Lisa Great

Mysteries and puzzles, parables and symbols are a few of the ways God speaks to us. It is not to hide something from us, it is to reveal things to us we could not know any other way. His voice is truth, it is spoken with clarity, but the joy is found in searching out the mystery, putting together the puzzle, pondering the parable and trying to decode the symbols of what the Lord is saying.

Mature people get bored with straightforward statements, what keeps us alive, keeps us seeking, keeps us pursuing it the intrigue, the wonder, the awe of a God who is active in the lives of people. He is orchestrating the outcome of nations. He is judging the hearts of men and women so He can reward us, bless us, correct us, liberate us, reveal His love to us.

God is a revealer of mysteries is what Daniel said; He is a speaker of parables is what the gospels tell us; He is a speaker of things we do not know is what Amos declares; He has thoughts that are higher than our thoughts is what Isaiah understands. Oh the joy of walking with a God who loves to lead His people into truth.

I was awakened this morning at 3:00am to the words, “Plowshares and pruning hooks.” Three prophets speak of these two harvesting tools. Isaiah 2; Joel 3 and Micah 4; all share the same word from God. God’s judgment brings peace. Then at 4:56am I was awakened to the words, “The horse is made ready for battle.” This is Proverbs 21:31 which ends by saying, but victory belongs to the Lord.

Putting this together, revealed a truth that God, who is Judge of all the earth is rendering a judgment to bring peace to the nations by removing the enemy who has stirred up division. If we fear peace, we will miss what the Lord is doing right now. Peace is not our enemy, chaos is and God is judging chaos.

Remember what Micah 4:10-12 says, “You shall go to Babylon; there you shall be rescued. There the Lord shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies. Now many nations are assembled against you…But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither do they understand His plan, for He shall gather them as the sheaves to the threshing floor.” God is threshing the enemy and granting peace to nations. We are witnessing victory over Babylon, can you see it? Can you hear it? Www.apostolicreourcecenter.org

We walk with the visible, we trust people, we lean on numbers that tell us we are rich or poor; even though people lie to us, numbers change constantly, we still get up and trust again. I know we shut down, we close off, we isolate, but something in us cries out to love again, believe again, trust again, so we take a chance again.

Everyone one of us knows we were not meant to do life alone. That is why we grieve when a spouse dies, weep when a friendship ends, get angry when a promise is broken or promotion does not happen. These are all realities of walking with the visible.

We are citizens of earth, which is why we walk with the visible. We are also, citizens of heaven, which is why we are called to walk with the invisible as well. We have dual citizenship. God is real, yet is invisible. Many people struggle to walk with the invisible God, for it means we need to have a strong ear to hear, while walking with the visible is having a strong eye to see.

Walking with the invisible God is what Israel did and they struggled with it. Psalm 78 says, “They didn’t believe in God or trust in him to care for them, even though he commanded the skies to open—he opened the windows of heaven— and rained down manna for their food. He gave them bread from heaven! They ate angels’ food! He gave them all they could hold.” The saw the manifestation of the invisible, but still didn’t believe.

We say we need another revival, more miracles, another financial breakthrough, but the truth is, we are just asking for more visible signs, for our strength is in what we see. Jesus is alive, He speaks, His voice can be heard and to walk with the invisible you must have a strong ear to hear the voice behind you saying, “This is the way walk ye in it.” (Isaiah 30:21). Remember, you have dual citizenship. It is time to strengthen your ear to hear, just like your eyes can see. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

We must win the war of words in our own hearts and minds, then in our culture, our country, our churches, our companies. The war of words is a narrative war that is the reason for broken relationships, national division, so many denominations, and many of the emotional challenges people experience.

Anxiety is a war of words, depression is a words war, fear is about what we believe, anger is from a narrative we hear. Oh the list goes on and on. The influence of the enemy always begins with words. In Genesis 3 it was a war of words between what God said and what the Serpent was saying. That words war changed humanity forever.

