Mount Hermon

"Come with Me from Lebanon, My bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir,

the summit of Hermon, from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of leopards"

-Song of Songs 4:8

We know that Jesus was transfigured on the Mount, but do we now where?  Many scholars believe that this event happened on Mount Hermon.  When I first learned that, it seemed significant to me.

Hermon means sacred.  It's root words mean 1) prohibited / set apart and 2) sifted / captured 

(For extensive info on these root meanings, see here).

Isn't that interesting?  I find that everything in the scriptures is both symbolic and literal.  Returning to the passage from Song of Songs, we see that there is a call down from the mountaintop.  Our Heavenly Father calls us up, but He also calls us down.  He comes down with us - "come with me", 

He says.   that experience was amazing, but let's move on to another.   And the glory experienced from that spiritual high rests on us, just as it did with Moses, so that we can move forward in the world.  

We have to be set apart and sifted to go higher with our God, and we also have to be humble enough to be willing to come down.  With great power comes great responsibility - which is why so few lay hold of the Way.  

Paul said, not that I have already attained to it, but I press on to take hold of that which Messiah already took hold of for me. But praise Yah that all of us have been already ordinated as priests!  There will be many mountaintops and many valleys to go, but God will allow us to carry His presence thru it all.

FREEDOOOOMMM!

Last night God gave me a dream where I was undergoing a teaching.  It was on freedom.  In the dream, the Holy Spirit showed me Romans 8:21:

"...that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."  

Glorious freedom.  Thank you Father.  Do any of us really know what that's like?  Do we understand what it means to possess glorious freedom?  I don't think so, not yet.  Not with a full measure, yet this is exactly what Yahshua has promised (Luke 6:38).  He wants us to know; we're His family, kings in His kingdom (Proverbs 25:2)!

In my dream, there was such a liberation.  I instantly knew that God had just given me a key to abide. When I heard Romans 8:21, it was written on my heart in a new way.  It was so powerful, and the power was there to effortlessly provide.

That's what our Heavenly Father gives us power for -- to get closer to Him.  It's not for our giftings or callings so much as it was for Him.  From Him for me for Him!

It was an awesome experience of peace and contentment.  If you haven't already, ask Elohim to give you heavenly dreams!  He is faithful, and He will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).  Let's all taste and see that Yahweh is good (Psalms 34:8).

Overtaken and Into God's Rest

I've been realizing that there is a higher realm out there available to us in the Christian life.  There's a life beyond temptations, struggles and "falling from grace".  There's a life where God make things easier.

"For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His."

Hebrews 4:10

This verse has taken on a newer, deeper meaning recently.  I think the Holy Spirit wants to shine on us so that the meaning of all scripture is always evolving and progressing into the Heavenly mind.  

Naturally speaking, life is hard.  Even for Christians -- sometimes, life is hard!  It may be hard to not lose it when your brother says something annoying; it may be hard to stay peaceful when everyone is crowding the kitchen, it may be hard to avoid all semblance of road rage...it may be hard to pray for a stranger in the grocery store.  These are all mindsets we've gotten stuck in somewhere in our past.

Truthfully, though, this isn't the most accurate way of thinking.  It's not God's way.    To the extent that we are not tapping into God's way, we are denying the fullness of what Messiah did for us on the cross.  If the majority of what we experience as a Christian seems hard, then we are living under an illusion.

To rest from your own work takes a lot of power.  Not your own power, though!  It takes the power of the Ruach inside you to propel you onward independent of yourself.  That's what we need -- to live in the Spirit.

I've been seeing that there are degrees in this life in the Spirit.  God wants to overpower you, He wants to overshadow you, He wants to overtake you and overwhelm you.  I think this is what the prophets were talking about when they said, "the hand of Yahweh was heavily upon me".  

God wants to expose you to the weight of His glory and compel you into Himself.  He wants to consume you until there is no self-effort of self-thought left.  He wants to possess you: mind, body, and spirit.  Isn't that interesting?  It's the truth.

The point at which life becomes easy for us, when faith becomes restful, when pain turns blissful, when natural conditions burst out into the supernatural, will occur when God within us has full control.  It's not as hard as it sounds.  The only effort involved in us is the race towards believing.  If we've believed, we've entered into God's way, and if we stay in His Way, we'll have it easiest.

