No Delay

Tags

grace, Kingdom, maturity, Prophecy, Truth, wisdom

“There is no such thing as delay, there is a lack of understanding the day.” This is what the Lord spoke to me this morning while in prayer. It has become popular to tell people they need to bind the spirit of delay; they need to prophesy, no more delay; and a variety of other variations of this vein. But, the Lord said to me, “there is no such thing as delay, there is a lack of understanding the day.” As I pondered these words, I realized we feel like there is a delay, because we put a time frame on the promise God has spoken. That is not delay, that is us not understanding the day.

In Joshua 6 the Lord speaks a word of promise to Joshua and the children of Israel about the city of Jericho, saying, “I have given Jericho, its king, and all its soldiers into your hands.” When God says something, it is going to happen, but when it happens is in the following verses, for the chapter goes on to release the strategy that needs to be employed for the promise to be actualized. Joshua 6:3-5 gives the strategy, “Every day for the next six days, you will march once around the city walls with all your fighting force. Seven priests will go in front of the covenant chest, each carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. On the seventh day, you will march around the city walls seven times, and the priests will blow their trumpets.  When they play a long final blast, then all the people will give a mighty shout. The city walls will collapse in front of you, and all the Israelites will charge in and take the city.” Anyone of those soldiers could have decreed no more delay after day 1, 2, 3 or more, but it was not a delay, rather they were unaware of the day. If it is day 3, 4 or 5 there was not going to be any sign of victory for it was not the right day.

When we are unaware of what day we are in, based on the strategy God has spoken to us, we will cry, delay! But it is not a delay, we just don’t understand what day it is. People do this with so many things. We do it with prophesy, we do it with scripture, we do it with our end time ideas. If we don’t know the day, we won’t know where we are, but one thing is for sure, there is no delay. Joel 2 says, “In the last days…” (plural); Matthew 24:36 says, “On that day…” (singular); Galatians 6:9 speaks to a “due season”; whereas Romans 13:11 says, “now is the time and the hour…”. There is no such thing as delay, but there is a lack of understanding the days, day, season, time, or hour.

Many of us have a promise from God, we know that we know, God said…but the timing is where we are off. If we were honest, God did not give us a when it would happen, He only told us what would happen. For maturity to take place, it is important that we stop imposing our thoughts, our time frame, our faith in ourselves, rather we must listen not just to the promise, but the strategy about how to employ the promise and then we will better understand the day we are on, so we can be patient in the process, for the promise will not delay. Remember Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.”

“Don’t yell or shout. Don’t let your voice be heard until the day I tell you. And then I want you to shout with all your might” (Joshua 6:10).  If you are still in the silent stage, don’t worry it is not a delay, it is just not the day. Once the day arrives, trust me, you will shout, the walls will fall, the victory will be sure and the battle will be won quickly, for the Lord will say, NOW! Shout unto God with a voice of triumph! (Psalm 47:1). It is not a delay, it is design, because with God there is no delay.

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Re-Tiring: It’s Going to Be a Good Year

Tags

arise, Dry bones, Encouragement, Ezekiel 47, Good Year, grace, Isaiah 43, Kingdom People, life, love, power, Prophesy, Truth

Re-Tiring: It’s Going to Be a Good Year 2.7.17

http://www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

 

I got a phone call the other day from a friend who was concerned she was going to be retired by God from doing ministry. I said to her, you think you are going to be retired, what happened. She began to explain her situation and asked me to pray as she was uncertain of how this situation would turn out. Then 4 days later, I got a text message from her that said, she resigned and now had been retired. I knew she was in pain, so I did not want to call as she was in the process of retiring from the place she was in up until that morning. While I was praying for her the Lord spoke to me and said, I am not retiring her, I am re-tiring her! I sent her a text immediately with this word from the Lord and I added, this is going to be a really good year. She immediately called me and disappointment and discouragement turned into hope and joy of what is coming with this re-tiring.

