Prophesying The Word

Prophesying over someone is an interesting thing.  In general, the more faith you have, the more clearly you can receive from the Holy Spirit and give prophecy to someone else (Romans 12:6). General prophetic words are good, and so are specific ones! Yet there is a safer, 'easier' way to prophecy that can sometimes be overlooked.

"Then Yahweh said to me, 'You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.'"  Jeremiah 1:12

The written word of Yahweh stands forever.  It is the most sure word of prophecy (2 Peter 1:19).  It cannot fail, because God Himself is watching over it.

In a sense, the written Word is an example of 'self-fulfilling prophecy'.  Our Heavenly Father fulfills it!  The promises of God are a self-sowing seed.  They are enough, and they will bear fruit without any outside human help.  These written promises are the "smallest seeds" that, even without observation or assistance, soon blossom and provide covering for the oppressed (Matthew 13:32).  

Once we've released the Word as prophecy, we've done our job.  We don't have to think about it.  We don't even have to pray about it (although those things are wonderful). This kind of prophetic word is inhabited by the Wind of the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit can take care of things from there.

If we prophecy over someone out of love, just imagine how much more Love the Father has for that person. And how much more eager is He in intending to show it!  He takes it from there. There is a trust activated after we release personal prophecy.  We need to know that God is faithful--more faithful than we are.

This is all something I've been learning.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit will tell me a verse, like "Psalm 33:8".  I don't have that verse memorized, but He does (He's got a better memory, too)!  And whenever He shows you something, it usually pertains to something you're going to right now. 

Prophesying Proverbs 24:4 over someone is a perfect example of this kind of thing.  Whether you prophecy a verse you know, or a verse number you don't know, God is going to back it!  He's the One who brings the important to your remembrance.  He's the One who teaches you how to prophecy, and He's the One who teaches you how to pray.

Who knows, Prov. 24:4 may just be a life verse for that person.  It may guide them in 30 years when they're opening up a Bed and Breakfast.  The important thing is to hear the passion of the Spirit.

Revival: It's Costly

Revival Requires Purity

"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."

Psalm 24:3-5

Revival is a place where we have received the blessing.  We meet the qualifications God has set before us, receive the blessing, and then walk it out.  And to do this, we need clean hands and a pure heart.

Revival Requires Work

"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,…"

Luke 14:27-29

We need to realize that revival requires building a tower.  It requires work and effort, but more than that, it requires yielding to the Holy Spirit and His measure of faith.  It's empowerment by the Holy Spirit that gets the work done.  To be empowered by the Spirit and enjoy life in the Spirit, we need to experience death to ourselves.  That's the cost.  Every time we 'die', we are filled with His word, which is Spirit and Life (John 6:63).  Every time we die to ourselves, we receive a fresh anointing and a fresh empowerment.  And that's what gets the tower built.

Instructions for Revival:

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies...."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-20



Revival Requires Prayer

Here we can receive insight into what gets revival started.  If we are always joyful, if we never stop praying, then we can expect the move of the Spirit to come.  We need to pray it through.  Then, we can expect the beginning of revival. And that's when it's important that we do not stifle Him.  We have to let Him do the work!



Revival Requires Humility

If the Holy Spirit is beginning something, we need to let Him carry it out.  We need to let Him speak and move through any vessel He chooses.  We can't despise the wisdom of another.  We can't despise a prophecy.  Pride and presumption will put an end to revival!  We need to be humble and let the Holy Spirit flow.  We need to speak up when God prompts us, and remain quiet when He doesn't. We need to acknowledge that others are seeing in part (1 Corinthians 13:9), just as we are.  We need to remember that others, too, have paid the price.  We need to remember that all of us are hungry for a move of God, hungry for revival!

There are conditions to revival.  Some may disagree with this, but I believe that there are conditions to meet before God's promises are fulfilled.  God's love is unconditional, but His blessings are not. We need to go up higher and receive the blessing from the Lord.  We need to contend for revival.  It will come if we really, really want it.

Peace Produces Good Fruit

"Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace."                        Psalm 37:37

When we have peace, we have a foundation.  When we are at peace, we realize that our foundation is in Christ! And when we are rooted and grounded in Him, blessings and fruitfulness flow:

Peace produces prosperity (3 John 1:2)

Peace produces health (Jeremiah 33:6)

Peace produces joy (Romans 15:13)

Peace produces good fruit.  Why?  Because the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22).  And if we have love, then we won't have fear or anxiety (1 John 4:18).  If we don't have fear or anxiety, then we will be open to receive from God His peace.

Peace is a force and a flow, and it carries us onwards into the future.  Peace establishes us in the spiritual world as a force of God that cannot be shaken.  He Himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), and He himself makes our path perfect (2 Samuel 22:33)!

And we have peace by relaxing in the Lord.  We have peace by focusing on God.  We have peace by reading and resting in His promises.  When the word becomes flesh, that's when we have peace (John 1:14). And that happened over 2,000 years ago!  So we just need to realize this, and then apply it to our own lives.  When we experience the Spirit of Jesus for ourselves, then we will find a peace that lasts.

Snapshot: Psalm 20:6

While in Church a few weeks ago, the Lord gave me a vision where He scooped me up from where I was at, and lifted me to a higher place of worship.  His right arm, specifically, reached down and brought me up to Himself.  I realized that deliverance had come--God was providing a safe place where I would be free to worship in Spirit and in truth.

The rest of the worship session was fantastic!  I knew God had lifted my head up--I knew He had came down and rescued me.  And then I happened to turn to Psalm 20, verse 6.  But I know it was intended by God:

Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.

Praise God!  For me, that was such a confirmation.  God was reaffirming what He'd first told me through the vision.  He confirmed that He is faithful, that He is powerful.  He confirmed that He gives saving victory to His anointed.

We can always rely on God's promises.  If He had His way, He'd fulfill every single one of them through our lives.  We just need to trust Him!  We just need to meet the conditions--and then focus on Him.

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me."

Psalm 138:7

Mark Four: Sowing a Better Word

Earlier today, the Lord said "Mark 4", and told me to read it.  And so I turned there, and it was the parable of the sower!  And I realized that it was such a word in season. The Lord has led me to start gardening this Spring, in hopes of one day restoring our farm, and so the concept of sowing seeds really resonated.