Divine Nature

"Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

2 Peter 1:4

Yahweh has given us so many precious promises.  Through what?  Look back to the last verse--through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  We participate in the divine nature, we mystically become part of Him, by simply understanding just how great He is.  By having the true knowledge of that.  Knowledge really is power!

"Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God..."

Reception, belief, true knowledge--all these things go hand in hand.  What it means to have a renewed mind (Ephesians 4:23) and realize just how well you already know Him!  It's comforting to know that you are a daughter, or that you are a son.

God's promises give us the power of participation, the power of holy pleasure.  There is a belonging in the family of God, in the nature of God.  It's just as natural as could be. (1 Cor. 15:46 and context)

I've been praying for two major things for a while now.  One, that I would feel the way my Heavenly Father feels about every situation, and two, that everything I say would be soaked in His Love.  These are just a small facet of the divine nature.

See, when you are partaking of His promises, in His goodness, the temptations of the world "grow strangely dim".  The burdens, the sorrows, the sin--all those things can be swallowed up (1 Cor. 15:54).  They can lose their place in your awareness and in your mind.

You are free to be free, you are free to be constantly joyful, you are free to never worry again.  You are free to be like Jesus was on the earth (1 John 4:17), always experiencing perfect love.  In 2016, let's all tap into that.

The Gift of Faith in Prayer, Part Three!

God gives good gifts to us--liberally and without finding fault!  And He wants to give us the gift of faith to empower us to reach others for Him.

The gift of faith moves us to simple and restful prayers.  We need to realize the power of simply saying our Master's name!  As we do, the supernatural will just start to flow.

The Word says we prophecy in accordance with our measure of faith, and it is the same with healing prayer.  The more faith we have, the more we'll see, because our own unbelief can hinder God.  We can all acknowledge God's power, and as we do, the more we'll see His power at work.

It's for freedom that we've been set free.  We are free to eagerly desire the gift of faith.  Desire leads to the revelation that God's been holding out the blessings to us all along.

Video Journal: Power in The Hands

"Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."
Psalm 144:1

When God compels us to pray, we need to accept His gift of faith.  We need to accept His power. We need to expect His love, and we need to expect from that a powerful manifestation.

God taught David how to overcome with His hands, and God is just the same today. We need to accept that God has overcome, and to believe for His will to flow down onto the earth.  We need the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Elohim, to teach us how to pray. (Luke 11:1)

Our faith is just a mirror-image of God's faith.  God's faith is the substance!  And we can conceptualize that faith really is a force when we use our hands to pray.

When our hands become controlled by the power of the Holy Spirit, that's when God takes over.

Praying with your hands, whether scanning with them, pushing with them, circling with them--whatever God calls you to do--might feel weird at first.  It's different!  God is different.  But praying and warring with your hands is worth it, because it's our calling to demonstrate the faith of God in action.

Will you Seek Him?

When things get hard, will you still seek God?  Will you put off all those distractions and the "sin that so easily entangles"?

God wants us to always pray and never give up.  God wants us to continue to search for Him, so that He may be found.  He wants us to find Him!

Do we really, really trust God?  Do we believe that He is who He says He is?

Let's forsake all, and just be with the Lord.  Let's experience His power and flow in His love.  Let's seek Him, because we believe He is good.

Let's make Jesus our hearts' delight, and look for Him even in those empty places.  God said that He'll never leave you nor forsake you.  Do you believe it?  Will you yield to the Holy Spirit within you that wants you to believe it?

Video Journal: Maintaining the Power and Maintaining the Testimony

Yesterday morning God spoke to me and said:

"I so desire to bless you today, Thomas, so maintain the power and maintain the testimony..."

We had a quieter day yesterday.  Sometimes that's the hardest!  When there's nothing exciting going on ..that's when you need the Holy Spirit to keep you in God's presence.  That's when you need to have Jesus by your side continually.

Even when we aren't 'ministering' to anybody, even when we aren't 'doing' all sorts of cool stuff for Jesus, He still so desires to bless us.  And we allow Him to bless us by maintaining in our spirits the wonderful things He's done in the past. We stay uplifted this way!