 

This statement from the Lord, I am not retiring her, but re-tiring her, has been ringing in my spirit for the past 24 hours and I sense this is not just a word for her, but for many in the body of Christ. Lana Vawser has released prophetic words related to a shift in direction for many in the body of Christ; Doug Addison has prophesied this is a time of realignment and reassignment; so I sense the words God spoke to me are just another piece in this puzzle of the major changes many of us are going through right now. The reason I decided to release this word, is because I think there are people who feel like they have been retired by God and I am here to declare to you today, no matter your age, your gender, your race, or your nationality, that God is not retiring you, He is re-tiring you!

 

Re-tiring is a word we do not hear often, and if you are in the tire business or know anything about retreading, you understand that retreading is putting new tread on old tires. Re-tiring is God giving many in the body of Christ a brand-new set of tires. When we drive on the same set of tires for many miles, they have what is called tread wear, they lose their ability to grip the road, to withstand various weather conditions and are more susceptible to go flat. Some people have been riding on the same old tires for many years, but the Lord is not retiring you, He is re-tiring you. The Lord is inviting us to accept a brand-new set of tires, so we can continue to go for many more miles and make many more memories.

 

The challenge some are going to face in this season is that it is cheaper and easier to just keep the same old tires and when they wear out to just retire. Unfortunately, there is no scriptural backing for that attitude, so I am here to speak life into those dry bones (Ezekiel 47) and say, you will live again, you are a great army and we need you, arise! Or in the words of Isaiah “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise” (Isaiah 43”:18-21).

 

Remember the word of the Lord to us…we are not being retired, we are being re-tired! and I would like to add, it’s going to be a good year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bait and Switch

Tags

Abundance, grace, Intimacy, kingdom of God, Party, Surprise

Bait and Switch 6.1.16

 

In the truest definition of bait and switch the promised product is greater than its value therefore, giving the purchaser a sense of getting a deal. But when God does a bait and switch, the action of advertising goods that are an apparent bargain, is coupled with the intention of substituting inferior goods for more expensive goods. May I propose to you that many of us have been lured into the wilderness by a good good Father who has a bait and switch operation going on. He lured us in with the promise of a ministry, money, or a calling that resonated in our spirit, because we believed Psalm 37:4 that says, He gives us the desires of our hearts. We know who He made us to be, we know there is greatness inside of us, so we accepted the invitation to the wilderness with the intention of getting a promotion to showcase our gifting.

 

Jesus is a Master Teacher, He knows how to use the word of God to show what He has been and is doing in our lives. If you cannot locate yourself in the word of God, it is time to do some relocating. If we are walking by the spirit and not the flesh, we will locate ourselves in the word of God. As I was listening to Ron Carpenter from Redemption Church in Greenville, SC today, he said something that located me in the word of God and I jumped for joy. He was preaching on the story of Elijah and Elisha, when towards the end he unlocked the word of God and revealed me and I believe many of us that have been in the wildernesses’ location.

When Elijah threw his mantle on Elisha in 1 Kings 18, Elisha burned his job, fed the people and followed Elijah, with the desire for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. But in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha was not interested in a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, his hearts cry was my father, my father, not my portion, my portion. As Ron spoke these powerful words the Lord spoke to me and said, “it is my bait and switch. I called you into the wilderness with the promise of greatness and you followed, but during your wilderness training I showed you who I am and you fell in love with me, not your ministry”. (Selah)

 

I believe many of us, like Elisha, have discovered that what we came into this process for is not what we found, we found a gift of far greater worth than gold, we found a relationship with the King of Kings, our hearts our exploding with a love for the Lord that money cannot buy, we have found the pearl of great price, we have found that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and that He is the reward. We found the lover of our souls, we found why we were made, we found a relationship with God that is honestly, indescribable in natural words, but seen in our love for Him and others.

 

Not realizing it upon entrance, God Himself was inviting us not into a ministry, money or any other material thing, He was inviting us into a relationship with Him. He was what our hearts desired, we just did not know it when we started. He was the one we were looking for, He has stripped away all the facades, preconceived ideas and premonitions and He has shown us the Father and we can honestly say, all we want is You! It was the best bait and switch that could have ever happened to us. He switched our shallow desires for our heart’s desire. He switched our desire to be something to a desire to know someone. He invited us into a relationship with Him and we could not have been given a better gift.

