Month: February 2017
Have You Been Bit and Don’t Know It
Word Reformation 2.22.17
www.apostolicresourcecenter.org
During worship a couple of weeks ago I had an open vision where the Lord showed me a banqueting table filled with delicacies, dainties and delightful foods from all over the world. It was a true International feast, with many people sitting around the banqueting table. As I observed this scene the Lord said, can you hear them pray consistently? Can you hear them sing so beautifully? I said, yes, it is truly amazing, what I am hearing and seeing. Then the Lord said, but they are very weak, because they refuse to eat the food I have laid out before them. As I looked closer at the banqueting table and the magnificent place settings in front of the people sitting at the table, I did notice that they had not even taken one bite, even though the food was within arm’s reach. They loved to pray, they loved to worship and they loved to fellowship, but they did not want to eat, so they were weak.
I knew immediately what the Lord was showing me, if we do not eat, if we do not partake of the Word of God, we will pray, we will worship, and we will fellowship, but we will remain weak, because only the Word of God makes a person strong. People that don’t eat, no matter how much they pray, how much they worship or how much they fellowship, still remain weak, because they refuse to eat the Word of God right in front of them.
We are blessed to have a Bible in our hands. Some people have more than one bible, but they still do not eat. They go to 24-hour prayer houses, they join worship teams and go to worship events, they have coffee with friends, but to actually spend time in the Word of God, listening for His voice in His word, very few people do this and that is why the body of Christ is weak. Romans 10:17 says, “faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.” This is not a salvation message, this is how you get strong. Faith is trust, belief is acknowledgement. It takes believing to be saved (Romans 10:9-10), it takes faith to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and Jesus said when I return will I find faith on earth (Luke 18:8), not believers.
Today we have a lot of believers, who said a sinner’s prayer, they pray, they worship, they fellowship and they may even go to church, but most believers do not read their Bible and many do not have faith (trust) in God. How do I know, because the church is weak and God is inviting us to be strong, but it takes a Word reformation. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I Am the way, I Am the truth, I Am the life,” in John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God in the beginning.” Jesus is the Word of God! Bill Johnson says, Jesus is perfect theology, so if we know the Word, we know Jesus.
Once believers start reading the Word of God, they will meet the man that is the Word. You can’t trust (have faith) in someone you do not know. With the reading of the Word, will come trust, once trust is established based on relationship, a covenant will be made, obedience will be the result, for Jesus said in John 15, “If you love me, you will do what I command.” Once believers start obeying the Word of God, power will be released, for they will not be ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). Then we will begin to do what Jesus commanded us to do, which is to occupy until He comes (Luke 19:13).
What is coming is not another denominational reformation; nor is it some new names on an old system, what is coming is a Word reformation. Believers are going to begin to eat at home, so when they come together they are strong, which will cause leaders to have to steer the rushing river of revelation, rather than pray for one to start. The result of a Word reformation is going to be healing, deliverance, reconciliation, restoration, proclamation and transformation. Everything we are asking for in prayer will be answered when individuals realize authority comes through the word of God and obedience to it. Then we can ask and it will be given to us, seek and we will find, knock and the door will be opened to us (Matthew 6). We won’t need to spend 24 hours in prayer to get an answer, for we will have authority based on relationship that is rooted in trust. I don’t beg my husband over and over for something, because to him that would be nagging, I just ask and trust him for the answer. The same will be true for us as we begin to eat the food on this banqueting table. Everything will change once we answer the call to read the Bible. Let the Word reformation begin!
Love is Kryptonite to the Enemy
Love is Kryptonite to the Enemy
Have you ever had a frustration conversation with the Lord? You know one of those prayer times where somethings off, you feel stuck, heaven seems silent on an issue? I had one of those talks with the Lord just the other day. During this, let’s be honest, one sided conversation, I was doing all the talking, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Follow the yellow brick road”. Now for religious people that will be hard to believe God would say that, but to relationship people, they totally get it. God said, “Follow the yellow brick road.” I had just bought the movie the Wizard of Oz, as someone I met is doing a prophetic project in Kansas and asked me to watch it. I grabbed my pen and paper and sat down to watch the Wizard of Oz like I would a sermon. What I didn’t know was how prophetic that movie would be for me.
“Jesus called a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you, He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4). As I watched this movie the Lord began to speak to me from go. First of all, Dorothy was living with her aunt and uncle, so she was either orphaned or some other situation happened to her parents. Next, she had a dream, which is what put her into the land of Oz and she knew she had gone over the rainbow. Upon arrival in her house, which was the vehicle that took her to the land of Oz, she landed on the wicked witch of the East and killed her. With instructions from the leader of the munchkins, she took the ruby red slippers off of the wicked witch of the East and put them on her feet and was told these slippers would protect her, so just follow the yellow brick road. (There are so many prophetic things right here for you to consider).
The story goes on and she meets three men on her following of the yellow brick road, a scarecrow who needs intelligence, a tin man who needs a heart and a lion who needs courage. As each joins her on following the yellow brick road, to Emerald City to meet the Oz, she encounters along the way the wicked witch of the West. The truth that hit me like a tidal wave was, that because she was wearing the ruby red slippers, the wicked witch of the West could not lay a hand on her. When the Lord highlighted this to me, I remembered that in scripture rubies mean passionate love. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Lisa, passionate lovers are kryptonite to the enemy, because he has no love in him”.