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."          Colossians 3:17

We need to do it all for the glory of God.  That's when we can be blessed in our coming in and blessed in our going out (Deuteronomy 28:6).

Sometimes it's easy to forget.  Sometimes we forget to draw near to God.  But He can keep us in a better place.  God wants us to always be maintaining in our minds and spirits His power and His testimonies--God doesn't want us to become so bogged down in the present that we forget about the past.

God so desires to bless us.  He wants to take us from glory to glory.

Video Journal: Feet Healings in Springfield

The past two days have been awesome!  We've been hanging out with some great people...and having a great time!  God's been providing opportunities to display His love and His glory.

"And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose."                     Hebrews 2:4

Our friend Rob shares his side of the story here:

God is good!  It's a joy to see His power at work, and it's a joy to see His love change things.  

What About The "Outer Witness"?

In the book of Revelation, we have described to us two witnesses.  Now, this reference may be symbolic, it may be literal, it may be both.  Either way, I think that we can apply this concept to our own personal walk, too.  Recently the Lord has been speaking to us about what I'll call the 'outer witness' of the Holy Spirit.

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."           Isaiah 30:21

We all know about the inner witness that God gives us.  It may come as a still, small voice.  It may come as a strong unction, or a supernatural knowing.  It may come as a conviction.  Now, keep in mind that God confirms Himself by two or three witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1). So then, what about external witnesses?  What about confirmations and promptings outside of ourselves?  That's where the outer witness comes in.

"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

Remember that the Holy Spirit can be likened to a strong wind--a ruach (Hebrew).  And I find that the wind is a medium through which God's Spirit often shows Himself.  Many times, I'll be outside and God will use the natural wind to speak to me.  I'll get the inner witness--the Lord will prompt me to head inside, for example.  Then, just a few seconds later, the wind direction will change, and gently push me towards where God's word already had me headed.  This is an external confirmation, and it establishes what God has already set into motion.  It's the outer witness.

Other times, the Holy Spirit may manifest as wind--inside! This is more rare (at least in my experience).
But sometimes, there comes into a room a supernatural and completely unexplainable wind.  What is it?  It's a sign!  It's a sign that the presence of the Spirit has come in.  I've noticed this happens must often in church.  But the Lord may do this anywhere!

Beyond wind, there are many other ways that God speaks through nature.  All creation serves to praise Him! And beyond that, there are many other ways that He gives an outer witness.  He my confirm Himself through another Christian, through a close friend, or even through something that an unsaved stranger says.  He may 'establish a matter' through a billboard's message, through a license plate, or through a street sign.  The possibilities are endless!  And all of these things are gifts from above, sent down from the Father to confirm His word.

We who are near God are commanded to acknowledge His power (Isaiah 33:13).  As believers, God wants us to have out faith built up by His outer witness.  He wants His Spirit within us to be communing, to be one, with His Spirit's working around us.  He wants us to grow from faith to faith.  The Lord wants to accomplish in us what He's already done among us.  He wants to have us walk into the establishment of His word.

When The Power of God is Present

"And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them."      Luke 5:17

How does the power of God show up today?  It shows up when people are desperate.  It shows up when people turn their desperation into expectation.  It shows up when faith is activated and people expect the Holy Spirit to work miracles!

Ministry becomes so much easier when the power of the Lord is present to heal.  Everything is easier when the power of God is there!  The Spirit of love comes in, and things start happening.  Events start aligning.  People start aligning.  Ministry breaks out, and so does the miraculous.

I remember about a year ago, Vanessa and I were praying for a man with back pain.  We were right outside our favorite restaurant, and a few people were beginning to take notice.  The Lord healed this man pretty dramatically.  Wonderful!  And then another man, an easygoing catholic guy, came up.  He wanted to know what was going on.

And then this second guy remarked that he, too, had back pain.  Vanessa and I knew what to do.  Faith had already been activated!  So, the guy talks about his back hurting, and continues walking up to us.  When he got close, I asked him how he was feeling now.  He said all the pain was gone!  Nobody prayed for him.  See, Jesus was there all along.  The Holy Spirit had already set up shop among us.  The power of the Lord overshadowed us.  The power of the Lord was present to heal.