 

Once you see Him, know Him, walk with Him, you realize He is an all consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28), He is your heart’s desire and there is nothing that can compare to Him, for He is…I AM that I AM (Exodus 3:14-18). We used to think we were created to do something, but now we know we were created to be someone, someone who knows her God, someone who loves people, someone who is loved by Him. He always has been and always will be all about relationship that is why the word first, in Matthew 6:33 means only, in the Greek, Seek only the kingdom of God and all these things will be given unto you. The things we longed for and didn’t know it were the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22) and they all come from a relationship with Him. He did the best bait and switch and it was all for His glory and our enjoyment. Thanks a million Jesus!

America is Blessed

Tags

America, Blessed, grace, kingdom of God, Prophecy, Truth

Number 23:19-20 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.”

God has blessed America, He has declared it blessed, so He cannot curse it. Judgment is not a curse, it is a blessing, for judgment brings us back into the original pronouncement of blessing. Israel experienced God’s judgment on more than one occasion, because they forsook the Lord their God and began to worship other gods. But the Lord never cursed Israel, nor did He remove His blessing from them.

Once a blessing has been pronounced it cannot be removed. So, judgment is not a curse, but a blessing to bring us back into our correct alignment as a nation. No one can curse us, for God has already blessed us.

Now, part of the judgment is going to reveal God’s thoughts about our value of materialism. We spent when we were supposed to save; we built buildings, when we were supposed to build people; we chose hierarchy, when God was asking for humility; we listened to man, when we knew we were supposed to listen to God; we have hurt people, rather than healed people; we refused to die to ourselves; this is why we are being judged. We have called the truth a lie; we have agreed with the enemy and we have created a problem that only God can fix.

Judgment is imminent, because most people are living as though God approves of them; they are leading like God is proud of them; actually they are unaware of what is really going on.

We watch the news, but we don’t see the signs or hear the warnings. We believe we are blessed, under grace, free from the law, so we can do whatever we want. Isaiah was right when he said in verses 9-10 of chapter 6, “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Our lack of repentance is the proof that we cannot see, hear, or understand. We honestly don’t believe we’re doing anything wrong.

It is going to feel like it came suddenly, out of the blue, but actually, the Lord has been wooing us for years, drawing us for decades, calling us for centuries, but there has been a refusal to repent. He will be justified in His judgment, but oh how I wish we would wake up before He has no other choice. I hear the alarm sounding, I see the people sleeping and I want to do something, say something, but most don’t want to hear, that is why He is keeping some hidden until they are ready to listen. God wastes nothing, He uses everything.

Judgment precedes restoration…weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning…in wrath, remember mercy.

Look for the Seed in the Stump

Tags

Christianity, grace, judgement, kingdom of God, love, Prophecy, seed, stump, Truth

Judgment is coming to the house of the Lord, as an act of grace and as a cleansing. He has to remove our idols, since we have not removed them ourselves. This judgment is going to leave cities desolate, houses uninhabited, and the land devastated. We are already seeing the beginning of this in pockets around the world with the Bokka Horan in Nigeria, the riots in St. Louis, MO, the ISIS in Iran, and the issues between Russia and the Ukraine. Isaiah 6 is the reality in which we are living right now. If you read Isiah 1-5 you will understand the context of Isaiah 6, but here is what Isaiah 6:8-12 says, “8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ 10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long ?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, 12 “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”

The Lord is saying, that Christians have become insensitive, dull of hearing and dim of eyes (calloused, deaf and blind). If you read Psalm 135:15-18 it says, “15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.17 They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths 18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” The evidence of our idolatry is plain to see, so our judgment is inevitable. We need this judgment, for the new wineskin to come and the new wine to be poured out. Judgment is an act of grace, it is actually good news, for God loves us so much He has to discipline us, for we have chosen not to repent.

So, as we see these things happening all around the world and the news broadcasts the judgment of God, we are not to become afraid, actually we are to look for the stump. When the land is laid desolate, look for the stump; when the houses are without people (this actually is referring to churches, of which we are seeing a steady decline of church attendance), look for the stump; what is happening to the world is because the church has not obeyed the voice of God, the commands of God, so we are under the discipline of God, but look for the stump. Why? Because Isaiah 6:13 says, “13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

The holy seed is in the stump! God is going to remove all the idols, but there is a seed in the stump, it only takes one seed to start a brand new harvest. The seed is in the stump, look for it in the midst of all the devastation you see, all the desolation you notice. Look for the seed in the stump!

