Month: November 2024

I love the prophetic, I love giving and receiving prophetic words, I love how prophecy ignites hope, establishes truth and builds us inside strong. Moses said, oh that all of God’s people would prophesy. It has been amazing listening to prophetic voices online and in person. It has been a learning experience for all of us to learn the difference between a prophetic word of encouragement and a prophetic warning; between a prophetic unction to function and a confirmation of something we already know.

The prophetic is not gender specific, but is available for all to do. Acts 2 fulfilled Joel 2 when Peter says on the day of Pentecost, quoting what God said through Joel, “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy.” Prophesy is proclaiming the words of God to the people of God. Some don’t think women should be preachers, but God says we can ALL prophesy. So, if you don’t think we women should be preaching, then just call it prophesying, because that is biblically established in both the Old and New Testament.

In Judges 4, Deborah, a prophetess, speaks a work to Barak the commander of Israel’s army. I love this word, for it is establishing in Barak what God already told him, but he wasn’t doing. “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” Deborah encouraged him, prophetically, to do what God told him to do, but wasn’t yet doing.

All these side issues about gender must die in the body of Christ, because here is a woman leading a man in the Old Testament. God is using both men and women, young and old, rich and poor, slave and free, Jew and Gentile, for the kingdom of God is at hand and we all are called to prophesy. Let’s go, we have land to take, a harvest to bring in, and glory to give to God!!!!

The Lord says, “Remember your history with God when you are in the middle of the mystery of God.”

If you are a Christian you have a history with God. He has done miracles in you, through you, or around you that you cannot deny. Your salvation alone is a miracle that cannot be denied if you do not forget who you used to be before you met Jesus. Friends, we have so much God has done in our generation, we could write story after story. Then add all the history Israel has with God and all the stories in the Bible about what God has done and we have enough history with God to never doubt God.

The challenge is, we forget the history when we are living in a mystery, but God gave us a history with Him so when we are walking in mystery we can lean on our history. God does not change, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What He did for Israel, He will do for our nation, your nation, any nation. We have been grafted in, we are one new man in Christ, neither Jew nor Gentile any longer. We can trust the history of God, when we don’t understand the mystery we are walking in right now.

Mystery of sickness; mystery of marriage, divorce, death; mystery of money; mystery of dreams yet to be fulfilled; mystery of barrenness; mystery of hurt, grief, pain; mystery of abuse and misuse of people; so many mysteries, yet we have a history with God. Psalm 78 says, “He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;”

Friends, remember your history with God, talk about it, dwell in it, for your history is what is going to get you through the mystery. Future generations are depending on us.

Our women’s bible study group just finished a book by Havilah Cunnington called Created to Hear. In this book the author lays out four ways people hear God and she invited us to explore our bent. The four ways are hearing, seeing, feeling and knowing. I am a hearer. I hear God and I love to hear His voice. Others in our group were seers and they see angels, pictures and even movies as the voice of God. Some are feelers, they pick up things in the atmosphere, they have deep compassion, they feel the voice of God. Finally, there are some who are knowers. They just know what God is saying or doing. They just know and can’t be moved on what they just know. It was an incredible study as we as a group realized we need each others gift to establish the voice of God we are hearing and to see the bigger picture God is speaking. It was an incredible time we had together.

This morning the Holy Spirit spoke so crystal clearly to me, saying, “Open the blinds the sun has been shining all along.” He went on to say, “Pray Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1 so people will open their blinds.” Finally, I heard the song, “Let the Light In by Cody Carnes.” It was so clear what I was hearing and the Holy Spirit was so excited to share it, for He wants people to open their blinds and see the sun that has been shining all along. We tend to live with blinds closed and then speak from the dark room we are in, but it is time to open the blinds, and let the light in.

Ephesians 1 says, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ.” This is the prayer we are to be praying for those who are living behind closed blinds.

Let The Light In by Cody Carnes says, “It’s time for the sleeper to wake
It’s time for the old winds to change; I hear the Spirit say it’s time; It’s time for the dead man to rise; It’s time for the Great Light to shine; I hear the Spirit say it’s time. Open up the windows, let the light in; Open up the windows, let the light in; Open up the windows, let the light in; Let the light in, Let the light in.” This is the song we are to sing over them as we pray for them. It is spring time in the spirit and we must open up the blinds, then the windows, for there is a gentle breeze blowing and the Son has always been shining.

Reading the Bible challenges cultural narratives in such a way that a decision has to be made as to which narrative is true. The cultural narrative is so strong inside of us, we tend to read the Bible and think that sounds good, but it is not something I agree with let alone will apply to my life. Many people have read the Bible for various reasons. We would be surprised how many nefarious activities have been established in culture from reading the Bible. Doesn’t the Bible say, even the demons believe in God and shudder?

