Lisa Great

What if your words were either light or darkness as they came out of your mouth? Imagine this with me for a minute…imagine you can see the words that come out of people’s mouth. Imagine you can see what comes out of your mouth. We know words are seeds, but did you know they are seeds of light or seeds of darkness?

I was picturing this as I read in Psalm 97:11 “Light is sown like seed for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart.” It as as though I saw white Christmas lights coming out of people’s mouths as they spoke words of life, words of hope, words of encouragement. But it was like I saw these black orbs coming out of people’s mouths as they spoke words of death, destruction, disaster.

I wonder if the darkness is getting darker because of what we are speaking, what we are sowing. What if your words are making the world darker by what you are saying, what you are sowing? And what if your words were adding light to darkness when you speak and it is actually giving someone hope?

Proverbs 17:22 says “A joyful, cheerful heart brings healing to both body and soul. But the one whose heart is crushed struggles with sickness and depression.” What if your words of joy spoken were lights shining in people’s dungeon of darkness, depression, sickness? Can you see how what you say is either adding light to the world or more darkness to it?

In John 8:12 Jesus said He is the Light of the world, that means His words were light beams that pierced the darkness, so others could see. Then in Matthew 5:12-14 Jesus said, “You all are the light of the world” that means when we speak we pierce darkness with words of light that come out of us.

What is coming out of you, words of light or words of darkness? Are you piercing the darkness with light or adding to the darkness with your words? You can’t escape, so you might as well add light to the world, since that is who you are called to be. But if you are living in darkness, then we need to add light to you. Church, Christ in you is the Light of the world, so Christ coming out of you should be light words. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

There is a cry going out for increase. People are needing God to open the floodgates and pour out a blessing. People’s finances are being hit; the number of calls I get, prayer requests I receive for this issue has been highlighted as of late.

It is not inflation they are concerned about, it is current reality hits that pinch in the moment. When things get tight, when things look slim, when projects are not landing, when houses are not selling, when deals are not going through, when salaries are not feeling sufficient.

I hear it in subtle and overt ways, but the same cry is being released by people and I hear it, I am praying for it, I am blowing my shofar for it. But what I am hearing the Lord say about all of them is, what are you sowing?

We want more from God than we want to give. Here is what I mean. We want to give our tithe, maybe, and hope for God to give us abundance. We want to sow sparingly, but we want to reap generously. This is called injustice. We know God owns everything, that abundance is nothing to Him, but we are not willing to sow to the measure we seek to reap.

The LORD loves to partner with us, He loves to out give us, He wants to bless us bountifully, but we must have the same heart of generosity that He has. He wants us to give generously on all occasions, knowing we will always have enough. What are you sowing? Not a number, an attitude. Is it sparingly or generously on all occasions?

I sense the Lord saying, “The LORD is God; He has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.” (Psalm 118:27) The Lord is inviting us to bind the offering on the altar and He will loose the blessing on our heads. As we bind He looses. If you need a financial breakthrough, bind the sacrifice financially to the altar and watch Him loose more than you asked for. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Where is the kingdom of God?
Where is Jesus the Christ?
Where is the Holy Spirit?
Who is the temple?
These are fundamental questions that need to be answered if we are to understand what God is doing on earth right now and has been since He rose from the grave over 2,000 years ago.

The kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20-21 “Jesus answered, God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. People will not say, look here it is, or there it is, because God’s kingdom is within you.” The kingdom of God is not outside of you, it is inside of you. Selah!

Jesus the Christ is in you. This is a great mystery that we think we know but still do not fully understand, which is why we are looking for Him to come back on a cloud and put His feet on some mountain. Colossians 1:27 says, “To that God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” He is not outside of you, He is in you, it is a mystery that must be unlocked inside of you. Selah!

You are the temple and the Holy Spirit is living inside of you. 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” You are a temple in which the Spirit of God dwells. The Spirit does not float around in a room, He dwells in people. He is not coming back to enter a man made building, He is living inside of you right now. Selah!

This is important to know for this is the gospel of the kingdom. This is New Testament truth that sets you free from man made religion. As you gather with other temples today, open up your mouth and let the spirit of God out in worship, prayer, praise, exhortation, edification, and declaration. The only reason God is in the room is because you are in the room. Have a great Sunday. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Children, what a gift to the world they are. Simple, innocent, curious, playful, fun, oh the joys of children. All they want is food, sleep and attention. The need of every person is found in a child. It is no wonder we are called Children of God and that we are invited to enter the kingdom like a child.