This is what we need today, and it needs to begin within the Church.  We as Christians need His power enveloping us! We as believers need to be ministered to!

Once we ourselves are within God's power, then we can minister out of it!  Those not yet saved need to be exposed to the power.  They need to be exposed to the manifest presence of Jesus.  Those not yet convicted will only be convicted when the power of the Lord is present.  They'll only be saved when the supernatural power of God begins to flow.  This is a place of ministry.  This is a place of love.  This is a place of being inhabited by the Holy Spirit.  We need to have the Spirit, and we need to have His power.  We need to have been so touched by Him that wherever we go, the power of the Lord is present to heal.


"...And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"         1 Corinthians 2:4

Snapshot: The Fear of the Lord

In a vision recently, I saw a tempest, dust clouds and thunderclouds.  And the Lord quickened to me what I was seeing.

"Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire."                        Isaiah 29:6

And with that sight came the fear of the Lord.  It was literally awesome.  I realized that the Lord was gracious to impart such a feeling to me--He was gracious to help me understand what it means to fear Him, what it means to stand in awe.

Now, there is no fear within God's perfect love (John 4:18), but we need to realize that this does not exclude a healthy kind of fear of the Lord.  If we fear God--if we come before Him in submission, reverence and awe--then we will not be fearful of anything else.  We can take from the below verse a strong exhortation and understand that a biblical fear of God will drown out anything else:

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."                             Matthew 10:28

That's a strong message, but we can look at the context and realize that it's truth is meant to make us share God more boldly among others.  It's meant to motivate us to shine from the hilltop (Matthew 5:16) and speak whatever the Holy Spirit prompts us to say.    Fear of the Lord is not meant to make us timid--it's meant to spur us on to boldness and power evangelism!  It's meant to make us know that we really only have to please just One.

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..."             Philippians 2:12

Here's another strong exhortation, and it's not meant to make us fearful.  Instead, we need to have reverence and respect towards the commands God has given us.  We need to work towards obedience so that the salvation of our daily life is attained to.  (Note that our souls have already been saved--but God wants to save our works also!)  We need to reach the fullness of salvation, and this verse says that we can do it by continuing in obedience.  Now, usually it is Christ's love that should compel us.  (2 Corinthians 5:14)  And usually, it does!  But sometimes, situations get harder--more intimidating-- and we need to be motivated out of reverence and fear of God.

I think that fear of the Lord is a concept lacking in the Church today!  It doesn't seem as fun as other topics.  But we need to understand that it's a command of God that He made for our own good.  We need to understand that God is good, His law is good, and His motives are good.  And He has laid down precepts--fearing Him is one of them--that are to be fully obeyed. (Psalms 119:4)

"My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws"        Psalms 119:120

Unstopping those Wells

Last week I was doing street ministry, and ran into some difficulties.  Nearly nobody wanted prayer, people seemed hardened or disinterested, and there were no healings.  Things just weren't 'flowing' like I wanted them to.  And because of all this I didn't feel rested in the Lord, and I found myself really struggling to do His work.  The situations I found myself in just seemed against me.

The next morning, the Lord gave me a vision during my quiet time.  There was a path I was on, a narrow, brilliant white path in front of me, and while walking along the path, I saw the Lord give tools that would unstop blockages--unstop spiritual 'wells' and allow a free flowing of the Holy Spirit and His healing power.  I realized that among the waters of the Spirit, things had become stopped up and the power of communing had been cut off.  I realized that God, in response and grace, was giving tools that would equip me to walk and operate unhindered in His will--walk in a state of rest where I could be attuned to Him.  And I saw that the Spirit was making a way.

"The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring."   Isaiah 58:11

The Lord's given me similar visions and similar messages before, So He spoke to me about this, and told me what to do.  He told me how to respond, how to answer Him with a "yes!"  He spoke to my heart and explained to me how to pray into His will.  He gave the vision, and then told me how to walk into it, how to work with Him to see it come to pass.

