Thai T-Shirt Truth

When I first was living in Malaysia, I was on a tourist visa, while I waited for my work visa to be processed. Being on a tourist visa meant every three months I had to leave the country and then come back in for another three month chop on my passport.

To some this would be an inconvenience, but for me it gave me the opportunity to see other countries in Southeast Asia. One of those countries I visited was Thailand. While in Thailand, I took a tuk tuk (Thai Taxi) to the night market. While there I found a t-shirt that said, Same Same But Different.

Being one who has been to many cities around the world, having met many people from many nations, I can say, people and cities are truly same same but different. We have many similiarities as humans, but we are also different. So this statement has stuck with me for years.

Reading Isaiah 52 this morning reminded me of this t-shirt I found in Thailand, because Israel was in Babylonian captivity, same same as Egyptian, but different in God’s way of deliverance.

“Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the LORD’s house. But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 52:11-12).

As we walk with God, through various seasons of our soul and life on earth, there will be situations that look similar, or same same, but God has a different way of deliverance depending on the captivity we are in.

One of the subtle challenges we face as people is we like to follow patterns, especially if they are successful. But we serve a creative God, who operates in now time. Even though it may look like same same, listen closely to God’s instructions because He is usually doing something different. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Trust Is The Access Word

I just heard in my spirit, “Stewarding poverty is not the same as stewarding abundance (blessing). This is why the spirit of poverty must be broken before abundance can be accessed.”

I asked the question, what is the difference?

The answer came immediately from the Lord, “Stewarding poverty is about protecting what little you have. Stewarding abundance is distributing what you have access to. The spirit of poverty wants to hold on to what you have, while the spirit of abundance wants to distribute what you have been given.”

Immediately after hearing this conversation in my spirit with the Lord, I heard Proverbs 11:24 “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.”

The Lord has been showing me what He does for one, He wants to do for all. The challenge is, not all want to be free in order to access what is available. I know that sounds absurd, but it is true, not everyone wants to be free from a spirit of poverty.

To be free from a spirit of poverty is to trust and trust comes from knowing a person is trustworthy, not from being given an abundance of blessings. Abundance without a trusting relationship with the giver, will magnify the spirt of poverty, which does not want liberty, because it is afraid to trust.

Wanting the blessings of God without trusting who God is, will not liberate us, our liberty comes from trusting God and knowing who He is. We must know Him because access to abundance is to become a distributor of God’s abundance. Trust is the key to stewarding abudance and breaking off the spirit of poverty. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Relentless Pursuer

The Bible is filled with names of God. He is Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals; Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides; Yahweh, the Almighty God; Rose of Sharon; Savior; El Shaddai; Redeemer; The Branch; El Roi, the God who sees me; oh the many and varied names of God.

Every name is a statement about His nature. When God would do something, people would give God a name, Deliverer; Exalted One; Mighty; it was a description of what He did and how He acted on their behalf in any given situation.

It is no wonder in Isaiah 6 we hear the angels falling down, crying holy, holy, holy, which means many things one of which is set apart, set apart, set apart. There is truly no one like our God. He is Victor; Commander; Father; Yeshua the Messiah.

Isaiah 48:6-8 says, “I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?”

While reading this I heard in my spirit the words, “Relentless Pursuer”. I knew this was a name of God being given to me to speak out. Israel, like us wander from who we know to be the Truth. Yet, no matter where we wander, what we do, how steeped in sin we may be, the Lord is a Relentless Pursuer of people.

People tend to stay away from God and others when they are ashamed, embarrassed, guilty of an offense, wounded, hurting, tired, just to name a few reasons, but the Lord is a relentless pursuer of people. He never stops pursuing us and I believe we are never to stop pursuing people either.

The world calls it co-dependency, but the kingdom calls it relentless pursuit, for our God never gives up on us and we should never give up on each other. Relentless pursuer is a name of God. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Nothing To Fear

Growing up in Minnesota taught me many things about storms. Thunder would clap loud and our heart would pound, lightning would strike with flashes that lit up the sky. We were taught to never be afraid, but rather to see the lightning then count to ten, for in those moments, thunder would come, so we were ready for it. Then we were told to hear thunder like a bowling ball going down the alley.

