Month: June 2016

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Proverbs 18:16 “The right gift at the right time can open up new opportunities and gains access to influential people.” (The Voice Translation)

We are on the verge of the greatest breakthrough our generation has ever seen, experienced or participated in. There are more people that we know who have been in a place of hiding, not out of fear, but out of preparation for what is coming. Since being in Redding, CA for the past two weeks the Lord has revealed things to me, that words cannot utter at this time, but what is coming is going to be visible to believers and unbelievers alike. This is not going to be a one nation, one region, one city, one church, one ministry event. This is going to be of global proportions and we are going to say with Job 42:5, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” Yes my friends, it is going to be that big, that is why we have been learning, as Bill Johnson so eloquently said last night, “bold faith stands on the shoulders of quiet trust.” We have been learning to trust quietly, because our faith is going to be extremely bold.

Now that we can see in part what is coming, what do we need to be doing, what understanding is the Lord releasing to us as we press in just a little while longer? I believe we need to hear the truth once again that the right gift, at the right time, can open up new opportunities and gains access to influential people. But here is the unique twist on this that the Lord revealed to me in worship yesterday morning. He said, “a song is a gift; a tithe or offering is a gift; a word of encouragement is a gift; a kind word or gesture is a gift.” When we offer gifts to the Lord or to other people, one of those gifts is going to open doors for us. We have been taught a resume opens a door, the right network opens the door, but the Lord says, the right gift at the right time is going to open the door.

We need to listen to the songs we sing, because some songs are our gift; we need to pay attention to the offerings and tithes we sow, because some of them are gifts we give; and we need to listen carefully to the voice of God as He speaks through us to other people, because our words have the power to activate greatness in other people and this is our gift. I felt like the Lord said, we need to be prepared to give gifts in every situation, because the right gift at the right time is going to open doors and usher us before people of influence in the natural, but even more so in the spirit. Remember what the Psalmist said, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! (Psalm 100:4). Your gift will usher you into places you only dreamt of going, so don’t leave home without your gift, for it is what will begin opening doors.

Two Roads, One Choice

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The body of Christ is in a paramount shift like one we who are alive today have not ever experienced. The Spirit realm is electric with anticipation of what is coming. Because we are in a place of such great transition, it is paramount that we are patient, not pushy, and we flow, not force our way into what is about to take place on the earth. What God has planned for ages will be manifest on the earth, for this is His idea, not ours, His plan, not ours, His way, not ours. Remember Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.”

What God is about to do is so big, that many are sensing that something is coming, and with this sense comes a desire to be in control, not out of control. So, what I have noticed is two roads that the Lord is laying out before us. This is in line with scripture, for there were 2 trees in the garden; 2 choices in Deuteronomy 30:15; and two sons in Galatians 4; God always gives us a choice, He never forces us to do anything. So, we have two roads laid out before us in this unprecedented time in history, the road called familiar or the road called forward. In Luke 11:31-32 Jesus talks about how the people of God were so familiar with God they missed Jesus, but the outsiders traveled from far away to come and see this man who was greater than Solomon or Jonah. The outsiders took the road called forward, while the people of God preferred the road called familiar.

We are sitting at a crossroad, the choice is yours will you follow the road called familiar, which is low risk, low reward, or will you take the road called forward that is high risk, high reward. The road called forward is a walk of faith, it takes trust, you cannot always see what is ahead, but you have decided to put your hand to the plow and not look back. You may be afraid at times, but courage keeps you moving forward. You may not be able to identify what this move is going to look like, but you know it is like nothing we have ever seen before, so you press forward. Or are you going to choose the familiar. Looking back at past moves of God and trying to recycle what has already been done. Will you choose the familiar out of fear of missing the mark, believing a lie or out of sheer laziness. The familiar road is the easy road, the broad road, there will be many who take it. This is not a salvation issue, this is a traveling choice.

I see pioneers, apostles, prophets, leaders of the next move of God on the road called forward. They don’t have all the answers, but they do have a lot of questions that keep them moving forward. They are lovers of God and lovers of each other, not in competition, not trying to label what God is doing, not trying to be the first voice to speak the next move. They have their eyes fixed on Jesus and they follow His voice only. They know Who they are with, so what they do is inconsequential to them. Their marching orders are forward.

There are two roads laid out before us, one called familiar and the other called forward, the choice is yours as to which one you will take, but as for me and my house, we are going forward.

 

Bait and Switch

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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!