Same Same But Different

The sound of the shofar is being blown in the spirit, but what if it is not a call to war, but a call to praise? What if we are so used to battles, wars, survival, selfishness, tightening the belt, battening down the hatches, hiding, that we don’t know what to do with the sound we are hearing, because we are assuming it is the same sound sending the same message? 

We as people are pattern people. We get into patterns of behavior, patterns of operation and honestly we make a lot of assumptions about sounds, situations and people. We think we know what the sound means, what their intentions or motives are, or even why this or that is happening. The reason being is historically this is what the pattern has been. But friends, God is breaking rank with old patterns in a massive way. 

We may be hearing similar or even the same sounds, but they mean something completely different now. Listen to Pslam 150 as it pertains to the sound of the ram’s horn, which historically was a call to battle, but now is a call to something else. “Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn.” 

The sound of the shofar is being blown in the spirit, but it is not a call to war, it is a call to praise, a call to rejoice, a call to celebrate. We must learn to discern the new day we are in. This move of God is so good, we don’t even recognize it, because we have so many historically negative things we have encountered, we resist the blessing being given to us. Listen again, yes it’s the same sound, but it is sending a different message. Rejoice, praise, celebrate, this is what the sound of the shofar is saying for such a time as this. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

God’s Priority

There are so many priorities in the church. Depending on where you go, will determine what the priority is. None of them is wrong, but very few of them, if any of them are prioritizing what the Lord wants prioritized. Worship is a priority, preaching is a priority, community is a priority, giving is a priority. None of them is bad. People are to be prioritized, but to the Lord there is on priority that is above them all and I wonder if we have missed His highest priority.

Ezekiel 20 speaks of God’s highest priority and it is spoken of in light of Yahweh bringing Israel out of Egypt and wanting to give them the most beautiful land He could find for them, a land flowing with milk and honey. Multiple verses in this chapter speak of God’s priority, and verse 44 says it this way, “You will know that I am the LORD, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

The highest priority of God is His name. His name is His character, His nature, the way He treats people, His name is of utmost importance, yet I think we as the church say His name but have not prioritized His name. We have become casual with the Name of God. We have taken for granted the character of God and how He treats us. We have become to familiar with a God we do not really know.

His name is what we represent. His name is on our foreheads, we are marked by His name. His name is what we call on when we pray. His name is on many of our buildings, but have we prioritized His name? We show value for His name, by acting like Him, obeying Him, treating others the way He treats them. His name is His highest priority and we as the church (people of God) must prioritize His name over everything else, for His name is who He is and who we are called to be. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Posture Check

Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.” Because it is the words of Jesus, we may struggle to be honest about who easy this is so say, but how hard it is to do. No one like trouble, no one enjoys conflict, no one wants a third world war, no one wants riots in their streets. There is nothing pleasant in our feelings side of life about trouble, whether personal, national or international.

Then James comes along, the brother of Jesus, and says, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” Two different men, same message. There must be something to this we need to grasp in order to navigate challenges in this world in which we live.

We don’t like the feelings trials, troubles, evoke in us, which is why we try to avoid them at all costs. We ignore them, put them off, deny them, but they will not go away. Like that mosquito that buzzes near your ear while you are in bed and you are swatting for it in the dark. Trials, troubles are emotionally a challenge, even if we act like they are not.

Jesus said, take heart; James said, count it all joy. What did these men know we don’t know about trials, troubles? They knew what was being produced in the trial and they did not see joy as a feeling but as a posture. When joy is a posture of the heart, which comes from character not emotions, you realize this trouble, this trial is producing something in us we need. Rejoicing is not an emotion, it is a posture and when we take heart, it is because we see what the trial is producing, more character, more maturity, more love. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Dance Party

Can you hear it? Can you see it? Do you feel the shift in the atmosphere? Have you noticed the stuck is now being unstuck; the long wait is now giving way to answered prayers? It is happening in so many places to so many people. It feels like a suddenly, but it is actually a sigh of relief. Transition turbulence is happening because God has released long awaited promises.

Ezekiel 12 says, “A message came to me from the LORD: “Son of man, you’ve heard that proverb they quote in Israel: ‘Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing.’ Tell the people, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will put an end to this proverb, and you will soon stop quoting it.’ Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one: ‘The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!’”

We have gone from waiting to watching as answers are happening everywhere. It may not look good if you watch the main stream media, but if you can hear what the spirit is saying, if you can see what the spirit is doing, change is in the air. Great changes, new assignments, new alignments for the day is at hand. The glory of God is manifesting on earth, prayers are being answered, struggles are ceasing.