Here is our challenge, as believers, we read the Bible, we hear sermons, we listen to podcasts, we watch videos, but we are not changing our narrative to fit the word of God, for we are so baked into the narrative of culture. Reading Proverbs 15:16-17 this morning prompted these thoughts, listen to Solomon the wisest and richest man in the world at that time, what he has to say, “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.”

How many of us would honestly say, I would rather have little and fear the Lord; I would rather have herbs and love around my table? I know everyone is thinking, I would, but would you really? Does your life reflect that as truth? I remember the day my boyfriend, who is now my husband, and I sat on the deck of my condo in Malaysia overlooking the city, and he said to me, “If it is you and me and a bowl of rice is that enough for you?” I did not flinch, but said in response, “If it is you and me (pause) that is absolutely enough for me.” We were engaged less than a month later.

The Lord has led me to lead a life where I have had much and I have very very little, but I have never been without. But one thing has been constant and that is the fear of the Lord which means obedience no matter the cost and it has produced a love for God and a love for people that no amount of money could ever buy. Friends, we must evaluate ourselves and ask the question, what do I truly value, because there are two narratives vying for your heart and they produce two very distinctly different fruit in our lives.

The tide has turned, the leadership is changing in every area of society, the land is being redeemed for the glory of God to fill the earth, but we must remember history in order not to repeat it. Judges 1 speaks of the 12 tribes of Israel being given authority to take possession of land God has given them, but in order to do that, they must drive out the evil inhabitants of the land. This was the command of the Lord to them from their leader Joshua, Yeshua.

Judges 1 speaks of how each tribe did not drive out the inhabitants of the land, but let them dwell with them and just subjected them to forced labor. Subjecting them to forced labor was not the command, they were to drive them out completely. It may sound good to not drive them out, but it was not what God told them to do. Our job is not to adjust what God has said, but to obey what God has said, for He sees things we do not see; He knows things we do not yet know. Notwithstanding they did not obey.

Judges 2 says, “Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

Their lack of obedience brought a thorn and a snare, while their obedience would have brought freedom and peace. The same is true for us today, we must obey the Lord, not partially, but completely. Not thinking we can adjust what He has called us to do, because it sounds good to us. Partial obedience brings thorns and a snare. We are living in a time when the land is being cleansed and it will must be a complete obedience cleansing, not just a nice touch up. Righteousness is going to exalt this nation, but there must be a cleansing of the land in all areas first. No partial obedience, it must be complete this time. Future generations will thank us for it.

Talking with the Lord yields the best fruit, because He is so much wiser; so much kinder; sees so much more; than we do. The conversations the Lord initiates brings forth insight and understanding as well as a greater depth than anything we could have ever thought of. This is why humility is a posture we must maintain, for we only see in part, think in part and process in part, but He, as God sees the whole picture, knows every moving part and is processing us into His image and likeness. He alone is God, we are not.

Today the walking the dog conversation was about selfishness and what the Lord showed me is profound. The Holy Spirit showed me two kinds of selfishness, one selfishness is rooted in evil. It is greedy, covetous, idolatrous, and God calls it evil. James 3:16 says, “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” I have always been taught selfishness is evil, self-absorbed, only about you, thinking of no one else. But God…

Then this morning the Lord revealed to me another aspect of selfishness I did not know. He showed me that some selfishness is not evil it is survival mode. He said some people have misplaced trust, so are living in fear of lack and therefore are selfish not because they are evil, but because they are in survival mode. Survival mode looks selfish, but it is not evil. I have a family member that lives in survival mode and I always viewed it as selfishness, but today the Lord said it is not evil it is survival mode.

Being able to discern what type of selfishness is manifesting will determine the response we are to have to what we see. If the selfishness is evil, then the Lord said it is to be starved. Don’t feed it. But if it is survival mode, then we are to have compassion, for they are barely making it emotionally, spiritually, financially, physically, or in some other way. They don’t need our pity, they need our compassion, our prayers, our support. This is a new way of thinking of selfishness for me, but it sure was liberating and gave me a way to pray for those I love but only saw as selfish.

If you receive a notice in the mail that says all of your debts are canceled what would you do? Credit card debt canceled! Car loan debt canceled! House mortgage debt canceled! Student loan debt canceled! You name the debt canceled! After getting over the idea that this is a joke, too good to be true, and all the other doubts, what would your response be?

Once it set in that you are now completely debt free, how would you live? What would you do? Could you live a debt free life or would you go back into debt since you had a clean slate? Would you think oh yes, now I can go buy this or do that? Or would you practice self-control and run on the tracks of gratitude for the cancelation of the debts by living debt free?

The momentum we are moving with is usually hard to turn around even when we are free from the taskmaster of debt that has been driving us for so long. Gratitude is not to be a one time response but a recurring revelation that causes us to change direction, change our cadence and change our heart posture from one that only knows how to live in debt to one that knows how to live free.

Colossians 2:13-15 speaks of debts that we have been set free from, “God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” You are not in debt to sin, but the question is now that you are debt free from sin, can you change direction and remain free?