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn't have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

Mark 4:3-9

SOWING WITH OTHERS

All of us are spiritual farmers.  All of us can sow a seed.  And all of us should--we should all speak the truth in love so that others can hear and believe. All we need to do is lay out God's word in front of others.  The more God draws me near, the more I have a desire to sow the truth among those who have not yet heard it.   And once we share, our work is done--we can rest in the knowing that God will work!  

We need to sow goodness into those who don't yet possess the light.  We need to encourage and exhort.  And we will probably need to rebuke.  But we need to do all of this in love and in the spirit of prophecy.  We need to plant into the minds of the lost and confused good thoughts.  And all of us will feel lost and confused at some point! So we can sow truth into both believers and unbelievers.

Sometimes we may give the truth to others, only to see satan come in and steal that word away from them.  And that's sad--but we need to know that we did what we could, that we pleased God.  We are not accountable for the effects of someone else's shallow or thorny soil--we are just accountable for our own efforts to sow.  Once the Word is sown, it's up to the receiver to humbly accept it (James 1:21).

SOWING WITH OUR WORDS

So we sow seeds among those with less knowledge; among unbelievers and less mature Christians. And that's great!  But we also need to sow good seeds in our own life.  We do this in 3 ways:

1)  We speak life over ourselves 
2)  We speak life over our surroundings and families
3)  We make sure that our soil is good

Remember that the power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).  Let's make positive confessions accordingly!  We can speak life in many ways--by thanking God, by declaring His goodness, by claiming His promises, etc.  Praying in tongues--praying in the Holy Spirit--is also a way of speaking life.  It's a way we can speak life and build ourselves up in our most holy faith (Jude 1:20).

If the seeds sown are good, then we should ensure that our soil is,too.  We are not of the world, so our thoughts, emotions, and words should be sanctified.  We can then walk in humility and accept any seed of truth that might come along.  Anything opposing our belief of the truth needs to be cast down by the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5).  Then we can say something over ourselves or our families--something pure and true--and also be conditioned to believe it.  If we confess and believe, not only are we saved (Romans 10:9), but we will also become more and more fruitful!

SOWING WITH GOD'S WORD

We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).  And we sow into others because He first sowed into us!  We need to let Him sow. by the Word.  We need to accept His truth and accept His reality, because that is when more can be given.  We need to accept all that He has to give us.  This, too, happens in 3 ways.

1)  We receive God's written Word
2)  We receive God's personal (prophetic or specific--rhema) word
3)  We prepare our soil to accept God's power.

Step one is obvious, but it's most important.  There are so many promises in God's Word.  These are the seeds Jesus was referring to!  And many are conditional.  Just like seeds, they will not grow nor become fully manifested unless properly nourished.  So we need to read and believe the Bible, God's written Word.

Step two is also important.  God stills speaks today, so we need to continue to listen.  He gives personal promises.  He speaks mysteries and talks of the future.  He reveals to us great and mighty things, which we otherwise would not know (Jeremiah 33:3).  We need to position ourselves and spend time in the presence of the Most High.  We need to hear His loving, comforting voice for ourselves.

Step three--we need to get ourselves out of the way!  God dreams big, and I think it's very biblical to say that He also likes to show off.  Don't be surprised if He says something daunting.  Don't be surprised if a personal promise from God seems unlikely--or even impossible.  On your own effort, it is!  The solution starts with a transformation of our own thoughts into His, as we take on God's mind.  We need to have enough faith and enough trust to believe God for something great.  We need to do away with old ways of thinking and old strongholds, in order for our soil to be a nourishing climate for God's rhema words.  In short, we need to acquire from the Lord new wine skins (Matthew 9:17)!

If we receive and accept every word that God speaks, we will also receive every one of His blessings. We will become more and more fruitful in bearing good fruit!

"You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways."
~Job 22:28

Asking or Commanding?

 **Note:  This post refers mostly to how we should approach praying for others--especially if they are in need of healing, miracles, deliverance, or release from opposing spirits.  These instances are the main times when we should command.  Asking God for something is not wrong of sinful if it is done in faith.  We should all ask God for things everyday!  But there is a definite time to accept the power of God and tailor our prayers in accordance with the fullness of His will.**

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

John 11:38-44

We need to realize that Jesus is our Master and Lord, as well as our role model.  The works He did, we can do, too.  And so it follows that the ways He walked in, we should walk in, also.  We should talk like He talked, pray like He prayed, and think like He thought--all on the way to loving like He loved.  So let's look at how He prayed, and aspire to do the same!

HOW DID JESUS PRAY?

We can learn through the Word that most of Jesus' prayers for miracles were short and to the point. Jesus did not repeatedly ask or beg the Father to move His hand.  He simply spoke out of assurance and commanded the change.  In the instance with Lazarus above, Jesus says one of His most interesting prayers.  He actually prayed more than a couple sentences for this miracle, but not for His sake or for the Father's!  He only did so for the sake of the understanding of those listening! He didn't say a long prayer just to go on and on.  He never incorporated cop-outs into His prayers. Whenever Jesus prayed, His words were only a means to an end--that end being a manifestation of the Father's will.  And that manifestation always came quickly!

ASK OR COMMAND?

So let's say we are in a situation where someone needs and is seeking a healing from the Lord.  What do we say?  What do we ask God for?  Many times, people make the mistake of begging and begging God for something, something that He is much more eager to do than they are!  People sometimes ask God for something--they ask Him to carry out a promise--as if God otherwise was not so into keeping His promises.  I feel God wants us to command His true will, rather than ask Him if He might consider changing a situation that has been caused by the enemy.

COMMAND WITH EXPECTATION

We need to trust God enough to be in tune with Him.  And then we can be in tune with Him enough to command!  We command the will of God out of a place of knowing the will of God.  We need to pray with enough faith and enough passion that the end of our prayer is the best part--because that's when we can see that the faithfulness of God has achieved the desired effect!  That's how praying should be.  We should know that just a few of our words is enough for God, in His goodness, to completely change things.

COMMAND IN THE SPIRIT, NOT THE FLESH

Now, there is a danger in our commanding if it is done in the flesh.  Commanding away an affliction in Jesus' name is much, much different than trying to order God around.  We need to stay in the Spirit to avoid presumption and pride.  We need to be in the Spirit and operating in Christ's love whenever we pray and command on His behalf.