Listen my friends, listen closely, this transition turbulence is not for our demise, but for our arising, shining and giving God all the glory. The story is not over, it has just begun a second half and it is so good. If you made it through the first half, you are going to love how this unfolds in the days ahead. Shake off the dust of yesterday, last week, last month and last year, it is time to dance like no ones watching for praise and thanks is exploding everywhere. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Grab A Sickle

It’s harvest time. Can you see it? This is not a look at the harvest is here time, this is a sickle in hand harvest time. What we are doing right now is harvesting seeds, some we sowed and others we have not sowed. Both the wheat and the weeds have grown together and it is harvest time.

Matthew 13:30 says, “Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.”

At harvest time it is important to know what to do with what you are harvesting. We are called to bundle and burn the weeds we are harvesting. It does not matter if you sowed them or not, we are called to bundle and burn them. They are in the field the Lord has given us to harvest.

Once the weeds are harvested, bundled and burned, then we go back into that same field and we gather the wheat and bundle it and bring it into the barn. Two different seeds, one is weeds and one is wheat, both have grown together, some are burned and others are brought into the barn.

This is not a harvest of souls we are harvesting, but a harvest of thoughts/actions. In harvest seasons we must bundle and burn the weeds we see, hear and experience, for it is choking out wheat and we need to know others are doing the same for us.

We are being invited to harvest seeds we did not sow, some weeds, some wheat. One is to be burned the other brought into barns. When we see weeds in each other, we need to bundle and burn them.

It’s harvest season and I am thankful for the harvesters in the field of my life burning my weeds and gathering my wheat. They didn’t sow it, but they were sent to harvest it, so I have wheat in the barn of my soul and the weeds are burned.

I am also thankful they remind me the weeds are not seeds God sowed in me, they know an enemy did it, so they bundle and burn them with me so the wheat can be more abundant in me. People are the harvesters and I count them a treasure money can’t buy. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Attention Grabber

There are some things that grab your attention and won’t let go. A neon flashing sign is so attention grabbing you have to read what it says. A loud noise grabs our attention and makes us wonder what was that? A news headline grabs our attention and invites us to listen longer than we planned. A slam dunk in a basketball game or a backwards pass from a quarterback in the NFL, attention grabbers.

The word of God has attention grabbers, they cause us to stop our reading, they invite us to pause and ponder. They cannot just be read over and moved on from. There is something that happens as we read and something grabs our attention. We must lean in and listen carefully to what it is saying, for it is a “now” word for us or for us and others.

This morning while praying Psalm 145 verse 13 grabbed my attention and would not let me go…”The LORD always keeps his promises!” It was as though this verse was in all caps and in bold letters on the page. “The LORD always keeps his promises!” I know this intellectually, but this attention grabber did not feel intellectual today, it felt personal, manifestable, believable.

When we sow seeds of words, works, money, time, heart, passion, whatever it is we sow, as we wait for a promise or promises God has given us, one day the harvest will happen. Our wrestle with time is challenging, but today, I sensed we can believe, “The LORD always keeps his promises!” The wait has felt long, but the truth remains and I believe we are seeing and will continue to see promises come to pass God has spoken years or days ago.

I see God grabbing our attention with His word and with the manifestation of the promises He has spoken to us, for He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). He is a promise keeper and He never changes His mind about us or what He said to us. I see promises manifesting everywhere. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Not Static, Mobile

The Lord has directed me to read the book of Ezekiel, I have been listening closely to the words of God in this prophetic book written by the priest Ezekiel, who had visions of the likes I do not comprehend with my mind, but my spirit is leaning in. One of the things the Lord has taught me is that the more we trust Him the less we need to understand before we obey. If I wait to understand the why behind the what, I stay static, rather than keep moving.

Ezekiel 10 speaks of wheels, whirling wheels, wheels within wheels with eyes all around. The rabbi’s call the wheels a class of angelic hosts, divine messengers, ones obedient to the Spirit of God. The wheels are moving, mobile and connected to the throne of God, the presence of God and the glory of God. Just reading it is fun, but do I understand it all, no.

The wheel within the wheels, the rabbi’s say symbolizes the multidimensional nature of God. He is beyond human comprehension, but enjoyable on every level for our spirit that loves to watch the God of the word come alive through men like Ezekiel.

The reason I bring this up today is because I am experiencing and seeing God go from static to mobile in the lives of believers. What used to be only for one location, one destination, one person, one ministry, one whatever, has now gone multidimensional. As we awaken, we are finding He is more active than we thought.

