Lisa Great

Do you think God enjoys you or do you think He just tolerates you? I was walking the dog this morning talking to the Lord about two friends of mine who have “big” days today. One is on the final step of a huge breakthrough and the other is awaiting some really big news. As I was praying for them and thanking God that He delights in them, thoroughly enjoys them and is giving them the desires of their hearts, I had the thought cross my mind, do we really believe God delights in us, enjoys us, actually loves everything about us?

As this thought remained in my thoughts for most of my walk, I saw parents with their newborn child in my spirit. Their absolute delight at the sight of this new life made both their hearts smile. I then saw the Lord and the smile on His face as He looked at my two friends receiving great gifts today, was just like those new parents. Friends, God smiles at us more than we realize. He is not mad at us. He is not just tolerating us. He actually enjoys us and loves everything about us.

We as people are so used to be “whacked” by peoples words and actions, we struggle to receive God and other peoples enjoyment of us. We need to celebrate each other more. We need to enjoy one another more. We need to realize circumstances are hard, the world system is rough, but we as people can still find the gold in each other and enjoy one another.

Just because God created you in His image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:26-27) is reason enough for us to enjoy each other because He is enjoying us more than we realize. I even think when we are spit fire mad, He is smiling at us, realizing we have such a limited view of situations, but it is not a mocking smile, it is a smile that says, oh son, oh daughter, this is a small thing, this too shall pass. I pray you enjoy people today and everyday, for they need to know they are celebrated by God and us!!!!

When I was younger I wanted to be older. I saw how many seemingly more opportunities my older friends had. They could drive, they could get a job and make their own money, they looked so much more free to me. When I became old enough to drive, I realized with freedom comes responsibility, with a job comes discipline. Once I got to where I thought I wanted to be it did not look as glamorous to me.

Many people want to be somewhere they are not, for they see the old days as better than the todays; or they are searching for the eternal fountain of youth because they don’t like how they look in their current season. Contentment is such a gift and so many people are not content, so they are not happy. Being content means living in the moment you are given right now. Honestly, most people are not worried about the things you are worried about when you look at you.

When I was younger I used to hate silence. Silence meant alone which evoked loneliness. But now that I am older I cherish silence. But what I have learned is that there are people who love silence but it is so loud in their head, they never really enjoy silence. Silence is not an outside experience it is actually an inner reality. You can be on the the busy streets of NYC and still be in silence. You can be floating in a salt spa in a dark room and still have no silence. Silence comes with contentment, it is what the Bible calls rest.

I was reading Psalm 65 this morning and it says, “There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, And to You the vow will be performed.” Silence is a heavenly reality. Even in the midst of praise there is silence, because silence is an internal reality or stillness, the absence of worry, fear, anxiety, etc. Silence is not a sound outside of you, it is a reality that comes from trusting the One who lives inside of you. I enjoy silence everywhere I go, and you can too. Trust is the access code to silence.

Did you know the enemy decieves you into giving away your strength in a variety of activities, so you lose your ability to hear the voice of God? When you are tired, worn out, exhausted, you lose your ability to hear the voice of God, not because God is not speaking, but because you are too tired to hear. People that are going through serious challenges wonder why they can’t hear God, it is because the enemy has so wore them out with other things, hearing the voice of God is very hard, for biblically to hear is to obey and the enemy does not want you to obey God.

Daniel 10:18-19 says, “Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, “O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!” So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

There are four things in this passage God wants to say to us. Number one, you are greatly loved! Let that sink it, God is not mad at you, He loves you greatly. I know the voices you hear, but the truth is, you are greatly loved by God and by so many other people. Number two, the Lord says, FEAR NOT, if God be for you who can be against you. There is nothing to fear, you have a Father in heaven, who is the Father of Lights and He sees everything, Fear not. Number three, I declare shalom over you. Peace be still to every storm, shalom in your home in Jesus name. Peace is your portion, for the prince of peace lives inside of you. Number four, Be strong! I know that sounds easier said than done, but our God is mighty to save, be strong in your convictions, your passions, your faith, for God is not a man that He should lie, be strong my friends.

Daniel ends by saying, “When He spoke to me I was strengthened and said let my Lord speak!” He wants to strengthen you today so you can hear Him speak. You are love, fear not, shalom and be strong. Love you friends and have a great week.

When I lived in Missouri I worked as an editor for a newspaper called the Pleasant Hill Times. My friend Connie bought the newspaper and asked me to help her out, so I did for about 9 months as she was launching this new endeavor. While doing that, I met a couple that owned a bird rehab sanctuary. They had owls, peacocks, parrots, finches, horses, chickens, cats, all the things. It was a mini zoo in the city called Pleasant Hill, MO.

One day I was at her house to take some pictures and do an interview of her and her husband to highlight them in the paper, as I was doing a series about some of the incredible people who lived in that small town. While there she let me hold an owl, and at one point there were multiple macaws on my shoulder. I remember her telling me we needed to move slowly or it would spook these large gorgeous birds.