We are in the same war. It is a war we see throughout the word of God, which is why I believe Jesus is called the Word that became flesh (John 1). In Daniel 7:20-22 it says, “The horn with the eyes and the loud, bragging mouth, the one that was stronger than the others. For I had seen this horn warring against God’s people and winning, until the Ancient of Days came and opened his court and vindicated his people, giving them worldwide powers of government.”

The war is about words, who controls the narrative, which governments words will rule the earth. The kingdom of God is a government and it rules with words of life, words of hope, words of peace, words of grace, words of truth. The tide has shifted, the war of words is not being won by the enemy culturally, but it must be won in you and in me individually.

We are at war with words inside of us, we must stop blaming those around us for the war that is in us. Is it any wonder we are called to take every thought captive and make it subject to Christ? The war is over what narrative we will believe inside of us. Truth wins the war, but many have asked, what is truth? Words war.

Friends, keep reading your Bible until the only words you hear are the words of God. Not the words of someone’s sermon, someone’s doctrine, someone’s opinion on what it says. Keep reading until you hear the voice of God in the word of God, His voice will win the narrative war inside of you. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Our church here in Nashville suffered a great loss this weekend with three of the four men who died in a plane crash when to our church. These men were well known in our church and also very influential as business men in our city. One in the field of lumber and the other in the field of auto mechanics.

Needless to say, we did not have “church” as usual yesterday as we were mourning as a family together. These men and their families are family to us and we felt it in the room, the loss we have suffered.

Pastor Dustin asked Josh Baldwin to lead worship for us, and we spent the majority of the time together in worship. It was powerful as we in this moment of grief as a family, focused our attention on the One who is life and life abundantly.

During worship, I had an open vision of the likes I will never forget. I stood in silence as the church sang, I listened to their voices as God Himself filled the room with His presence. While standing there I saw in the spirit our worship like a waterfall going upwards. As I continued to watch this rush of water go upwards, I saw that it was going up the train of the Lord’s robe.

Once the water reached the neckline of God’s robe, I saw the water coming rushing down the train of His robe and it went out in all four directions of our building. I kept watching this and was stunned by the sight. I then saw our congregation in the spirit as a kingdom choir. As our worship went up like rushing water it came down His robe like waterfalls and out it went from the building.

Revelation 14:2 says, “I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was the singing of a choir accompanied by harps.” As I read this today, I realized this is what I saw yesterday in worship.

We lift our voice in worship, God releases His voice like waterfalls and His voice waters the land in all four directions, while we worship the One that really matters. Kingdom choirs in the earth are here and their voices are like rushing water running up the robe of the King. Sing my friends, your voice is in a massive kingdom choir. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Jesus used parables of everyday things that the Hebrew people would have understood to communicate messages about the kingdom of God. He spoke of sheep and shepherds, lost coins, lost sons, wheat, tares, wineskins, fish and nets. Parable after parable after parable trying to communicate kingdom realities to a people who had eyes but could not see and ears but could not hear.

The Lord often does the same for us today. He uses parables, symbols, numbers, whispers to get us to understand a message He is seeking to communicate to us, that we tend to miss for whatever reason.

I pulled out an old journal the other day dating back to 2014 and when I was removing a few pages, out of the binding fell three little keys. Two bronze and one silver. I have been reading Daniel so my mind drifted to the statue in Daniel 2. But it did not resonate, so I have left those keys sitting on my desk all week long.

This morning the Lord whispered to me, “Keys are for locking and unlocking doors. You like doors that open, you like to open doors for people, but keys also shut doors, lock doors. I know you do not like to shut and lock doors, but some need to be shut, some need to be locked.” I looked down at those keys and realized what they have been saying to me all week, lock some doors.