I was thinking about the simplicity of children this morning and in my pondering the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me why we lost our simplicity and exchanged it for complexity. The answer will be hard for some to embrace, but if we were all honest, we know it is true.

Children absorb life, they do not consume it. The first step in losing our childlike innocence is the consuming of information from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The very tree the first command recorded in scripture told us not to eat from.

We were explicitly told if we eat from this tree, if we consume this fruit, we will die. But what did the deceiver, the adversary, the serpent, SATAN say, you will not die, rather you will be like God knowing good and evil. Sounds so delicious, sounds so true, it was the lie we ate and are still eating.

Solomon said it this way in Ecclesiastes 12 “The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.”

Our insatiable desire for the knowledge of the tree of good and evil has turned us from simple innocent children who live in awe and wonder, who absorb atmospheres and enjoy life to complicated human beings who argue over the opinions of man. We need to repent for eating from the wrong tree and show our fruit of repentance by eating from the tree of life so we can live again. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

We all live on the same planet; we are all breathing the same air; we all are given the same 24 hours in a day; but we are all not going through the same things.

There are corporate seasons and personal seasons; there are national issues and international issues; there are business challenges and church challenges; we are all needed to accomplish the will of God on earth, but we cannot give a one size fits all answer, for there are complexities that make situations identifiable, but not individual.

The apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2 identifies three groups of people and as I read these verses, I sensed most of us can fit in one of these three categories. Here is what Paul says, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.”

Paul describes the soldier, the athlete and the farmer as three prototype people and he says, “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” Honestly I had not really considered what was being said about these three people until today.

The soldier is in a battle, this is where many people are. They are in a battle with sickness, relationships, finances, or enemies. If you are in a battle, you are a soldier and Paul exhorts you to not get entangled in everyday affairs. Is this you?

The athlete is in a competition, this is for those who are in an internal wrestle with your past, your future, your desires, the invitation is to contentment but the reality is competition. Paul exhorts you to play by the rules. Or said another way, obey the commands to love God and love people.

The farmer is sowing, plowing, reaping and harvesting. If this is you, if you are a sower, a giver of time, energy, gifts, wisdom, yourself, Paul exhorts you that you will be the one who receives.

The solider needs to get untangled, the athlete needs to be content, and the farmer needs to learn to receive. Where are you? Who are you? What is the Lord inviting you into? Only you know, but I sense when you find who you are, you will see what is tripping you up, and how to get free. Thank you Paul for exhorting us. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Divine intervention is happening right now. We don’t deserve it and we did not earn it. This is grace on an international and personal level and if we see it any other way we are going to miss it. A divine reversal has taken place, the Lord has extended mercy to the nations, not because of our righteousness, prayer meetings, fasting or any other thing, but because of His love for humanity.

I was in prayer and the Lord just spoke to me and said, “I am sending masonry angels to come and seal the breach in you all, so you no longer have broken cisterns that don’t hold water. Then I am going to send the rain!”

I heard it clear as day, and immediately I went to find the verse and it is in Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

The Lord is reversing the curse of these broken cisterns and sending masonry angels to come and seal the breach, so He can send the rain. We are being gifted these masonry angels and they have one assignment, seal the breach. Once the breach is sealed in our cisterns, He is going to send an abundance of rain. (1 Kings 18:41)

When you don’t deserve it and you did not earn it, you must learn to receive it not reject it. Our shame rejects more than we realize and the Lord is sealing the breach of shame, sealing the breach of iniquity, sealing the breach of wounds, sealing the breach of bitterness, so many breaches, so much sealing. All so we can hold water because He is sending the rain, an abundance of rain.

I can only say what I heard and I know I heard, “I am sending masonry angels to come and seal the breach in you all, so you no longer have broken cisterns that don’t hold water. Then I am going to send the rain!” Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Does anyone else feel like you are going through a metamorphosis, not symbolically, not hopefully, but you can actually feel it in your body. Not weight loss in the natural, but rather a removing of a skin that we were given to navigate the last season of life in Babylon, into which we were born.

I keep sensing the Lord is removing the skin of the last season, for that skin is not compatible with this new season we are entering into. It is such a vulnerable feeling, such a sense of removing of survival mode. This skin we have lived in has been so helpful during the last season of life.

I heard the Lord say, “Do not resist the removal, absorb the new.” Absorb do not resist. Absorb is the invitation to let something in on a very deep level, to allow the Lord to remove what is no longer needed. This removal is familiar modes of operation. One of which is survival mode, self-protection, self-preservation.

