's love for them.  That's what it's all about!

When you're interceding with God, it's no longer a heavy burden.  Praying by faith produces tangible results.  If we as believers will just pray according to God's heart, then we'll see the faith of God shift things!  We'll see His hand line things up.  And most importantly, we'll see things on earth become as they are in Heaven.  We'll see the Kingdom of God surround our lives and situations.

Dream: The Importance of Feast Days

"And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever."         Genesis 12:17

"And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."    Exodus 12:14

I've been thinking about Old Testament regulations a lot recently.  Vanessa and I feel that it's been the Lord who's brought such things to our attention.

See, when God is speaking to Moses about feast days, celebration days, etc...He tends to use the words, 'for ever'.... quite frequently.  And I think there's significance to that.  God didn't say to keep such rules until His Son came.  He could have specified that, but He didn't.  There are many such Old Testament commemorations that God instructed His children to keep, for ever.

"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

Matthew 5:18

Even a few things Jesus said have made us think.  Heaven and earth have not yet passed away!  Though I don't have even close to a full revelation on all this, yet, I feel that some of aspects of the Word here just can't be discounted.  To summarize, I'd say that the Law is good (1 Timothy 1:8).

And I had a dream last week that really convicted me.  You know when you have a dream that you just know is from God?  This was one of those.  So, in the dream, I was being shown a pamphlet full of Heavenly revelation.  And I was reading a page that was titled something along the lines of, "The Importance of Feast Days".

On this page, there were several bullet points, and under each bullet there was an awesome description of why God ordained dates and calendars to be the way they were.  As I read more and more, the amount of wisdom and revelation coming through was astonishing.  I realized what God intended when He made things the way He did.  And I read all about the specific reasons for the feast days He established.  Reading through that page was pretty amazing, and I had God's heart for the ancient Israelites conveyed to me in a way that's hard to describe.  I realized in a new way just how meticulous, thoughtful, and wise God is in the things that He does--the things that He does for our own good.

I woke up the next morning remembering the dream, but having completely forgotten the specifics of what I'd read.  And I think that's what God intended.  Some of the stuff I read probably wasn't meant to be made known!  But this dream convicted me of the tremendous physical and spiritual benefits that will come by following God's calendar of religious feasts and fasts.

Like I said, I don't have all this figured out yet.  But I feel like there is something to it.  For now, I'll liken keeping the Old Testament Law--whether by observing feast days, religious fasts, the Sabbath, or dietary rules--to icing on the cake, so to speak.  The Law cannot save you!  Nonetheless, I think it pleases God if His children show a conviction for the Law.  I think it pleases Him if we show our interest and appreciate His workings of the past.   I think that the ancient Hebrew calendar, which God first made for His chosen people and continues to work by, is worth researching.

All About Visions: Intercession

So, this marks the last post (for now!) in this "All About Visions" series.  And I wanted to describe one of the most wonderful and common ways that the Lord gives visions.  Often, we receive a vision for intercession!  We receive from God a vision and it's message so we know how to specifically intercede.

Intercession is wonderful even if we don't know what to pray for.  God is still pleased!  However, Spirit led intercession is the best.  We pray through the struggles of others, as God reveals to us just what those are.  And one of the easiest ways for us to conceptualize Him--His thoughts towards whoever we're praying for-- is through a vision, sent by Him!

So, we pray through another's trials for ourselves, until we have attained to spiritual rest. When you're in the Spirit, you just know when it's time to fight.  Conversely, you also just know when the faith comes in and the battle's already been won.  Sometimes God moves into victory very quickly!  So it's important to be attuned to His heart.

Let's say you're praying for your friend.  And you see a turtle swimming for part of your prayer. Visions for intercession, like always, fall into several (broad) categories.  Also like always, they may have more than one meaning:

1) There is some Christian symbolism here--you're friend is the sea turtle

2) There is some Christian symbolism here--someone in your friend's life is the sea turtle

3) This is a literal vision--maybe your friend loves turtles, or just lost their pet turtle

OK, most visions are not meant to be interpreted physically or literally--especially when it comes to intercession.  But since God gave the vision, we need to look back to Him for the interpretation, also. God may give a vision and speak a word, but He may just give the vision, because He wants you to ask Him to speak a word.  This is where relationship with the Holy Spirit comes in.  We need an accurate inner witness.  Anyways...

