Author: lisagreatenebeli

With the televised confession of the Bethel Senior Leadership team, and the subsequent letter that was sent out, the responses are sharply divided. The concern I have is that we as people are revealing our hearts by our response to their hearts confession.

As I watched the service at 10:30am yesterday online, I heard the Lord say as Kris and Bill publicly confessed their sins, mistakes and leadership mishaps, I heard the Lord say, “This is what it looks like when fathers weep”. This morning I read what Jeremiah Johnson put out, which was of weeping willows with harps dream on Discernment Drive.

Now this morning, the verses that came up in my spirit as I was thinking about this public confession and repentance from leaders in the church who have a global reach. The verse I heard was Luke 18:9-14.

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people; robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Whether they are your personal leaders or not, they are leaders in the church globally. Their music and messages have altered the narrative of the church and their repentance is reverberating in the atmosphere of the body of Christ. Our response to the sound of repentance and fathers weeping reveals a lot about our hearts. Listen to what you are saying and thinking as you listen to what they are repenting of. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

I walked out the door first thing this morning to take out the dog, and a sheet of ice was on my steps. We did not leave the entryway of the front door. So, onto the backyard we went. Out the patio door onto the deck, where the soft gentle rain was falling on our winter coats, the warmer than expected air made the coat feel unnecessary. The soft snow cracked with the light ice on top as we went out into the yard.

I have been praying for a heat dome over our area, saying snow to enjoy not ice to destroy. The warm air and the light rain made me smile as I pictured a heat dome over our area. But what surprised me the most was the differnce between the front and backyard. One set of steps I could not even consider walking on and the others left footprints in the snow.

This morning I have been reading the prophet Hosea and in chapter 10 verse 12 it says, “Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.”

I love this verse because it is a partnership between us and God. We are invited to break up the uplowed ground, and He will shower us with righteousness. Showers falling on hard ground do not penetrate the soil. But a prepared ground can receive the showers as they fall.

To make this practical, I believe the Lord is inviting us to break up some old deeply rooted thinking patterns that we think have been the truth and have felt safe, but have actually been doctrines of men that have kept us from the revelation of Jesus Christ.

When it starts to rain, hard ground is going to have rain run off, but broken up ground is going to receive the rain. We get to decide what kind of ground we are going to be and the rain will reveal it. Bring on the plow! Let it rain!!!! Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Can you hear the new sound rising in the land? A sound of peace, a sound of inheritance, a sound of good news for all nations? The Bible says let those who have ears hear what the spirit is saying to the church. Not what people are saying, what the spirit is saying. The spirit is saying, it is a new day, there is a new sound, there are new orators of old truths.

Israel is a people, a land and a history we are to learn from. One of their battles was worshipping other gods. Most Christians do not think they are doing this, just like Israel, so have we lived with mixture.

God invited Israel into the wilderness and He did the same for many in the body of Christ. The wilderness was hard, lonely, transforming and challenging in ways we cannot describe. But just like Israel we needed the wilderness to transform us forever.

Hosea 1 describes what happens to us in the wilderness. “I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. In that day,” declares the LORD, you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’”

The wilderness radically changes our relationship with God from my master to my husband. It goes from transactional to relational. From distant to personal. We leave religion in the wilderness and we gain a love we cannot deny. Once you go through the wilderness you will never be the same again, which is why those who go through the wilderness inherit the promised land.

Friends, there are voices rising out of the wilderness, not declaring prepare the way of the Lord, but rather be reconciled to God; be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. The voices rising are carrying an inheritance of good news. Can you hear the sound? Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

The first message Jesus preached was “Repent, for the kingdom of God is here, the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

Jesus was not declaring to a sexually immoral, adulterous, drunk nation they need to repent of some behavior, He was speaking to a religious nation, law-bound, Sabbath serving people, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent of what? Repent of the way they were thinking.

They thought their salvation would come through following all the rules, obeying all the commands, doing all the things religion told them to do. They also thought the Messiah was coming as a conquering king wanting to take over Rome. Repent, change the way you think, what you have been told or taught is now the way of my kingdom.

Jesus is speaking the same words to the church today. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Change the way you think, what you have been taught about the rapture, salvation is about heaven, and saying a prayer is all that is needed is not the way of the kingdom of God.