COMMAND UNDER THE APPROVAL OF GOD

So the solution to praying correctly is to pray in the Spirit--driven and under the influence of God's will.  Realize that if we are in the Spirit, we may still ask God for the healing.  We just ask Him before any corporate prayer begins--we ask Him on our own time, so that we can command when the time to see the manifestation comes.  We may ask God beforehand, or we may just have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. The important thing about commanding anything is this: we need to be driven and guided by God up until the point of prayer.  

COMMAND WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S GOODNESS

When we command by the Spirit, guided by His love, that's when we become fully convinced of God's goodness.  That's when we realize what we're up against--and it's not God!  We realize that what we are commanding out is opposed to God.  And we realize that His will is nothing other than a completed overcoming. We can realize victory, because Jesus has already won the victory.  We can realize God's passion and longing for us to triumph.  Most of all, when we're in the Spirit, we are so assured that God's will is healing and not sickness, joy and not depression, purity and not pain.  We don't need to ask Him if things are any different!  And we don't need to ask out of doubt, because God's truth comes in and moves us to decisive action.  God wants to take us to a place of being moved to accomplish His true and perfect will.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Romans 12:2

Come to God to Learn

We come to God for many reasons.  He is worthy of praise, He is worthy of worship; He is worthy of our time.   We also come to get filled up and recharged; we allow Him to revive us and restore our hope.  In the last week, the Lord began highlighting another reason we come to Him: we come to Him to learn.  

"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants--from this time on and forever," says the LORD.

Isaiah 59:21

Here the Lord makes a covenant, with us!  I feel this covenant is for all who believe.  And He says that His Spirit will always be on us, and His words will always be on our lips.  He says that He will always teach us--us and our children forever!

So, we come to the the Lord and He imparts to us knowledge--He gives us the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17).  He teaches us about Himself and His character. And He also teaches us how to apply His thoughts to this current world.  He gives us divine inspiration.

Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.                                         Micah 4:2

Now, this is a future prophecy yet to be fulfilled, but we can attain to it symbolically even now.  We come to the Lord, and we ascend with Him.  Remember that Jesus ascended, and He was the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29).  We, too, can go up to His mountain!  And that's where we learn.  He will teach us His ways so that we can walk in His paths!  Wow!  

This mountain top is also where we hear God most clearly.  The Law of Liberty dwells here, and so does an atmosphere of clarity.  There's an atmosphere of clarity and praise.  This is where the word of God, the hearing and knowing of His mind, comes in.  God speaks a word so that He can dwell among us (John 1:14).  He teaches us and speaks to us so,  and then we can come down from that high place and encourage other believers to go up for themselves.  

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”                  Zechariah 8:20-23

Here is another literal prophecy that is also yet to be fulfilled--yet we can take so much from it symbolically.  If we've been on the mountaintop, if we've been taught by God, if we've heard Him speak to us--then we will draw other people in!  Now, we won't draw everybody in...but those with softened hearts will be drawn in and captivated by what God's done.  People will know that God is with us.  And then they will be motivated to go up and learn from God for themselves!

This is testimony-based evangelism, and this is what God wants us to do.  He wants us to learn and grow based on what we've learned on His mountain!  He wants to tell us great and unsearchable things (Jeremiah 33:3) and provoke others to holy jealousy.  He wants us to gather around Him.

Spiritual Midwives

Last week I was walking past the bookshelf and the Lord led my eyes to an older book called "Systems of Midwifery".  And then He spoke to my heart and told me that I was a midwife!  Hmmm, I thought that was interesting.

And then a few things happened.  I heard quickened conversations, observed signs, and received pieces to this whole midwifery puzzle.  Vanessa and I talked, and I realized that the Lord had shown me that I was to act as her spiritual midwife!  I was to help her see her promises 'birthed'.  I was to help with deliverance, not deliverance from evil, but deliverance into good.

See, we all have spiritual promises.  We all have something God has told us to expect in our future. And these gifts may not come to pass as we expect.  For Vanessa, they haven't.  And sometimes that's hard.  But all we can do is hold on to the promises.  All we can do is trust God.

"Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him."          Psalm 105:19

So, we're being tested.  And God was telling me that I had to assist Vanessa with this struggle.  I had to help her as that one moment came to pass, as it continues to come to pass.  I had to assist as a midwife to those big promises.  And I understood that God was giving me a clear assignment here.

See, the Word can still become flesh and dwell among us (John 1:14).  It can still bring into fruition something tangible.  The Spirit of Jesus is still moving active on the earth.  That's all it takes for a promise to be fulfilled!  And this manifestation takes a spiritual birthing--and before that, it takes a spiritual pregnancy.  It takes effort and time.  It is a testing, and it is a struggle.  Midwifes help.

"My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you."
Galatians 4:19

The pieces of this rhema puzzle came together when I read the above verse.  Paul was in pain while Christ was being birthed in others.  He was in pain and longsuffering because of the slowness of the process.  He bore their burdens, and shared in their trials.  Paul was a spiritual midwife!

"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now."                                                               Romans 8:22

I believe that all Spirit-filled Christians are called to midwifery at some point.  In fact, I think we're called to being midwives at most points.  We all have a brother, sister, daughter or father in Christ who is in the midst of seeing God's promises come to pass. They may have just received that otherwise impossible promise, or they may be almost ready to birth God's word into existence. But they will need assistance either way.  They will need to be encouraged--they will need to be encouraged to hold onto their promises!  They need to have their struggle distributed among others who can support them. They need someone who personifies God's kindness and steadfast love--someone they can count on to help them deliver.

Word: Seek and You Shall Find

Yesterday the Lord spoke to me and told me,

"There are many choices behind you, and many choices before you, but there is only one choice that's best.  So seek Me diligently.  Seek Me early, and seek Me late in the evening.  Seek, seek, seek...seek, and you shall find."

This has been such a recurring thing for me recently.  If I seek Him, I will find Him.  If I diligently seek Him, I will find His Will.  These are promises, and they are waiting to be fulfilled.  And the Lord continues to feed me this verse again, and again, and again... (and again, four times!). Remember Jesus' question to Peter? (John 21)  He speaks to us repetitively so that we can get His Word deeply ingrained.  He stresses a message so that we can know He is God, even in our stillness (Psalms 46:10).