I can feel it even as I type, the removing of this skin that has been such a blessing in the season we are leaving. Those coping mechanisms that kept us safe will not be needed in the new season. I can’t explain it, but I keep hearing absorb, don’t resist.

Friends, we are in-between seasons and the command is Joshua 3:3-4 “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

Let the Lord remove the old skin, embrace the vulnerable moments called transition, absorb the new don’t resist it. We have never gone this way before, so no one knows where we are going but the LORD. It takes faith to walk this way, to shed the old skin and to trust the Ark of His Presence. Absorb don’t resist. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

I was talking to a new friend first thing this morning, she is prophetic, but has been sidelined and this morning, a fresh wind blew in her spirit and all that has been put in her came back to life. To hear her voice from the start of the conversation to the end of it, was night and day difference.

She made a comment that I cannot shake, she said, “the church is struggling with a language barrier.” This phrase has been mulling around in my spirit, for I have another friend who is apostolic and she has said to me many times, “We have got to be speaking the same language as leaders.”

Two women, who have never met, one a new friend, one a longer known friend, both saying the same thing.

As I thought about what they were saying, I kept hearing in my spirit, “But you (all) have the mind of Christ.” The context has to do with being of the mind of the flesh or being of the mind of the spirit. (1 Corinthians 2) So our language barrier is the age old battle of spirit language or flesh language.

We have both voices speaking into us as the body of Christ. We have the mind of the flesh sharing humanistic ideas, thoughts, plans, and people declaring thus says the Lord. Denominations are a great example of our language barrier, because we all think we know the truth.

The mind of Christ is not double minded, it is not schizophrenic. The mind of Christ is single minded, simple, the Truth. If we want to break down the language barrier inside of us, we must Romans 12:2 be transformed by the renewing of our mind, from the mind of the flesh, the mind of the world, to the mind of Christ.

The mind of Christ is humility and no one person has the mind of Christ, so we must learn from each other, listen to each other. If we as the body of Christ had the mind of Christ, we would be a force on earth to be reckoned with, for the mind of Christ is unity. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

The reason the word of God does not produce what it promises in our lives is not because the word is inactive, but because we take it out of context. When we read one verse that sounds like something we want, we can make it say whatever we want, but it does not produce what we want.

The body of Christ struggles with disappointment fatigue and unbeief, not because they are not sincere believers, but because the words they have been told have not produced what they promised. It is because God is a liar? Absolutely not, it is because we have not been taught the truth in context.

The word of God is not sound bites, it is not memes, it is not headlines or footnotes. The word of God is a narrative and an author, whose character and nature are truthworthy. The word of God is a person. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God in the beginning.”

As the word of God is preached in context, not in piece meal scriptures to create a topic of ones choosing, it actually liberates, exonerates and demonstrates realities we long to see. The word of God is a partnership we are to have with it, not a decree we make with no relationship to it, hoping to get something for nothing from it.

Proverbs 10 says, “It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.” This is not an offering scripture, this is about wisdom. The blessing of the Lord is upon those who are wise. Wisdom makes you rich in relationships, business, family, everything. Wisdom like the Word is a person, not some material possession.

The word of God’s highest values are Jesus and people. When you realize this, you will see how truly blessed you are, how truly rich you are, but you have to read it in context to hear what it is saying. The narrative is shifting to truth that sets us free, for the narrative is about the nature/character of God and his treasured possession, people. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

I was in prayer this morning and these words came out of my mouth…IT IS TOO RICH TO RUSH. I had to pause and hear what the spirit was saying through me. IT IS TOO RICH TO RUSH. I was speaking of Daniel 2 in my prayer based on the class we had yesterday morning on this chapter, but this phrase is more than one chapter.

What in your life is too rich to rush?

We live in a hurry up culture, always headed to the next thing. We rush in and out of everywhere, as though time is chasing us down and we are trying not to get caught. Where in your life do you pause, have no limit, linger, let whatever it is just be about the moment, the hour, the day, the week, the year?

We say time flies, but time does not fly, time has the same cadence everyday all day, we fly, time does not fly. What if we slowed down, what if we found something in our lives that was too rich to rush.

For me the word of God and the presence of God is too rich to rush. I am never in a hurry to get out His presence, to stop reading His word. He is so consuming, so enjoyable, so desirable, He for me is too rich to rush. I guess that is why I am willing to wait as long as it takes for Him to do whatever He has promised He would do.

This morning many people are going to rush into a building called church and rush out. They are going to sing some songs, meet some people, listen to some words, hear some announcements and pray some prayers, they may even give some money. Whether 2 hours or 45 minutes. What is the rush?

What in your life is too rich to rush?
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