The Father’s Business

Tags

Apostles, Business, Joshua, Kingdom, Prophecy

What is the Father’s business? Many who are in full time ministry would say they are doing the Father’s business, others who desire to be in full time ministry would say they are wanting to work in the Father’s business, so what exactly is the Father’s business? I saw a statement someone made this week that said, serving the Lord is the highest priority in life, everything else comes second. The one and only comment under this statement was, “Are you married?” This is the context in which I asked the Lord, what exactly is the Father’s business that many claim to be doing, that many claim to value so highly, Lord, what is the Father’s business. His answer, Luke 2:46-52.

Luke 2:46-52 says, “After three days of separation, they finally found Him—sitting among a group of religious teachers in the temple—asking them questions, listening to their answers. ⁴⁷ Everyone was surprised and impressed that a 12-year-old boy could have such deep understanding and could answer questions with such wisdom. ⁴⁸ His parents, of course, had a different reaction. Son, why have You treated us this way? Listen, Your father and I have been sick with worry for the last three days, wondering where You were, looking everywhere for You. ⁴⁹ Why did you need to look for Me? Didn’t you know that I must be working for My Father? ⁵⁰ Neither Mary nor Joseph really understood what He meant by this. ⁵¹ Jesus went back to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. His mother continued to store these memories like treasures in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus kept on growing—in wisdom, in physical stature, in favor with God, and in favor with others.”

The Father’s business is sitting, listening, learning, asking questions, listening to answers, gaining wisdom and deep understanding. This is the Father’s business. Paul did it when He spent 14 years in the Arabian desert; Moses did it when he spent 40 years on the backside of a mountain, before he picked up the Israelites to lead them through the wilderness; Mary did it when she sat at Jesus’ feet and was told she had the better portion and it would not be taken from her. Scripture is riddled with people who were doing the Father’s business of listening and learning, so they had deep understanding and wisdom.

Today people will say they are doing the Father’s business as they build another church, preach another sermon, establish another program, go on another mission trip, but this is not the Father’s business. The reality that the majority of leaders in the church are not doing the Father’s business is evidenced in the multiple echo’s we hear, but next to no voices. Preaching something someone else has been saying for years, because building something external is more important, more glamourous, more visible than building yourself inside strong and building others the same way. Paul spent more time traveling than he did preaching and he was more effective than all the preachers on the earth today. Why? Because he like, Mary, Moses and Jesus all knew what the Father’s business was and they worked in it.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people ^[a]who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” The healing of our land starts with humility, humility is admitting you are not who you think you are and you are not doing what you think you are doing. Humility is a nice way of saying, repent. Repent, return to the Father’s business, stop being busy doing nothing, for you may feel important, but it is evidenced to the world and the church alike that we are not about our Father’s business.

I know it is not glamourous; I know no one will see what you are building; I know that it is not evidenced right away; but the apostles among us, that have been doing the Father’s business are not being trained to have sudden prosperity, they are being trained for a battle that is about to ensue. When Joshua was handed the role of leader when Moses died, it was not for prosperity, debt cancellation or some other suddenly blessing, it was for a battle. The first thing Joshua did was go to battle against Jericho, a thickly walled city. This is where we are headed, to a battled with a thickly walled people, who have been wounded by the echo’s, the empty promises, the pain of many experiences that have gone unhealed. We are headed to battle, this is why the Father’s business is building people inside strong!

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Transistor or Resistor

Tags

Flow, power, relationships, Resistors, Transistors

Everything about God is relational. – Bob Hazlett

One of the greatest things about being in a relationship with God is that He makes you smarter than your IQ and wiser than your years. I find the more time I spend with Him, the more He teaches me about spiritual truths, using natural things that I know nothing about. But, He does know that I live in a day and age, where if I am a learner, I can learn about anything He speaks, thank God for Google. So, while in prayer I had one of those moments where God began speaking to me about something I knew nothing about, or so I thought I knew nothing about it. For as I studied it out, I discovered it was something I knew, but did not have such creative language for. Only God can affirm who we are while calling us into who we are not yet.

While praying for people and places, the Lord dropped the words transistors and resistors into my spirit. I kept praying, but could not shake these two words that the Lord had dropped in my spirit. What I discovered is that transistors are amplifiers, they amplify a signal, they amplify power, and they amplify sound. Resistors are reducers, they limit flow, they lower voltage, and they lessen power. In the electrical world transistors and resistors work together to release an appropriate balance of power to flow through a socket or terminal. But, in the spirit, these are opposing forces that cause confusion in a place where people gather to experience God.

The Lord has spoken to me consistently that the hold up for revival, the presence of God, power, whatever we desire spiritually is not Him, but us. If we don’t make room for Him, He is not going to force Himself upon us. He already poured out His spirit upon us on Pentecost, now He wants His spirit to come out of us, but we have too many cross currents happening in ourselves and in our gathering places. When we want to be a transistor one minute, but then are a resistor the next, we balance the power and stay the same. Or if there are both transistors and resistors in the same room, we balance the power and nothing changes.