I remember that when Vanessa and I were in Springfield, Missouri, last month, a close friend of ours imparted to me some godly wisdom.  Now this friend is very prophetic--glory to God for the gifting--and he told me specifically, "Seek and you will find".  I was so blessed by that.  The Lord has quickened this verse to me in my own quiet time so often and in so many ways.

There is so much to be found--so many things to find out.  There is so much to hunger after--the unspeakable riches we have inherited in Christ, and more than that, the unspeakable love we have been given by Christ.  We need to know that the Lord is good, so that we can praise Him accordingly.

And there is so much to seek.  Those who seek Him find Him (Proverbs 8:17).  Those who seek Him become filled as He draws near (James 4:8).  Those who seek Him do so when they are hungry, and He fills the hungry with good things (Psalms 107:9).

The Lord is coming in glory. (Isaiah 60:1) He is coming in splendor. And He will come, as soon as we really, really search for Him.  As we seek Him, pieces and portions of His character will surface. The many facets of His Will can come to the surface, and He brings them to our attention.  (Jeremiah 6:16)  Glory to God!  

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Snapshot: Holy Earthquakes

God has promised to shake things--to shake us in discipline, to shake the earth in judgement, and to shake the heavens in preparation for Christ's returning.  This is a promise!  A promise that those who are right with God can look forward to the fulfillment of with eagerness and joy.

And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying: "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN"      Hebrews 12:26

We were reading through this section of Hebrews in Church today.  So God is doing spiritual shakings within believers today--to purify us, to shake off any potential hindrances..  Praise God! And He will do a literal shaking of the entire earth on that day.  On a slightly different note, I believe earthquakes can be a sign from God.   It happened in the book of Acts:

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly."

Wow!  We also touched on this a little in Church.   I guess a few of our members were praying once and during their prayer, there was a small earthquake.  I'll take it by faith that this was from God.

A few moments after the speaker brought this up, there was a loud knocking that came from outside the building.  It began knocking so powerfully, that it sure felt like a shaking to me.  The Church was shaking!  Thank you Lord for confirming your Word in such creative ways!

We need to have power in prayer.  We need to have conviction in our prayer.  Our words can and should have power (Luke 4:32).  They should be full of the power of life!  We have to be shaken by God first.  We have to come out of purification "as gold" and then transmit that testimony to others (Job 23:10). We have to know how perfectly God hears us.  We need to know that prayer changes things.

Confirmed: Recently I read a word from 2012 that James Goll has sent out a word on the Elijahlist about this kind of holy shaking. In it, he details a powerful prophetic dream that he had.  Below is an excerpt:


All of a sudden, the late John Wimber, former leader of the Vineyard Movement and voice for the Third Wave, was firmly standing on the newly purple-carpeted platform. The cultural atmosphere was now pregnant with a realm of the glory and the thick majesty of God. Then I heard and felt the voice of John Wimber echo an invitation that rattled the entire place. He simply declared, "COME AGAIN HOLY SPIRIT!"

People started crashing to the floor en masse under the impact of the power and authority that resonated in those simple words. Once again another sound wave was released, "COME AGAIN HOLY SPIRIT." It was not gentle Jesus showing up or the comforting dove of God manifesting. It was not just another renewal or revival meeting - though it seemed to include all of those qualities. It was the violent invasion of Heaven entering a time and space world. It was a Church quake.


Come, Holy Spirit!  He wants to come.  He wants us to want Him to come.  Come, and make real life real to us!  Make us see things as they really are--reveal to us your Love, your sacrifice, and your character. (1 John 3:2)

Confirmed:  Yesterday the Lord quickened to me a sign that said, 'The Shakers'.  I don't know what that particular sign--a street sign--was referring to, but I knew what it meant to me.  The Shakers were a charismatic, Utopian community back in the eighteen hundreds.  I think a few of them are still around today.

And we can all be 'shakers' for the Lord--ministering with salt (Colossians 4:6--get it?) and power as we walk with Him and align with His will--which is to shake all that can be shaken.

Be Bold And Very Courageous...What's Next?

"And he said to the Israelites, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, What do these stones mean?

You shall let your children know, Israel came over this Jordan on dry ground.

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we passed over,

That all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may reverence and fear the Lord your God forever."


Joshua 4:21-24

So, we've stepped over.  We have seen God's promises, met the conditions, claimed them, and stepped out in faith.  And then we've reached them, and they have become reality in our lives!  What next?

Well, we cannot forget what God has done in the past.  We can't forget the acts of His goodness.  We need to diligently keep all of the testimony that He's given us (Deuteronomy 6:17).  We need to remember, and not forget, so that our fear and reverence of the the Lord does not fade.  Instead of letting the past grow dim, we need to meditate on it!  (Psalms 105:5)  We need to keep it in our awareness so that we can build upon our view of the character of God.

Now we can go into the future.  Now we can walk in those things that God has already prepared for us.  There is a pathway that leads to synchronicity in blessing, and all we need to do to shift onto it is step out in faith.  There is a path through life that is full of hope.  And all we need to do it hold on to the promises!

"And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him."  

Luke 5:11

So, we cross the Jordan, and then we leave all else behind and walk by Jesus into the land our promises.  We forsake all, and follow Him.  That's what it takes.  We have to walk by faith, not by sight, as the path we're on grows brighter and brighter.  We have to patiently wait until God fulfills more and more promises.  We have to wait until our reality is entirely His reality, and His Word fills all things in our lives.  This is where He makes our way perfect (Psalms 18:32).  This is where He perfects our surroundings (Psalms 138:8).

Now, I know that Luke 5:11 above is not in context related at all to the Jordan crossing seen in the book of Joshua.  But I also know that God's Word is alive and dynamic and active.  And I know that the Lord gave me Luke 5:11 as a way to demonstrate how to move forward even after the attainment of promises.

We need to attain the promises, and then go on to full devotion, full maturity.  We need to be full of hope, boldness, and truth.  And we can only have these things if we walk with Jesus.  We can only have the fruit of the Spirit if we are drawing nearer to Him.  Let's yield to the leading of God today.

  

Be Bold and Courageous: Crossing The Jordan, Revisited

In March of 2014, the Lord gave me a dream where I was crossing a modern-day Jordan river and going into the promised land.  To paraphrase, I was on a boat with many people, who, although nice, seemed really unmotivated, and the boat was stuck.  I decided to leave the boat, join an evacuation team that had come to rescue us, and then send off into the wilderness at the other side of the river.