The Lord has set us free and is going to set us free in more ways than we can see, but the question is can we stay free, change direction and remember it is for freedom He has set us free? It takes courage to stay free after you have been set free.

We have a choice to be “one” or to be “one with”. You can’t be both simultaneously, you have to decide which you will be. When individualism is a value in the culture it is hard to be “one with” because the value is placed on “one”. But the kingdom of God is not any culture of the world, it is it’s own culture and the greatest hurdle to coming into the kingdom is laying aside culture you have known to take on kingdom culture which you do not know. You don’t realize how cultural you are until you enter into another culture.

The invitation to be “one with” has been spoken by Jesus since the days He walked the earth. The apostle John penned Jesus’ invitation in John 17:11 “Holy Father, remain with them through your name, the name you have given Me. May they be one even as we are one.” In order to be “one with” Jesus and others who are “one with” Him, we must loose ourselves from our need to be “one” individually. When we think as “one” we think of what is best for us, for our life, our ministry, our money, our job, our family, it is all about me. This is cultural and it is hard to go from being “one” to being “one with” Jesus and others.

When you choose to be “one with” Jesus, your choosing to go where he goes, do what he does, and say what he says. John 12:24-26 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.” The invitation to become “one with” is an invitation to bear much fruit.

I see Orchards for miles and miles and miles, as people that are seeds choose to lay down their life and follow Jesus wherever He may lead them. We are going to see a harvest of obedience and it is called Orchard.

God is adjusting our baseline view, for we have been out of alignment. When your baseline view is inflated the Lord has to deflate you a bit, when your baseline view is diminished the Lord has to lift up your eyes to see differently. Everyone of us has a baseline view that is out alignment in some way and the Lord is adjusting it to His baseline view, which is the same for all of us. Some of us are inflated and others are diminished, but the Lord is making us all have a baseline view of Trust, for that is His baseline view for every one.

I was walking this morning and on the ground were a bunch of leaves that had fallen from the trees above me. Some leaves were small, but other leaves were really big and the Lord spoke to me and He said, “You declare things big or small based on your baseline view. But if your view changes then what you once saw as a large leave is actually not large if your baseline view is the size of the leave.” He was inviting me, yet again to increase my baseline view so when I see something happen, I can view it accurately, not inflate it or diminish it.

Here is a practical example. If your baseline view is the amount of money in your bank account, then you will see a repair on your car, like the 6 tires I had to buy this weekend for two cars, as a big expense, if your account is unable to support the amount of the repairs. However, if your baseline view of your account can support the repairs then you do not get thrown into fear. Money is a fluctuating baseline view, that is why God wants all of us to have a baseline view of trust not some dollar amount, marital status or title.

Look at the leaves my friends, whether you see them as big or small, they both need sun to change colors, they both need wind to fall from the trees, they both need rain to be wet and they both need God who created them. Didn’t Jesus say, “Look at the birds of the air, they neither toil nor spin, nor gather into barns yet your Heavenly Father knows how to feed them. Are you not more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26) Fear not, God is just adjusting your baseline view to Trust so you can live without fear of anything.

Who we believe God is will be reflected in how we believe He is working in the earth realm. If you see God as a vengeful angry violent destroyer who is out to punish wickedness, destroy people who do evil and whack us when we go astray, then you will preach judgment, gloom and doom, all the while calling it God’s discipline. Much of how we view God is how we treat ourselves. If you are hard on yourself you will be hard on others and your words will be harsh, strong, full of a God who is mad at us because we are such sinners.

The Pharisees were such rule followers, they were angry with anyone who broke one of the rules they followed. Jesus healed on a Sabbath and they were so in love with their Sabbath rules they sought to kill Him for healing a man on a day they said no work was to be done on. We can get so locked into our rules, our beliefs, our culture, our upbringing, we miss Jesus when He is working miracles right in front of us. The man was healed right before their eyes and all they cared about what He healed on the Sabbath so now Jesus was their enemy. This is a sickness that is hard to cure.

Most would not consider themselves Pharisees, whether they believe in Jesus in name only or believe they are following Him, however, more people than we realize are Pharisees. They have a set of beliefs about who God is, what God does, how God speaks and what God wants that they get mad when anyone celebrates a healing on the Sabbath, because the man was crippled from birth, but now can walk. When our rules trump the healing we just saw we are acting like a Pharisee.

Friends, God is a healer, deliverer, restorer, redeemer, rebuilder, reviver, gap stander, miracle worker, nation saver, world savior, idol crusher, and Psalm 69 says, “You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth; Also ocean and all things that swim in it. For God is out to help Zion, Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah.” God is building people, families, cities, nations, and He is not destroying right now, He is building and rebuilding everything, this is the good news of the gospel. He is a builder of lives and the building project is taking shape daily in ways we all will see very soon.