Not First…Only!

Tags

Christianity, Contentment, Empowerment, grace, healing, Jesus, Joy, maturity, prosperity, Truth

When we as people hear the word first, it denotes order, priority, some form of list. We see first as there is something that comes second. Most of us, when we read Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33, it says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”, we take that as an order of way to prioritize our lives.Therefore, what we do is our quiet time first, pay our tithe first, give God our first, whatever. Then once we have done what we were supposed to do first, we do whatever we want, second, third, and so on. While I was fasting and praying with a group of people last week, the Lord began to speak to me that first does not denote there is a second, first actually means only. To God, when He says, seek first, He means seek only. We are called to seek only the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not first, but rather only. As I began to meditate on this idea of only, rather than first, it made me realize how many idols we have in our lives and we do not even realize it.

If we pursue anything in addition to the Father, it is an idol. An idol is anything we look to, we pursue in order to meet a need we have. Look at Matthew 6 again, it says in verse 1, “Take care not to do your good deeds publically or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward  with and from your Father Who is in heaven”. The good deeds Matthew is referring to are noted in the following verses, he says, when you give, when you pray and when you fast, do it in secret, why, because you need affirmation and if you seek approval or affirmation from men, it is an idol and the Lord does not compete with idols, so you lose your reward. 

In the former age of Christendom seeking God first was acceptable, it was expected, but we have crossed over into the kingdom of God age, and in this new normal we have entered, we are to seek the kingdom of God only. That is why the call to secret is so critical, because our affirmation needs to come from the Lord only. If others affirm us, it is appreciated, but it is not needed. This is powerful, because if you need the affirmation of man for what you do, you will eventually do what man expects in order to get their affirmation, instead of what God wants and then man becomes an idol.  

Seeking the kingdom of God only, means the only one in front of us is the Father and everything else is behind us. It can be likened to driving a car, if you spend your whole drive looking over your shoulder behind you, you are going to crash, but if you are facing forward, looking forward and your focus is forward, then if you glance in the rear view mirror now and then you can see what is following you, but you are not focused on what is behind you. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first (ONLY), the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (your needs) will be given to you.” Your needs are behind you, when you are seeking the kingdom of God only, they are not in front of you as something you pursue. When we seek only the Father, everything we need, want, desire, dream about will pursue us, as we pursue the Father.

To seek God only takes a lot of trust, you have to put all your attention on Him only. No pursuing your career, a spouse, a promotion, prosperity, nothing. Everything must be literally behind your back and the only thing in front of your eyes is the Father. Most people cannot do this, many will not agree with this, some will not have the courage to try it. But to those who have ears to hear, the Lord promises you, if you pursue Him only, obey His voice always, your reward will blow your mind. Because when our worth is found in the love of God, when our fear is swallowed up in the presence of God’s perfect love, when our trust is in the heart of God, we will find the rewards of God taking us over. The Father is looking for those who only want Him, not in words, but in hearts desire, because then whether we are in a job or without a job, whether we are married or not, our needs our met in God alone.

I close with the words of the Apostle Paul, “I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me!” (Philippians4:12-13)

Disappointment: A Destiny Battle

Tags

Christianity, Christians, Disappointment, grace, Growth, life, maturity, spiritual growth, Truth

Have you ever gotten your hopes up for something and then it didn’t happen the way you thought it would? Have you ever believed you heard God say something, but it ended not turning out the way you believed it would? Have you ever been fully convinced of something, promised something, confident about something, to only have it not happen? Yeah, me too.