The spirit of God is mobile. I love this statement, “The ophanim (wheels) symbolize that even in exile, God is mobile, and His throne is not confined to the Temple. The wheels follow the glory. God is not static. Even in exile, His Spirit moves.” – Midrash Rabbah

We have been in some challenging times, but God has not been static and as we exit exile and enter situations we do not understand, cast off fear, follow the glory, wonder at the wheels, but know God is not static, His Spirit is moving and leading us in ways we may not understand, but can feel that it is God and we must be on the move. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Summer and Fall

I heard the words “Transition Turbulence” and so I did a little research on the word turbulence. The summation of what I learned was, “Turbulence is not the sign of failure—it’s the proof that you’re moving. Don’t panic in the shaking. Let the Pilot fly. The shaking is temporary, but the destination is eternal.” Thanks Chat GPT.

Once I was done reading and praying into the words “transition turbulence” I received a text message from a friend who shared of her own “transition turbulence” happening at her job. As our group chat was happening, I was thanking the Lord for leaning into this phrase this morning not knowing she would be going through this very thing.

Then moments ago I heard the Holy Spirit say, “It’s a summer of shaking for the fall will make all things new.” I believe these two words summer and fall are season words that mean what they say, but when I heard the word fall, it meant the season, for I saw September in my spirit, but it also meant the fall of something.

For years I have been saying, Babylon is falling, but we are truly witnessing it in real time. I know things are shaking, they have to, for we are in “Transition Turbulence” personally, corporately, nationally and internationally. This summer may be shaky, but it is temporary and we are not flying the plane, the pilot is. Our pilot is not shaken by the turbulence, so we can buckle up and let Him fly this plane.

We are living in history right now, summer is shaking, but the fall is making all things new. September will be significant for we will see many things we never knew. Hebrews 12:28 “Since we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude…for our God is a consuming fire.” Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

King of Generosity

One of the greatest shifts the church is making, slowly, but surely is from obligation to generosity. Under the Aaronic priesthood the people of God were obligated to do the works of the law, to offer sacrifices for sins, to adhere strictly to the commandments. This system is what Jesus confronted when He walked the earth and the religious leaders were furious with Jesus because He was generous.

Generosity awakens something in us that is asleep. When Peter caught the miraculous load of fish in John 21, it awakened him to the reality that Jesus was not dead but alive. Following the law, the rules, the commands does not awaken us, it keeps us locked into a system of control that diminishes us.

The woman with the alabaster jar of perfume, generously poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and Judas was furious with her. What was supposed to awaken him to the soon coming death of Christ, embittered him against Jesus for not rebuking her for her generosity.

The word generosity is synonymous with righteousness. In Hebrew Sedaqa is righteousness and it is the root word for generosity. Sedaqa is aligned with Zedek or Melchizedek or the Zadok priesthood and it means king of righteousness or king of generosity. Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7), so He is the king of generosity or righteousness.

Our call is not to obligation, but to generosity. We are called to be generous with our time, our talents, our words, our money, our forgiveness, our everything. Selfishness, survival mode, causes us to be stingy, when the Lord is calling us to be generous. Generosity awakens something in us, but the question we must ask is… is generosity awakening anger in us like it did with Judas or gratitude like it did with Peter?

Generosity, the order of Melchizedek, is the order of the kingdom of God and some can’t enter into it, because generosity has awakened in them someone they did not know they were, until generosity came to their front door. Gratitude is the inoculation that keeps us healthy as God is very generous to us. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Face Down

Sights and sounds have the ability to invoke a response in us. If we hear the sound of a fire alarm it may invoke fear or encourage us to flee; if we hear a doorbell it will cause us to jump up and head to the door; if we hear a baby crying it will cause us to respond to the cry we hear. Sounds are powerful, but add sight to the sound and it impacts us deeply.

Over the centuries the church has been a sight and sound experience, we have heard the sound of church bells ringing or seen and heard choirs singing. We have heard preachers preaching and worship leaders singing. We have been in cathedrals with beautiful stained glassed windows and have seen smoke and laser lights on stages we call sanctuaries.

God has given people the ability to produce sights and sounds that cause us to sing along, shout and clap or stand amazed at the talent, the sound and the skill that comes out of humanity. We are created in the image of God, so we can produce a sight and sound experience, because that is who our God is.

The difference is, when man or woman creates sight and sound experiences we can remain standing, but when God reveals a sight and sound encounter, we will fall down. Ezekiel 1:28 says, “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”

We have experienced the sights and sounds of men and remain standing, but when we encounter the sights and sounds of God, we will fall down. If we can remain upright throughout worship, we may be hearing men and women sights and sounds, because when the glory of God comes in with a sight and sound encounter, you will fall down. It is a natural response to the glory of God.

Peter fell down at Jesus’ feet with the miraculous catch of fish in John 21; John fell down at the sight of the throne of God in Revelation 4; Ezekiel fell face down at the sight of the glory of God. When you really see and hear God, your natural response will be to fall down. It is a natural response to the God who is not us, but who made us. It is true, we all fall down when we encounter Him. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org