Lisa Great

Day20 – Feasting On John 20

Shut doors are a common theme in the word of God. God shut the door behind Noah (Genesis 7); the widow shut the door to pour oil (2 Kings 4); the church in Laodecia is said to be behind a shut door Jesus is knocking on (Revelation 3); and right here in John 20 it says the disciples were behind shut doors out of fear of the Jews.

The church is famous for quoting Revelation 3’s shut door that says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” This is a go to evangelism scripture and revival truth. These verses have served us well in the body of Christ and will continue to do so, but it’s a new day.

John 20 is about a new day, Mary arrives early in the morning on this new day to find a stone rolled away. She sees two angels and Jesus on this new day. She is then told to go tell the disciples what she knows, so she goes. They see, but the Bible says, they still don’t understand, so they hide behind a shut door out of fear. This is so us, we see so much and understand so little, but it’s a new day.

On this new day, Jesus doesn’t knock, doesn’t ask permission, doesn’t need anyone’s opinion, He just shows up in the room, the house, the place where they are hidden behind a shut door. He says 4 words to them, PEACE BE WITH YOU! Peace in Greek means, set at one again, national tranquility, harmony, security, prosperity, safety, quietness, rest. Jesus decreed this and it was so. No opinions needed.

In this new day we are in, Jesus is showing up in nations, not knocking, waiting, asking for permission, He is entering the room and decreeing PEACE BE WITH YOU! We see evidence of this in the Middle East and this is only the beginning because these peace deals were made with Israel and many other nations, only God can do this. Israel is always God’s first fruits so this should not surprise us.

Almighty God is showing up in nations who have lived behind shut doors and He’s doing it because He is God and it’s a new day. The earth is the Lords…Jesus was given the nations as His inheritance…He owns it all, so He gets to do whatever He wants to do and He is entering and saying PEACE BE WITH YOU…America (name your nation). Welcome to the new day where God does it His way because He is Yahweh!

Day 19 – Feasting On John 19

A good drama whether on tv or at the movies has plot twists, suspense, intrigue, a great story line and actors who play their part flawlessly. Dramas capture your attention, pull on your emotions and bring you into the story. Many people love watching a good drama, but living one is not as pleasant.

Drama is hard to live, not knowing the outcome, being unclear of people’s motives, actions and reactions. We get emotional, reactionary, angry, distant or silent when we are living a drama. The emotional stress makes us physically tired, drama is challenging when it’s being lived out in now time.

The trial and execution of Jesus in John 19, if we actually put ourselves in the story step by step is filled with drama. If we look for a sermon rather than a story we miss much of the stories significance. These were real people like me and you living a real life, slow down and listen, watch, engage in the story. History was being made in that moment and many missed it in now time. Slow down, listen, watch, wonder, let it touch your heart.

This story with all its drama ends with three phases in John 19…I Thirst! …Sour Wine… and It Is Finished! Oh how we groan when a story ends like this, but if we will sit in the “It Is Finished” we will learn things about ourselves. Our thoughts reveal our hearts in It Is Finished moments. We are in a moment like this again and your heart is sharing things with you about what you believe you need to hear. Listen in the It Is Finished!

Day 18 – Feasting On John 18

If you are inside strong you don’t need external weapons to prove your strength. Only those who are weak internally need to look strong, because they are actually weak. The word of God is always in perfect time.

Martin Luther King Jr. led with peace through strength. He never wielded an external weapon because he was inside strong. Not in his own strength, this preacher, leader and father knew that truth was a weapon and he wielded it very well. This is why he walked, he didn’t riot; why he stood his ground and didn’t back down. This is why he is respected and remembered.

Jesus did the same thing when He walked the earth in the flesh of a man. John 19:1-8 says, “When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He.”

Jesus didn’t back down in the face of great opposition for He knew the truth that would set others free. MLK Jr. didn’t back down either, for he knew the truth that would set others free. Two men, two different generations, and yet same heart, same strength, same understanding that only the truth sets people free. To be inside strong you must know the truth.

We are living in a day, where we cannot shrink back, but those who are inside strong because they know the truth must continue to stand. Truth is yet again going to set nations free. It’s never without a fight, but that’s because lies live in the dark and they will fight to not be exposed. But without truth people can’t be set free.

Before they confronted Jesus He stepped forward and said, who are you looking for? Jesus knew the truth so was not afraid of the fight for our freedom. MLK Jr. did the same thing, he knew the price of freedom but he fought anyway. Today, we as the nations are in a fight for freedom and those who know the truth won’t back down, for the truth is going to set many people free!

Day 17 – Feasting on John 17

Do you remember those Babushka’s that you open up and inside are smaller versions of the outside doll? There are multiple dolls inside the one doll. When I was younger this was a popular toy to play with. The description of glory in John 17 is pictured perfectly with the Babushka. Let’s have Jesus explain it to us…

John 17:22-23 “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

Jesus tells us the “glory” He had was oneness with His Father and our oneness with Jesus and His Father. He adds that glory is oneness and love. Hmmmmmm, not exactly what I think of when I think the glory of God, what about you? I thought glory was Mt. Sinai stuff like Moses saw? It was. I thought glory was turning water into wine? It was. But Jesus is revealing a glory that precedes those glories.