Disappointment is a hard pill to swallow, because you hope, you believe, you are truly convinced of something good happening, then that very thing you were so sure of does not happen and disappointment sets in. I was living in Malaysia and working as a permanent substitute teacher at an International School. I was in good standing with the administration and other teachers, in addition, my relationship and effectiveness with the students was evident to all. Three positions in my department came open, this is unusual, since I am in Guidance and Counseling, but all three counseling positions in our school came open. My principal spoke to me and asked which position I wanted, so I told him and he said your name is penciled in, but we have to go to some job fairs and find the other two positions before we can give you a contract for your position. I was elated by this, now my son could attend this school, which was one of my hearts desires, I would have a full time job and this would add income to our family and help fulfill some of our dreams as a family. Everywhere I turned this looked the like blessing of the Lord and to say the least, I was very excited. I believed this was an answer to my prayers, I sensed the Lord say this job was for me, I mean I knew that I knew this was the job, I had went to school for.

Have you ever been in that place where everything lined up according to what you were praying for? Have you ever been fully convinced in your spirit, then it all was in agreement in the natural? Have you ever had so many confirmations about what you heard God say, that you were already spending the money and decorating your office, so to speak, in what you knew was going to happen? This is faith right, being confident of what we do not see and acting as though we already have it. Faith is what pleases God, so I was to say the least, fully engaged by faith in this answer to my prayer. Then one day, my principal comes into my office and says, I don’t  know how to say this, but while we were out on a job fair, we found a husband and wife team, whom of which both are school counselors and we needed the one position and her husband wanted your position, so we gave it to them. I am so sorry, this is such a rare thing that happened, but it is our policy to hire husband and wife teams. He then walked out of my office. Selah!

I sat there in my office, stunned. Really, is this really happening right now, I so convinced that this is what the Lord told me, how did I miss this one? You can only imagine the thoughts running through my head, the questions I had, the temptation to be mad at God. But, I heard a sermon by Bill Johnson on dealing with disappointment and he said how we handle disappointment determines our destiny. I did not understand the relevance of this message, until this very moment. I had to decide was God still good, even though I didn’t get what I want, or was I going to stop believing in God? It was a very real question and whether you hear it in your head or your heart, you are asking the same thing when you experience disappointment.

Bishop Raphael Green says, we go through destiny battles. I was in a destiny battle and did not even realize it. I was disappointed, to say the very least, but one thing I knew, is that God is good and that He works out all things for the good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The disappointment did not go away, but the battle was won, because I decided that even though He slay me, still I would follow. I was not going to let the loss of a job destroy my destiny in God.

Every one of us faces disappointments, some are more hard to handle than others, but disappointment is no respecter of persons. However, it is a destiny battle and how you handle disappointment determines your destiny. The enemy will mock God, He will try and tell you God lied to you, God is not for you, God doesn’t want you blessed, and on and on the mocking goes. But, if you can push past the pain of disappointment, you will hear a whisper that says, it was for my glory. God does not break His promises, He does not lie, He is faithful, He is good, He is our Father, and what you believe about Him comes out when you are facing a destiny battle. Don’t doubt the goodness of God, for in due time, you will reap a harvest for all the seeds you have sown, whether financially or in tears. They are all seeds and He is faithful, even when we are going through disappointment. Win the destiny battle my friend! I did and I know you can and you will.

The Key to Inheritance

Tags

Christianity, grace, Humility, Inheritance, Joy, Kingdom, love, maturity, Meekness, Teachable

Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the meek…for they shall inherit the earth.”

The desire to inherit something is a God given desire, because inheritance is like grace, it is something given that is more than what we earned. An inheritance only goes to those of whom there is a relationship established. People do not leave an inheritance to strangers they have never met, rather they leave it for people of whom they have a relationship. Some people leave an inheritance to their children, so their children can go farther than they went, do more than they did and see more than they saw. An inheritance is meant to be built upon, added to, and given away over and over again. However, there is a key to unlocking inheritance, you must be in a relationship with the one giving the inheritance, not out of getting the inheritance, out of genuine love for that person.

Many of us have read the passage in Matthew 5, where Jesus unlocks all the blessings for those who are in a relationship with him. The best part about it is, the Lord reveals what He is looking for in a relationship with us and what we will receive from having that character quality in our relationship with Him. Each blessing has its own unique aspect of the relationship. Just as in families, based on our relationship we receive certain aspects of an inheritance, it is not something we can demand, but rather is given based on relationship. So, the master key to all inheritance is relationship, but each individual inheritance has its own key as well. Today, we are going to look at the key to unlocking the inheriting of the earth.

