Where Did You Stop?

Tags

Abraham, faith, Moses, Movement, Prophecy, Tabernacle

Where did you stop?

I can hear you asking me, where did I stop what? Where did you stop loving? Where did you stop forgiving? Where did you stop trusting? Where did you stop believing? Where did you stop learning? Where did you stop giving? Where did you stop  _____________? Rick Joyner said in February 2017 that the Lord spoke to him a 4 phrase prophetic word, “To infinity and beyond!” I did not know until today that God spoke that to Rick, but about 3 weeks ago, God spoke to me and said, “where did you stop?” I believe these two, four phrase prophetic words are connected, for you cannot go to infinity and beyond if you stop. So, where did you stop?

The reason I believe this question is so important is because the Lord is inviting us yet again to “Come up here!” Revelation 4:1 says, “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” Couple this with the call out of Jeremiah 33:2-3 that says, ““This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” One observation I have made in the body of Christ is that when we get a revelation, we tend to camp on that revelation as though it is a final destination. Now, I realize that many people like to build settlements so they can feel secure, but the God we serve is continually on the move.

What I have noticed is that many have stopped at their last book, their last marriage, their last success, their last theology, but God is inviting us to keep going, to keep pressing, to keep moving. We are not to leave those things behind in the sense of we forget what we learned, but Hebrews 6:1 encourages us to press on, keep going, don’t stop. God invited Moses to build a tabernacle, it was a mobile tent, so they could keep moving; He made an ark of the covenant, that was to carried on the shoulders of the Levites, so it could be on the move; He called Abraham to keep moving until he found the city, who’s builder and maker is God; Jesus Himself, never built a settlement, but rather walked with His disciples, they were on the move.

I don’t believe God is anti-buildings, but I believe that many of us have stopped, settled, set up camp with no intention of moving on from where we are. Faith is movement! Like a river, we need to keep moving in our faith, in our love, in our pursuit of the Kingdom, we have done ourselves and others a disservice when God moves but we remain.

So, where did you stop? I can feel the resistance to this question, because if you answer it honestly, you will have to admit you stopped. But, I believe God is releasing a fresh wave of grace (empowerment) to get moving again. He is inviting us to believe again, trust again, love again, give again, because He is on the move. Whenever the cloud moved, the Israelites moved, I’m concerned the cloud has moved but many in the body of Christ have not. We are being invited to learn again, listen again, obey again, because He is speaking again!

If you stopped, you can start again, but you realize you stopped. Others see where you stopped, but many times you can’t see it, but today is the day of salvation, so pick up your mat and walk, for God is on the move and He wants you to move with Him.

Dream House

Tags

Abraham, arise, Believers, bible, Blessings, Christianity, church, dream, dream house

I was riding the stationary bike at the gym today rocking out to my Catherine Mullins music and the Lord said to me, I am looking for those who have built a dream house. As I inquired of the Lord as to what exactly He meant, He said that He cannot pour out His glory on people who do not have a dream house, built to hold the glory (honor, wealth).

For some people this house has been in the attic of their lives, because they never thought they would be able to do it. Others have been bruised by disappointment for so many years that they struggle to talk about their dream house. Some don’t believe or should I say have been taught that their dream is not important, so they are trying to help someone else fulfill their dream, but don’t know how to dream. And still others have been building their dream house for days, weeks, months or even years, knowing ONE DAY this dream will become a reality.

No matter where you are in the process, it is time to build a dream house. Now this dream house has to be about others, not about you. Barbie’s dream house is all about Barbie, excess clothes, shoes, stuff that she just likes to have around so people ooohhh and ahhhh at her. But the dream house God has called you to build is for others through you. I have a friend that her dream house is to create safe houses for abused women; I have another friend who just got a dream house from God about 2 weeks ago to start a rehab center and dormitory for those who want out of their addictions; finally on Tuesday, a friend came over to talk to me and she shared about a brand new dream house God gave her for a teen center.

