Lisa Great

Have you ever been told something about someone and then when you get to know them you realize what you were told was just not true? Our experiences with people cause us to say things about people and God that may or may not be true about them. Was your experience legit, of course, but was your experience their character on display or a moment they were having or your observation of a moment?

I find more often than not people that do not trust God, do not draw near to God, do not want to have anything to do with or little to do with God is because they have misunderstood who He is. People read a story in the Old Testament and decide God is this angry, vengeful God who kills women and children. Our biblical illiteracy has become the enemies opportunity to tell us something about God that is just not true.

I was praying Psalm 147 this morning and verse 5 says, “How great is our God! There’s absolutely nothing his power cannot accomplish, and he has infinite understanding of everything.” If we don’t experience His power, we may not believe this verse is true about Him, but oh how much we forfeit when we trust experieces over the truth of God’s word.

Friends, God is the “X” factor in every situation. When we assume God can’t; God won’t; God doesn’t anymore; we are missing out on an intergral part of our help, healing and hope for whatever we are facing. Now I realize it does not always happen instantly or the way we pray, but I am telling you the truth is, “There’s absolutely nothing his power cannot accomplish, and he has infinite understanding of everything.”

Noah’s life was in phases (Genesis 6-8). Phase one was preaching righteousness to a wicked people, while building a boat. No one understood what he was doing, for they were all doing their own thing and he was doing a new thing. Noah was building his trust in God by building a boat and preaching righteousness.

Many have said we are in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37), we are, but phase one for those who are like Noah just ended and now it is about to rain. The Lord is flooding the earth with the knowledge of His glory as the waters cover the sea (Habbukuk 2:14).

This phase two of Noah is the glory phase, where God is going to cleanse the atmosphere of enemy narratives and flood our hearts and minds with the knowledge of God’s glory. It will no longer be about men’s story, but God’s glory.

The washing of the water with the word (Ephesians 5:26) is where we are in this phase two. The word of God is going to be preeminent in this phase of glory. Minds will be renewed, bodies will be restored, souls will be healed. The word is going to do the work.

We will see a cleansing of the land, the air and the people in this phase two of glory in the Noah story. Hunger for the word of God is already happening, this is how we know it is raining. People want the truth and will no longer settle for lies. Freedom is going to be the result of this phase two.

We are in the days of Noah, but we are not getting raptured, nor left behind, we are being washed in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Freedom will no longer be a desire, it will be a reality. Enjoy the days of Noah.

What you explore you will roar!

Everyone of us is an explorer. We were designed this way. A friend came over yesterday with her two little girls, one is almost three and the other is 7 months. Both of them were on an exploration mission. The three year old was exploring multiple areas of the house, while the 7 month old was exploring the doll in front of her as she tried to crawl. Exploration is what we were designed for.

The older we get the more we explore things that establish our roar. One cursory view through social media both written and video will give you an understanding of what people explore, for they now have a place to roar what they explore. Some people explore politics and the roar is real; others explore prayer and the roar is heard; still others explore relationships and their roar is there. What you explore will be heard in your roar.

When we explore the Bible looking for death, destruction and disaster that will be our roar, but if we explore it to find the character and nature of God we will find it and that will be our roar. I was praying with Psalm 145 this morning in the Passion Translation and the roar of the psalmist cannot be denied. “Lord, you are great and worthy of the highest praise! For there is no end to the discovery of the greatness that surrounds you. Generation after generation will declare more of your greatness and declare more of your glory.” Greatness of God is the roar of the psalmist for that is what he discovered in his exploration.

I pray you pay attention to what you are exploring, for it is coming out in what you are roaring. We all have a roar and it reveals what we explore. May we roar with the power, presence and practical application of the word of God, for His greatness is discoverable. What is your roar?

Our history is locked into our memory and colors our current reality. This history can be a negative story or a great memory of “glory days”. As I pray about what is upon us, I find my spirit saying something different than what all the amplified voices in the church are saying. The call for revival, reformation, and awakening gets louder and louder every day. The desire for another Azusa Street, another Brownsville, another Toronto Outpouring, is being called for over and over again. We want the days of Brahnam, Seymour, Semple-McPherson, Woodworth-Etter, and Allen, but God is saying something different.

We have been dipped in platform revivals, pulpit anointings, firework moves of God, but biblically our model is not any of these things, our model of what God wants to do on earth is Jesus. Jesus was supernaturally natural. He walked with people, talked with people, ate with people and when He saw a need He met it. Whether that was feeding the 5000, walking on water, or healing the man born blind. He cast out demons, touched lepers, stopped funeral processions and raised the dead. He called Lazarus out of the tomb, He let women anoint him and He taught in synagogues, on mountains and in towns all over Israel.