Isaiah 22:22 says, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” Matthew 16:19 says, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Keys are both for locking and unlocking doors; opening and shutting doors. I am not sure which you have a propensity towards, whether it’s locking or unlocking doors, but the Lord is inviting us to know that keys are for both. Knowing which He is asking us to do is needed in this hour, for not every door is to remain unlocked and not every door is to remain locked. We have been given the keys, now we know need to know what to lock and what to unlock. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

A dear mentor of mine invited me to read the book of Obadiah, so I sat down this morning to do just that, but could not escape verse 1, because I had to know who or what is Edom. “A report has come from the Lord,” he said, “that God has sent an ambassador to the nations with this message: ‘Attention! You are to send your armies against Edom and destroy her!’”

In true biblical fashion, Edom is many things, one it is a nation, two it is code for an empire, and three it is rooted back to Esau, yes the brother of Jacob. So many ways we can go with this one name Edom, thank you Pastor Cathy for the invitation into this prophetic book.

What caught my attention for us today is Esau as Edom, because it took me to Genesis 25 and the story of how Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of red stew. Edom, means red and Esau means red. What struck me is that Esau was so appetitive driven he was willing to forsake his inheritance.

We as the modern day church have traded our inheritance for appetite just like Esau did. This exchange has been more costly than many realize. Our appetite for success, for power, for money, for sex, for fame, for position, has caused us to forsake our inheritance. Appetites are powerful and they must be controlled and even destroyed.

We can see what we have done, but what I want to show you is that red is the color of redemption, not just stew. Many may have sold their inheritance for appetite, but just like prodigal son (Luke 15), I see many being redeemed from their appetite and coming back to inheritance.

Inheritance is not given quickly, that is why so many chose appetite, but there is a shift happening beyond anything I have ever seen before. Multitudes forsaking appetite for inheritance. Red is redeeming the time many lost to their appetites. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Discernment is a mark of maturity, for discernment is developed over years of being corrected and directed. If we do not like correction, we will never have discernment. Wisdom comes not from doing everything right, but learning from what we did wrong, what didn’t work and mistakes others made.

Immaturity is rampant and celebrated in our culture. This is not a world issue, it is an American issue. When we cease to discipline our children, when we do not address issues in our churches, when we don’t fire people from our companies, we allow immaturity to rule.

Children decide what parents get to do or not do; waitresses get to wear whatever they want to work. In our desire to accommodate, we have allowed immaturity to dominate. Immaturity does not have discernment; immaturity cannot lead with courage, speak with authority or govern with integrity.

Jesus gave gifts to the church, of which we call it the 5-fold ministry, in order to mature the body of Christ. Not for titles, professional postitions, paychecks or parsonages. He gave these gifts to the church to train, equip, deploy and mature the body of Christ. The goal of these gifts is to bring us to maturity, at least that is what Paul said in Ephesians 4.

With the restoration of the apostolic to the church, we are going to see a restoration of maturity to the body of Christ. Apostles see what is out of order and bring order. Not control, order. Order for the sake of maturity and safety for the people of God.

Proverbs 13 says, “It is pleasant to see plans develop. That is why fools refuse to give them up even when they are wrong.” The demarcation between the wise and foolish will be evident as apostolic houses arise. Places where people can mature in their walk with God, so they can be sent into the marketplace and their Sunday services to be a blessing not a burden.

God is raising up the apostolic not for title, but for function, so we can mature together and learn to discern what is actually being, said, done or propagated in any arena we find ourselves. Church is people and we as people need the apostolic to mature. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Did you know time is a test? To be tested in scripture is not to shame you, but to prove you. When we take a test in school we are either deemed smart or stupid. But tests in the word of God are to show you where you are in light of where you were. Tests were never meant to grade you, but to prove to you God is at work in you.

The time test is to prove truth and expose lies. Proverbs 12 says “Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed. Deceit fills hearts that are plotting for evil; joy fills hearts that are planning for good!” The time test is a hard one to take, because lies rise so quickly, are spoken so bodly and people tend to believe them immediately.