Things are not getting worst, peace is not to be feared, war is not the way of the kingdom of God, and the antichrist is not a person. Repent, change the way you think, the kingdom of God is at hand.

Hosea 1:7 says, “I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the LORD their God, will save them.” Zechariah 4:6 says, ““This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”

Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He is not coming to destroy, He is here to build the kingdom of earth as a it is in heaven, through us His church. Do not fear peace deals, rejoice in them, for this is how God wins war, peacefully. The kingdom of God is at hand and if you can’t see it, you need to repent, change the way you think. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Friends if prayer does not give way to manifestation, then prayer becomes the goal, not answers. Prayer is not the goal, prayer is the vehicle that leads to the goal, called manifestation or answers to prayer. If prayer is the goal, then we become people who pray but never see, look for, or expect an answer to the prayers God has asked us to pray.

Prayer becomes religious when prayer is the goal. We have made prayer the goal in many ways, for some believe they are spiritual because they pray all night, or pray, pray, pray. We must be people of prayer, but prayer is about communing with God, not staying up all night making requests continually.

Why do I bring this up? Because Intercessors are exhausted. Watchmen are weary. This does not mean we stop praying, but when prayer is all we do, it becomes religious, rather than relational.

In Acts 12 it says, “Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” The prayers of the church set Peter free from prison, but the ones praying were not expecting Peter to be released, so why were they praying?

Prayer must become manifestation or prayer become religious. God doesn’t answer prayer because of how long we pray, but because our hearts are joined to His in agreement. Jesus said, I only do what I see my Father doing. The prayers of Jesus were about thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Acts 12 goes on to say, “Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.”

Peter is out of jail, prayers answered, but manifestation not expected. “Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”

Friends, we must pray for our nation, our leaders, our churches, our families, yes, yes, yes and yes again. But prayer is not for prayers sake, it is for bringing heaven to earth and God is not answering because we are laboring, He is answering because of love. Prayer is relational and it must manifest, it is not duty. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

I love how the word of God equips us for battles we will face long before we ever face them. We are taught by the apostle Paul that our weapons are not carnal, but they are mighty. We have been taught that the word of God is a sword, this is a weapon. We know prayer is a weapon as we seek the Lord for strategy and share our concerns with Him.

Other weapons include praise, worship and praise are powerful weapons. Fasting is a weapon we employ to tear down strongholds. Community is a weapon, because we were not meant to do life alone. Oh the many and varied weapons God has given us as believers in Jesus Christ.

But what are we fighting? We are fighting the lure of a system of selfishness that seeks to get us to self-protect, self-promote, become a self-made man. The battle we fight with the world is not people, it is the war with selfishness. Outside of Christ is a self-ruling, self-governing, all about self system.

Jesus called us to die to ourselves, because we are no longer citizens of the world, but of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is a community and to do life with others effectively you cannot be selfish.

As I was reading Proverbs 19 this morning, another weapon in our war against selfishness arose in the word of God that I had not considered a weapon, but realize is a very powerful weapon. “The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” (v. 23)

Contentment is a weapon we have been given in this war against selfishness. If we are content, we are satisfied with our portion, the lot God has given us. There is not comparison or competition when you are content. Contentment is a weapon God has given us as believers and we need to sharpen this weapon or add this weapon to our arsenal for it will keep us untouched by trouble. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

We can become so familiar with things that we are not open to anything. Familiarity is comfortable, it can feel stable, secure and like a safe place. The challenge is we have not been called to be comfortable, we have been called to be conformed.

To be conformed is to be continually teachable, always pliable, willing to listen, learn and understand what we may not know. Conformed is like soft clay in the hands of the potter, comfortable is the clay pot that wants to sit on a shelf and shine with its glaze for all to see.

God keeps adding water to clay pot on the potters wheel in order to keep the clay soft, moldable and continually being transformed by the fingerprints of the potter.

Our love of things being done hinders our ability to remain teachable. We look forward to graduating, so we don’t have to go to school anymore, but life is an eternal education, we are to never stop learning, listening, exploring, asking questions, seeking to understand.

We are comfortable with the words of Jesus, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, but this morning the Holy Spirit said, “The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.” (Proverbs 18:4) The Lord went on to say, “I want more fountains of wisdom that turn into rushing streams, than I do deep waters.”