I remembered this time in my life as I was reading Matthew 3:16 today, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.” One thing I have learned is that the spirit of God is not in a hurry. He is never darting here and there as though needing to rush in any way. There is a rhythm to the Holy Spirit’s movement.

In a culture that is continually in a hurry, I remember the instructions of that woman in the bird sanctuary that told me not to make any swift moves or it would spook the bird. If we want the Holy Spirit to rest on us, we must not be in such a hurry. God is not anxious, He is not worried, He is not running late, He is not going to miss anything and neither will we if we let the dove rest on us and we don’t try to rush here and there. Shalom my friends, God never misses anything, ever!

When I was a new Christian, freshly saved from a life of death and destruction, I remember the fire in my belly, the passion in my soul, the joy in my eyes and the hunger in my heart to know this God. I remember saying, here I am send me I will go for you wherever you send me. Oh the joys of unbridled love, oh the willingness to lay it all down and follow this man who saved your life. I remember the colors of the trees, flowers and clouds were so vibrant; the love for people was undeniable; the desire to sing, shout and say things about my God came freely from me. No holds bar, nothing was off limits. Do you remember those days in your life?

Then some years went by and I heard other Christians say things like, I will follow Jesus anywhere, but I am not going on the mission field because He is going to make me live in a grass hut and sleep on a dirt floor somewhere. It was not meant to affect me, but it did. I remember sitting in the chapel at my Bible school in Issaquah, WA and one of our professors said, “If you are not called to stay and pay, you are called to go on the mission field.” I sat in that wooden pew and said in my heart, I am called to stay and pay. The year was 1995.

The year is now 2004 and I have lived in a revival culture for four years and the desire to go and preach what I had learned was burning in me. I remember I had my face against the wall during a prayer time on a Thursday night and I was crying out for God to send me. Little did I know I was about to go on a life changing mission to Malaysia that was to be 4 months but lasted 9 years. I never lived in a hut, never slept on a dirt floor, but I went and it changed me yet again in ways nothing else could.

Now my prayer is for a grass hut with a dirt floor just as the psalmist said in Psalm 61, “Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah.” There is no place I would rather be dwelling than in the tent of God’s presence. The habitation of God is more enjoyable to me than anything I have ever seen or heard. He is that amazing, I love being alone with Him. It is in the tent where the fire never goes out, the passion never dies and the songs never cease to stop. It is also where the here I am send me is restored and first love never wanes. Oh that we would be tent dwellers.

Yesterday morning when I began to pray the first thing the Holy Spirit spoke to me was the need to break the multilayered, multileveled spell of witchcraft off of the family, the city, the nation and the nations. I was surprised by what I was hearing, but it was crystal clear, so I made some decrees and agreed with the Holy Spirit about the breaking of the spell off of all the listed areas.

This morning I am reading Daniel 1 and it says, “As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.” The Holy Spirit says, “Wisdom is 10 times superior to witchcraft, wisdom is what breaks the multilevel, multilayered witchcraft off of families, cities, states, nations.”

The curiosity about what darkness is doing is tantalizing to people. But the pursuit of wisdom is such an adventure there is truly no comparison. We cannot purse both wickedness and wisdom. We cannot study both the word of God and the demonic. What we study we will speak. What we study we will teach. Knowing what is happening is one thing, but deep dive studying out of sheer curiosity will seed you with fear, anxiety, stress and trouble. The pursuit and study of wisdom is not eating the kings food (parabolically), just as Daniel and his three friends chose for 10 days to be tested with only vegetables and water, then proved to be 10 times superior to the enchanters.

Friends, wisdom is an adventure in God of the likes that you will never forget. It yields the fruit of love, joy, peace, and prosperity. Proverbs says, riches and honor belong to wisdom. The rewards of pursuing wisdom are innumerable. Then add to that what is said in Daniel, wisdom trumps witchcraft. To me the choice of what to pursue is obvious, but the choice is still yours. I choose wisdom and I want the multilayered, multileveled spell of witchcraft broken off of us now in Jesus name!!!!

Leadership is a gift given to people from God. Whether leadership in a family, leadership in a ministry, leadership in a company, leadership in a city, leadership in a state, leadership in a nation, leadership is a gift God gives to humanity. Leadership is government for the sake of people’s benefit. God is the overall leader of all leaders and He is generous on every occasion, He is good to all. The Bible says, “God sends rain on the just and the unjust; He is no respecter of persons; for God so loved the world He gave…” The issue of leadership is not with God it is with people.

When leaders have been raised under oppressive leaders, they have two choices, they can either do what they saw done, or they can do what they wished was done for them. Fathers who did not have a healthy father as a leaders growing up have this choice. Managers who did not have good managers have this choice. Pastors who did not have good pastors have this choice. Governors who did not have good governors have this choice. Presidents who did not have good Presidents have this choice.

Unfortunately many people are not strong enough to change the way they lead based on what they wanted, so they just repeat what they experienced. This perpetuates what I call lazy leadership. Anyone can be mean, oppressive, stingy, lazy, selfish leaders, but who is willing to stand in the gap, break the cycle of their family, their city, their state, their company, their ministry, their nation? Ezekiel 45 says, “Thus says the Lord GOD, Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people, declares the Lord GOD.”