"Today is the day, now go and lay hold of it; pray for the harvest fields.

I have commissioned you to unstop the healing wells.

I will send My Word and heal them...so stretch out your hand and decree.  Stretch out your hand and minister My name.  I will be with you in power and love."  

So He showed me the process of equipping, and then told me how to carry it out.  We need to hear (see) His will, pray for it, and then decree and declare it.  And so that's what I did.  And the Lord was so encouraging.  I went out for ministry again, to the same place as the day before...but I was expectant. I felt God would back me.  I felt He would make a way for things to flow.  I felt that He would establish His will as I prayed and spoke it.  And I felt that the Lord would be with me in power and love, just like He had said.

So, I got to the store and saw a younger guy with a cast and crutches.  And I felt it wasn't quite time. After a little while, I caught him right as he was going out the door.  I asked if I could pray for him, and praise God, he said yes!  So I said a short prayer... I couldn't wait to see if he felt better!  After two prayers, he was healed.  This guy wasn't all that close to God, but his heart was softened.  I asked him if he had a bible and he said no.  And I was bummed that I didn't have one to give him.

I told him, "the best thing you can do is pray to Him.  God loves you, and that's why He's healed you".  And the guy was convicted--he said, "yeah....I will."  He was surprised and softened, and I trust that he did begin praying to the Lord at that point.  Praise God!

I did some more ministry after that...and things really flowed!  I met so many other Christians and softened people, unlike the day before.  It was awesome...the Lord gave rest, and allowed for so many divine alignments.  I even talked with a lady who I knew from our ~40 person Church!

From this whole experience, God taught me so much.  He showed me the importance of praying against spiritual hindrances, of praying into His will, by whatever the Spirit reveals.  He demonstrated to me such a model--discern, pray, decree.  He showed me how to be used in bringing down from Heaven His will.  

Confirmed:  A few days later, I saw a word on the Elijah list called,   "The Pressure is Building!    The Lord is Releasing Well Diggers".  Glory to God!  Below is an excerpt:

"There is a new breed of apostolic and prophetic leaders who have been raised up in this hour to tap into the wells and release the underground rivers. As I was processing this dream, I asked the Holy Spirit, "What do the underground rivers represent?" He quickly answered me and said, "These underground waters represent the deep works of the Spirit that have remained in the earth. No matter how far man's heart has drifted, the rivers are still in the earth waiting to be tapped and released."

I then saw regions of America that were once centers of the move of God but have grown so cold. Those regions have deep wells and underground waters that cannot be seen or sensed with the natural senses, yet they remain waiting to be tapped and released. The Father is bringing forth prophetic people in regions that can see beyond the natural to see the underground waters, the potential move of God. It is critical that the prophetic spirit is released within the Church to CALL FORTH this move!" 

Let's pray, see, and decree!  Let's pray for the harvest fields, let's see what He says, and then let's decree!  Let's do our part to usher in another move of God.

"Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."

Matthew 9:38

God's Character as our Plumb Line

A few days ago, I was walking around outside the house, when I saw a line of string hanging down from a low part of the roof.  There was a tiny weight attached to the end of this string...I'm not sure what the thing was there for.  And the Lord reminded me that His Word is our plumb line.

"I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line..."

Isaiah 28:17

In the Old Testament, righteousness was God's plumb line, and whenever this line was crossed, He would bring on judgement.  There is a righteousness that God expected of His OT people, and when they fell away and worshiped idols, He was obliged to move towards judgement.  The plumb line is something that Israel was not to cross.  The plumb line is from Him, and it is also for Him, so that they knew that He was justified in His judgement (Psalms 51:4).

Today, we have God's righteousness embodied in His word.  We have His plumb line shown throughout the Bible.  He has set precepts that are to be fully obeyed (Psalms 119:4)--this is the plumb line.  If we cross it, we lose the righteousness He's given.  If we cross it, our disobedience takes away the blessing on us and hedge of protection around us.  It happened again and again to the Israelites, and it happens to us today.

There is a more personal element to this, too.  We can discern God's will, God's voice, through aligning it with His Word.  We can use the Bible, and all of it's promises, as a plumb line to ensure that we are seeing things as He does.  If we are out of alignment, His plumb line will show it.