God’s original glory, before sin was oneness with mankind and mankind’s oneness with each other. (Genesis 1). I would propose God’s glory will manifest when we become one with God and one with each other. Remember Paul said, Jew and Gentile will be one new man; male and female will be one flesh; and Jesus said, we are one spirit with Him. Oneness with God and each other is the glory of God.

It’s no wonder Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The glory of God is going to manifest in our oneness and it all starts with me becoming one with Christ and you becoming one with Him. Then we becoming one will be easy for He is Lord of all!

Day 16 – Feasting On John 16

Did you know we as believers in Jesus Christ have a built in teacher inside of us? Now I realize cognitively we understand this, for at Pentecost the Spirit was poured out and now we who believe in Jesus Christ have the indwelling Holy Spirit. However, the revelation of this teacher inside of us has been lost to many in the tongues of fire, rushing wind and many getting saved (Acts 2). Elijah had the same challenge we do, the earth shook, the fire blazed and the wind blew, but it wasn’t until he heard the whisper that he fell to his knees (1 Kings 19). Can you hear the voice of truth inside of you…whispering?

Pentecostals love the demonstrations of the Holy Spirit; the denominations love the truth of the Holy Spirit; but Jesus said the Holy Spirit is not just one aspect but multiple ones. “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit living inside of you is a teacher, but are we students?

Here’s the continual curriculum of the Holy Spirit:

1. Truth

2. Guided into truth

3. Authority to speak comes from God not me

4. Only say what you hear God say

5. Prophecy

These are the courses the Holy Spirit teaches, so we can be led by the spirit and not the flesh. Jesus said the Holy Spirit gives us the God advantage in the earth, but to obtain it we must become students of the Holy Spirit inside of us. The issue is not a lack of a teacher, it’s a lack of people who want to be taught forever.

We have a kingdom in us that knows no end. The wisdom of God who is king of this kingdom in us is unsearchable, that means we will never stop learning as long as we remain a student or in bible language a disciple. Do you know what pride is? It’s ceasing to be a student, a disciple, a learner. Many people love being leaders, but today the Holy Spirit is reminding us to never stop listening, so we never stop learning. This is the God advantage, the Spirit of Truth in us.

Day 15 – Feasting On John 15

The Word of God is living, it speaks, it reveals, it corrects wrong teaching in us, it aligns us to truth, it is the gift that keeps on giving for those who read it as students letting the Word be the teacher.

I was reading John 15:18-21 and the Holy Spirit revealed a correction in my thinking and I wanted to share it with you. Listen to Jesus…”If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”

The Holy Spirit said, “Who is the world?”

I have always been taught the world is the unsaved, the unbelievers who have no knowledge of the Bible or God. The Holy Spirit said, did “the world” by this definition persecute Jesus? I stopped immediately…no they didnt, unbelieving religious people did. The religious leaders and people knew the Torah, but they didn’t know God, for Jesus said if they did they would have known Him. Could it be “the world” in this passage is religious leaders who don’t believe in Jesus? The Holy Spirit said, keep reading.

John 15:22-25 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause”

Who is the them? The religious leaders of Jesus’ day that did not believe in the Messiah who was the kingdom of God on earth as in heaven. They are the world that persecuted Jesus.

Persecution for kingdom believers is not going to come from people who are what Christians call unbelievers, it’s going to come from religious leaders who don’t believe the kingdom is at hand again. Why, because just like then it is now, it will threaten their system, they will lose their followers and this will infuriate them. Multitudes of people are going leave the system to follow Jesus again, it’s already begun and will continue.

We are living in Biblical history and we must think cyclical not linear if we are going to understand what God is doing on earth right now as it is in heaven. Truly 2 Chronicles 7:14 is what we must do, My people, must humble themselves (become teachable); turn from their wicked ways (unbelief) Seek My face (Matthew 6:33) and pray (listen to the Holy Spirit and obey); then I will turn and heal their land (their life, their hearts, their soul)! This is the day the Lord has made, I am rejoicing and being glad in it.

Day 14 – Feasting On John 14

The words Jesus spoke before He died were to encourage those who would be discouraged when He died. The challenge they faced is the same challenge we face, they forgot what Jesus said and so do we. Forgetfulness is a problem we as believers must overcome if we are going to remain in peace, no matter the circumstances we see, hear or encounter.

Jesus made a statement before He died that many believers have been taught applies to us when we die. Jesus said in John 14:1-2 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.” I remember as a young Christian designing my future mansion in my mind and also requesting who my neighbors would be.

Now that I’m older, those childish material things have matured into their spiritual understanding and the truth has set me free (John 14:6). Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled, this tips us off to the reality they would be troubled by His death, because they didn’t understand His resurrection and what it would do/did and neither do we, henceforth, why we get troubled so easily.