God showed me that my experience in this dream strongly paralleled Joshua chapters 1-3. We need to be bold, motivated, and decisive.  That's where the rewards are!  That's where we put all our trust into Him.  What it means to be bold for Jesus, and what can be lost, if we aren't bold!  All in all, the Lord was showing me through this dream that I had already chosen to step out, and that it was now time to walk in that .You can read more about this whole message here:  Entering The Promised Land.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."                                          Ephesians 2:10

Since my initial experience, the Lord has revisited this "crossing the Jordan" theme several times. And this present season is one of them!  In the last few days, I've been blessed with many, many things that have confirmed the message.  Many of these confirmations are from scripture that the Lord has specifically led me to; others are through signs or the writings of others.  Below are just a few of the scriptural ones:

BOLDNESS: Joshua 1:9

"Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be

dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."                              

CROSSING THE JORDAN ON DRY LAND:  Joshua 3:6-11

"Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. And they took it up and went on before the people.

The Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 

You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. Joshua said to the Israelites, Come near, hear the words of the Lord your God...

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan!"

REMEMBRANCE: Joshua 4:21-24

"And he said to the Israelites, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, What do these stones mean?

You shall let your children know, Israel came over this Jordan on dry ground.

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we passed over,

That all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may reverence and fear the Lord your God forever."

There is so much in these scriptures--the Holy Spirit has so much to say to us through them.  This is what my dream relates to, and this is what we can all relate to everyday.  We can take from the details of Joshua 1 through 4 many things:

God has commanded us to be bold and courageous.  He has commanded us to step out in faith.  He has commanded us to step out in faith, reaching the Promised Land by it.  He has commanded us to arrive at and attain to every promise found in His Word.  And the last step of attainment may just seem impossible.  It probably will be, without the Lord and His wonder-working power.  God alone can take us to the total fulfillment of our promises.  

So let's be bold and step out.  Let's be bold and lay hold of abundant life.  Let's act into His Kingdom come--let's not wait for another person to stir us up or motivate us to get moving.  Let's make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).  Let's be strong in the Lord and the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10),  

When we step out, let's reach for the Promised Land.  If God has told you something, He is still telling you that something.  The promises have not changed.  Reach for them!  Not by might, not by power, but by the Holy Spirit, step out in faith. (Zechariah 4:6) Step out, and watch as the Lord makes the waters part. 

We can't be stagnant.  We can't be easily satisfied.  We can't be like the people in my dream--well meaning Christians, but more than content to watch as others play the forerunner.  We all need to attain to the blessings of Christ!  We all need to see Him as He really is, for ourselves (1 John 3:2). The veil has been torn for all of us.  And all of us can, with boldness, in faith receive a blessing from God.

"So let no one boast about human beings, since everything belongs to you"

1 Corinthians 3:21

Hope For The Future, Part Two: Confidence in Prayer

"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

And again,


"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."                   John 14:14

CONFIDENCE IN HIS PROMISES

These verses should give us so much confidence in prayer.  If we believe them, then they will!  Can we become bolder and more decisive in our prayers?  We can, if we make God's Word a reality in our lives.  We are free to make bold petitions and ask big questions.  We are free to pray big prayers.  Can't God do exceedingly abundantly more than we ask? (Ephesians 3:20)  He can, and He will, if we pray in faith.  

Praying for someone else is so exciting when you know the work has already been done.  If I believe Jesus when He said, "It is finished", then I'll believe that He has also already overcome every single work of the devil.  Praying for someone else is so easy sometimes, because I can realize that God loves that person even more than I do.  I know that Jesus will overcome the enemy's work in their lives--He just lets me say the words.  I know that the hard work has been finished by another.  And because of that, I know that He will choose to show His glory.

Praying for myself is great, too.  The results are effective and often immediate.  If I ask for wisdom for God, I am destined to receive it.  That's what the Word says, and if I believe it, then I will allow God to manifest it.  Just look at the promises below:

"For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."                                                                 Matthew 7:8

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."                         James 1:5



Lord, give us wisdom.  Lord, give us faith.  Lord, make us pure.  Lord, give us more love.  Lord, please touch our families.  Lord, please give an opportunity today.

OK, so God will do all those things.  Praise Jesus!  He made things so simple.  We can always take heart (John 16:33) and have confidence in Him.  We can put all of our trust into His heart.

CONDITIONS TO MEET

There are conditions to meet, however, before we can know that God will listen to our prayers.  I could try to explain this, but instead, I think we should all meditate on the scriptures below.  These are the conditions, and these are the results of disobedience:



"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear"                                              Isaiah 59:2

"We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will."
John 9:31

"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."                                    James 4:3

These warnings have been written so that we might know the benefits of obedience to God.  The closer we are to God,  the close He will be to our prayers.  We need to be close.  We need to be pure, godly, and obedient--that's when God will listen.  That's when He will listen and intercede with us.  That's when we can be confident!  We have been given in the Holy Spirit a purity that causes Him to respond to our every prayer and petition.

Prayer changes things, after God has changed you.  Prayer moves things, after God has moved you.  And there comes a time when God gives freedom in prayer.  There comes a time when, as a friend of God, we can cause Him to change His mind (this is in the Word--look at Jeremiah 42, esp. 42:10).   We can know that our prayers move the hand of God.

 "If the Holy Ghost doesn't move me, then I move the Holy Ghost."  

Smith Wigglesworth said this.  Many people refused it, or thought it was unscriptural.  It probably seemed to be a prideful statement--maybe Smith Wigglesworth thought he was God.  

But in reality, Wigglesworth was just a really close friend.  And he knew that persistence gets things done.  He knew that faith in God to carry out His Word always pays off.  He knew that God's promises do not ever fail--if you stand on them, if you make them your life.  We need to know what Jesus says--"If you ask for anything in My Name, so I will do it."  We need to make Jesus our best friend.  We need His love and His conviction resting upon us.  That's when we trust Him.  That's when we have boldness.  And this is the way that we can have confidence in prayer.

Snapshot: Seeing God

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"    Matthew 5:8

When I began reading and meditating on the Word, I used to think that verses like the one above were more figurative than literal.  Then, I began thinking that such descriptions only described what we'll experience in Heaven.  But now, I believe that God wants us to know that these promised can be applicable to our every day.  They can be lived out and enjoyed in this life, and even more so in the life to come.  If we meet the conditions, we realize God's pleasure in us based on how He treats us.  If we are pure in His sight, we'll discover that He's worth it.  We will become unable to forget all His benefits:

We really can taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalms 34:8).