There are people who in the secret place have broken the pattern of leadership they have seen or experienced and are going to lead in a way that is beneficial to those who they are privileged to lead. King David led differently than King Saul, and many are about to arise who will lead differently in their family, in society, in their community and in their company. It may be look too good to be true, but there is a whole new way of leading arising in our generation.

Everyone is dressed in something. We are dressed in authority, power and glory or we are cloaked in shame, guilt and condemnation. Some people are dressed in lies and others are wrapped in truth. Some are wearing their history, while others are manifesting their future. Everyone is dressed in something and people can see what we are wearing. This reality goes for individuals, families, cities, states and nations.

When I was a youth pastor at a Lutheran Church in Washington state, that church was cloaked in tradition, but when I went to a small town in Missouri, they were dressed in revival. When I walked into cloaked in tradition, I was not wearing the right garments for the location in which I was standing. The first thing God did for me in revival was give me new clothes to wear. I had to take off the garments of tradition, if I was going to put on the garments of revival. What I was wearing needed to match where I was standing.

Colossians 3 says it this way, “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” The Lord is calling us to wear the clothes of who we are called to be. This will mean putting off some old outfits that we used to wear in order to put on the new outfit God is giving us.

I was listening to Dutch Sheets on Give Him 15 this morning because the title “It’s Time For Miracles” caught my attention. Friends, we have to put off the cloak of infinity, oppression and iniquity and put on the new garments of healing, liberty and sanctification. God is about to cast off the demonic three fold cord that has bound us, but we must put on garments of praise He is giving us we can live in this new location He is providing for us. Who is ready for a change of clothes?

I walked into a worship night at my church last night and immediately I was greeted by the youth doing a fund raiser for camp. I continued in the doors and it was packed with young adults mingling and munching on food. I preceded to my left looking around and not seeing anyone I knew. I got bumped into by two people as they were on a mission to head to their destination. I proceeded outside to where I found the head of our hospitality team, said hi to her and continued around the outside of the building. I wondered who all these people were I did not know in my own church.

I arrive on the side of the building where I usually sit and I find many people I know. I tap on the window and they wave me in. I come and stand with them as worship is about to begin and I start to look around the room. Sprinkled throughout the room is many I know and many I don’t know. I love churches that are alive for they grow and when they do there will be people you do not know. I smiled as I scanned the room at the many faces then I shut my eyes and began to sing with all my heart.

The room was filled with the sound of worship. Some had hands raised, while others had arms folded. Some had tears falling down their faces and others were bowing down before God. Old and young, brown and white, visitors and members, all singing the same song to the same God. What a sight, what a sound. Then a young adult on the microphone began to sing a song I did not know, saying Jesus you are beautiful, the sound was the youth and young adults lifting their voices to Jesus. What a sound. The next song was about the Lion of Judah who had overcome and our apostolic leader Dustin led that song and the sound was different.

I asked the Lord what I was hearing between these two songs and He said, “It was the sound of the young lions declaring my beauty and the old lions declaring my overcoming glory.” The melding of the songs created a sound that sounded like a young lion and an old lion roaring in unity. The young lion was practicing their sound, the old lion had history with God and was releasing their sound. The two lions in the room released the sound of a roar that reverberated outside of those walls.

Can you hear the sound of the young and old lions? Can you feel the vibrations of the lion of the tribe of Judah marching across the land? Can you join the sound, whether you are an old lion or a young lion? Lions led by a lion is a powerful sound of the likes the earth is longing to hear. Release the sound of the Lion of lions of the tribe of Judah!

The greatest gift we can give each other is authenticity. To be authentic means to be pure in motives, speech, actions and attitudes. What hurts people more than anything is when we say one thing and do another not just in actions but in our hearts. This was one of the main issues Jesus had with the religious leaders of His day, they looked so spiritual but had little true love for God or people.

It is exhausting to be a hypocrite, for you have to continually “act” like someone you know in your heart you are not. This is not a “Christians” issue this is a humanity issue. I was watching Jeopardy yesterday and there was a man who was dressed like a woman with pearls around his neck, flowered dress on and heals. His outfit did not match his gender, which was obvious by his voice. He was acting like someone he was not. Hypocrit is a Greek word that means an actor; to pretend; to answer one on a stage; play acting.

I was praying Psalm 55 this morning when this subject came up in my spirit. Psalm 55:21 says, “His speech was smoother than butter, But his heart was war; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords.” The Holy Spirit then reminded me of what Jesus said in Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’” (I am not yelling, it is all caps in the Bible 🙂)

For us to be one with others, we must be one with ourselves. If we are saying one thing and doing another, thinking another, that means we are a divided house. As individuals we must be one by having what we speak be the truth about what we think. Our mouth and our motives must agree. We cannot fake it until we make it. We must be authentic because when we are not people can see it, they can hear it and they know we are acting and then they have little to no respect for us. It is way past time we repent of being a divided house individually and allow the Lord to make us structurally sound so we can release a song that shakes nations. No more acting, it is time to be authentic.