So...vision, interpretation, now what?  Well, then we can pray!  Based on what God revealed, there will be things to pray for, or things to pray against, or things to pray into.  There may be things to simply thank God for--things that He's already done.  There are many variables here, but He can lead during this also! All we need to do is pray according to His will.  All we need to do is ask Him to bring Heaven down onto earth.

With the Lord's leading--with visions and insights from Him--intercession can be done from a point of victory.  We don't have to struggle in the flesh!  We don't (necessarily) need to go on and on with long, general prayers.  We don't need to fight or worry, thinking that our mind is going to wander. We can be in a place of spiritual rest, knowing that all we need to do is repeat after God.

Now, there's many places for long prayers, but what I am saying is that one minute with God's passion is often enough.  One minute under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit--one minute of targeted intercession--is enough.  You'll already feel the victory!  You'll feel the heart of God stirring up to carry out justice.

Intercession is meant to be a joy, not a burden.  For me, it used to be a burden--until I yielded to God's love for another!  That's when He made His love my own.  And that's when passion came. That's when visions and revelations came!  And that's when I knew what it pleased Him to pray for.

Snapshot: Having God's Heart

Last week the Lord showed me a softened heart and explained:

"I am taking your heart and making it Mine. You are Mine, so take heart in the truth.  Today, I am sending you to deliver truth"

Isn't that what it's about?  When we have acquired God's heart, then we can deliver His truth.  And we can also 'take heart'--get it?--in knowing that we have received from Him.  We have received from Him a truth that delivers and is delivered among the darkness of this world.  

"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."           Hebrews 10:22

"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart."        2 Cor. 4:1

"Guide me in your truth and teach me; for you are the God who delivers me....."             Psalm 25:5

Snapshot: Number 416

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."                         John 3:8

Jesus has already described for us what it looks like to be led.  He has already showed us what we can expect after we have been born again.  We will be like the wind...we are like the wind already.

And I've had John 3:8 reverberating within my mind for a while now.  Thanks God!  But what does it all mean?  Well, it means that we are constantly pushed, constantly guided, constantly driven by the passion of God.  We are guided by His Spirit as if by a strong, powerful wind.  We are guided by His Spirit, so we can walk out the things He's already planned for us (Ephesians 2:10), and in doing so, keep in step with Him.

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us also stay in step with the Spirit"             Galatians 5:25

Within God's heart is all the passion in the world.  And He's given each of us a measure of this passion that we can play out in our lives.  There are avenues awaiting us where we have the opportunity to shine for Him.  And there are different people, different situations, and different gifts awaiting us so that we can bless and be blessed.  And God wants us to walk closely to Him, so we can know what our role is in each and every situation.  It takes friendship with the Holy Spirit.

Each moment is different, dynamic, and changing. That's why the Holy Spirit's prompting is likened to the wind--it is UNPREDICTABLE!  So we really need to keep in step, and be ready no matter the season (2 Timothy 4:2).  

We need to be led moment by moment, which is wonderful!  However, if we are being led moment by moment, then we might seem kind of out there. We might seem unstable or flighty.  People probably won't know where we are going with our lives. We might be accused of using bad planning or not planning out anything at all!   Good!  Isn't that how Jesus described "everyone born of the Spirit"?  

God has a plan for each of us that is amazing.  It is complex, intricate, and intimately planned out. And we can't grasp this--not with human logic, anyways. Now, people can do a lot of good works on their own effort.  And Christians can do a lot of good things for God.  But there is only one way to be excellent, and that is to yield to God's PERFECT plan for our lives.

THE NUMBER 416...