We can see God's Glory (John 11:40).

We can ascend to the mountaintop with the Lord.  We can live in a Holy place, and God's holiness can go before us and after us.  We can be hemmed in by Him and His grace.   (Psalms 24:4 and context).

We can enter into God's presence in a new way.  There is always more of God that we have not yet seen, heard, or even imagined (1 Corinthians 2:9 and context).

There is always a new revelation, a new promise, a new understanding of His Love.  God is so far beyond searching out--we only experience tastes of Him because He let's us (Romans 11:33).

There is always so much knowledge stored up in God's Word.  Enough to keep us learning, both day and night (Psalm 119:96).

These are His benefits (Psalms 103:2).  These are our earthly foretastes of Heaven. These are results of our inheritance in the Lord--residence in His Kingdom.  And these things are worth counting the cost.  They are worth any cost!  God makes life fun, but more than that, He makes it count.  Let's commit our ways to Him.  Let's allow Him to make us pure, from the inside out.  Let's seek Him so we can see Him, and let's see Him and become more like Him.

Snapshot: Everything Beautiful in It's Time

For a few months now, I've been struggling through some things.  Emotional problems, hope deferred, etc.  And throughout it all, God was so good to have the Spirit replaying to me again and again: "I am making everything beautiful in it's time."  This verse must have been with me for two months now.

With God, the future is always bright.  Thanks to Jesus  we always have hope.  He knows where to take us.  He knows were we're going.  And He is faithful to take us to paradise.  He can be depended on to see our lives carried through til completion (Philippians 1:6).

Then, on the 5th, the  Lord guided me to Ecclesiastes 3, as seen below.  That really touched me.  Hey, there's a promise clearly fulfilled!

...a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

  a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

    a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

  a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

   a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.  That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.


He is making everything beautiful in it's time.  He has started a new season in our lives. Since God's fulfillment in leading me to this verse, things have started to change in Vanessa's and my life.  We've felt a burden come off.  We've been taken into the freedom of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:17).  God has calmed us and led us into bliss and rest.  He's also taken us higher and increased  the quality of our private time with Him.  Like I said , we're going to the mountaintop!

So if you're struggling right now, be strong and take heart.  Hold on to the promises.  Go back to a time when the only thing you had was a firm foundation in God.   Remember that God's Word is faithful.

"God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"  Numbers 23:19

In the meantime, stay strong.  Remember that Joseph spent 14 years struggling through hardships before the dream God had given him was fulfilled.  The Word of God, the promises of God, tested him in the meantime (Psalms 105:19).  But  God is so faithful.  He will not tempt nor test you beyond what you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).  So put your hope in Him!  There's been a time for weeping, but no longer.  Now is the time to trade your mourning in for gladness.  Now is the time to see fulfilled promise.  Now is the time that the Lord is releasing gifts and fulfilling past hopes.  He is making everything beautiful in it's time.

Confirmed:  Recently Johnny Enlow sent out a word for 2015--"Four Winds: Worship, Wisdom, Wealth, and Wonder".  Below is a short excerpt, in italics:


"God is telling His great story through us, and as we connect to His Kingdom narrative (i.e. seek first the Kingdom of God), it allows Him to rescue and restore our personal story. If your personal story is a mess and seemingly impossible to make beautiful, give yourself to Him as never before and you will find yourself receiving His winds of wonder that will leave you overwhelmed by His goodness.

Everything and everyone who remains in His hands becomes beautiful – in its time. He has promised all who receive Him a great eternal storybook-ending of eternal life in Heaven, but He is also looking to showcase His goodness to us here in the land of the living. As David said, "I would have fainted if I didn't believe I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living" (see Psalm 27:13)."

Healing vs. Perfect Health

Nearly a week ago I was thinking about the subject of healing.  Divine Healing has become such a wonderful part of my walk with God.  I believe, according to the word of God, that healing is a gift given for every believer.  It is part of our daily bread.

But what about perfect health--continually being renewed to the point of never feeling any bodily imperfections?  Is that always God's will?  For some, that's a hard question to answer.  I don't think it is.

Let's look at the story of Job, and accept what happened to him.  After all, every bit of scripture is useful for exhortation and teaching (2 Timothy 3:16).  So Job was willing to accept evil from the Lord as well as good. I'd say it's clear that the Lord willed for Job to experience much less than divine health.  We can't discount this story in trying to understand the gifts that we're entitled to in Christ.

He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.  Job 2:10

I myself have have been given healings by the Lord--from Achilles tendonitis, anemia, gout, and several other things.  And of course I've seen many more healings in the lives of others. The Holy Spirit has made it clear to me that He is willing to heal all my diseases(Psalms 103:3) and deliver me from all evils.

But there is an even better way.  Just like there is a time for mountaintop experiences with God (see this post), there is also a time to enjoy divine health from the Lord.  Remember, He is not slow in keeping His promises, and He cannot fail (2 Peter 3:9).  There is a place of constant regeneration that God has reserved for us.  And He is giving this blessing of to those who ask Him for it.

I remember that nearly a year ago now God told me something interesting:

"Perfect Health will come with perfect peace".  

So He revealed to me such a precious truth there.  He gave me a promise to look to and a standard to strive for.  To this day, my health is still not perfect.  Sometimes I begin to develop colds or congestion.  Now, can I reach perfection?  Of course not.  But the Holy Spirit within me is already perfect, and if I yield to Him, He will lead us to the inheritance we've already been given in Christ!

If we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), we are able to receiving the body of Christ.  We are able, according to God's Will, to receive perfect health.  God won't turn us away from asking.  He wants to give us His peace, and so transform us that our bodies experience peace, too.  Ask Him to take you to that place.

For the time being, we have received our treasures in jars of clay.  God has allowed this. He's done this so we realise the full extent of His power!  (2 Corinthians 4:7)  The next step is to ask accordingly for a portion of that Life.  It's time to believe that He gives without finding fault! (James 1:5)  Now is the time to accept the gift of faith and the gift of healing, and with them, an inheritance of perfect health.

Confirmed:  Last week there was a Word on the Quickened Word website.  It said that many would be brought new life by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit.  Below is a short excerpt.  Hereis the rest of the article.