Oh the joys of growing up in Minnesota with a mom that was pretty much fearless. I remember her telling us, as we headed out on a two week driving vacation in our 1975 Dodge conversion van; she said, you have nothing to fear unless I am afraid.

We went through cities with rain falling hard and frogs on the highway, but no fear from her. We rode in the cab of an 18-wheeler into Hoover Dam, because we convoyed and ate a meal with this trucker on our trip and over the CB radio he asked if us kids wanted to see the Dam through his view in the cab. No fear.

I remember being in Yellowstone and a bear was at our campsite, all she said was, he is looking for food, not people, but don’t go out to use the bathroom right now, wait for the bear to leave. No fear. Oh the fun we had, the lessons I learned and little did I know, she instilled in us a nothing to fear mentality.

God is never afraid, and He is our Father, so when He says, Fear Not, we have nothing to fear. If we believed God, even when a national or international storm comes, we will not fear for we would know, “When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.” (Proverbs 10:25)

Friends, our God is stable, strong, and fearless. He is our Father, Friend, Savior, and God. If He is not afraid, we don’t need to be either. Storms come with lightning and thunder, with crashes and eruptions, but fear not, it is just the sound of the removal of wickedness from our land, so the kingdom can be established on earth as it is in heaven. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Doors, Gates and Treasures

One of the truths in the word of God is that if God did it for one, He can do it for another. Pioneers tend to whack a path through wildernesses, blockages and bondages in order to prepare a path for others to walk on. The pioneers are not better than others, they just go first into new territory.

When the men and women who landed on the shores of what is now called America arrived here, they were not content with just the 13 colonies in the East, they wanted to push past the mighty Mississippi and see what was on the other side.

America began with rivers, followed trails, laid rails, built roads and then went to the realms. Pioneering spirits will make way for others to travel roads they did not lay. I honor those who have built pathways for us to travel.

Reading Isaiah 45 this morning triggered this thought about the pioneers, for it says, “To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”

What also struck me in this passage is that doors open, but behind the doors are gates. How many of us have been given an open door, only to find once in the door there is a locked gate, an iron gate, a bronze gate. People have gone through open doors thinking that was the end, not realizing behind the doors are gates they cannot get past.

I sense the Lord saying, not only are doors going to open for us in this new year, but gates will open and not shut as well. We are going to walk through open doors, progress through open gates, run by leveled mountains and then we will find the treasures God has hidden for us.

I keep hearing in my spirit TELESTAI, “It is finished!” Like the four lepers who went into the city in 2 Kings 7, we are going to walk in, to access treasure we did not earn, buy, or work for. The open doors lead to gates that won’t shut and we will find access to treasures we need to serve people and rebuild cities. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

The Praise Of Infants

There is always more than one way to look at things. There is surface level looking, which can be obvious, there is deeper level looking that can sound mystical, and there is revelation level looking that only the spirit of God can show us.

I was reading Psalm 8 this morning and verse 2 jumped off the page at me. It says, “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” I asked the Lord how do infants praise you and I heard, “Their cries are praise to me and those who have died in their infancy are paising me.”

We can look at abortion, SIDS, miscarriages, stillborn birth, or other deaths of children as tragic and for those grieving, it really is. But there is good news in both living infants and ones who are with the Father in heaven. The praise of those infants and children have established a stronghold against our enemies.

My God today, our children/infants who the enemy thought was for his gain, actually set up a stronghold against him, and the praise of those infants and children have silenced the foe and the avenger. I am shouting right here. Yes our prayers are effecting nations, but the praise of every infant and every child that cries is praise to our God and the enemy can’t stop it.

I wonder if all the abortions performed worldwide became a roar of praise that built a stronghold against the enemy for us and silenced the foe and avenger? Wouldn’t it be just like God to take what the enemy intended for evil and turn it around for our good.

Only God can redeem what we see as not redeemable. Only God can use the praise of infants and children to defeat the enemy of nations. What if God and all those infants and kids who are with Him are rejoicing at our liberation in this generation? Only God knows, but the idea of it, just brings a smile to my face. Our Redeemer truly lives. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

God is Making a Move

There are moments when the Lord just wants to be God all by Himself, no human assistance needed. There are times, He wants us to just pause and realize He is God, He is big, He is powerful, He’s got this. When He wants to be God, we stand to the side, watch in wonder, stand in awe and breath deep the wonder of who He is.