God is putting dreams in the hearts of people right now. Write down your dream house idea for He is about to pour out glory, but if you don’t have a plan that is bigger than you getting a nicer car or bigger house for yourself, He is not going to give you His glory. Not because He does not want to bless you, He does, but He always blesses those who are going to be a blessing. We are the seed of Abraham, so we have to do what Abraham did.

Genesis 12:2 “”I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing”

Romans 4:3 “What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Build God’s dream house and watch Him pour out His glory on that house. And if you want to write it down and send it to me, I will pray for it to become a reality for you and my faith will partner with your faith for this dream house.

Abraham’s Understanding of Faith

Tags

Abraham, Believe, Christianity, faith, Growth, maturity, Sarah, Supernatural

 Romans 4:20-21 says, “He didn’t doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God [for the promise], he became strong because of faith 21 and was absolutely confident that God would do what he promised.”

Abraham is fondly known to many religions around the world as the Father of Faith. Preachers around the world have shared on the subject of faith, for it is the foundation stone on which the church is built. Many have presented impeccable theological understandings about faith; while others have used some of the most creative means to describe faith. So, with so many great teachings on the subject, it is somewhat intimidating to put out in print, yet another explanation of such a tried, tested and time rich topic. Yet, the depths of this subject are as deep and wide as God, Himself, so there may be no end to the talking points related to this subject, therefore, the decision to bring one more swing at the subject prevailed.

Two primary points jumped out of this text in Romans 4, which is what compelled me to write my perspective on Abraham’s understanding of faith. This is not an exhaustive list, it is just an addition to the wealth of information of the subject. Faith has 2 primary components to it, one faith believes and two faith produces.

1. Faith believes in the face of the facts.

   The fact is Abraham was 99 years old when the angel of the Lord told him, he was going to have a son. Now I know some people think 99 years old was not actually 99 years old back then since they lived so long, but the days of man’s life was cut to 70 after the flood and Abraham was born after the flood, so 99 years old then is the same as 99 years old now. 99 years old, my grandma is 99 years old, she can barely make it, with her walker from the couch to the kitchen table to eat lunch, the dude was 99 years old. This is the fact. Romans 4:19 says, He did not weaken in faith when he considered the impotence of this own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.” Not only was Abraham impotent, 99 years old, nearly dead, Sarah was 87 years old and had been barren all her life. The facts were almost comical, no wonder Sarah laughed!

When we look at the facts of our situation, whatever it may be, in light of the facts of Abraham and Sarah’s situation, it really puts in perspective, that if they could believe God for the miracle of a child who came from Sarah’s 87 year old body, how much more can we believe God for that job, that spouse, that baby, that breakthrough. It is an insult to talk to God about our problems without faith, when Abraham and Sarah had plenty of factual reasons to debate with God about this promise He was giving to them.

2. Faith produces.

    Faith produces everything we need in order to get the promise God has spoken to us. Faith produces strength, Abraham and Sarah needed supernatural strength to come together as husband and wife, so they could produce what they believed God was promising them. This was no an intellectual ascent they were making, this took some physical activity. They experienced the strength that faith produces.

     Faith produces empowerment for success. God released a supernatural empowerment that opened Sarah’s womb, he released the empowerment that both Abraham and Sarah needed in order to produce a child. God is in the empowerment business. We quit so easily we do not recognize or tap into God’s empowerment, because when our strength runs out we quit, but there is a whole other level of strength that comes if we don’t quit to early. God loves to empower us for success, but it takes faith to keep going, when you want to quit, in order to step into the empowerment that comes through faith.

Faith believes in the face of the facts, faith produces strength, faith produces empowerment and as we praise and glorify God, the result will be full satisfaction and assurance of God’s ability to do what He said He would do. Abraham and Sarah have experienced a faith that produces, because they believed. Abraham understands faith and he wants us to understand it as well, but it takes us doing something that we do not think we can do, until you step out, you will not see the power of God at work in your faith.