Jesus was supernaturally natural and we are called to be the same thing. Just like Jesus I believe God is pouring out a Luke 4 anointing on people who want to be supernaturally natural. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” This is a move of God that will know no end as we all become naturally supernatural.

I see the Lord giving us: access to abundance so we can be generous on all occasions; access to healing so we can lay hands on the sick and they recover; access to authority so we can cast out demons, rebuke suicide, and lift off depression and oppression. I don’t see this being a one ministry move where people travel to that ministry, but a circuit riders move where people are activated to be supernaturally natural. Jesus was supernaturally natural and we can and will be too.

I walked into my prayer room this morning and I use a whiteboard to write down thoughts the Lord speaks while in prayer. Immediately upon arrival, the Holy Spirit says, “Prayer is an invitation to the table to talk.” I had never thought of it like that before, and what an invitation it is. I sat down at the table called prayer this morning and the Lord and I talked about people we both love; concerns I have here on earth; thoughts He has from his vantage point in heaven; and then the Holy Spirit revealed truth to me I did not know and it established strength in my soul.

There is an old hymn that says, oh what peace we often forfeit because we do not bring it to the Lord in prayer. I think of that song often as I receive prayer requests from people as they or those they know are struggling with suicide, depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness, or some other issue that is plaguing them. I love going to the table called prayer and talking to the Lord about these people, for He has the answer for them. But what I sense He wants is more people to come and sit at the table with Him, with us.

We love the table where we are writing songs, we love the table where we are preaching sermons, we love the table where we are serving people, we love so many tables in church, but when it comes to the table called prayer, there are many vacancies. There is a table in the kingdom of God called prayer and the Lord is sending out the invitation to all who can hear His voice, come to my table of prayer, I want to talk with you.

The table of prayer is a feast of revelation and truth that will set us free, if only we will sit at the table to speak and to listen. Psalm 143 is heard at the table called prayer…”Let the dawning day bring me revelation of your tender, unfailing love. Give me light for my path and teach me, for I trust in you. Save me from all my enemies, for I hide myself in you. I just want to obey all you ask of me. So teach me, Lord, for you are my God. Your gracious Spirit is all I need, so lead me on good paths that are pleasing to you, my one and only God!” Have a seat, here is your chair.

The new is not coming, the new is here and continually incoming. The new is so massive it will not have a full roll out in a day, a week, a month or even a year. The new is going to be rolling out for years to come. Welcome to the new that God has planned for you. In this new era, this new epoch, this new day in which we are living, there are waves of people who will see it, hear and receive it. Again, this will not be a one shot wonder, this is our God who is going to cause us to stand in awe and wonder. Remember what Isaiah said, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Wind, water and fire will be markers that guide us through the new God is doing.

Whenever something is new, the initial excitement is palpable, the honey is sweet, the joy is exuberant, the celebrations are many, but nothing remains new. The new gives way to building blueprints and infrastructures that will host the new thing God is doing. But what is building in this new era is not another church building, He is building us into the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the living stones, being built together. We will need each other in this new era, we will work together, we will be for each other and not against each other. Oh the beauty of what is being built is magnificent.

Practically, this is going to include character development as the body of Christ will mature in a way that is needed more than we know. Psalm 141:5 will be a key component attitude to have as part of the new, “When one of your godly ones corrects me or one of your faithful ones rebukes me, I will accept it like an honor I cannot refuse. It will be as healing medicine that I swallow without an offended heart. Even if they are mistaken, I will continue to pray.” Without correction people go in their own direction, but in the new correction will keep us safe, keep us growing and keep us going in the direction of becoming a beautiful bride for Christ.

Welcome to the new, it is exiting, it is beautiful, it is initiated by God and we will be marked with maturity that will bring security we so desperately desire. Everything is becoming new!!!!

For many days now the Lord has been nudging me to pay attention to the 10th of Tevet, which is the 10th of January. As I have been watching this day, I heard of the court date set for the former and soon incoming President of the United States; I heard of the incoming and now upon us Southern snow storm; I watched as the fires blazed in California; and I knew biblically today is a day the Hebrews fast in commemoration of a historical event that happened on this day.

If you don’t know a little bit about history, your Bible will say things you read but have no understanding of. Zechariah 8 speaks of fasting in four months of the year, it says, the fast of the fourth month, the fifth month, the seventh month, and the tenth month. These four months were days of great trouble for Israel, so they commemorated them with fasting as a way of remembering dark days in their history. But God, through the prophet Zechariah comes in and flips the script for these four months.

Zechariah 8 says, “Thus said GOD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth month, the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity.” God turns their fasting days into feasting days, they are no longer to mourn the truth that historically Babylon besieged Jerusalem in these months according to 2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52. They were now to be days of feasting.