Immediately, I began to weep, as I knew that love is the answer to victory in our lives as believers. When we are lovers, the enemy cannot touch us, love is kryptonite to the enemy. No wonder Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Our love for God and for one another is what keeps the enemy at bay, for if we are lovers of God and lovers of people, he has nothing in us to work with. No wonder the enemy had nothing in Jesus (John 14:30), Jesus was a lover of His Father and of us as people. This is powerful to me, for I knew love was the answer, but I did not realize how powerful it actually was.
As the movie came to an end, they arrived at the door of the Emerald City and finally met the Oz, who did not grant their requests as presented for a brain, heart, courage and a home, but he gave them more than they asked for. Not only did love keep the enemy at bay, love kept them on the yellow brick road that led them to the place where they were given more than they could have asked or even imagined (Ephesians 3:20). When we are wearing the ruby red slippers of passionate love for God and for people, the enemy cannot touch us, for love is kryptonite to the enemy.
Evangelism in the Park
While at a park yesterday I sat on a bench and three different ladies sat down next to me. The third a Muslim woman from Somalia we talked about all of the similarities between Christianity and Islam to the point there were so many I asked the Lord for a word of knowledge because I could tell I was not getting through to her about the difference. Then I started talking to her about being able to hear the voice of God and asked her if Allah had ever spoken to her, she looked at me with a funny look as though what did I mean God spoke to her? I said you pray correct, she said yes. I said does does Allah talk back to you and she says no the God knows everything I just follow. I told her many Christians need to learn how to obey their God the way you obey yours, but then…. I said well I hear from Jesus every day he talks to me all the time and I pointed up into the bright blue sky and said he’s invisible to our eyes but I hear him in my heart and in my head. She was dumbfounded by the thought that there was a God in heaven that actually spoke.
The difference between Christianity and Islam is that Yahweh is relational and Allah is only to be obeyed not questioned nor asked for any response from. I lived in Malaysia for nine years and it was against the law to share my faith with any Muslim, now that they are living in America I have the leverage to tell them that Jesus is God and that He speaks to his people because he loves them so much.
Re-Tiring: It’s Going to Be a Go
What is Love?
The War We’re In
One moment on the news and you know we are in a war. One hour in church and you know we are in a war. One post on Facebook, Instagram, Google+ or Twitter and you know we are in a war. One statement that is not politically correct, no matter how truthful it is and you know we in a war. Very few people cannot recognize that we are in a war, but very few people are identifying what that war is accurately. Politicians believe we are in a political war between Democrats and Republicans. Hate groups believe we are in a war over freedom of speech. Terrorist groups believe we are in a war over religion. Other groups believe we are in a war over the color of our skin, the definition of marriage, or the status of your visa.
Depending on the way you think, you may believe that one of the listed wars are the war we are in. Honestly, I can understand why you would think that, because on the surface that is what it looks like to the naked eye. However, as believers in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God who was manifested in flesh on earth and is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father, who have a Bible, we must remember 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 “Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes”; 1 John 2:18 “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour”; and 2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work”.
The war we are in is an age-old war that began when Lucifer was kicked out heaven (Isaiah 14) for seeking to exalt himself against the knowledge of God. The war has not changed, in the words of Bill Johnson, we were born into this war. Therefore, as believers we should not be alarmed when the anti-Christ spirit manifests in violence of its varying kinds, not just in America, but around the world. We should not be shocked that when law and order are restored, the spirit of lawlessness that has been at work silently in the hearts of men and women worldwide, would begin to put up a fight. The apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 6:10-18, that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers, principalities and rulers in the heavenly realms. He then went on in those verses to tell us how to dress so we are ready for the battle. None of this should surprise us.
The war we’re in is a spiritual one that is manifesting physically. It is not the first time it has manifested on earth and unless Jesus comes back in this war, then it will not be the last time this spirit manifests on earth. The war we’re in right now is the same war, we see all throughout the Word of God. From Genesis to Revelation, we see this war and we see the strategies from heaven on how to win this war. The spirit of anti-Christ, the spirit of lawlessness and the spirit of deception are all three, one in the same spirits. They have the same father of lies as their commander and they seek to counter any activity the kingdom of God makes. When you see anti-Christ manifestations, take heart, for it is evidence of kingdom activity.
The war we’re in is not one to be afraid of, for fear is a tool the enemy uses to paralyze the believer into inactivity. The way to win this war is to love deeply, forgive consistently, read the word daily, connect with others faithfully and worship unashamedly. The way to conquer the anti-Christ spirit is not to engage in tit for tat arguments, but to “praise until the spirit of worship comes, worship until the glory falls, then stand in the glory” – Ruth Heflin. Your greatest weapons are the word of God and the presence of God, for they protect you from deception. Once you are vaccinated by the presence of God and the word of God, then you can go out into the world and rescue those who are being held captive by the spirit of the world. In the words of the old hymn, they will know you are Christians by your love, by your love, they will know you are Christians by your love.
The next thing we need to address in a future blog is, what is love? One hint, it is not unconditional.