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God."

We need to be have God make a way for us so that we can know both His Word and His power.  We have to know where our strength lies, where our foundation is at, and where our plumb line is.  We have to know how to identify His righteousness and stay within His confines so that we can walk in it.

Confirmed:  Later on this same day, I was reading a prophetic Word about God's plumb line.  Cool!  Every matter should be established by two or three witnesses... (2 Corinthians 13:1)

Confirmed:  Just today, the Lord led me to the story of Zerubbabel.

Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. "For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel-- these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth."                  Zechariah 4:9

We have here a template for our own working for the Lord.  First, we need to build upon a foundation the Lord has provided, and go on in building only according to His plumb line--only according to what He has said.  We need to make sure that our effort aligns with His will and His Word.  If He sends us into a project and guides us through it, then we are ensured to finish it!  And if He trusts us, He will allow us to take that plumb line--that essence of His character--and use it in our own hands.  

We need to be thankful for every day that God shapes our mandate and builds on our work.  We need to know that His eyes are on us, and approving of us, and then enabling us, by His Spirit.  We need to apply His character and His righteousness to our work, in order for Him to call it blessed.  That's how we create a testimony where it's clear that He's sent us.  That's where we won't be tempted to despise the day of small things.  And that's how we please Him!  God wants to sanctify our work.





  

Snapshot: Entering into Resurrection Power

A few mornings ago, on Sunday, the Lord took me into a vision where I saw Matthew 28:2 and 28:3 played out.

"And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow."                            Matthew 28:2-28:3

And He showed me that things that are blocking His people from walking in resurrection life are being removed.  He showed me that obstacles to our supernatural restoration are being thrown aside.  He's making a way for His resurrection power to flow out.  He's making a way for Jesus to be revealed.  He's removing things, and making a way for His power to touch us!

They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"                                                             Mark 16:3

Sometimes we wonder this very same thing.  How will Jesus reach us in our lives?  How will we reach Him?  How will we see Him, and have Him transform us so that we can be as He really is? These are all real questions, and they are all created by very real situations.  They are created by blockages--spiritual or physical problems that put us between a rock and a hard place, so to speak.

In the midst of unsolvable problems, we need to know that God has our solution.  We should actively seek His coming.  We need to seek Him until He rolls away those blockages, those roadblocks that cut us of from receiving a fullness of life.

While only God's Spirit can remove these things for us, we have a role to play, too.  We need to cling to God.  We need to flee from sin, and resist the devil.  We need to throw off all our entanglements, as best as we know how.

"My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me"             Psalm 63:8

"Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."                                       2 Timothy 2:22

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."               James 4:7

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..."                                                                                    Hebrews 12:1

So, there are things we can throw off, too.  There is a small portion of responsibility that has been given us--things that God empowers us to do so that we can choose to do them out of our own free will.  We can throw off sin.  We can throw off hindrances.  We can do this, and as we walk in His will, we can expect the Lord to clear out the bigger roadblocks ahead of us.  God is paving a way for all of us to really know Jesus.

And then the freedom begins.  Then the adventure really begins.  Then we walk in the Spirit, flow with the Spirit, and live filled with the Spirit.  We emanate resurrection power.  It's a lot of fun!  And more than that, it pleases the Lord and brings joy to His heart.

Confirmed:  At the start of Church that day, we started off after worship with a prayer asking the Lord to resurrect us, awaken us, restore us to His life and power.  Awesome!  God wants us to know that there is one Spirit, one mind, and one Body.

We also read John 11 that day, were Lazarus is resurrected.  And we talked about how this raising foreshadowed Jesus' own rise from the grave.  We talked about how Jesus' miracle here pointed to His own future glory.  Below is what we went over in Church--John 11:41-44 . Talk about confirmations!  Our God is so, so good.

So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

Yes, I know You always hear and listen to Me, but I have said this on account of and for the benefit of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You did send Me [that You have made Me Your Messenger].

When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!

And out walked the man who had been dead, his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] napkin bound around his face. Jesus said to them, Free him of the burial wrappings and let him go.

(Amplified version)

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.