I've been having fun with an online Hebrew and Greek Lexicon recently--Eliyah.com.  It's an excellent training opportunity to hear God's voice, in that the Lord can easily speak to me through specific numbers or other languages.  Then I can translate the parable, the message, with the help of the Lexicon!

So a few mornings ago, the Lord led me to the number 416, and prompted me to translate it into Greek.  (Hebrew and Greek words actually correspond with numbers).  So, I followed His leadings, and saw that #416 meant, "to toss or drive with the wind".  Hey, that goes along with how He'd been speaking John 3:8 so much recently!  Wonderful!  Let's be tossed and driven by the winds of change--the sculpting and leading winds of the Holy Spirit.

Let's be driven by passion and then moved with compassion.  Let's have only a light -- the light of the Lord -- to guide our path.  Then we will be presented with divine alignments and opportunities.  Then we will take on Jesus' dynamic nature.  Then we will be prepared for every good work.  Then we will experience life to the fullest.

And all of this happens out of a place of intimacy.  God moves closer before He moves you.  He leads your heart before He leads your lifestyle.  But He desires to go all the way!  Let's be led and attuned, not matter what the cost.  Let's remember the Lord (continually), and in doing so, walk into all His benefits (Psalms 103:2).  We need to be in tune with the heart of the Father, and make our lives a reflection of that.

Hope For The Future, Part One: Godly Confidence

"You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways. When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, And the humble person He will save. 
He will deliver one who is not innocent, And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."                                               Job 22:28-30

Love hopes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7).  Even when we are cast down, we can be still have hope.  We can be strong and hope in the Lord (Psalms 31:24).  And hope is what makes us confident IN GOD.  Hope is what allows us to expect good things of Him and good things of the life He's given.

That is godly confidence.   If we are in His Love, we can love the idea of our future.  We can love the idea of a new day tomorrow.  We can look at every new opportunity and every new day with godly confidence.  We can be confident that God will save every part of our lives as we take on humility.

We may get cast down--Job did.  But let's put our hope in His faithfulness!  We may enter into a trial, and then God comes in and allows our words to change our reality.  He allows us to come up before His throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16).  He allows us to ask Him, be led by Him, and then speak what He speaks and want what He wants.  He allows us to speak the future into existence.  He will partner with us in the future, and His light will shine on our ways.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."                             Philippians 1:5

Paul was full of godly confidence.  So was King David.  Confidence is knowing that God has saved us, protected us, and perfected us.  Confidence is trusting God's Word.  And His Word says that He will perfect that which concerns us (Psalm 138:8)  That's something to hope in!  That's something to be confident about.  Confidence comes from knowing that prayer changes things--once again, that God allows our words of faith and humility to move His hand.  Confidence is knowing what Jesus did for us, the fullness of eternal life that He attained on our behalf.   

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                      Jeremiah 29:11 

Most of of all, confidence is knowing the character of God.  He is gracious.  He is forgiving.  He is faithful to hear us. He has wonderful plans for us.  He is so full of love!

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."                                             1 John 5:14

New Year, New You: Focus on God

As believers, we need to focus our efforts on God.  We need to live for His Glory.   We need to live for what He stands for.  We need to be fixated on the Kingdom.

I was seeking the Lord on themes for 2015, and I this is one of the themes He gave me.  I also believe it's the most important.

"But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  Matthew 6:33

Seeking God before our own interests is a command.  And it's been given for our own good! The reality of the Kingdom of Heaven is more fantastic, more important, than anything else we could run after.  The reality of salvation is more important than anything else.  And the possibility of friendship with Jesus is more important than anything else.    So we need to seek the things that matter.  We need to seek His Kingdom before He allows us to find it.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."  Philippians 4:8

When we are seeking Him, our thoughts will reveal it.  We will think about God, Heaven, and how we can accommodate His desires on the earth.  We will naturally follow the advice of James seen above.  We will become pure and go from strength to strength (Psalms 84:7).  We will feel the power of His Victory.  When we focus on Him, we will share in His passions.  We will devote our talents to God, and He will give us the desires of our heart.