In Acts 2, the Spirit of God came in like a rushing wind on a group of people who were one transistor, the Bible says, they were in one accord, in one place. They were all transistors, all wanting to amplify the presence of God, all wanting to admit a signal to earth about the power of God, there were no resistors in the upper room. So, when the spirit fell upon them like tongues of fire, they amplified the word of God on the street in everyone’s language, and the power of God was seen in healings. Transistors gathered together in one place, lifting up one voice, amplifying one message, and 3,000 people were saved that day.

Transistors amplify the signal they are receiving, while resistors limit that which they are seeing or hearing. When believers that are created to be transistors of the presence of God, become resistors of it, we see the manifestation of religion. Some started as transistors, but have become resistors due to bad theology, poor leadership and sheer laziness. Others were resistors, but have become transistors and as they amplify the power of God, the resistors rise up and balance out the current, so there is limited or low power flowing in the room. When we resist, what we are to transist, we get what we see in the majority of churches today.

We were created to be transistors, we are built for power to flow through us, but we must stop resisting that which we don’t understand and then we will see the spirit breakout, for Christ in us is the hope of glory. So, the question each of us needs to ask ourselves is, am I a transistor or resistor of the presence of God, the word of God and the power of God or am I a resistor and that is why where I am there is limited power?

Oaks of Righteousness, Embers of Glory

Tags

Embers, Fire, glory, Oaks of Righteousness

Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are My ways your ways, declares the Lord.”

On a beautiful fall evening in Kansas City, MO, we decided to build a fire in our backyard, so for the past two hours I have been sitting by the fire, worshipping with songs, prayers and the meditation of my heart. Now, my mind turns to the fire itself, the logs that were once so strong, thick and effervescent, now embers blazing in the base of the fire pit. As I look at the fire, meditate on the wood and the embers, the Lord speaks to me and says, “Oaks of righteousness become embers of glory.”

You see when we first get saved we are like twigs or paper, that when a match hits them they create a flame that people love to ooh and ahh over. Many of us started our Christian walk on fire for God, while some would criticize you for not having that youthful zeal anymore, the Lord would say, everyone is invited to grow out of that, into an oak of righteousness. Oaks of righteousness are people that are planted, people that grow, people that are steady, people that are mature. Oaks of righteousness have weathered the storms of life and they are still standing, they have linked root systems with other oaks underground in order to stand when others fell. They are a group of strong, stable, reliable believers who do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with their God (Micah 6:8).

So, as oaks of righteousness one would think this is the final destination, we just as Ephesians 6 says, stand and keep on standing, but God. Only God, whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts, whose ways are higher than our ways, who is the master teacher, the great builder, the lover of our souls, only this God, would take oaks of righteousness and invite them into the fire. Cutting them down, separating them from their community, isolating them, so they can be put in the fire, piece by piece, log by log. Because these are large trees, strong trees, powerful trees, the time in the fire is longer than when they were a twig, the fire blazes upon first arrival in the fire, because the bark is burning, but once the bark is burnt the cracking begins. The once strong tree is now beginning to feel the heat of the fire, it is cracking on the inside, smoke is coming forth and it is beginning to crackle, snap and pop. But in the fire they stay, despite the smoke signal rising from their insides begging to be removed.

Some have been taken out, some are on the side now, charred, because they did not like the burning, the heat, the flames, but those who stay the course, who maintain life in the fire, who don’t jump out, they enter a slow burn. People are no longer oohing and aahing over them, most have walked away, just to let the wood burn down, but for the oak of righteousness one of the most radical transformations is taking place. What used to be strong and prided itself on righteousness is now an ember. An ember of intense heat, that thrives on new oaks who enter the fire, for the embers set everything on fire that it touches, bright in color, intense in heat, and surrounded by other embers.

The oak of righteousness now becomes an ember of glory. A glory that burns all day long, that no longer needs anything but wind or breath to set it ablaze, embers that are pure fire, pure heat, pure love, pure truth, pure grace. Oaks of righteousness that used to stand to tall, now embers of glory that set others on fire, to the naked eye it looks like a demotion, but to those with ears to hear, this is the greatest promotion that oaks of righteousness could have ever been given, for they went from oaks of righteousness to become embers of glory

Apostles Are Among Us

Tags

ambassadors, Apostles, Arising, church, city, country, Discipleship

The other day, I heard the phrase, apostles are among us, in my spirit. As I have meditated on it the past couple of days and prayed into it, the Lord began to reveal to me what it means and it brought such freedom to me, that I wanted to share it with you, hoping it will bring some understanding to those that may be wondering what is happening in us, through us and around us. Apostles are sent ones, it is a function, not a title, they are not special in the sense that they have more value than any other person in the body of Christ, they just have a different function. That is why Paul said in I Corinthians, not all are apostles. Remember the context of this statement was about being a body and each having a different function. So, when I say apostles are among us, it is not about hierarchy or pecking order, but rather a function.

Living in a world where the enemy is making it clear through the news that he has agents of destruction planted in the soil of our cities, countries, and churches, the Lord also has people planted among us and they are called apostles. Apostles activate the people of God to do the work of God in order to advance the kingdom of God. The apostolic gift is an activation gift for the body of Christ. Jesus is called the apostle of our faith, He is the one that activates our faith into action through His word. Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, he activated the truth that Gentiles could experience the same salvation that Jews did. The apostolic function is for activation. There are apostles among us.