The Bible is clear that to unlock the inheriting of the earth, you must possess the key of meekness. For many years, I was unclear as to what meekness really was, but I heard a definition that struck a chord in me, because I could be this definition. Meekness means to be teachable. This encompassed the word for me in a way that revolutionized my desire to inherit the earth. Being teachable is directly related to be humble and I understood that word, so this correlation made sense to me. Then as I began to dig into this idea of being teachable the Lord began to reveal some truths that are transformative in nature.

As people we have thoughts that are solidified in our minds and for many of us, apart from an earthquake from heaven we have no intention of changing the way we think, whether those thoughts are right or wrong. Growing up, our culture, our families, our experiences all cement thoughts and ideas about life into our minds. Some of our thoughts have been there for so many years, the idea of thinking differently is not even an option, for some people. And to think our thoughts might be counter kingdom and that the Lord would want to change them, does not cross many people’s minds. I know, because I have been there. Yet, the Bible is riddled with invitations to change the way we think, from the ever so popular Romans 12:1-2 to the not so familiar Psalm 7:9, which says, “For You, Who try the hearts and emotions and thinking powers are a righteous God” (AMP). From Genesis to Revelation, the Lord has been in hot pursuit of revolutionizing the way we think.

In my meditation and prayer around this subject, the Lord said, “If you weren’t so stiff-necked about some of your views on different subjects, you wouldn’t get so bent out of shape when people see it differently than you do.” (Ouch, Selah, Truth) The key to inheriting the earth is meekness, to be meek means to be teachable, to be teachable, you have to be open to other viewpoints on most subjects. I have come to believe that the only subject in my life that is not open to change, is the character of God, everything else, needs to be flexible, bendable, moldable, changeable if I am to inherit the earth. I also believe that if we heed the call to meekness, humility, teach ability, we would see arguments end, splits stop, division diverted and unity prevail. The head of the church is Christ, the body and the head are not to be doing different things, they are to be unified and even though we may express a different aspect of who God is, His unchangeable character, we can be unified if we are willing to be meek. Then we will see the church be the true reflection of the kingdom of God on earth. It starts with me committing to be meek.

Wisdom, Along With Everything Else is God

Tags

Christianity, God, grace, healing, life, love, prosperity, wisdom

Job 28:23, 28 “God understands the way (to Wisdom) and He knows the

                             place of it (Wisdom is with God alone. …But to man He

                             said, behold the reverential and worshipful fear of the

                             Lord – that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is

                             Understanding.”

 

Preachers all over the world offer the character traits and attributes of God separate from God Himself. This is not intentional, but it is done weekly in churches all over the world. We promise people prosperity, wisdom, grace, healing, you name it, as something that God gives, rather than as something that God is. For whatever reason, we have taken who God is and made Him into something He does. To God, there is no separation between who He is and what He does. He is One through and through and he has made us as humans the same way.

We cannot give money away without being a person of generosity; we cannot say words of comfort without being a person of compassion. What we do is who we are, they are not two separate things. Just as we cannot show love to our spouse or child without being love ourselves, God cannot do anything without it being who He is, in His divine nature. So, when we tell people God wants to prosper them, many are looking for money to fall out of the sky, but God is looking for people that want to know Him as one that loves to see His people prosper.

To try and get something from God without wanting God, Himself, is a violation of design. In human language that is taking someone for granted. So, when Job declares Wisdom is with God alone, he is saying, God is wisdom, it is not something He does, it who He is and if you want wisdom you have to want God. Unfortunately, without realizing it, we have been offering people what God is without sharing with them who God is. So, we have perversions, like people that name it and claim it, thinking that is the key to prosperity. Or people who are walking away from God because they did not get the healing they were praying for. God is not a vending machine and our prayers are not the coins that activate it. He is God, He is good, He is healing, He is wisdom, He is truth, He is generous, when we want Him, not for what He has, but for who He is, we will eventually see in our lives all He is.