Focusing on our Lord will always keep us safe.  Those who put their hope in Him will not be disappointed (Isaiah 49:23).  If we focus on Him, He will deliver us.  Let's look to Him and be saved.  Let's look entirely at Him, and do so in faith.  Let's know that our redeemer lives (Job 19:25).

When we focus on God, we our minds will be renewed.  We will know the Father's heart for our lives, and we will experience the surety of our calling.  We won't be limited by mere religion, putting God in a box, nor will we subscribe to the wisdom of the world.   Instead we will become more and more separated from the world!  And this is a requirement if we are to hear clearly from God.

So let's seek Him first.  Then let's fulfill His commission--the Kingdom and the righteousness will follow.  Let's advance His causes.  Remember that the desire to share  His salvation with the lost  is already in you.  If it's not, then to some extent you have stifled the Holy Spirit.  Don't live in old desires and selfishness any more!  Instead look to Him and obey as He takes you to the fullness of salvation.  Keep seeking as He saves every single aspect of your life!  Thank Him for His goodness, and believe that He is worth focusing on.

Confirmed:  Right after writing this post, a commercial for power tools came on.  It was quickened to me to have 'True value behind every project'.  This takes focusing on Him and a pure heart.

Living in Intercession

Like I said in the last blog, compassion will lead us to be emotional.  Compassion ought to move us to tears.  Do you want people to know that you are constantly being filled with Love?  Then act accordingly and yield yourself to God's emotions.  And God's emotions may just require some tears!  Let's be like our Savior and not be afraid of crying.

If we come to feel what God feels, then we can walk in a place of almost constant intercession.  To use a KJB term, we can be "longsuffering" (see this link for more info) on behalf of others as God shows us His heart for them.  We can bear the burdens of others as the Spirit leads.  Glory to God!  If we have softened hearts, then God can and will take us to His watchtower (Habakkuk 2:1) and subject us to His emotions.

"Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies."  Romans 8:23

If we are walking in the Spirit we will be subjected and transformed by His character.  We will feel a deep groaning as we are called to carry out our salvation, and the groaning of His Spirit will only get stronger as we do the Lord's work on behalf of others.  Feeling God's heart towards His creation is the peak of intercession.  There's something wrong if you can't cry about that.

"For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."  Romans 8:22

We see this kind of intercession in all of the Old Testament prophets.  They cried out on behalf of Israel, God's chosen.  They cried out for forgiveness for the sins of their nation--sins they themselves had already been separated from.  They bore the burdens of others.  They loved because He loved them first.  They were grieved about the sins of their nation because He was grieved first.  These prophets were taught by God to live in intercession.

"The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD on me."  Ezekiel 3:14

Sometimes the Spirit leads you to a hard place.  Sometimes exposure to God's feelings is hard to bear.  Let's commit to Him regardless.  Let's submit to His will.  Ezekiel saw God's heart towards the idolatry that was happening in Israel in that time.  And it didn't bring joy!  It didn't bring upliftment!  It took the STRENGTH of God's hand to steer Ezekiel into such a thankless call to intercede.

But Love endures all things.  God will not give us more than we can handle, and He will not expose us to more sorrow than we can bear.  God's love makes life worth living, and it makes things worth doing.  If we are taken captive by the Holy Ghost then we can be restful even in the hardest of situations.  We can be living to intercede for anyone who God's Spirit lays on our hearts.


"Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."  Hebrews 7:25

This is what Jesus does for us.  Is it too much that we should pray in the same way for others?  Jesus LIVES to intercede.  Can we be prompted by the same Holy Spirit to do the same thing?  Let's obey the Word and pray for others  (see Ephesians 6:18).  But it starts with Love.  It starts with taking up another's burden and being moved with compassion.

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"  Matthew 25:40

When we see someone in the grocery store, we should see Jesus in them.  And we should love the thought of Jesus being in them.  We should look at them and say, "look at that precious person".  We should be consumed with, and then moved by, His passion stirring up within us.  Then we should have faith that God will specifically instruct us on how to best pray for them, talk to them, or minister to them.  After all, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through Love (Galatians 5:6).

