Lisa Great

SILENCE is possibly the loudest word in the English language. Silence is not a location like the beach, it is not a destination like death, it is posture, a position, we enter into. It is not something external, it is internal. People may not speak, people may go sit in the woods or on a lake fishing, but the silence is absent when internally the voices are so loud.

Historically today was the most silent day in history. The crucifixion of Christ was yesterday, the resurrection of Christ is tomorrow, but what is it about today, a day of silence. People were stunned at His death, they were in awe of His life, they pondered His possible resurrection, but no guarantees and probably more doubt that belief. Silence escaped them as voices inside of them pondered, wondered, questioned.

Yahweh is the God of silence. Silence is a gift from a very generous God. He loves to declare peace be still to the storms raging inside of us. He loves to silence the voices that are lying to us. He enjoys ordering our inner world, so we can live with silence. It is a truth many do not know but some actually enjoy on the daily. Silence.

Psalm 46 says, “God is in the midst of his city, secure and never shaken. At daybreak his help will be seen with the appearing of the dawn. When the nations are in uproar with their tottering kingdoms, God simply raises his voice, and the earth begins to disintegrate before him. Here he comes! The Commander! The mighty Lord of Angel Armies is on our side! The God of Jacob fights for us! Pause in his presence.”

Psalm 46 continues, “Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I am exalted throughout the whole earth. Here he stands! The Commander! The mighty Lord of Angel Armies is on our side! The God of Jacob fights for us! Pause in his presence.”

The noise outside of us is not the issue, it is the noise inside of us that causes anxiety, fear, doubt, but how do we silence the noise inside of us? We read the Bible until we get to know the nature and character of God. In this knowing we learn to trust Him and trusting God is where the internal silence comes from. Trust silences the voices. I pray you learn to trust, for silence is a gift from our God. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

The sights and sounds of creation are for our enjoyment and they are God’s communication. Birds are speaking a language we do not understand, but it is a language they understand. Trees are clapping their hands, rivers are roaring with the sound of a voice making a decree we can see and hear, even if we do not understand. The communication of creation is beyond understanding but still seen and heard.

This morning I saw a bunny hopping across the street as joyfully as can be. My dog’s ears raised, feet scurried and leash hindered, but the anticipation of a chase was obvious. As I watched the bunny the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Bunnies represent multiplication and I Am going to multiply supply.”

I continued walking and as I did the phrase multiply supply was rolling over and over again in my heart. Multiply supply, I am going to multiply supply. When the news is screaming scarcity, the Lord is declaring “I am going to multiply supply.”

The verse that jumped in my spirit to confirm this word is 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.”

Now who would have thought a 9:11 verse would be about multiply supply? God did. God knows we are being inundated with fear narratives, but the good news is declaring “I am going to multiply your supply!” Whose report will you believe? Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

One of the attributes of God is generosity. He is extremely generous. Not just to certain people, not just to certain nations, not just to certain genders, He is generous to all. The question is can we see His generosity? Are we accessing His generosity? Do we even know what to look for when it comes to generosity from God?

God’s generosity is His over abounding love for us. We know John 3:16 for God so loved the world He gave…God’s generosity is seen in His Son Jesus the Christ. Forgiveness of sins is God’s generosity.

Did you know wisdom is God’s generosity as well? Proverbs 2:6-8 says, “Wisdom is a gift from a generous God, and every word he speaks is full of revelation and becomes a fountain of understanding within you. For the Lord has a hidden storehouse of wisdom made accessible to his godly ones.” James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Wisdom is a gift to us from a generous God. When we need advice, counsel, direction, we turn to our trusted confidants, specialists in the field, or mentors we have surrounded ourselves with, seeking their wisdom. Wisdom is a person and that Wisdom is available to us from a generous God if we just ask.

Here’s where God’s generosity goes beyond all we could ask, think or imagine. We ask for wisdom, but He doesn’t stop with giving us wisdom, He adds revelation and pleasure. Proverbs 2:10 says, “When wisdom wins your heart and revelation breaks in, true pleasure enters your soul.”