Truth is solid, stable, sturdy, so it can stand in storms, wait to be proven true and is not shaken when confronted. Truth is authentic, it does not need to remember what it said for it says the same things over and over again. Truth is where we stand in order to trust, be trusted and be found trustworthy. Truth and trust are wonder twin powers.

Lies bend, twist, misrepresent, deceive, distort the truth. If there was no truth there would not be a lie for a lie is counterfeit truth. That is why a lie has a sliver of truth in it, just enough to hook you into believing it.

Proverbs 12 continues by saying, “Deceit fills hearts that are plotting for evil; joy fills hearts that are planning for good!” Liars are plotting, truth is planning. Lies are evil, truth is joy. We are called to be people who know the truth, hear the truth, listen to the truth, for Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

I pray you would be a pursuer of truth for truth is where joy is found. Truth is where freedom is found. Truth is where Jesus is found. May we seek and keep on seeking until we find the truth. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

This mornings walk with the dog began with a step into a gentle mist falling from the sky. Enough water to sprinkle my jacket, which was not needed as the temperature was more than pleasant. The sun was rising but clouds kept it dim enough to add ambience to this gentle mist.

The lighter the mornings become the more neighbors I am seeing and meeting as they walk their dogs. The silence is so sacred none of us want to say a word, so we wave, nod or gently say good morning. There is a sense of safety, peace and security I cannot describe.

Hunter and I turned the corner and I heard a sound of what I thought was hooing. I look up in the trees to see where the owl may be, but what I saw was a dove and immediately I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “Do not mistake the sound of hooing for cooing.” What I thought was the hooing of an owl, was actually the cooing of a dove.

Song of Solomon 2, “Now is the time, my beautiful one. The season has changed, the bondage of your barren winter has ended, and the season of hiding is over and gone. The rains have soaked the earth and left it bright with blossoming flowers. The season for singing and pruning the vines has arrived. I HEAR THE COOING OF DOVES IN OUR LAND, filling the air with songs to awaken you and guide you forth. Can you not discern this new day of destiny breaking forth around you? The early signs of my purposes and plans are bursting forth.”

I sense this word is for us as people who know the season has changed, but we are still waiting for it to manifest. We must discern what we hear. The old season was full of the hooing of owls, warnings, but this season is one of the cooing of doves. We must discern the new sound for the new day.

We cannot bring the old into the new. Mark 2:22 says, “Who would pour new wine into an old wine-skin? Eventually the wine will ferment and make the wineskin burst, losing everything—the wine will be spilled and the wineskin ruined. Instead, new wine is always poured into new wineskins.” We must discern what season we are in, for I hear the sound of the cooing of dove, not the hooing of owls. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

I was in prayer this morning and the Lord spoke these words “They can go low (humility) and go in or they can remain high (pride) and miss out.” It was not an inditement, it was an invitation I heard as I was praying.

We have a choice to make, will we humble ourselves in order to go into what God has prepared for this season that is upon us; will we obey what He is telling us to do, even though the call is to go low? The invitation is to go low, humble yourself, it is the only way in to what God has prepared for you.

Or will we remain standing, high in our opinions, thoughts, ways of doing things. Pride says I did nothing wrong, pride wants them to come to us, pride wants to it my way, but pride is keeping you out of what God has for you. The season we are in demands we go low to go in, not remain high.

Matthew 23:12 says, “Those who think themselves great shall be disappointed and humbled; and those who humble themselves shall be exalted.”

We can feel right, justified, confident in our pride, but we are also blinded by that very pride because we do not see that we are standing outside of what God is inviting us into. Pride is deceptive, it makes us feel like we are getting our way, while we are missing God’s way.

God is inviting us to go low, so we can come in to what He is doing. If we want to remain standing, we will stand on the sidelines of what He is doing, because we were not willing to humble ourselves before God in obedience with others who have entered in.

Don’t miss this opportunity to come into what God is doing, because of pride which is a temporary feeling of being right, but in the end was the wrong decision. The invitation is to come in. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org