If we are not living this way and having this Love for others, we are not being fully captivated by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit will give us more and more love for the rest of God's creation.  We will see what groaning talked about in Romans 8 really means.  Yielding to His Love is critical!  I think that's why Jesus uses our treatment of others as a means of judgement in Matthew 25.  All those who God calls are given the Holy Spirit.  But if we do not yield to this beautiful gift living inside us, what final reward can we expect from our Lord?

The reality is that few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).  Few are willing to say, "Yes!" to any leading of the Holy Spirit, but these are the ones who will pass the test.  These are the ones who are judged worthy of the gift that many more have received.  This may all sound pretty stern, and I think it is, too.  But the good news is that it's not too late!  It's not too late to change!  Let's surrender!  We have already received EVERY spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)!  We already have access to the Kingdom.

"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."  Luke 17:21

This is the truth.  Will we stand firm?  Love, strength, joy, peace and resurrection power are already within us.  Let's allow them to shine through.  Let's not stifle the Spirit.  Instead, let's commit to being a light on a hill.  It all begins with humility and an overflow of God's Love.  This Love is divine, it is perfect, and it goes completely against the matrix set up by this world.  Let's become filled up with His Glory.  Let's become anointed to show others the character of Jesus.  Let's live to be used by Him.

Snapshot: When We Only Get Crumbs

The amplified version of John 1:16 says this:

For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.

It's almost too easy.  God lavishes us with gifts!  And He wants to be this generous with us.  The problem begins when we start to take Him for granted.  When we start to despise the "day of small things".  When we stop intently seeking Him because He's blessed us so much.  There is so much lost in spiritual plateau.

"When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me."  Hosea 13:6

Let's not get to this point.  Let's stay hungry for God.  Let's keep searching, keep seeking.  Today the Lord is saying, "Seek my Face".  Will you respond in obedience?

There comes a time when some will fall prey to distractions.  I've done it.  There comes a time when the enemy gets a stronghold and we lose our focus on Jesus.  What does God do then?  He alerts us!  He makes known to us our mistake, and withholds Himself just long enough for us to realize our own desperation for Him.  So we start to miss Him, so to speak, and then we begin seeking Him again.

We may start seeking Him, though, and only find crumbs (see Matthew 15:23 and on).  We may only receive spiritual milk.  We may not feel His presence like we did in the past.  And we may not have our hope fully restored--not right away at least.  There is a time for begging and wrestling with God.  The correct response is to be desperate for God

"Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me."  Psalm 142:6

Let's beg for His mercy, if we need to.  Let's plead for more than crumbs.  We have already entered into the fullness of God in Christ, but let's beg Him to allow us to live in this knowledge.  Even though we already have every spiritual blessing, let's eagerly desire the spiritual gifts that He holds out for our taking (1 Corinthians 12:31).  It is by faith in Jesus that we take hold of all of our heavenly inheritance. It is by faith in His unveiled character that we realize we can wrestle with God.

Confirmed:  Yesterday I was listening to Christian radio and I overheard the story of the Canaanite women who insisted that the Lord at least give her the crumbs.  Didn't she have great faith?  It was this faith that pleased God.  When we have faith, we can ask for more.  We don't have to settle for just crumbs!  If we are reckless in our trust towards Him, it will be done as we wish.  Wigglesworth said, "Asking is receiving."  Glory to God!

Confirmed:  I was talking with Vanessa today about wrestling with God, and when it is appropriate to really plead with Him.  She, too, had heard the story of the Canaanite women yesterday, except she read it in the Word.

Let's come to God with a boldness and empowerment by His Spirit.  Let's come with pure hearts and trust that He has allowed us to stand before Him.  He has made us clean!  He wants our future to be prosperous, and He wants us to be fed with the finest of spiritual foods.  Let's believe what Jude 1:24 says.  Let's believe it and act on it!

"Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault."