There is darkness in the deep waters, there is history and mystery in the deep waters. There is pain, memories, in the deep waters that is why what comes out of our mouths needs to be filtered. But wisdom is a fountain, it bubbles up, it recycles the waters and turns them into rushing streams.

Streams are waters that move, they are not stagnant. Rushing streams power cities, create adventure, and give drink to many living creatures. We have known the deep waters of our mouths, now the Lord wants the fountains of wisdom coming out of us, so rushing streams can pour out of our bellies. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Have you ever wondered why it is easier for us to accept the truth of certain things, but then others are very challenging to rest in? For example, if I say God loves you, most people would say, yes I know this. It is an easy truth to accept. However, if I say God is a healer or a provider, we may have a mental assent, but still struggle to believe it, because it is not an experiential one.

When Hebrews 12 says, we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken, many in the church would say amen. Then when nations rise, people riot, DOGE strikes, Trump tweets or airlines cease flights, we panic pray and forget we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Our instability is rooted in our insecurity about truths that are solid but we do not believe experientially/relationally, but we do believe intellectually. Intellectual belief is not stable, it fluctuates with every bit of new information that is presented to you. Relational/experiential truth is unshakable, for it is rooted in relational equity.

Yahweh/Yeshua is a relational not intellectual God. The word of God is about a Father, a Son, a nation (Israel), a city (Jerusalem), nations (Gentiles), covenants and they are all unshakable because they are relational.

The eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is what makes people shakable, for the tree of life is wisdom, it is Jesus, it is unshakable, immovable, undeniable.

As you hear the news, as you see headlines, I want you to remember this unshakable truth found in Psalm 47 “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.” Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

I was preparing to pray Psalm 46 this morning and the presence of God wafted into the room and tears filled my eyes with the arrival of His presence. I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Many say I am seated on a throne, but I wanted to be enthroned, enthroned, enthroned.”

I honestly did not know there was a difference between being on a throne and being enthroned. To be on a throne is to acknowledge conceptually, or agree with doctrinally the reality or truth God is on the throne. But the Holy Spirit did not say to acknowledge He is on the throne, but to enthrone, enthrone, enthrone Him.

To enthrone means to live under His authority, His governmental rule. It is relational alignment, not conceptual acknowledgement. It is a declaration of kingship to govern responses, emotions, fears and decisions. It is authority that is welcomed and obeyed. God wants to be enthroned!

Praying Psalm 46 established this invitation of enthroned, when it says, “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!”

We know God is on the throne, He is sovereign, He rules the nations, it is a belief we have, an acknowledgment we give. But today, He is wanting us to enthrone Him, to let Him rule over us, to govern our responses, emotions, fears and decisions. Enthroned, enthroned, enthroned is what He is asking us to do. Live under His authority.

Remember “God has a constantly flowing river whose sparkling streams bring joy and delight to his people. His river flows right through the city of God Most High, into his holy dwelling places. God is in the midst of his city, secure and never shaken.” (Psalm 46) http://www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Can you see what your face is saying? Can you hear what other people’s faces are saying? Did you know the face is a reflection of the heart? We try to hide our worries, fears, anxieties and concerns, but our face reveals what our heart is going through.

It is challenging because we want to look all put together, like everything is great, but our face betrays our words. I love looking at people’s faces because I love seeing God on their face. The creativity of God is revealed in the faces of humanity.

Did you know that when you hear the voice of God your face actually shines? Exodus 34:29 says, “It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.”

We are called God’s shining ones. We are called to shine like stars in a dark world. If the world is the dark sky of night, we are the bright stars that give it light. However, to be that we must hear the voice of God. For in our hearing and obeying His voice is our shining.

Have you ever wondered why some people shine brighter than others? You can see it on their face. It is because they are ones who hear the voice of God and can I tell you a secret, He only speaks good news, for He is the gospel. When you hear good news, your face can’t help but shine.

John 10 says, “My sheep hear my voice…” if you are sheep in the flock of God, you hear His voice. Obedience is biblical hearing, and when we hear, we obey, and when we obey we shine like a diamond in a dark world. Shining is the result of hearing the voice of God. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org