God has no lack, He is abundance, therefore, He is generous on all occasions. He is not stingy, He is not saying I can’t afford it, He is fully supplied and wants to supply you with what you need. You may come asking for money and He offers you a job. You may come asking for healing and He offers you a “crunchy” friend. You may come asking for support and He shows you what church to attend. He is always generous, can you see it? Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

We see a date on the calendar called April Fool’s Day, but do we know why they call today April Fool’s Day? I did not know the answer but thank God for technology that shares with me information I do not know. Here is what I learned…

The true origin of April Fools’ Day is uncertain, but there are a few leading theories: The Calendar Change Theory (most popular): In 1564, France switched from the Julian calendar (where the new year fell around April 1) to the Gregorian calendar (January 1). Those who were slow to hear the news — or stubbornly kept celebrating the new year in late March/early April — were mocked and called “April fools.” Pranksters would stick paper fish on their backs, a prank still practiced in France today (poisson d’avril). (Claude)

The irony of this origin is that today is the start of Passover, Nisan 14, the beginning of the Hebrews Ecclesiastical Year according to what the Lord spoke to Moses in Exodus 12. So, prior to 1564 the Julian Calendar was aligned with the Hebrew Ecclesiastical calendar.

Exodus 12 is all about Israel leaving Egypt and the irony of calendars is we know April 1st as April Fool’s day, but Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” The irony is that on this very day, the 14th of Nisan, the 1st of April, is today, the beginning of Passover.

Passover is a memorial celebration, that is a perpetual celebration of how God rescued Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians with 10 plagues, the parting of the Red Sea and all under the leadership of Moses the meekest man on earth. So, how can you say there is no God when the exodus (Passover) blood on the doorposts, proves there is, just ask Pharoh.

We may be on a Gregorian Calendar now, but Julian and the Hebrews are on another one and I will gladly be called a fool for believing today is the New Year according to the command of God through Moses. Happy New Year, Happy Passover, Happy Dance coming from me for I have been set free from Egypt and I will remember what God has done. Today is a reminder you can be free too, if you want to be. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

People are value added assets in so many ways. We each only have 24 hours in a day, which means we must lean on each other for information about things we do not know.

I have friends who are Geologists, Theologians, Rabbis, Tech Guru’s, Games and Ideas Specialists, Relators, Chefs, Military, Oil and Gas Executives, Farmers, the list goes on an on. The reason I love what they know and knowing what they know is because then I can just be really good at my subject of passion and can listen to them as they add value from theirs.

Israel had 12 tribes and I believe those tribes each added value to the community. Dan was the tribe of the judges, all things judicial was Dan’s specialty. Asher was the culinary specialists; Naphtali was the tribe of communicators; Judah was military and worship; Issachar was times and seasons; Gad was a troop; Levi was the tribe of priests; all of them had a speciality they were known for.

Psalm 111 says, “Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them.” God works in all 12 tribes of Israel to reveal His glory on the earth. As each tribe studies what God is doing through their lens’s of expertise, we see and hear the works of God in a way we could not have without their perspective.

We need the voices of all 12 tribes speaking into us, so we can ruminate on the words and works of the Lord, not on the narrative of the culture and their counterfeit realities. Who in your life is an expert that can add value to your study as you ruminate on the works of the Lord during this Holy Week?

My friend Lindy has a degree in Geology and she loves to dig deep into truths and reveals elements to me and how they are linked to the veil in the temple that was torn. Oh how rich I am because of people like her. I pray you ruminate this week on the works of the Lord with people in your life, for their perspective adds value to your learning. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

The mystery is in the history and patterns unveil potential realities we cannot see until the pattern unfolds. What if the Lord was speaking to us more than we can hear because our traditional ways of hearing? The Lord is creator, so He is by nature creative. What if we discount His creative voice in things He is showing us because we don’t lean into what He is saying through what we are seeing?

I have had two puzzle pieces presented to me in the past three to four days and I was clueless about the first one until the second one was revealed. Once I placed them side by side the leaning in began.

The first piece I found was a Joker playing card while on a walk. This was a couple days ago, then this morning I found a piece of paper money printed as a $20 bill that says, The Play Money of America.” I pick it up and am looking at it and the Holy Spirit reminds me of a dream I had last year of standing being a man who was sitting at a poker table and the man was holding four aces.

Putting all these pieces together this morning, I heard the words, “The Joker is playing poker with the play money of America.” I was befuddled, what does that even mean. So I did some research on the history of the playing card the Joker, I learned about Andrew Jackson and I remembered Trump is going to have his signature on the new American currency. Puzzle pieces.

Then I learned about breaking the fourth wall which is a concept that comes from theatre. Breaking the fourth wall is shattering the illusion we have all believed. The deception is no longer hidden.

Babylon is backed by a financial system that must fall, but the kingdom of God is an economic system as well, but the two systems have two completely different agendas. I sense the puzzle pieces I have been given are pointing to the financial fall of Babylon. Remember we are in Daniel 2 right now.