Snapshot: The Rocket

A few days ago I was organizing copper pipes, and I decided to array them into the shape of a rocket ship.  This may not seem significant...but God is willing to use symbolism in our lives if we will stay sensitive to His leadings.  And if we keep Him in our awareness, He often portrays our missions to us in symbolic ways.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!"  Romans 11:33

God allows us to learn and partake of His wisdom, if we are faithful and desire Him most of all. Though His judgement is unsearchable through human effort, the Spirit of God reveals to us a portion of His ways.  God wants us to learn from Him.  He wants to show us the deep things of Himself and give us supernatural riches--His wisdom and knowledge!  It is only by His Spirit that this can happen.  Neither human might nor power can pull us any closer to God or His ways (Zechariah 4:6).  But praise the Lord that we have received the Spirit of truth, who works for us to reveal His heavenly riches.


"However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him--these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God."  1 Corinthians 2:9-10

The Holy Spirit searches ALL things.  And He teaches us ALL truth.  Yet this same passage says that the human mind cannot conceive God's ways.  His paths are beyond tracing out!  What can we do with this ?  God has the solution--He uses symbolism to translate His thoughts into our hearts and minds.  From Ezekiel's strange demonstrations to Jesus' parables, God has always tried to capture our hearts with symbolism that allows us a conceptualize a portion of what He feels.

Symbolic actions, no matter how insignificant or impractical they may seem, are a perfect way to translate God's ways into human forms.  Now, back to the story of the copper rocket.  I felt led--by His Spirit--to arrange these copper pipes into the shape a rocket think.  I though, hmm, maybe this is a God thing.  It usually is, and why not?  We who are near God need to acknowledge His power (Isaiah 33:13).

Confirmed: I thought no more of this until today.  I went onto the Elijahlist website, and saw the latest article.  It was all about spiritual acceleration, as symbolized by a rocket ship.  God is so creative.  I felt this Elijahlist article--here it is--really testify to a number of things in my life, including my mission for this blog and a future missions trip Vanessa and I are getting guidance for.  Glory to God for allowing anyone who desires to see in part.

Confirmed:  Today Vanessa and I were talking, and all of a sudden she starts singing me "Space Odyssey" by David Bowie.  This song is about an astronaut aboard a rocket ship, who is preparing for takeoff.   She was unaware of the latest Elijahlist article.  So I pulled up the webpage and told her the copper rocket story...and the pieces all came together.

God is doing a major work of spiritual acceleration among many believers.  And why wouldn't He?  If God had His way, He will lead us higher and higher.  Let's prepare our hearts and set our houses in order (Isaiah 38:1) and welcome in the wonderful calling of God.  Let's be taken up by Him into the Kingdom, and let's leave worldly desires behind as we press on towards the goal.

Confirmed 12/12:  Yesterday I began seeing Kindle adds about acceleration.  They are advertising phone coverage, but the theme of acceleration has clear spiritual meanings for me.  The message continues...

Snapshot: A Heavenly House

Yesterday I was in church and there was a scripture reading on John 14.  Of course, this was made more personal for me because the disciple Thomas was talking with Jesus in that passage.  Thomas was concerned--He wanted to stay with Jesus, when Jesus was talking about a future paradigm with which the disciples felt very much out of concern.  But Jesus doesn't want our hearts to be troubled.

So God began laying some specific things on my heart.  He began reminding me about the house He's prepared for me in heaven.  He's prepared for us a holy house, a glorious house.  And He showed me I can get more than a foretaste now.

Can this life get better?  It can.

Will this life get better?  It will, but we need to aggressively seek the Lord.

He will not punish us for coming to close.  As long as we come through faith in Jesus, we don't need to be afraid.  We can live under an open heaven RIGHT NOW.  We can experience a taste of that Day today.  We can have our spirits set in high places at this very moment.

God wants to reward us.  He wants to lavish His love upon us.  He wants us to be full of Glory.  He wants us to count the cost for this, then gladly obey all.  You'd be surprised about just how much God wants to give to us.  I've been, at least.  No eye has seen, and no ear has heard, exactly how great our riches in Him will be (1 Corinthians 2:9).  And we can start receiving this now.  But we have to really want it.  We have to have Jesus as our mediator.  We have to follow Him all the way to the Father, and with every surmounted obstacle He will strip our sinful flesh away.