A group of people were called to be apostles, but they did not know when they accepted the call to the wilderness training, on the back side of the desert, in obscurity, this is what they were being called to be. They entered this training out of obedience to the voice of God, not sure where they were going, but knowing they heard the voice of Him who called them out of darkness into His light, so they followed. The training has been hard, it has been lonely, it has brought disappointment, discouragement and a desire to quit, but the call to obey was stronger than all of these other things, so they stayed the course. When everyone else was sleeping, they were awake; when others were playing, they were in training; they have been underground this whole time, and yet living among us. Many have never heard there name, most have no idea what they are being called to do, very few have seen them in their assignment, because they have been in training.

Their weapons are worship and prayer, their leaves are their words and they will bring healing to the nations, they bear the fruit of the spirit in every season, they are apostolic ambassadors who take their commands from the Lord of Heaven and Earth. These men and women are among us, they have been rewired and refired for such a time as this. They have been called, consecrated and commissioned for the hour that is coming upon us. They know the voice of God, they know the word of God, they know how to be led by the spirit of God, they are not trying to make their own way prosperous, they are not looking for man to lift them up, they are an army of apostolic ambassadors and they are among us. Their source is God alone, they are servants, they seek first the kingdom of God and they have a helmet of salvation, a breastplace of righteousness, a belt that is truth, shoes that are the gospel, a shield that is faith, and a sword that is the word of God. They are fearless.

The Lord has been teaching them in the apostolic training school on the back side of the desert, they are planted in the soil of every sector of society, they are diverse, yet one. They are dressed and ready for battle, ready to reap the harvest, ready to disciple nations, not for their glory, but for His glory. When the Lord calls for their arising you will know who they are, for they will activate the body of Christ as one unit to advance the kingdom of God. They are lovers of God and lovers of people, but they do not compromise the truth. You will know them when they arise, they are still in training, they are still waiting for the commander’s voice to activate them on assignment, for they are the apostles among us and they are an army that has been trained for the battle that is at hand. The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes. The apostles are among us!

The Ways of Wisdom

Tags

culture, Foolishness, Listening, Patience, wisdom

We live in a fast-paced culture, that believes if you are not going, going, going, then they wonder what is wrong with you. Some people think you are lazy, not wanting to work, not with the times, or they literally will just scratch their heads, because you are going against the grain of culture. Wisdom is a person and this person is not bound by our culture, but rather represents the kingdom of God in the word of God. Wisdom teaches us how to increase, obtain favor, make good choices, live in peace and even be happy. Wisdom says, she is worth more than gold, silver, or even rubies, yet so few people find wisdom. But why? Why is wisdom so hard to locate, so difficult to ascertain? Why does wisdom seem to allude us as people? I believe it is because wisdom is living at a different speed than we are and if we do not adjust to her speed, we will never hear nor heed her voice.

Marriage is one of the greatest gifts God gave me, for it revealed me to me in the face of my husband, that I was impatient. Oh I did not like what I saw and many times did not want to see what I saw, but the Lord used him as a mirror for me to see me. One of the things I knew about me, was that I was impatient, impulsive, always in a hurry. I knew this, but did not realize the destruction this was causing to me or to those I was trying to serve, love and be a friend to. My husband, who is an extremely patient man, showed me the ways of wisdom in his patience and it changed my life forever.

Proverbs 8:34-35 says, “The one who listens to me (wisdom), who carefully seeks me in everyday things and delays action until my way is apparent, that one will find true happiness. For when he recognizes and follows me (wisdom), he finds a peaceful and satisfying life and receives favor from the Eternal.”

There are things 3 we are required to do if we want to find wisdom: 1) Listen; 2) Seek; 3) Delay action until wisdom’s way is apparent. In a culture of unlimited noise, unlimited information and unlimited opportunities to buy something, do something or be something, wisdom is truly a counter cultural experience, which is why so many people choose foolishness over wisdom. Foolishness hears, but does not listen, it sees, but does not seek and it wants it now, and see’s delay as denial or reason to make a decree. Many are living their lives as fools due to their inability to slow down and we are seeing the fruit of this in our relationships with God and others.
The ways of wisdom are listening, seeking and delaying, when we live with these as our highest values, we find favor with God and man, untold riches and relationships that are abundant. Now, let me warn you, this does not come easy, nor is it handed to you. This pursuit of wisdom is hard work, it takes dedication and discipline. You have to want to be wise, to be one that pursues the ways of wisdom. The temptation to return to foolishness is at every turn, but if you put your hand to the plow and never look back; if you stay the course, I promise you will find wisdom and your life will never be the same again.

Yes, you will speak less and listen more, you will enjoy silence over noise, and you will not buy everything that you see, but you will hear people’s hearts and the voice of God, you will live in peace and quiet, and you will not be in debt to any man. The rewards of wisdom are truly better than gold, silver or rubies, for what we really long for is relationship with God and others. These are the ways of wisdom.