What if I told you, Jesus is a multi-mansion man dwelling through the Holy Spirit in believers like you and like me? Would you believe Jesus if He told you, you were the mansion He was/is preparing? Mansion in Greek is dwelling, abode, to remain as one. You are the mansion on earth Jesus is preparing. Jesus is dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit on earth, no wonder He said more than once in this chapter, do not be troubled, He’s in you! You’re His mansion on earth now as you will be in heaven. Nothing should trouble you, Christ is in you!

Day 13 – Feasting On John 13

Have you ever thought about why the establishment hated Jesus so much? He never incited violence among His followers; He followed the Torah in ways they didn’t understand; He was good to everyone He met; He fulfilled all their prophecies; and yet the establishment hated Him while many people followed Him. Why did the establishment hate Him?

I would propose that this is why…”Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” (John 13:3-5). Jesus was a different kind of leader than them and they hated Him for it.

Jesus had raw power, while the establishment had manufactured power. Raw power is maturity, raw power is identity, raw power serves others, raw power helps others, liberates others, teaches others the truth that sets them free. Jesus had raw power and they hated Him for it. Raw power is what Psalm 110:3 says, “Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power!” Raw power puts the want to in people. Is it any wonder the multitudes followed Jesus.

Manufactured power has to coerce you to give, has to manipulate you to follow, has to lord over you as your covering, demands you pay them for their teachings or prophetic words to you. Manufactured power freaks out when their Twitter followers are removed, their Facebook algorithms are altered or their Instagram goes down. Why, because they must control what you hear, that’s why they want you to stay in their church or their party.

Jesus did not manufacture His power through marketing, He manifested it through healing. Jesus’ raw power was displayed in the washing of feet, the casting out of demons and the walking on water. His raw power said don’t tell people what happened, but go show yourself to the priests. Jesus had raw power so He wasn’t looking to be famous, but faithful to His Father.

Church, we are witnessing raw power right now and it is exposing manufactured power. This is not the time to rejoice in someone else’s exposure whether political or religious, but to observe so we don’t make the same mistake. Keep your eyes on Jesus, for idols are falling, systems are crumbling, and the kingdom is manifesting again. Don’t get distracted by all the dust, but delight yourself in the Lord and remember love covers a multitude of sins but it doesn’t remove consequences for choices. Welcome to the days of raw power! This is only the beginning.

If you’ve ever flown on an airplane you know when the captain comes on mid flight to tell you we are headed into some jet streams that will cause turbulence so please take your seat. Once in your seat it’s time to put on your seat belt and make sure your tray table is in its upright position.

After the passengers are settled the flight attendants scurry to finish up any drinks or dinner service and when their done they do one more walk through before they too are seated with their seat belts on.

Next there is a silence, stillness on the plane as all activity has ceased and it can make you wonder if the captain was mistaken about the supposed turbulence. But no, the captain saw things we couldn’t and sure enough the turbulence comes and it can be a short or long duration but it is turbulence nonetheless. Honestly, it can be scary at times, but when the plane passes through the turbulence, everyone exhales and the flight continues.

Once the plane arrives at its destination the stewardess says, be careful when opening the overhead bins for things may have shifted during the flight.

We are on flight name Victory Belongs to Jesus and we are on God Alone is on the Throne Airlines. The angelic stewardesses are doing the final walk through of the plane and are taking their seat in preparation for the turbulence. But fear not, for they are singing When I Am Surrounded I Am Surrounded By You. As they start singing from the back of the plane, eventually the sound fills the whole plane as everyone joins in the one song.

Day 12 – Feasting On John 12

It’s six days before the Passover. This will not be just any Passover, this will be the Passover on which Jesus, the Lamb of God is crucified, but it’s six days before this feast begins. Jesus and his disciples are at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Without notice Mary comes with a pound of very costly oil. Next thing we know she is spilling this oil on the feet of Jesus and the fragrance from this oil has filled the room. If you didn’t notice her spill the oil, you can’t not notice the fragrance in the room.

The fragrance in the room demands a response from everyone in the room. Mary is using her hair to wipe Jesus’s feet; while Judas is demanding answers as to why this oil was not sold and the money given to the poor. The two responses are significant, one person spilled the oil another person wanted to sell the oil. Neither response is wrong, but knowing what time it is is critical to knowing what response is required. Remember it’s six days before the feast of Passover where Jesus Christ the Lamb of God is about to be slain.

The story has an air of drama about it, it causes our imagination to put us in the room with these men and women, it’s as though we can almost smell the fragrance they smelled. However the issue in the room is not a matter of who is right and who is wrong, but rather understanding what time it is in order to offer the correct response. Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us there is a time for everything. Judas was a disciple of Jesus who walked with him every day for three years. He heard all the sermons Jesus gave, he saw all the signs and wonders that Jesus did. And yet he did not know what time it was.

Before we go pointing our finger at others for a wrong response in this time, we should bend a knee and give thanks that the time is now to pour the oil on His feet, not the time to sell it. Many did not understand what time it was, but Mary did. If you know what time it is pour the oil on his feet so that the fragrance of that oil can fill the atmosphere. Maybe some will smell the sweet fragrance of worship and praise and recognize the incredible day in our in which we live, just like Mary did and just like some of us do.