Confirmed:  Today I overheard a scripture lesson on Christian radio on John 14.  John 14:2 says, "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?"  Jesus wants to take us to the very same place that He is going.

Snapshot: When He gives us Our Desires

Two days ago I was reading Heidi Baker's newest book, "Birthing the Miraculous".  I came to a section where the Lord granted Heidi the desires of her heart.  For her, this was the nation of Mozambique.  Wow...what a glorious calling.  But what a cost to count, too, as I went on reading.  Are you willing to count it?  Anyways...

So, this inspired me to ask a similar thing to God.  Yesterday during my morning time I felt like He began answering.  I asked the Lord for what I wanted.  But more than that, I asked Him for the specific desires that He had put on my heart--I asked Him to manifest what He Himself had taught me (see Psalm 119:102 or the previous post).  I felt like He was saying yes, and in my mind I went into a vision of my desired calling being carried out.  Glory to God!

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires."  Psalm 37:4

What came first, the chicken or the egg?  He gives us His Spirit first, then we delight in Him.  When we delight in Him, He gives us His desires, with a tailoring to our specific calling.  If we keep our delight in Him, He will carry out these new desires.  If you delight in the Lord, if you really truly do it, your life will take on a whole new characteristic.  Now God doesn't give us just anything.  We will not receive this Word if we ask selfishly (see James 4:3).  We will receive  our desires, only if our heart is pure before Him.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."  Isaiah 36:26

We cannot ask out of the desires of our flesh, but only out of a soft heart of flesh.  We cannot ask God with one foot in the world and one in His presence.  We can ask as the Spirit prompts us.  If we ask out of selfish ambition, we risk believing in vain.  Allow God to soften your heart, and then you can ask in faith.  This is what we all need to do.

"...The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated those He has invited."  Zephaniah 1:7

I was lead to this verse yesterday after that experience.  I felt it was a type of exhorting confirmation.  What is the sacrifice?  Firstly, Jesus, but then comes our part--our lives for His desires.  He invites us to sacrifice all, and in return He consecrates us and makes us His own.  He invites us to partake of His Word.  He invites us, but we need to be consecrated as the Word comes to fruition.  Are you willing to be His sacrifice?  If so, Psalm 37:4 is for you.

Here I am, Use me

I began a new God journal a few days ago, on December 1st.    I had just ran out of room in my previous one...God's timing is perfect.  So I started this new journal a few days ago, and was wondering if God would give me a theme to put on the first page of it.  He started doing this recently, as a way to assign a message and task to that particular journal and accompanying season.  For this new journal, He gave me a focused message.  I was guided to write a pledge to Him:

"I will answer and say,

'Whatever You want to tell me, whatever you feel you want to do,

it doesn't matter.'"

This commitment came from a quickened conversation that I was hearing in the car.  The Lord was fast to confirm this.  I began reading Heidi Baker's recent book, and came to a segment that was strikingly similar to what I'd just received.

Confirmed: Heidi Baker book:  "He will call you to go and do whatever He wants".

Confirmed:  Just after reading, Mom said to Vanessa, "You can call him, that's great".  She wasn't actually talking about God at the time, but to me the message was clear.

Confirmed:  Later that same day, Vanessa wrote a note for herself that instructed her too serve others.   It said, "I'm here, and willing to do whatever, whenever".  She'd meant this in context to service, but I knew it was a confirmation of the type of things I needed to give to God.

Here I am, use me (Isaiah 6:8).  I went through a phase where this was  a main prayer of mine.  Now it's resurfacing...God wants to test our willingness.  He wants us to offer our lives to Him.  He wants us to start giving up the pieces of our lives we've stored away for ourselves.  Are we willing to be used and spent for Him?  His heart goes far beyond you and I.  He wants us to have His heart, and then allow it to carry out fully His purposes in our lives.