The Holy Spirit will give...spiritual power that will invigorate you so that divine healing will flow.  Spending time with the One who has the gift of healing  will bring the "times of refreshing" that is needed by the body of Christ. "

Glory to God!  Spiritual healing will flow.  This is the gift of healing applied continually.  This is faith to see the gift of healing constantly poured out.  This is a place where the presence of God is faithful to heal.  He knows what to do.  He knows what our bodies need!

 Now is the time to receive new wineskins, and inherit the incoming gift of God.  We need to empty ourselves so that the gift of healing can flow into us.  We need to spend time with Him and receive, receive, receive!  It's time for refreshing, and it's time to do more than survive.  It's time to begin to thrive.

"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."  Romans 8:11

Snapshot: In a Bubble

There Lord has been speaking to me about His protection and His presence surrounding us recently.  There have been many thematic events about bubbles.  This all began at Christmas, when we got a gift of "durable bubbles" for our cat, Fearless, to play with.  These bubbles were advertised as being able to touch the ground and not pop.  The idea is that cats chase them as they roll around on the floor, until the cat actually has to touch the bubble to pop it.

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you"  Job 12:7

Anyways, bubbles have been a recurring theme since then.  For me, they represent God's indwelling presence exceeding our own bodies.  They represent the Holy Spirit in us coming through and creating a manifestation of God all around us.  They represent the "hedge of protection" that the Lord had placed around Job  (Job 1:10).  This bubble is God's territory.  The enemy cannot enter, and we are shielded by God's power and Love.  Disease cannot enter, neither can spiritual darkness or despair.

If we yield to God's Spirit within us, we will find it is soon all around us, too.  We will find that the Holy Spirit will surround us with peace, love, and joy.  Those around us will be positively affected, too (but some will be cut to the heart).  This is what we are called to--Christ in us, with us and through us--until we are manifesting His presence here on the earth.

"Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength! Put on your garments of splendor, Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again."  Isaiah 52:1

This is God's command to us as believers.  In other words, put on your bubble!  Be separated and sanctified and set apart from the rest.  Be clothed with His strength.  It's already within--just let His Light and His character shine through.  His Light is Love and strength.  And if we yield and come into agreement with Him, His strong hand will come upon us  (Isaiah 8:11).  We will be displaying the nature of our savior to all the world, and we will achieve victory over the enemy, who will not be able to touch us.

"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city."  Revelation 22:14

When we are within His bubble, we are seen by all as we rightfully are--sons and daughters of the King!  Adverse situations will not steal our joy.  We will have the right to the tree of life and be allowed through the gates of His Kingdom.  The enemy will see the Spirit of God within us, and he will not be able to touch us.  We will walk out our identity as the Lord's anointed, as He cleans us from the inside out (Psalms 105:15).

Glory to God!  Yield to Him, focus on Him, preoccupy yourself with His goodness, and watch as it bubbles up through you.  You will be within His bubble, and His presence around you will make you clean.  Watch as His presence then shines out, and watch as you become totally untouched by outside circumstances.  His Joy will surround you wherever you go!

God Speaks to His People

The following are excerpts from the book Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby & Claude King:

"GOD GIVES SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS
A popular teaching says God does not give you clear directives. It says He just sets your life in motion. Then you try to figure out the directions using your God-given mind. This implies that a Christian always thinks correctly and according to God's will. This does not take into account that the old nature is constantly battling with the spiritual nature (see Romans 7.) Our ways are not God's ways (See Isaiah 55:8.) Only God can give you the kind of specific directions to accomplish His purposes in His ways....

The Holy Spirit gives clear directives today. God is personal. He wants to be intimately involved in your life. He will give you clear guidance for living. You may say, 'That has not been my experience.' You need to bring your experience up to the Word of God and now lower God's ways to match your own...

If you do not have clear instructions from God in a matter, pray and wait. Learn patience. Depend on God's timing. His timing is always right and best. Don't get in a hurry. He may be withholding directions to cause you to seek Him more intently. Don't try to skip over the relationship to get on with the doing. God is more interested in  love relationship with you than He is in what you can do for Him. (pgs. 94-95)"

"GOD REVEALS HIS PURPOSES
God reveals His purposes so you will know what He plans to do. If you are to join Him, you need to know what He is about to do or what He is already doing. What you plan to do for God is not important. What He plans to do where you are is very important. God speaks with a purpose in mind.

When God came to Noah, He did not ask, "What do you want to do for me?" He came to reveal what He was about to do. It was far more important to know what God was about to do. It really did not matter what Noah had planned to do for God. God was about to destroy the world. He wanted to work through Noah to accomplish His purposes of saving a remnant of people and animals to repopulate the earth. (pg. 99)"


I was very encouraged by these two sections of this book this morning. Lately, I've begun to lose faith in things that God has told me about what He is doing now and in the future, wondering if I even heard His voice correctly. Doubt has been springing up to snatch away the hope I have in His Promises, even Proverbs Promises like, "...He will direct your path."

Last week I went to the Alumni Service at the high school I graduated from. Something was said that morning over and over again after we read Isaiah 40, which was, "Hold onto the Promises of God. He is who He says He is, and He does what He says He is going to do." In one form or another, this message was really driven home, and I was encouraged.

But then of course, I was shot by another arrow of doubt, and didn't withstand it. So this morning, when I walked into my workspace, this book was laid open with a little clump of pages sticking straight up. On the left side was pages 94-95 (the first excerpt), and on the ride side, page 99 (the second excerpt.) These two specific passages were so refreshing to me. It renewed my mind with Truths from God's Word. I often get confirming scriptures from the Bible for things like this, but often God will use books written by Christians to speak to me as well. Praise the Lord!!

I have listened to Charles Stanley since I was younger, but really "got into" his preaching when I was living in Los Angeles, after I had come back to God. One of his staple teachings on "knowing the will of God" is that we must believe that He has a very specific plan for our life, and that we must seek Him diligently to know His "calling" on our life. I know that He has been revealing His will for me, and I also know that the enemy would love to try to make me doubt again, as to render me ineffective in this world. Let us remember the Promises of God! Promises He has given us in His Word, and also Promises He has revealed to us about His plans for us!