Friends, God is flipping the script today, what the enemy is meaning for evil, God is flipping for good. It may look like this 10th of Tevet, 10th of January is a day or mourning, but God is saying, no Babylon is falling, Yahweh is arising, it is time to stop fasting and start feasting. Religious people will struggle with this, because their tradition says we fast this month, but the Lord is saying we feast this month. Whose report will you believe?

The days of mourning are over, the days of feasting our here. God has said and continues to say, from this day on I will bless you. Let me end with Zechariah 8:11-12 “But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.” Stop mourning, start feasting for God has flipped the script today.

The news is sceaming on “11” right now with all that is happening in countries in North America. Prime Ministers resigning, fires blazing, blizzards here and coming, court cases pending, inauguration looming, Presidents laying in state, and that is just the headlines this week. Last week it was trucks ramming, lightning striking, fireworks exploding, drones looming. If you watch the news you would think God is not in control, the enemy is winning and we are doomed. Fear sells that is why they produce it.

The Word of God trumps the local news, the national news and the international news. The Word of God is the daily news that sets the standard for all the other lower level news we hear in a day. However, if you are not reading the Good News, you will only hear the bad news and not know how to interpret what you are hearing. Our inability to interpret accurately the bad news is the reason we doubt the good news.

Here is the Good News for this 9th day of the year: Psalm 139:12 The Passion Translation “There is no such thing as darkness with you. The night, to you, is as bright as the day; there’s no difference between the two.” This is the headline coming out of the kingdom of heaven this morning. God does not see dark and light, for all is light to Him; He does not fear the bad news, for all is good news to Him; and He is living in us, so that is the news He is wanting to announce through us to a world that can only hear the bad news.

Open up your bible, read until you get a revelation and you will hear the good news of the day coming from heaven. God is light in Him there is no darkness at all, that is why the Word of God is Good News!!! Have a great day in the Light of the good news of God.

Delay has been like a swear word to believers. Many have felt like they have been delayed pertaining to what God has spoken to them. We tend to give the enemy credit for a divine set up that God has done, which includes time. Time is an element of the prophetic equation that most people don’t know how to factor in. Culturally we are a “now” time people. We have instant noodles; insta cart; instant cash at the ATM; instant, instant, instant and if it is not instant we call it poor service or delay.

What if it wasn’t God delaying us, but rather time is part of the development stage of us and we don’t necessarily like it, because we don’t understand it? When I was in high school I took a photography class and we had a dark room where we developed our own film and photos. The dark room had a red light, so we could see enough to put the film in the right chemicals in order to go from a film strip to a photograph. This process included multiple tubs, each tub having a distinct purpose. We transferred the film from one tub to the next, rather quickly, until we came to the developer tub, it had to sit in there for more time than the other tubs. Many have been and still are in the developer tub process as God is waiting to see His image on us.

The Bible says in Isaiah 46:10 “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say, My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please.” When God speaks prophetically to us, He is declaring the end we will see, from the start, from the beginning, so we have hope to walk through the whole process and not quit along the way. Don’t despise the days of developing, for the end is not yet, but it is coming and all will see what God saw when He created you. He is not delaying you, He is developing you.

For the past couple of nights I have been in a dream state in which I am seeing the numbers sequentially, 4-40-400. I saw them again last night in my sleep and so this morning I sat down with my Hebrew numbers and letters book and my bible to try and understand what the Lord is saying. Oh my friends, heaven is releasing such good news, it is beyond my ability to describe it, but let me tell you what the Holy Spirit said this morning.

4 – pathway, doorway, to enter, door
40 – water, liquid, massive, chaos, raging
400 – to seal, to covenant, to make agreement, sign

After looking up and adding up these numbers and their meaning, the Holy Spirit drops Isaiah 44:4 in my spirit, “They shall spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams.” Water, hmmmmm. I want to know the context, who is the, they? Listen to 44:3 and 44:5 for context. “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’S,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’S,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” More water, the outpouring of the Spirit and an agreement to be the Lord’s.

The Holy Spirit says, “A door is opening (4) that will lead to a massive move of God (40) that will be a sign and seal (400) to the nations that God is for you and not against you.” I am stunned as I see this so clearly, 4-40-400 is 444 and is saying through Isaiah 44:3-5 that we are about to enter a Habukkuk 2:14 moment “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Where the glory of the Lord is seen and heard by all.

We are living in the days of Noah where Genesis 7:14 says, the springs of earth and the windows of heaven agreed to water the earth with God’s glory. This is going to be massive, this is going to be glory, this is going to bring us into a covenant with God where we declare I am the LORD’s! Oh friends, I can see it.