The reality is, God wants us to know Him, want Him, need Him, in our lives and if we were honest and stripped it all away, that is what we are longing for. Our spirits are crying out for an intimate, passionate, fervent relationship with God, His stuff is nice, but when you have Him, you are not even thinking about all those other things. When people know you want them, not what they have, they open up their hearts and their treasures to you, but if they perceive you are after their stuff, they will withhold themselves and their stuff. It is a law of the kingdom that cannot be broken, God is wisdom, they are one in the same person. May you desire God, not what God gives or has. Remember Matthew 6:33, seek first (as your only desire) the kingdom (the king’s domain) and all these things (whatever you think you need) will be added unto you.

I know from experience that when I get God, His presence, His power, His face, nothing else has any significance. He is truly All I want!

Power to Escape

Tags

Christianity, church, escape, grace, kindgom of God, power, spiritual, world's system

2 Peter 1:3-4 “As his divine power has given to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us by glory  and virtue,  through which he has given to us the greatest and precious promises, that through these ye may become partakers of [the] divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”.

My spirit is stirred with a strong warning again this morning, too many Christians are living in the world not realizing they are being programmed for destruction. People who are consumed with television, video games, all things internet, social media, etc. are taking in words, attitudes, ideas that are contrary to the word of God. Since being home, after spending 9 years in Malaysia, I cannot even watch television, the commercials promote demonic shows like Sleepy Hollow. The choice of shows that will not defile my spirit are so limited and even those that seem safe like The Biggest Loser or Wheel of Fortune are still saying things that are counter kingdom. The longer we consume these things, the more defiled we are becoming and we do not even realize it. The world is the world, they can say and do what they want, however, we are called to escape from the system of the world, but we cannot do this if we want to be entertained by them and think that we are not being corrupted by them. When we battle to turn off the television versus read our bible, listen to worship music, or watch sermons on You Tube, we are showing how hungry we are for the world’s entertainment and how engrossed we are in the world’s system.

Revelation 18:2-5 ” And he cried with a strong voice, saying, Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and has become the habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird; because all the nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have been enriched through the might of her luxury. And I heard another voice out of the heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins, and that ye do not receive of her plagues: 5 for her sins have been heaped on one another up to the heaven, and God has remembered her unrighteousness’s”.

The Lord is calling us to come out of the world’s system, come out once and for all, leave behind all that you used to know, the kingdom of God is at hand. The Lord is about to pour out His spirit upon all flesh, there are those who are going to rise to glory, then there are those who are going to struggle to escape. We are called to come out, the exit door of grace is still open, but the time is drawing near when that door will close and it will be harder to escape. We need to be serious about the things of God, no more playing in our food, thinking we have time, time is running out, the power to escape is available, the door is still open, and the Lord is calling people to come out. Everyday we choose life or death, with what we put in our mouth, we are choosing either life or death, with what we watch with our eyes, we are choosing either life or death, with what we hear, we are choosing either life or death. No one can choose for you, this is a choice you have to make on your own. You are responsible to choose life!

My life has radically changed as of late in the area of my belief about who I am. The Lord has revealed to me, that I do not see myself worthy of deserving to succeed in every area of my life. Because I believed I was not worthy of this, I would wait for others to love me, encourage me, advise me, because I was not convinced I deserved to succeed. But this self-sabotaging belief has been exposed and I know that I deserve to be fit, fun and fabulous, I deserve to choose life, I deserve to live the abundant life, I deserve to prosper in health, body and soul. Once I changed the way I believed, it changed my attitude, my outlook, my actions, my everything. Now every choice I make is leading me either to life or death and it is no one else’s choice for me, I choose it. Joshua said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! He chose life, I choose life, what do you choose?

The power to escape, the power to choose life, the power to change the way you believe, the power to prepare for the next move of God is upon us right now. Today we have to decide what we want. The world is programming all of those in that system for the coming destruction and if we consume what they are serving we are choosing death and there will be no one to blame but ourselves. You have to believe the power to escape is available to you and you are worth more than consuming worldly teachings, ideas and attitudes, you were created to live and live abundantly. You deserve to succeed in body, soul and spirit, you deserve to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength and you deserve to love your neighbor as you love yourself. You have the power to escape.