Snapshot: Entering the Promised Land

A few days ago God spoke to me about my pathway through life.  This was the same day He was telling me to ask for details.  But in addition to this, we need to allow the Spirit to control our will and our dreams.  We need to imagine God's Will, and walk into it.  We need to see what He sees, feel what He feels, and follow His leadings step by step into the Promised Land.

I remember that a Christian figure from past times coined the term "Holy Imagination".  And that's what we need to have.  We need to have Holy thoughts and pure minds.  Only then can we dream big.
And only then can God implant Himself into our visions and our dreams .  Infact, this was the way that He called many old testament prophets.  So many were called and received their calling from a Spirit filled,  almost otherworldly dream.

This past Spring, I had a dream that I was crossing the Jordan river.  The dream wasn't set in ancient times, though; instead, I was on a steamboat that was slowly being evacuated.  Many passengers were on this boat, and many were scared about whatever might happen while they were stuck on this stalled boat.  Other passengers, however, didn't seem to see any problem in their situation.  I was left wondering what to do myself.

After some time, a militia-type group had also been sent onto the scene.  These military leaders searched for passengers willing to be recruited into their evacuation team.  Brave passengers became compelled to join this team, which was preparing to leave the ship and search for help on the mainland nearby.  I remember that the ship was fairly close to the riverbank, although the evacuation team was facing a jungle once across the river.  I listened as the military personnel spoke about the dangers of the mission ahead, and I felt more than slightly intimidated by my own prospects of joining this voluntary team.  But the situation on the boat was boring and lifeless, and people were left to waste away through their own devices.  So I decided I would go.  I was going to join this team and cross the Jordan!  I was told that the mission would be long and hard.  I was told it would be dangerous.  But I wanted to get off of that boat--it wasn't going anywhere and the people on board were not motivated to do much.  This is where the dream ended.

When I woke up I felt it was a dream from the Lord.  I felt His leading to be bold for Him and venture into uncharted territory.  I felt His desire to take me into new places, and report back to those 'stuck' what I tasted and saw.  Shortly after waking up that morning, God led me to the Joshua 1, 2 and 3, which strongly matched my dream.  God was beginning a new season in my life, and I was being exhorted to enter into the promised land.  Around the same time I had this dream, I started doing healing ministry on the street.  I was just starting to be used by our Lord to pray for the afflicted.  I was out of my comfort zone oftentimes.  But I had made the choice; I had crossed the Jordan!

God's recently began speaking about this to me again.  I believe that I'm in a new season now, and I've just crossed another river of roadblocks.  In the life of a strong believer, there may well be many "Jordans" to cross.  God wants His children to personally walk through the exploits in the Bible, and in that dream He gave me, I was shown that He wanted me to live out Jordan crossing of Joshua.

Confirmed 12/13:  God showed me that I've crossed the Jordan, because His commandments were more important.

Confirmed 12/14:  I was reading the book of Judges, and through 'quickened eye-glances' (see the Quickened Word for more on this), God revealed to me that I had been called out with Him.  This is exactly what the military leaders were doing in my dream all those months ago.  And He went on and showed me that I was to follow His lead.  How critical!  Just as the Israelites could not cross the Jordan without the Presence of God, in the Ark, guiding them, we cannot enter the Promised Land that He's called us to unless we follow Him into it.

Confirmed 12/15: Recent Themes have been:  Lush, green gardens.  Green trees. The Tree of Life. Milk and Honey.  The finest of foods.  Open Door to His Promises!

Confirmed 12/15:  I was reading the Bible Commentary book again, and God really spoke through it.  Random reading (search the 'labels' feature for this, if you're interested).  I was led to the subtitles "Canaan" and "Canaan as a type of Heaven".  God wants to lead us all into a land where the Promises He's given us become manifest.  He wants to lead all those who will listen into a land of heaven on earth.  The Promised Land symbolizes that our Lord has given us another chance to return to the Garden.  The Promised Land symbolizes that our God has great things planned for us, even before we enter Heaven itself.  Praise God!

Snapshot: His Glory...Revival Is Coming.

As I said in a previous post, God has been speaking to me about Revival.  This is very encouraging...  it's been my passion for a while now.  I remember this Spring when He first started showing me what Revival meant.

Praise God that He is faithful to carry out our dreams.  He is faithful to bring our callings to pass.  He is knocking on the door right now, waiting to show Himself Lord of all.  He is knocking because we need to answer.

In Church today, I saw in a vision several vivid fire trucks.  I saw them traveling towards me.  I knew these fire trucks were full of His Glory.  They pulsated by me, one at a time.  He is sending in ministers and annointings right now.  He is sending in Glory and Revival.  After this He said, "Thank Me for My Glory".  I knew it was a Word from the Lord (Jeremiah 32:8)

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"  Hebrews 1:14

"He makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire."  Psalm 104:4  (Mini-Confirmation:  Yesterday on the news there was a 104 year-old man who set an age-graded record for the 60 yard dash.  He was also polish...just like me!)

So I saw these brilliant fire trucks traveling across my peripheral.  And I remembered a Word God gave me about 7 months ago:

"I give you fire drills before the fire falls."

This was in reference to a painful purification God was sending me through at the time.  In other words, God was testing me...putting me through the fire, so to speak.  He does this so that He can then revive us.  He was purifying me so that I could be ready for the "fire" of revival to fall.  Fire has been another them recently.  And the Holy Spirit brought all of this to remembrance, showing me again God's truth.  I felt Him saying that it's coming...the Revival is coming.  It's a promise of God; it's definitely coming!  And I want to do what it takes.

Confirmed:  A few days ago I randomly opened an old hymnal at a friend's house.  I opened to the hymn entitle, "Singing with all the Saints in Glory".  I was reminded of this right after the 'Glory truck' vision in church today.  God's Glory is coming to us.  It is not far away.  But it's up to each of us to seek His face and give Him our hearts.

Confirmed:  I also saw in a vision the number "7" while in worship today.  I didn't know what to make of it. Since then, I cannot stop seeing that number. Vanessa tells me it represents seasonal completion.  As she began to answer me, she looked down onto a drawer and saw that a small seven was carved into the wood.

Revival is coming and God is bringing this promise of His to completion.  (As I just wrote that, the word, "seven" was quickened to me from a telephone number just then being spoken on Christian Radio.  Like I said, I have not been able to get away from that number.)

Confirmed:  Near the end of church, a few fire trucks drove right by the building.  I haven't noticed that happening in the past.