Isaiah 44 says, “This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers.”

When God decides He is going to reform nations; when He says He is going to heal nations; when He determines the old guard is no longer in charge; when He says it is now time; we are invited to Exodus 14, stand and see the salvation of our God, for the enemies we see today we will not see anymore.

We love to speak futuristically, but to actually experience it in now time will be new for us and we must get used to the new. For the old is gone, the new is here. It is not fully visible yet, but it will be more and more everyday. Nothing is remaining the same, for nations.

God has declared and done a work in the nations that leaders of nations see and hear, and we the people are about to experience. This will be a God level encounter that man cannot take credit for. It will touch every area of society and the blessings will overwhelm us, transform us and humble us. It is not futurisic, it is current reality unveiling. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Weeping and Shouting For Joy

One of the lessons I learned while growing up was, you always leave a place better than you found it. This goes for rental properties, fellowship meals, relationships, churches, companies, reunions, hotel rooms. No matter where you go, we were taught to always leave a place better that you found it.

A second thing we were taught was if you see trash on the ground, don’t step over it, pick it up and throw it away. No one is watching, this isn’t for accolades, it is part of being community. It did not matter if it was my towel on the ground in the bathroom, or my water bottle laying in the street, if I saw it I was taught to pick it up and throw it away.

Community is about helping not only when you’re told or when it is in your gifting, it is seeing a need and filling; noticing trash and picking it up. People want microphones, platforms, pulpits, positions, titles, offices with their name on the door, but they have never stooped down and picked up trash they did not drop.

The kingdom of God watches everything we do, for stewardship is a lifestyle we live and character we have. I was thinking about the seismic changes that are happening in the world, the nations, the church, the family, the city, everywhere, change, change and more change is happening. As I thought about the church, I heard the Lord say, make sure you leave the old system better than you found it, for the new system is being innagurated.

Ezra 3 “All the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.”

Some will weep, others will shout for joy, so we must be sensitive to the truth that for some the changes coming will grieve them, and honoring them as they weep is just as important as shouting for joy, for God has done a new thing and nothing will be the same again. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Witnesses Carry Evidence

Welcome to the time of evidence! We have been saying a lot of words; we have prayed a lot of prayers; we have waited and waited; but I am here today to declare to you it is time for evidence. We cannot be effective witnesses without corroborating evidence to support our words. People have heard our talk, but now they are about to see our evidence of the kingdom of God is here on earth.

Acts 1:8 says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

God has opened up the windows of heaven and evidence is being poured out on us His people. We will testify big, we will shout loud, we will have proof that our God is alive, that He hears prayers and that He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).

It will no longer be said of us, they say so much and see so little. We will be a people who carry evidence, proof of what God has done. This will no longer be invisible evidence, it will be visible evidence. Witnesses who have credibility carry with them evidence of what God did.

Marriages are being restored…evidence! Finances are exploding…evidence! Debts are being cancelled…evidence! Healing is happening…evidence! Prodigals are returning…evidence! Revivals are breaking out…evidence! Love is not just a word it is an atmosphere…evidence!

Evidence is going to break the back of religion, because His presence is coming with evidence that He is God. Nothing, no one, can stop the outpouring of evidence that has been released from heaven to earth. Mark my words, we have entered the time of evidence. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org

Add Wisdom To Wealth

Welcome to the season where we sing songs called Joy to the World; Winter Wonderland; and Jingle Bells. Lights are on, trees are up, gifts are being bought, the air is electric with excitement. Parties are a plenty; festival foods are being prepared. Oh the fun of this month. People will get time off work, travel to see family and possibly open gifts that are wrapped under a tree.

Add to that the prices of silver and gold rising, companies and Presidents donating billions of dollars to children’s investment accounts. Some are calling it the greatest wealth transfer we have ever seen as tariffs are bringing back manufacturing and bringing billions of dollars into the USA. The shift is on, the rocket is launching, and the ground is shaking for the making of all things new.

If you listen closely, there is also a whisper in the air, pulling on those with ears to hear. “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.” (Proverbs 3)

Wealth apart from wisdom is going to be temporary, but wisdom with wealth will yield transformation of nations. James 1:5 tells us “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Friends please ask for wisdom. People are the most valuable asset and wisdom show us how to be blessed to bless others. Www.apostolicresourcecenterorg