“You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. I remember being in the Lutheran Church in Seattle, WA many years ago as a youth pastor. We celebrated Palm Sunday once a year with the children in procession waving actual palm branches. The symbolism was rich, it brought the story to life and when the service was over, we all went home smiling and rejoicing over what we saw and heard.

Some churches will hand out actual palm branches as people walk in the door, others will give them only to the children, and some will not have any foliage in their sanctuaries this morning. But we are to lift up our palms with our arms as our branches and wave them in praise to the Lord this morning and every morning.

John 12:12-13 says, “On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.”

While some are doing No Kings Rallies, I am lifting up my hands in the sanctuary and waving my palms (hands) and declaring the victory and celebration that Jesus Christ is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and He is my King. I am a woman of the kingdom and I am not afraid of having a King. I want Him to rule over me, to correct me, to adjust me, to protect me, to love me and I want to serve Him.

It is Palm Sunday and my prayer is that you lift your hands today, raise your palms and acknowledge with others around the world, who is King. His name is Jesus and I know in my church this morning, I am going to see many palms waving in praise to God. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

In the process of allowing the Lord to remove all the doctrines of men out of me; teaching me what it really means to seek first the kingdom and His righteousness; seeing the fruit of and all these things will be added unto you; and learning what real love looks like, I found the hardest thing to let go of, to surrender to the Lord, was my culture.

Being born an American, living in America for all but nine years of my life, I was through and through an American. This is true for everyone of us when it comes to our culture. My husband is African, He was born in Africa, He is an African, He has culture that is different than mine. He can’t help he is African, anymore than I can help that I am American.

Cultures are so much a part of who we are, we do not even recognize how cultural we are, until another culture invites us to think different, respond differently or even accept some realities that are different than our culture has taught us. The kingdom of God is a culture and it is not American, nor African; it is not Asian nor Australian; it is not European or Arabian; it is not Middle Eastern nor is it South American.

The Kingdom of God is its own culture and our invitation is to deny our culture and embrace the Kingdom culture. James calls culture the world. In James 4:4 it says, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

A friend according to James is someone you are aligned with, loyal to, shaped by, have shared values with. Now think of your culture as your closest friend. The hardest person to lose is a close friend, but the Lord is inviting us to lose our close friendship with the world, or our culture for in many ways, it is not the culture of the kingdom.

The world is is in opposition to God, so we have to chose do we want to be a friend of God or a friend of our culture. It is an allegiance question and when cultures clash, we have to chose who we want as a friend, who we are aligning with. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

What do you see? Do you see things getting better or getting worst? Do you see the brightness of the kingdom rising or the increase of the darkness looming? What do you see? What are you hearing? What are you reading? This argument is pervasive in the body of Christ, is it getting darker or is it getting lighter? Two completely different directions.

I was reading Psalm 107 this morning and this is what it says, “He changes rivers into a wilderness And springs of water into a thirsty ground; A fruitful land into a salt waste, Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.” Things get darker because of wickedness, and honestly it is not hard to see wickedness when you watch the news.

But Psalm 107 also says, “He changes a wilderness into a pool of water And a dry land into springs of water; And there He makes the hungry to dwell, So that they may establish an inhabited city, And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest. Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly, And He does not let their cattle decrease.”

Which is happening right now, are the wicked winning in the land or are our cattle increasing, our harvests blooming and our cities being inhabited? Which do you see? One sees wickedness and says its getting darker, another sees fields, vineyards and fruitful harvest and says its getting lighter.

Psalm 107 ends by saying, “The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.”

Our call is to give heed to all these things and to consider the lovingkindness of the Lord. We can see both happening, but instead of arguing if it is getting darker or not, we are called to consider the lovingkindness of God, this is what makes us wise. I know what I see and I know what I consider, what do you see and what are you considering? Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

The transition we are going through is seismic for our generation, but is biblical so it is historical in another sense. What is new to us feels so foreign, almost nerve racking as changes are happening whether we like it or not. This can cause people to panic, flee, argue, freeze, or emote in some way or another. But honestly, we must remember the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run into it.

I was pondering with the Lord the other day and He spoke to me this phrase, Solo to Symphonic. I shared this with a mentor over lunch and she resonated with what the Lord was speaking to me so I put it in video format. It is nothing new, but it is going to change the way we have had things done and some are going to love it and others are going to resist it.

Welcome to the shift of our age from solo to symphonic.